A Visit from the Wills!

On the 26th, the Wills arrived to visit us. Kayce bought the plane tickets before we even left Maryland so that we knew we would have a visit to look forward to, which made our leaving a little less painful. We lived across the street from each other for almost 7 years and our families are super close. They were our Maryland family, so we were very excited about the visit.

Their plane arrived around 11, and even though they rented a car, we decided to all go to the airport to greet them. I thought maybe we would go out to lunch, but the kids were too anxious to play and catch up and opted to eat whatever they could scrounge up at our house. So, we headed home. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and just hanging out. We had dinner at Tijuana Flats (Burrito Thursday) and it was a good, easy day.

Friday, we went to Sea World. We got there around 10 and went straight to Sesame Street. The kids rode all the rides without any waits. Then, we headed to the Sea Lion and Otter show. It was cute. Unfortunately, it was our only show of the day. We tried for a few others, but kept arriving too late. Everything was filling to capacity almost as soon as they opened the doors. That was slightly frustrating, but fortunately, there is still a lot to see and do. We fed sting rays, walked through the shark tunnel, saw the penguins and had dessert at the Shark restaurant. It was a pretty awesome experience. We had a table that bordered the wall of glass and enjoyed seeing them swim as we had our dessert. We planned on leaving around 4, but somehow ended up staying until almost 7. The kids were tired, but everyone said they had a great day.

Anyone else remember Jaws 3-D?

Soap is our only Florida snow

Saturday we went to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland. It is only a few minutes from where my dad and sister live, so we have been several times, but not since we moved back here. We did a 2.5 mile hike and saw alligators, raccoons, snakes, tons of birds, and turtles. Luke and Ben (our littlest hikers) did not love all the walking, but the rest of us enjoyed it. From there, we went to an awesome park that my kids have been begging to visit. They remembered it from our 2017 trip and it was only a few miles from Circle B. We had packed a picnic and Luke and Ben found their second wind and all the kids enjoyed running around. After that, we went to Pelicans for Hawaiian ice. They had some special flavors including butterbeer--delicious!

Thomas got these two nature shots.

This one was my favorite. Sorry fish.

We got back to Orlando around 4, but decided more fun was in order. So, we went out to dinner at Pollo Tropical (a family favorite) and to a huge light display we had heard about. It was impressive, but the display was a little frenetic for my taste. It started to bring on a migraine for Kayce, so she had to go sit in the car. But, we had promised the kids s'mores and hot chocolate, so they sat by the firepit for a bit and all seemed to like the fast paced display. The family does it to raise money for a children's hospital, so we left a donation and called it a night.

Sunday was a beach day. We drove to Cocoa Beach, which is less than an hour from our house. We got there at 10 and the beach was empty. Everyone loved it! The water was cool, but not too cold to swim. The waves were much bigger than I expected and we had fun playing in the water. We had packed a picnic lunch and no one showed any interest in leaving. Until... Luke (maybe) got stung by a sting ray. He swears something got him and was crying hysterically for probably 25 minutes. Unfortunately for Thomas, it happened at the point where I was on a walk with Kayce. Thomas came and found me and hoped I could console Luke. Numerous good Samaritans came to check on him. From the way he was crying, I am guessing they were expecting a shark bite or something. He did have a red streak on his knuckles, so maybe he was stung? He had been happily playing football with Thomas when some other people pointed out a sting ray (not near Luke) once Luke saw it, he started screaming. So, Thomas initially thought it was all in his head. But, based on his reaction, something probably did get him. After that, Luke refused to go anywhere near the water and just wanted to go sit in the car. But, we had gotten a good 5 hours in, so I was okay with leaving. At this point, the beach was actually kind of crowded, I can't imagine a Saturday in July. The Wills and Jack stayed for about another hour before returning to our house.

Monday we went to Gatorland. It was a really neat place. I had somewhat low expectations, I thought I would like it, but I actually really liked it. We saw a couple of shows, rode the train, fed birds and alligators, saw lots and lots of alligators, crocodiles, flamingos, spiders, snakes, and other wildlife. I will definitely go back. Kayce and I went for a walk that night, which reminded me of all our evening walks in Maryland. It was another nice day.

Kara maybe liked feeding the birds

Don't worry, no children were harmed taking this picture

Luke got a little worried when the third bird landed

Throughout their visit, we played games (Settlers of Cataan, Clue, etc.) which Thomas and I always enjoy. The kids got along super well. No one wanted to say goodbye this morning, but I told the kids that was the mark of a great visit. If we were ready for them to leave, that would be even sadder. We will hopefully see them during Spring Break, but if not, I am sure there will be another trip planned. This was our third joint vacation and all of them have gone remarkably well. And, luckily for us, we still have another 6 days left of our Winter Break to enjoy.

Christmas Eve and Day 2019

Christmas Eve wrap up--we read The Night Before Christmas, did our second annual tradition of getting a picture in front of the garage countdown, read NORAD updates, and sprinkled reindeer food outside before heading to bed.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

One where you can see the kids (kind of)

One where you can see the countdown

We told the kids they could wake us up at 6:30 on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, I was up before 5. Not out of excitement (although, I was excited), but because I am on this terrible sleep cycle lately. No matter what time I go to bed I wake up in the 4 o'clock hour. I don't mind waking up at 5, that is fairly close to my regular time and it gives me a few extra minutes to relax before starting my normal day (exercise, shower, wake kids, get them off to school, head to work). But, this 4 o'clock thing is super annoying.

Anyway, the kids came in at 6:30 and Thomas and I were already showered, dressed and ready to go! As tradition dictates, we started with our stockings. Then, Thomas passed out presents and the unwrapping began. Unlike previous years, we did not have a special breakfast. So, we unwrapped gifts and had a nice morning. Because we bought Disney passes, the plan was to cut back on gifts this year. But, it still felt like we had too much.

Less than previous years, but still a good amount.

Four cute kids in matching penguin jammies

The final presents were from Santa. Luke got the styrofoam plane he wanted and a soft blanket. Kara got a hoverboard. Anna got a scooter and Jack got a Lord of the Rings board game (Battle of Pelennor Fields). We spent the day playing with our gifts. We hardly saw Jack. He spent the day assembling his new game. It is a complicated one, he has to glue and paint the pieces. Kara spent the day working on her Harry Potter Legos and trying out her new Hoverboard. Luke had lots of toys to occupy him. He and I took his plane to the park and threw it around for about an hour. We were able to make it do multiple loops and he was very pleased. Unfortunately, someone (there is disagreement as to who) fell on it the next day and broke a wing.

We had an easy ham dinner with scalloped potatoes, rolls, and asparagus. Normally, we eat our meal on Christmas Eve, but since we were doing something so simple, we decided to have it on Christmas day. It was probably a total of 20 minutes to throw it all together.

For me, Thomas revived the gift of one big project a month. He gave me that last year and it was amazing! But, then we moved and I didn't get to fully utilize it. I complained enough, that he decided to do it again. I am having a hard time deciding what to have him do in January. The house needs a lot of organizing/cleaning and I figure I can have him do one area a month and it will be awesome by Christmas 2021 (and, I won't have to do it!!!). He also gave me some other nice gifts, like a weighted blanket, pillow, panini maker, board games and earrings. I gave him some old coins, an old Daredevil comic book, and some other small gifts. His favorite gift was a book that Kara made him. She took a small notebook and glued in baseball cards. Then, she wrote a description of each card (the usual information you would find on a card, plus some unique facts). She even put in a card for Thomas. It says: "height 6'2; bats: left; throws: left. Drafted by Tigers. Born 6-21-70s. Home- Orlando. Thomas Wilson, the only pitcher to get 5 batting begins with the Tigers. He is known for his arm, speed and batting. He is the best father anyone could ask for." It was a very thoughtful gift, we can't imagine how many hours it must have taken her and Thomas said it was one of his favorite gifts of all time.

Thomas and his baseball card book with its creator

 Kara also made Jack a book about Lord of the Rings, which is his current obsession. She really is amazing at creating homemade gifts. She even invented a board game. We had friends come into town on the 26th (more on that in future blogs!) so we haven't been able to try it out yet. But, I am sure it will be entertaining.

Jack and his homemade book

For favorite gifts, Thomas said the gift from Kara; for me it is the list of projects; Jack said the Lord of the Rings game; Anna said her mermaid tale or scooter; Kara likes her hoverboard; Luke can't pick one because "they are all just too awesome!".

Hubert Christmas Party & Other December Fun

On Saturday, we had the much anticipated family Christmas party at the community room in my dad's neighborhood. My family, Kim's family, Kevin, my Dad, Maggie, Marta, Frank, Elizabeth, Maggie's sister, Judy, and JD's girlfriend, Mercedes, were all in attendance. So, there were 18 of us, which was a good, manageable size. We ate good food and played a few games. The first was holiday trivia. I did the questions, so I couldn't play. Which is unfortunate, because I definitely would have won. We did it at a work party a couple of years ago and I came in second, but only because I misread a question. Otherwise, I would have tied (and there were about 60 people playing). But, regardless, I couldn't play. Thomas won, but people cried foul (poor sports, all of them!). Kara actually came in second, but we decided, in the interest of fairness (and the fact that Kara has no need for snowman dish towels), to give the prize to a non-Wilson. So, Kim ended up with the prize. But, I was super impressed with Kara, or, as I like to call her--my little protege.

Kim got the prize

After lunch and trivia, it was time for the gift exchange. We did a white elephant/ Nasty Christmas/ Yankee Swap or whatever you want to call it. The gift exchange where number 1 goes first and then people can steal gifts along the way. Luke had number 14. We had explained the rules to him repeatedly before the party. And, since he was number 14, he had patiently watched 13 people go before him. We were really surprised on his turn when he went to the table to choose an unwrapped gift. There were several already opened presents that we knew he would like. He told us he was sure that's what he wanted and grabbed a gift. I was relieved when it was a cool Funko figure of Mr. Rodgers. But, alas, Luke did not like it. He asked, "now can I trade this?" When we told him no, he immediately burst into tears and loudly cried as he walked back to his seat, exclaiming, "but, I don't want this!" Fortunately, his super sweet cousin, number 16 took pity on him and stole the item. Although, I was kind of sad as I was planning on talking Luke into giving it to me. Luke then tried to pick one of the two remaining gifts off the table (are you kidding me?!?!?!), but we would not let him. He stole a cool hot chocolate gift and all was right in his world.

But, our family drama was not complete. Kara was super excited to have number 18. Unfortunately, we gave #1 stealing privileges and her gift was stolen at the last minute; she did not react gracefully to this unfortunate turn of events and was unable to enjoy the rest of the party. Fortunately, she was quiet in her frustration, but Thomas and I still felt bad for her and wished she was more easily able to move past the disappointment.

Grandpa Lou got a balloon animal kit. Later, it was stolen by Jack. Poor Grandpa! :)

Some of the Huberts

Thomas and Kevin played basketball with some of the kids. My dad, sister, Marta and some others played spoons. It was a nice afternoon and exactly why I wanted to move to Florida. After the party, Anna went home with Marta and Elizabeth. She had an amazing two nights with them. Elizabeth took her ice skating, which she has been begging me to do for months. They also made the coolest gingerbread/rice krispy manager scene. She also went to church with them and really had a fun few days. And, Marta said she was a complete delight. Anna is generally perfect when she doesn't have her siblings around to annoy/be annoyed by, so I was not surprised to hear she was a perfect Christmas angel.

It tastes as good as it looks and it looks amazing!

Anna on ice

Meanwhile, back at the Wilson house, we went to the park, did last minute Christmas shopping, played games, and watched some fun movies. Kara was envious of Jack's balloon animal kit (which I think she had chosen as her gift for the party) and used some money from Grandpa to buy her own kit. She has now perfected the balloon dog and is moving on to the monkey.

Kara and one of her creations

A good weekend was had by all! Monday, we met Marta to retrieve Anna. We opted to meet halfway at a Chick-Fil-A and had lunch with Marta. Then, we all went shopping together at Target. From there, it was back home. The kids really wanted to show Anna the park we went to, so we also did that. Then, we came home and watched the Christmas Prince Baby (or something like that). It is part 3 of the Christmas Prince Netflix Movie trilogy that Anna really likes. We also made peppermint shakes.  At 7:30, I asked if anyone wanted to go to SeaWorld and see the 8:45 ice skating show. It had rained earlier, so I figured it wouldn't be crowded. Anna and Kara were excited to go, Jack and Luke wanted to stay home. So, us girls went and had a fun few hours. We also saw the killer whale show and the girls were going to ride Manta, but the ride was stuck! It is nice to live so close and get to go for just a few hours.

Waiting patiently for the show to start

They were really good!

Now, it is Christmas Eve. We had lunch at Steak at Shake, watched The Santa Clause, wrapped more presents, baked cookies for Santa and opened some fun new Christmas jammies.

In other news, Kara made a wreath for her teacher and we made one for Grandma Marta.

And, in final "news" (aka things I want to memorialize) it was a hot a few days ago and Thomas thought he would go swimming. Luke thought it was a great idea and they both jumped right in. They lasted about 2 minutes. It was not nearly as warm as they expected it to be, even Florida has its limits.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Season Starts

We hosted my local family for Thanksgiving. My dad, Kevin, Kim, Dave, JD, Amanda, Marta and Frank all came over. We had a delicious meal and we enjoyed being able to see everyone. Although, I couldn't help but remember the awesomeness of last year and being on a cruise. Also, we did miss the Virginia Huberts, who we had Thanksgiving with for the past few years (that we weren't on a cruise). It seems like a lot of things are slightly bittersweet. I genuinely loved being able to celebrate with the people I love here, but I still missed some of our past traditions.

Once Thanksgiving was over, we began our decorating and Christmas preparation. We don't have nearly as much space in this house. No cool Christmas staircase, fireplace mantle, or special table for our Christmas Village. We had to rearrange our living room to have room for our tree (blocking our sliding doors). The outside also isn't as elaborate as our Maryland house. It is hard to get lights on the specially designed hurricane proof roof (at least that's why I assume it is different). But, Thomas still made everything festive.

It was hard to get a picture that showed the whole house

A could of weeks ago, Thomas got a call that Disney had found his license and credit card. He had already replaced both, but didn't want to leave them hanging out in the universe, so we drove to Disney Springs on a Wednesday night to retrieve them. We walked around for a little bit and did some pictures in their photo center. We ate at the Earl of Sandwich, which we all liked. Then, we tried to walk around their Christmas Tree trail. We thought a Wednesday in early in December would be bearable. It was not. It was wall to wall people. And, people kept blocking the trees to take pictures. It was frustrating. And, while it was really cute, it was not worth aggravation of trying to fight our way through. Disney is not the place for people who don't like crowds! After that, we took the kids to Sprinkles for cupcakes. They were $6(!) for regular sized cupcakes. We had promised, so we had to follow through. But, they definitely weren't worth the price.

For more Christmas fun, we drove to Daytona one night to see the Christmas in Lights at the Speedway. We were a little disappointed that you couldn't drive on the racetrack, but it was still fun. We probably won't make the drive again, since there is so much awesome stuff to do here.

We also went to SeaWorld for their Christmas event. The big kids and I met Frank and Marta. We saw three of the Christmas shows, had dinner, walked around and saw the lights and just had a really nice night. Our family has been back once. I really love their event. They have one show that was just amazing, O Wonderous Night. I really want to go see it again. They also have an ice skating show that is supposed to be spectacular. That show has only been at 8:45 on the nights we went, and we have had school or work the next day.  But, I want to see it before the year ends.

One Saturday, we headed to Polk County. We started at the Lakeland Tigers stadium. They had advertised a sale, so we decided to check it out. We didn't expect much, but were blown away! They had a $5 t-shirt table and everything else in the store was 50% off! We got tons of awesome Tigers merchandise. Then, when we checked out, they gave us a bunch of free stuff, including a hat, Tervis cup, bracelets, coffee mug and more. It was awesome! From there, we went to Carols in the Park to meet up with Kim, Dave and Amanda. We enjoyed walking around and got a couple of good crafts. Then, we had lunch at CiCi's Pizza and headed to Marta's house. Her friend gave us tickets for Bok Tower's Symphony in the Park and Marta watched the kids. So, we had an awesome date night and the kids had fun with Marta baking and decorating cookies.

Of course, we've been to the Disney Parks. They are also amazing. Yesterday, we met with Marta and Elizabeth. We parked at Hollywood Studios and took the Skyliner to Epcot. We walked around the world showcase and did the cookie stroll (different cookies in different countries and if you buy 5, you get a free sugar cookie Mickey and milk). The kids, obviously, loved that. We heard the Dickens Christmas Carolers and listened to Father Christmas talk about about English Christmas traditions. Then, we took the Skyliner back to Hollywood Studios. Even though the crowds were heavy, we did the Toy Story rides, Star Tours, Smuggler's Run, Tower of Terror, and the Frozen sing-a-long. Luke tried out the Tower of Terror. We told him we thought it would be too much for him. But, he really wanted to try. He ended up not liking it, but we were proud of him for giving it a try. He said he will try again in 5 years. It was a great, long day. We were happy to celebrate Elizabeth completing another successful semester at Vet School!

The Skyliner was pretty fun

Three practically perfect ladies

And, here's the picture of Luke on his first Tower of Terror ride. How funny is it that Anna and Thomas are doing the exact same thing???

Luke had his first class performance. It was cute. His class sang Up on the Housetop. Then, we went back to the classroom and had cookies and juice. They had made some cute ornaments and it was sweet.

And, Jack and Anna had their Christmas band performance. They have made a lot of progress in just a few months and I enjoyed hearing them play and hearing the 7th and 8th graders. They both said they want to stay in band, so there may be many more performances in our future.

Oh, and on our strep calculator: Kara got it for a third time, then 9 days later, Jack got it again (that's 2 for him), then 5 days after that, Anna had her first bought. Luke didn't get it this round, so he's holding at 2. Fingers crossed that's it for a long, long, long time. But, I still feel fortunate that at least we haven't had the flu--it has been going around the schools pretty bad.

There is now just one more work/school week until Christmas break. I am looking forward to a reprieve. And, the Wills are coming to visit!

A Fun Florida Weekend & Luke's First Fieldtrip

As I mentioned in my last post, we finally went to the beach! We met up with Marta and Frank in Melbourne. The high was in the mid-60s, so we did not anticipate the kids would go in the water. Everyone wore pants and sweatshirts and it was a little cool at the beach, but not too bad. Everyone wanted to put their feet in the water. After that, no one stayed dried. Luke was completely soaked. The rest of us got wet to varying degrees. I learned that no matter what time of year we visit the beach, we should bring a change of clothes. But, we had so much fun! We brought all our sand toys and the adults sat on the beach and enjoyed the sound of the crashing waves while the kids built fun creations. The girls also collected shells that they are going to use to make crafts. We walked along with Frank, who unfortunately did not find anything with his metal detector and had lunch at a restaurant on the beach. In all, we stayed for about 4 hours. We could have stayed longer, but it did eventually start to feel a little chilly. And, we had our next event to go to--the neighborhood fall party.

The party was nice, they had bouncy houses and a catered dinner. There was a hay ride and a clown/dog show. The kids had fun, and I enjoyed getting a free meal.

Sunday, we visited Fort Christmas. It was nice to see a little bit of history. It has a collection of houses from the 1800s and early 1900s. It also had a little school house that was in use from  1906-1969. They had some written stories from the schools attendees and it was cute and interesting. The Fort was originally built in 1837 by the United States Army. But, the current building was recreated in 1977.  The fort was a supply fort used during a war against the Seminole Indians and was used for less than a year. But, it was really neat to see and we enjoyed being outside and exploring. The area was free and also had a playground and pavilion.

This was my only picture, inside the one-room school. Luke read us a "Dick and Jane" book.

From there, the kids had their first visit to a Steak and Shake. We all enjoyed the Seasonal Shakes (White Chocolate and Peppermint). The weekend was proclaimed a great success!

The week itself was just okay. Except for Tuesday. Tuesday, I got to go with Luke on his first ever field trip! We went to the Orlando Science Center. It was overall very fun. They had a good parent/student ratio, so I was only in charge of Luke and one other boy. Both were very well-behaved and cooperative. The only problem was there wasn't enough time to explore. We got there and watched a show about electricity. Then, we had about 10 minutes in a dinosaur area, then it was time for lunch. After lunch, we watched a one-hour documentary in their dome theater about the moon landing. It was full of actual video and was interesting, however, it was an hour. And, these were kindergartners. But, most did very well. Following the movie, we had about 15 minutes in another play area and then another 10 in the final play area. It was structured by the museum and I wish they had tailored it a bit better to the 5/6 year old crowd. But, all the kids still had a lot of fun and Luke proclaimed it "awesome." We will definitely have to go back and explore a little more. I was super glad that I got to experience his first field trip!

This was a fun one, they had a camera and life-sized dinosaurs would "walk" right next to you. It was interesting to see scale.

First Half of November

The weather has finally been a little cooler! As a direct result, I am finding myself more happy in Florida. I don't mind the heat, but it really did seem to drag on forever. Next year we will know there is an end in sight, so maybe we won't feel as forlorn.

Anna and Kara both won their class spelling bees and get to go on to their grade-wide events. For Anna, she had to do a paper test of 10 words (she got 9 right, the highest in her class). Then, the top 5 in her class from the written exam had to do an oral spelling bee. She only got one word--misdemeanor. She spelled it correctly and somehow finished first in her class. Kara's class just did the oral portion and she won in her class too. They were both very excited. They had made flash cards and studied and would have been very disappointed to not advance. Hopefully, the next competition will be a good experience.

Thomas and I had a date day. We were off from work on Veteran's Day, but the kids still had school. We had planned to go to Target and out to lunch. Then, at the last minute, I decided to spend 15 minutes trying to get fast passes at Animal Kingdom. I managed to get three in a row--Flight of Passage, Everest, and Dinosaur. So, we changed our plans. We got peppermint soft serve and had a great time. But, somehow Thomas lost his license and credit card. They still haven't turned up. No one ever tried using the credit card, so we aren't sure what could have happened. He is the one who always holds everyone's stuff (cargo shorts!), sot the whole thing is super unusual. He gave it 5 days and they never turned up. So, yesterday he went to go get another license. He went through the whole DMV process. Then, when it was time to pay, he gave them his back-up credit card. However, it had my name on it and they wouldn't accept it (and, they weren't the least bit nice about it). Somehow, we had switched cards. He has another appointment on Monday, so hopefully it will get taken care of. Oh, and, I figured out why twice FOP has been awesome and twice it has been mediocre. It all depends on where you sit! If you are on the bottom, it is just okay. If you are in the middle or top--completely amazing!

We had a family date night last night. We went to Epcot Food and Wine. And, we had the best time! We let the kids each choose 2 items (they ended up sharing so that they could taste more). Everyone was patient and cooperative and nice--a very rare unanimous trifecta! We rode Test Track and Spaceship Earth and saw some of a BBMak concert. We also saw a super entertaining German Polka Band. It was a great night! We actually had to wear sweatshirts!

Lest you think all we do is theme parks, we are getting ready to make our first beach trip this morning. We are going to meet Frank and Marta in Melbourne and test out Frank's new metal detector. Should be fun! Although, the high today is 64 (significantly cooler than the average temperature this time of year of 77). So, no one will be going in the water. But, we think it will be nice to just walk along the beach. This trip has been postponed due to rain a few times, so I am excited it is finally happening.

Work has been incredibly busy for me. That has not been fun, although the days are going by quickly. Unfortunately, I feel like I am not doing a good job. That is also not fun. But, like the weather, there is an end in sight. My last big event will be December 5th. Then, it should be calm for a month or two. But, I am not looking forward to the next three work weeks. Normally, I take off the week of Thanksgiving, I can't even do that this year, which is disappointing.

And, that is the quick summary for the first half of November.

Halloween 2019!

Halloween has turned into such an event. I have probably written about this in years past, but it is longer a one night activity. Now there are seemingly pre-activities for the pre-activites. Being new to the area, we tried a couple out. We did trick-or-treating at Sea World and went to the YMCA Spooktacular. We planned on going to the big library one Saturday morning and when I was looking up the hours, I saw they were having a Halloween event the same day we were already planning to go. So, we did that too. All of it was fun and the kids enjoyed the massive amounts of candy they they received.

Here are a few pictures from the library. The kids did a scavenger hunt and there were several themed rooms with games and crafts:

The Addams Family room

In this room, they had to find the name of the Pirate (One-Eyed Willy). I appreciated the nostalgia factor.

Like their former elementary school in Maryland, they gave kids the option to go in costume as their favorite book character. Unfortunately, this only extended to K-3rd graders. Kara's classroom did nothing, in fact, she had a difficult Science test that day, so she was not at all excited to go to school. But, Luke was. And, he wanted to be Pete the Cat. He also said he wanted to be Pete the Cat for actual Halloween, so I started looking for a costume. The only one I could find was $60 for his size! The other sizes were $40, which is still ridiculous, but more palatable. I imagine his size is the target age range for Pete fans, so it made me mad and I vowed to never give the company making it a $1 of my money! I get supply and demand, but I also get greedy and to me, that definitely seemed more like that latter. In revenge, I opted to make his costume. I found a simple hat pattern, dusted off the old sewing machine and went to work making his hat and tail. Grandpa Frank made his shirt and we bought some blue long johns for his fur. He was very happy and I think it turned out cute. Plus, it was fun for me to have a project to work on. Especially one that was very simple.

Frank and Marta drove up to deliver the shirt and have dinner with us. Luke is introducing her to Pete the Cat.

The actual day was Thursday. I teleworked so that I could go into Luke's classroom and volunteer for a couple of hours. It was exhausting! Kindergarten teachers are a special, amazing breed! But, it was nice to meet some of his classmates and spend time in his classroom. I also had lunch with him and then with Kara.

We had a Halloween themed dinner of bats and cobwebs (baked bowtie pasta and mozzarella) and then started trick-or-treating. The neighborhood page said it was from 6-8:20, so we were out at 6. But, no one else was. It didn't really ramp up until probably 6:30. Maybe because it was 100 degrees out. Well, not quite, but almost. It was 90, with a "feels like" temperature of 95. At 6pm. Ugh! It was another record-breaking day (the high was 91, the previous was 90 in 1922). In fact, it was a record breaking May, June and October. I am so very tired of the hot, hot, weather. This weekend has been a little nicer, but there are a few more days forecasted in the high 80s next week. I am starting to think we will never see a high below 78 (the lowest high we've experienced since we got here at the end of May).

But, I digress. Jack and Kara went off with their new friends for the first hour. Anna was invited, but wanted to stay with me and Luke. Thomas stayed home and handed out candy. The neighborhood was really decked out with lots of well-decorated houses. My favorite was themed to "The Purge" and had music playing, spotlights, a crashed motorcycle and other decorations. It was very impressive. Lots of adults were dressed up and it felt festive and fun. Plus, since the yards are smaller, we could go to a lot of houses. The only drawback was it was so stinking hot! Even after the sun went down were pouring in sweat.

In other news, Kara has strep throat. Again!!!! Since late-August this will be her second case. Luke has had it twice and Jack once. It is crazy! I think this will be the most antibiotics they have ever taken in a single year (in fact, if we took out the year Anna had the recurrent strep, we could probably combine the last 6 years and this would still win). I try to avoid the doctor, and maybe it would go away on its own, but they keep having bad cases where they can't eat or do anything. Kara was dizzy and didn't even want to stand up. It is hard to let something like that continue. We gave it one day to improve, but I took a look on Saturday and brought her in when they opened. And, in a case of terrible timing, on Halloween night (the night before she got sick) 4 of us drank from the same water bottle. Anna was smart enough to bring some nice ice water in a large thermos. We just couldn't help ourselves! How could I have guessed someone was infectious. It is so frustrating! Now, I am just biding my time, confident that Luke and Anna (and maybe me) will be coming down with it again in near future (fortunately, Jack and Thomas are safe, at least from exposure by water bottle). I asked the doctor why everyone keeps getting sick here, if there are different germs for which we need to build our immunity. She said that it wasn't an immunity issue, but that allergies are generally worse in Florida, leading to more mucus in the throat and more places for the bacteria to stick and fester. So, umm, yay for that?

I took a picture to show Kara and thought I would share the grossness here. At least you can't see how disgusting the tonsils looked. The doctor said she wished she had a student with her, because it was a textbook look for strep.

Friday, I took Jack to the pediatric orthopedist. They did another set of x-rays and said he should be free of the cast in two weeks. And, they gave him a waterproof cast. No more excuses to avoid the shower! They took off the old cast to do the x-rays and there was a lot of bruising on his wrist. There was no visible bruising when they put it on, and now it has been more than 2 weeks since the break, so I was surprised. Fortunately, he said it doesn't hurt.

The office was in the downtown Orlando area, right near a Super Target. Of course, we had to go in. I miss Target! The closest one is about 25 minutes away, so we generally find ourselves at Walmart. And, I usually just do grocery pick-up, so it was so nice to browse in a bright, clean store. I will say the Walmart here is much better than in Maryland, they actually have multiple cashiers working! But, I still miss my Target shopping trips. This Target had something we had never seen before--a cart escalator for the parking garage. Jack and I were so intrigued, we had to take a picture.

Broken Bone, Bunco and the Barrows (okay, Darrows, but for this title, a "B" is Better). Oh and FOP

I am trying to blog at least three times a month (ideally, I would like to do at least once a week). Sometimes, that feels really hard. It just seems like not much is happening. Of course, when I really think about it, lots has happened. Well, maybe not lots, but not nothing either.

So, since Jack and Anna's birthday...

Well, here's the big one--Jack broke his wrist! Thomas was outside grilling and I had just gotten home from work when Jack came downstairs with tears in his eyes to tell me he had fallen on his wrist and it really hurt. It didn't look too bad, so I told him to just let me know if it got any worse. A bit later, I gave him an ice pack when he said it was still hurting. The next morning, it was definitely swollen and he couldn't make a fist or rotate it. Dr. Google said that it can be hard to tell the difference between a sprain and a break and if after 48 hours there has been no improvement, to bring the patient in. Since it had only been about 14 hours, I gave him another ice pack and some ibuprofen. We had an old bandage lying around, so I also wrapped it up, which he said really helped. I wrote a note asking him to be excused from PE and sent him to school.

That night he said it still hurt, but was feeling somewhat better. Jack is not a complainer, so I was definitely getting more concerned at this point. And, the next morning, it was still really swollen. So, we decided it was time for the doctor. I did a quick Google search and discovered there is a walk-in orthopedic clinic a mile from our house. Score! I dropped off Luke and Kara and off we went. We got there at 7:55, they weren't supposed to open until 8, but the doors were already unlocked and people were inside. We signed in and about 10 minutes later, got called back. They brought Jack into the x-ray room and took me to a waiting room. Then, the x-ray tech came and said, "actually, I am going to put you in another room." The next room was full of cast-making supplies. So, I figured he could tell from the x-ray it was broken. And, I was right.

While we were there, I got the whole story from Jack: Anna came into his room asking (yelling) for him to return her Taylor Swift cd. He didn't feel like he needed to do this and asked her to leave. She grabbed the cd, out of his cd player, and he blocked her from leaving. More yelling ensued and she ultimately shoved him. He fell down, using his hands to break the fall, causing a buckle fracture.

So, he got it wrapped up and we were out of there by 9. Unfortunately, the bus comes at 8:50. So, I drove him to school and headed to work. He didn't miss a minute. I told one of my coworkers the story and she was shocked I made him go to school, she asked if I at least stopped and got him a donut or Egg McMuffin on the way. None of this occurred to me. Why would he be rewarded for breaking his wrist? Obviously, I felt bad for him. But, is that a reason to miss school?

sad Jack

On to the second "B," Bunco. As I've mentioned, it has been difficult making friends in Florida. I recently made myself go out of my comfort zone to attend a neighborhood bunco night. It ended up being at my Realtor's house, so I actually knew one person there, but it was still hard to do. I had a good time and got to meet 10 new neighbors, all of whom were very nice. And, I met a woman who lives kind of catty corner from us and learned that she has a fifth grade daughter (like us!) and a sixth grade son (like us!). This was amazing news and we exchanged phone numbers. A few days later, she and her daughter knocked on our door and we introduced the girls. The next day, Kara went and knocked on their door to play, but no one answered. However, they have a Nest camera, so when they came home, the kids came over and then they spent the day running in and out of both houses. It was very exciting!

In other exciting news, on Friday night, the Darrows came to see us! They were starting their Disney vacation on Saturday and drove in on Friday. They spent the night at our house and it was just like old times. We stayed up until 11 (late for me :) chatting and catching up. Everyone woke up happy on Saturday, the kids were excited to be playing together again. One perfect thing about their family is they also have 4 kids so each kid has a friend. They will all play together, but there is someone distinct for everyone and it works out really well. We were all very happy to see them and sad to see them go. The kids said it made them miss Maryland more. But, we pointed out that if we were in Maryland, the Darrows wouldn't have spent the night at our house.

Luke got mad because I asked him to sit on Kara's lap and refused to be in the picture. Kara is holding a picture of him :)

And, in final news. We scored fast passes to Flight of Passage, so the boys finally got to ride! It is the hardest fast pass to get and the only one we hadn't had so far (well, we haven't had Slinky Dog either, but we've got a system for that one). I liked it much better the second time around. To be fair, I liked it the first time, but didn't think it lived up to the hype, I still don't think it is as amazing as everyone else seems to think, but I can at least see that perspective now. We went to Sea World in the morning and got a bunch of free samples from their Beer and Food Fest (they gave all passholders 3 free, so we had 18!). We ate a lot of good food, and then went to Animal Kingdom, rode FOP and left. It was a very touristy day. But, we were home by 3, plenty of time for Kara and Jack to play with their new friends.

Wait, one more final news! Poor Anna is sick. She has had a stomachache since Sunday night. Her throat also hurts a little, but it isn't red at all, and there's no fever so I don't think it's strep. She hasn't thrown up, but also hasn't eaten anything substantial in two days. I took Monday off and we did a Netflix marathon, watching a fun design show. Thomas took yesterday off and I don't know what they did. She seemed significantly better last night, so I am hoping she can go to school today. If not, a doctor's visit will likely be in order.

And that, my friends, wraps up what was original entitled "October #2". Maybe, I should just sit down and write more often!

But, wait, there's more! Bonus pictures! I saw these on my phone when I was looking for relevant ones. We went to SeaWorld recently and I finally grabbed a picture of the penguins. And, Kara rode Manta! She loved it! I think she is ready for anything now, but, she still says she doesn't like big hills, so maybe not.

Can you find Kara? She's on there somewhere.

We love, LOVE the penguins.