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!