Theater, Family, Sports, Universal

Anna and Kara participated in their first Junior Thespians Competition last weekend. They had a duet acting scene (together), Kara did a monologue and Anna had a singing duet (Dear Theodosia) with a friend. They REALLY enjoyed the experience. They went on Friday (Nov 5th) with their group and watched other schools perform "one Acts". They left around lunchtime and got back to the school at 8. Then, we had to drop them off at 7:45 on Saturday morning and they didn't get back until 10pm! But, as mentioned, they loved it. Their duet acting scene was two sisters fighting. And, in what should come as a surprise to no one, they got a near perfect score. They get to attend a state competition and perform that scene in January. Both of them got an Excellent on their other performances (Superior was the highest, then Excellent, then Good). They got to know other kids in their theater club better and they both said it was a really great experience. 

Selfie with their badges

Meanwhile, Thomas and I enjoyed a couple of days with just the boys. On Friday, we went to Jeremiahs and got their candy cane gelati. It is amazing! Saturday, we went to the Lake Eola craft festival (which I love), then Jack had his basketball game and finally, we went out to dinner and back to Jeremiahs for dessert. I'm pretty sure we ended up taking the girls for gelatis on Sunday as well. It is that good (although only Thomas and I get the candy cane, Kara and Jack like the gingerbread and Luke and Anna stick with their non-seasonal favorites). 

Perfection in a cup (if you like peppermint)!

This weekend, Kim's family visited on Saturday. We met at Luke's baseball game. Which, unfortunately, was not great for his team. The score was 12-1 when they finally called it. Luke played pretty well, he batted twice and had one really good hit and scored their only run. His other at-bat, he hit a fly ball to the third baseman who caught it. He made a couple of good plays in the field (and, a couple of not-so-good plays), but it just wasn't a good day for his team. Fortunately, he was a decent sport, which is also definitely progress. 

After the game, we came back to the house and had pulled pork for lunch and played a card game, "We Didn't Playtest This at All". It was fun and silly. We also had a cake to celebrate JD's birthday and to wish him good luck. He is going on a mission to Japan and leaves in a few weeks. We will miss him! He is a great big cousin to my kids. Luke, especially loves him and cried when they left. JD got set apart Sunday and is spending two weeks as a missionary at home, then flies to the MTC on December 1st. We will try and see him again before he leaves for two full years. 

He sure loves his cousin!

And, wanted to be in their picture. We will have to recreate this in 2 years.

After they left we went to Jack's basketball game. His team also got beat. By a lot. It was not a good day for the Wilson's sports teams! On the positive side, Jack is getting better and fortunately he enjoys it.  As I mentioned, he has never played basketball before, not even just hoops with other kids, so it is a lot to learn. But, he was a good sport and is trying hard and making improvements.

Sunday, Anna and I spent the morning going through all of her clothes. We pulled everything out of her drawers, from her closet, and under her bed and went through each item one by one. We ended up with two big bags to donate and threw away a few things and finally (hopefully) have things in order. We went to Kohls and the girls got new sneakers. Then, we went to Universal. We all rode the Velocicoaster, which only had a 30 minute wait! It was Jack's first visit since that ride opened and he said it was the best roller coaster he has ever ridden. The girls went on the three biggest coasters (Rip Ride Rocket, Velocicoaster, and Hulk). It was Kara's first time on RRR and she liked it (but, ranked it third of the three). We had a good visit, and hope to go back to take in more of the Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, the wait for Hagrid's never dropped below an hour, so we decided to skip that ride.

We did the raptor encounter and the baby was out.

Halloween!

The kids were off from school Friday (October 29th). It was a weird, random day off which is always nice. Even in the off-season, things in Orlando are busy when all the local counties are off from school, but when it is just one or two, you can do the touristy things without the crowds. We decided to visit Legoland. We had gotten rained out on our last visit, so we wanted to go back. The older kids, especially Kara, were less than thrilled. But, I think everyone ended up having a good time. We rode the rides, saw the part of Miniland that is open, walked the gardens, and watched the ski show. We got there when they opened at 10 and stayed until about 4, each of the kids got to pick an afternoon snack (Jack got a pretzel, Luke and Anna had ice cream, and Kara tried the apple fries), which they all appreciated. 

The gardens are beautiful. I am so glad Legoland kept a piece of Cypress Gardens alive.

We spent a lot of time in the "Imagination Zone". Luke and Kara built and raced cars. Luke is making a face because we made him stand on the second place spot.

Jack built this cool structure, which withstood the earthquake test (the board it is on can shake)

Family photo

Then, we went to Marta and Frank's for dinner. It had been a while since we'd been to their house, so that was nice. We had Publix subs and visited for a few hours.

Luke and Zoe love each other.

Saturday was filled with sports. In the morning, Luke, Kara and I went to watch our neighbor's soccer games. Then, we went to Luke's baseball game. And, finally Jack's first ever basketball game. It was a beautiful day, so it was nice to spend so much time outside (only basketball was inside). The kids all did pretty good. Jack didn't score any baskets, but he is tall and was able to get some rebounds. He is a little bit timid and unsure, but I am sure with time and practice he will make significant progress. Most importantly, he had a good time and is enjoying the experience. However, it was more intense than Anna's games. It seemed like the (small, but vocal) crowd quickly learned names and shouted out feedback, "Jack get your hands up...Jack, you gotta get in there...come on Jack, you have to get those." It wasn't just Jack getting yelled at, it was all the kids on the team. But, he took it in stride.

Sunday was Halloween. Anna, Luke, Thomas and I started the day with a bike ride and jog. I can't really run anymore, which is frustrating, but I figure my walk/slow jog is better than nothing. We came home, had breakfast, showered and then carved pumpkins. It was another beautiful day and we turned on Halloween music and enjoyed being outside. 

Starting from the top left: Luke, Kara, Jack and Anna's pumpkins.

After the pumpkin carving, Luke went to a birthday party at the science center. He had fun playing in the Kidstown area with Beya. After the party, we came home, had dinner and Thomas took the kids trick-or-treating. Kara went off with a friend, but Jack and Anna opted to walk with Thomas. I figured it was my turn to stay home and hand out candy. When our kids were little, they REALLY loved ringing doorbells, so much so that they would fight over who got to push it. So, I stayed inside, but hardly anyone bothered to walk up the driveway. We had our porch light on and our decorations up, so I was surprised. Finally, I decided to sit on the porch and then there were lots of trick-or-treaters. It was fun to see some creative costumes. There were also lots of teenagers who didn't bother to wear costumes, but they were polite, so whatever. The weirdest thing to me is still the parents who have their own bags, but again--whatever. I wish I could trust people and leave the bowl out and walk with Thomas and the kids, but we knew from last year that that doesn't work in this neighborhood the way it did in Maryland. One of my friends put out a bowl with a "please take 2" sign and the very first trick-or-treater dumped the entire bowl into her bag. So frustrating!

Jack was a "military experiment gone wrong", Luke was Kollik (a character from his new favorite book: Seekers). Kara a cow and Anna kangaroo. It was an easy costume year!

Thomas and the kids did our entire section of the neighborhood, which took about 2 hours. They got so. much. candy! Then, the kids engaged in their favorite part of Halloween--the great candy exchange. It was a fun day.

Monday, we had Luke's follow-up appointment with the oral surgeon. And, it went as well as it possibly could. It turned out it wasn't even a cyst. The oral surgeon was confused, as he could see that it was affecting the jaw's bone growth, but according to pathology, it was just a whole bunch of infected, inflamed tissue. So, definitely not cancer and not likely to return, although they aren't sure what caused it.