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.