Cousins in the Bond

One week from today we'll be in Disney World with our friends the Julius Family. It's getting really real. And it's so exciting!



We tried calculating when we started talking about this trip. Was it in college, was in when we were married, and they weren't quite, or once we both got married? All that was 10-15 years ago, and gotta tell you That's a lot of scheming for all of us to go to Disney World together.

At the very least, we've been scheming THIS trip since the kids were born. (Pardon the fuzziness of the picture of all 5 kids, they RARELY are all still, and I think Sam slimed my camera.) It started getting real last year, when I made the comment, when all this feeding tube business is over, we're going to Disney World. Kathleen was like, Yeah! And we'll go with you. We had drama, they had Drama, and this trip has become our Super Bowl!

Eric's workplace made the mistake a couple weeks ago, of asking Eric how flexible this trip was (planting the seeds of him cancelling it). He told them, "We're going with Extended Family, and it has been in the making for 3 years." They stopped asking.

And that wasn't entirely a lie. A. I just told you in truth how long this trip has been planned. B. We're planning on seeing Eric's grandparents and aunt on our first day there! But C. That's where the title of this comes in to play:

Many moons ago, Eric and I were in an honorary music fraternity in college. The gals were in Tau Beta Sigma (TBS) and the boys in Kappa Kappa Psi (KKPsi). Kathleen and I were in TBS, and Eric and Mike were in KKPsi. When initiated, the other members became your Brothers or Sisters. And when we'd write letters or refer to each other, we used the phrase Brother (or Sister) in the Bond.

If we're brothers and sisters, We figure that makes our children Cousins in the Bond. Chris and Sam have lots of Cousins in the Bond. But Emily has been Chris's best friend since he was 6 months old. And the twins will be Sam's. The twins aren't going to Disney with us this trip. Maybe next time.

However, as far as Disney is concerned, the Julius and Willman Families are Family.

We've been trying to plug for rooms next door to each other or connected. We pre-registered with Disney and we mentioned it. At first we weren't telling them we were Family, but I actually did call Emily our Cousin yesterday. Two weeks ago, we rearranged our plan and signed up for the whole Disney package, Dining plan, tickets, and all. We were previously enrolled with just hotel and flight. Hadn't gotten the tickets yet, and were thinking we wouldn't mess with the dining plan. However, once again the signs pointed us in a different direction, the deal was too good, so we signed up. The next day Mike pointed out to us that we were signed up for 6 days in the park, not 5. Our plan was to not be in the park our first day. I called to change it, and they told me that they were going to charge me $60 to change it. That the 6th day was really only a few dollars extra and it wasn't worth it. Well, Dawn wasn't friendly, or sympathetic, and I got MAD. Like they aren't getting enough money already for our trip. I sent an email and told them as such. I may have lost my temper. I felt a little bad after venting to my friends, but you know what, it Was their mistake getting us 6 days worth, and whatever happened to the customer is always right?
Imagine my surprise yesterday when a Guest Services representative Sally called to talk to me about my complaint. She apologized, which I greatly appreciated, and I explained why I had been so upset, and that would've been enough, but she also offered to sent a "little something" to the boys. She said Hats, Mickey Hats, with their names engraved on them. I told them, that would be PERFECT, because we were totally planning on shopping to buy the boys some hats on our first day. I told them their 'cousin' already had one, and that would be a perfect gift.

I can't WAIT to see what else our little FAMILY is going to do and see a week from today. I'm so EXCITED!!!!

**Meanwhile, Emily has a fever, and Chris and Sam have noses that won't quit dripping. I told them they could be as sick as they want, THIS WEEK, but come Saturday, everybody better be healthy.