June

Last weekend, we finally checked out Arcade Monsters. It is a large arcade we found after we had so much fun at the retrocade in North Carolina last year. It was fun, but very, very, VERY loud. I think they had every machine turned on full volume. Jack and Luke liked it the most and Luke is already asking to go back. It wasn't as fun as the NC one, which had a lot of older games and pinball machines. This one had a few, but it was mostly newer stuff. Thomas did get the high score on a few games. He spent a lot of years in arcades as a youngster. He grew up in Nevada and while his mom would gamble in the casinos, he would have to learn how to make quarters last in the arcade. And, I guess there are some skills that stick with you, because he can still kill it on the classic games! 

The work week was fairly uneventful. Luke went to camp at the YMCA, which he does not love, but is kind of necessary for Thomas and me to be productive working from home. Unfortunately, the family that Kara usually babysits for has COVID, so she has been home with us (unfortunate that they have COVID, not that Kara is with us). The older kids mostly hung around. Jack and Anna have been doing(ish) their online classes. Jack has also been practicing basketball daily. He is really hoping he can make the 9th grade team next year. Anna did her ice skating and Luke did his baseball. Thomas worked on learning to rollerblade.

Anna is clearly much more confident in her abilities.

We had a jam-packed Father's Day weekend. Thomas and I were off on Friday and we all went to the Brevard Zoo, then did some shopping. Luke has a hard time with sneakers. He likes them to fit a certain way, and was stopping to adjust every few minutes. He obviously couldn't achieve his preferred fit with the velcro sneakers, so we got him some tie shoes (he has been able to tie shoes since Kindergarten, but velcro was still quicker). Then, we had lunch at Steak and Shake. Friday night, we went to Lakeland and saw a Flying Tigers game.

Saturday morning, we went to the Orlando Regional History Center and downtown library. Saturday night we watched Harry Potter (Thomas and I are rereading the books). Sunday, we did a scavenger hunt at Leu Gardens. We did boys versus girls and the winners got to pick lunch. I was the only one truly trying to compete on the girls team. Anna and Kara weren't interested in running through the gardens, or winning apparently. Anna has never been competitive, but Kara used to be, so I was a little surprised. It worked out because I screwed up where we were in the beginning, and checked off the wrong "leaf".  After that, we never really got back on track. So, I don't think we could have won, even if we had picked up our pace. And, we still had fun and learned some new things (one of the rules was everyone had to read the informational signs before they could check it off). If anyone is wondering, the boys couldn't decide between Culver's and Dairy Queen, so we did one on Sunday and one on Monday.

Thomas sent us this picture to let us know they were the victors.

We sent this in response. How weird is it that Kara can only cross one eye???

Monday, we hung around at home. It was a really nice, long break from work. 

In other news, Anna has decided not to do band. I am frustrated with her decision as I think band would be really good for her and I am almost positive she would enjoy it. She hasn't played since 6th grade, and she didn't remember very much. But I played the baritone for many years and remembered enough to sit with her and work through the notes; I told her I was willing to practice with her every day this summer. The teacher knew that she was going to need a lot of work and was still welcoming her into the band. No one was expecting perfection. But, she decided she no longer wanted to make the commitment. When we were out walking the other night, she told me she wished that she had kept playing piano because she would probably be good by now. That is likely true. She wants to fast-forward through the hard part and get to the reward. It  reminds me of the saying, "don't wish for it, work for it." I feel like we are really good at the wishing and not so good at the working.

The band thing has taken up more of my mental space than it probably deserves this week. I mentioned last week that I was struggling with Jack and his online classes and now I am struggling with the feelings about Anna. We have mostly chosen not to have battles over "extracurricular" activities. But, I still feel like sometimes I am pushing too much and then other times, I wonder if I didn't push enough. Jack only tried basketball because we forced him into it and now he loves it. But, maybe that is the difference? We can make them try something, but we can't make them enjoy it or want to put in the effort it takes to improve. Regardless, it is frustrating.

Second Week of Summer Break. Parenting Struggles

For week 2 of summer break, Luke went to a coding camp. He seemed to enjoy it. Kara spent a lot of time babysitting for the Cantells, Anna worked on her virtual courses and Jack lounged around. Okay, that isn't completely fair, but I am mad at Jack and he rarely reads the blog, so I am going to portray him how I choose and see if he ever finds out...

So, why am I mad at Jack you ask? The short response is because I want him to do things that I know will benefit him in the long run and he wants to spend the summer doing what he wants to do. With his permission, I signed him up for two online classes. One is driver's ed and the other is a PE/fitness type class. Our school district requires one virtual class and the health class is widely taken by upcoming Freshmen to free up more room in their schedules. The driver's ed will save us some money and make getting his learners permit in October(!) easier. And, it has been a struggle. I think I need to learn to hand off more responsibility to Jack and Anna. I don't think I am a helicopter parent, or even close, but I do probably need to let them have more freedom and personal accountability. Of course, Jack also needs to communicate with me. That is what the frustration is about--he has a habit of telling me what I want to hear and then doing what he wants to do.

Enough about that. He is a good kid and I know that. So, how about two off-topic stories? Jack went for a run one morning and asked me to make him a protein shake. Which I did. When I handed it to him, he asked if I put nuts in it (likely thinking of peanut butter powder). Obviously, I have no desire to send him into anaphylactic shock, so no, there were no nuts. I thought it was funny he asked, and it is a good habit for him to verify. Second story regarding my kids questioning my integrity/ability to parent. We are having our pool deck redone (more on that later). And, we needed cash to tip the workers (they changed something we didn't like, which required a couple of hours of extra labor on their part). As mentioned, Kara has been babysitting, so she is flush with $$$. I asked her to borrow some and she responded with, "are you going to pay me back???" I could only sigh and promise to go to the ATM the next day. Seriously, what is with these kids? They think I am going to poison them and steal all their money???

So, back to the pool. We have done a lot with our pool this year. First, we got the heated spa up and running. Then, we had it refinished with a really nice pebble-tec. Next, we had the patio redone with Sundek. We still need to install rocks around the pool cage to hopefully keep more of the dirt out. And, we also need to have the pool rescreened. If we move again, I am buying new construction! 

Old pool.

New pool

Close up of what the Sundek looks like.

Today, Saturday, Kara, Luke and I went to Winter Haven. We visited with my dad, Maggie, Kim and Dave. My dad's house is under contract, and he is preparing to move to a retirement community, so he has been throwing a lot of stuff away. We went through lots of old pictures and I brought home another box of stuff. Kara took some "blackmail" photos, aka "mom with a perm". Hey, it was the 80s! Although, looking at the class photos, it appeared as though I was going out on a fashion limb and can't entirely blame it on the times. We also stopped at Marta's house and met her new puppy and chatted for a bit. Traffic was good in both directions, which is rare, and we enjoyed the visits. Back at home, Anna had ice skating and Jack had a basketball game, so they stayed behind. Hopefully, we will all make it down there soon. 

In random news, they are very short on workers in our old Maryland office. Basically, they have told us if we want to move back--we can. Thomas would do it in a heartbeat. I would seriously consider it if they would pay our moving costs, which is unlikely. Anna is interested. Jack is vehemently opposed, and Kara and Luke are somewhere in the middle, although definitely lean more toward staying than going. If anyone with a long memory recalls, Jack was the only kid who did not want to move to Florida. There are several things I really miss about Maryland, but I also like the opportunities we have here, mainly college choices for the kids and of course, I enjoy seeing my family regularly. I also like my job here, and going from a fully staffed office to one that is struggling with attrition is not very appealing. So, I don't see it happening, but it was an interesting development.

Trip Conclusion

On Wednesday, we did a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains. Luke was whining as we hiked. In an attempt to engage him, I made him the pace setter, except then he tried to make us jog. Up the mountain. Then, he was kind of annoyed that I wasn't really letting him set the pace. So, Thomas and Jack said they would jog with him. They ended up jogging the last 0.80 miles of the trail, all uphill, to reach the waterfall. Show-offs!

Can you see them rounding the bend?

The hike was really pretty. It was about 3 miles round trip (from the car, which was about 1/3 mile from the trial head). It ended with Laurel Falls, a very pretty waterfall. It had lots of scenic views and most of us, well, at least Thomas and I, enjoyed it. After the hike, we went to a visitor's center. It had a small museum and a gift shop and everyone picked out a souvenir. 

Next, we went to a late lunch at the Local Goat, which specializes in "locally sourced, sustainable food." It was very good. Then, we went to Walmart to pick up some dinner supplies to bring back to the rental house. We spent the rest of the day relaxing. The boys played video games and board games. Anna sat on the deck and painted and Kara and I sat with her and we chatted. It was a peaceful evening.

Thursday, the forecast called for rain. We stayed with our plan for a second day at Dollywood and it was pretty empty. We rode our favorite rides again and saw a show. It rained off and on in the afternoon and we left around dinner time to get ready for the drive home.

Thomas and I woke up at 5 on Friday morning and finished up the last-minute packing.  Thomas got the kids up at 5:30 and we were on the road at 5:45. The drive went really well. Although, we did get pulled over in South Carolina. It was one of those areas where the speed limit changed and as soon as Thomas saw the officer, he looked at our navigation, which showed the speed limit and our speed. He knew then he was the target. He immediately started pulling over and had his license and registration ready to hand over. I am not sure if it was Thomas' contrite attitude, the fact that we had all the kids in the car, Thomas' license identifying him as a Veteran, the cop's good mood, or a combination of all of the above, but he let us off with a warning. We drove very carefully the rest of the way home! The other eventful thing is we passed a car on fire in Jacksonville. It had obviously just happened, as the first police car was pulling up to the scene as we passed. Thankfully, no one was in the car. I imagine we got by with just a few minutes to spare before they would have to start closing more lanes or shutting down the highway for the firefighters to put it out.

We made it home in just under 10 hours. We have already started unpacking and it is nice to relax in our space.

For everyone's favorite part of the trip:

Jack & Luke: white water rafting

Anna, Thomas & Kori: Dollywood

Kara: Can't choose, she liked everything

Dollywood!

On Tuesday, we went to Dollywood. The park opened at 10 and we arrived at 9:10 to make sure we had plenty of time to park, go through security, and get our tickets. All of that only took about 15 minutes, which was nice. We were a little nervous to see so many cars coming in, but I remembered our Busch Gardens day and chose not to take it as a bad sign. They let us into the park and we immediately went to the most popular roller coaster--Lightening Rod. It is another RMC, similar to Iron Gwazi (wooden coaster with a steel tracks). We waited there until the park officially opened and were off the ride by 10:15. It was an impressive ride, with a cool launch and is built into a mountain, but it was a little bumpy for my taste. After LR, we raced to a few other rides that I knew would get long lines. We had done 3 of those by 11 and then slowed our pace. 

Kara took Luke on the log flume (most of us were afraid of spending the day with wet sneakers). We looked in shops and had a delicious barbecue lunch. After lunch, we rode the coal powered train, which comes complete with black soot. Then, we went to "state fair" section of the park. They had a lot of rides back there that we (but mostly Luke) really liked. We all did the bumper cars, which is one of my favorites and Luke and the girls did 4 or 5 other rides. None of the lines were very long in that part of the park. 

After state fair, we made our way to the other side of the park, stopping for treats along the way, including the famous cinnamon bread, which did not disappoint. We went on an old wooden roller coaster that was incredibly rough. Then, we did a weird ride called Mystery Mine, I don't even know how to describe that one, but it was also bumpy. By now it was after 4 and the lines had started to decrease. My and Thomas' favorite ride of the day was called Fire Chaser (one of the first three we rode before lines started getting long). It is a smooth, "medium" roller coaster (kind of like Slinky Dog) that has a couple of thrills, but was not intense. It always seemed to have a long line, but we kept checking. 

We rode another weird ride called "Blazing Fury." It was billed as indoor roller coaster, but there was no roller coaster. We rode it a few times, and I am not exactly sure how to describe it. Here is Dollywood's description: An out-of-control fire is just minutes away from engulfing this 1880s town, and chaos ensues as the town's residents hurry to escape the blaze. Riders scream through town on this indoor roller coaster, taking each hill and curve with great speed as they try to outrun the fire." Hmm, that description is actually helpful. I thought maybe it was supposed to be a haunted attraction as some of the animatronics, which appeared to be very old, were pretty scary and zombie-like. And, I don't remember the ride having any "speed."

By 6:00, most of the rides were walk-ons. We did some of our favorites again (including Fire Chaser--yay!) and had a quick dinner. The park closed at 8 and the kids did Lightening Rod again right before closing.  We were in our car by 8:30, meaning we had spent 11 hours at the park. It had been a long time since we spent that kind of time at a theme park, probably not since we last park-hopped at Disney. But, unlike our "home" parks, we couldn't really leave much for next time. We do plan on going back Thursday, but it is still not the same as when you know you can return any time. It was a good day, everyone was agreeable and mostly patient. Dollywood is a really beautiful park. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the music playing throughout the park. 

Favorite rides are:

Kori: Fire Chaser

Thomas: Fire Chaser

Anna: Lightening Rod

Jack: Thunderhead (a really bumpy wooden coaster)

Kara: Lightening Rod

Luke: Lightening Rod

TN Day 3

Monday was a busy day. We started with ziplining. I found a place that seemed kind of "medium." It didn't have the super-intense-through-the-mountains-lines, but it wasn't small either. It went over the Pigeon River, which I thought would be fun. Our reservation was for 10:45 and they got us started right on time. We got lucky, as the other people that were booked for our time did not show up. So, it was just our family. That was really nice, especially because I thought it felt pretty crowded on the platforms and I think it would have been really difficult with 4 more people. Unfortunately, we opted to leave our phones in the car, so I do not have any pictures. 

We started with a practice line, which was just a few feet off the ground. That went well and helped build everyone's confidence. Then, we went across a medium tower (maybe 20 feet off the ground) and then a larger line from the same tower. The tower was pretty shaky. Thomas said jumping off from the swaying platform was a relief. They had dual lines across the river, which was fun. Then, we came back over on the longest line--1300 feet long and about 90 feet high. In total, I think we did 6 lines. Everyone enjoyed it and I think we could handle the big mountain one if we ever decide to try again. As mentioned, I did not take any pictures, but Google provided me with this awesome image of the two river zips. After the bottom one, we had to climb a gazillion stairs to get to the top line, which was the longest and most fun.

We went back to the rental house, had lunch, rested for about an hour and then went to the Titanic Museum. It was good, but really crowded (it is Memorial Day after all). They give you a character card before you go in with the description of a real person who was on the Titanic and then at the end, you learn their fate. You can also look for information about them in the museum. For example, Kara learned in a pets section that her character, a first class passenger, had a dog onboard named Frou Frou. I did not see anything about my character in the museum, but she was a maid to a first class passenger. All of our people survived (but, Frou Frou did not). We also got to feel water that was the temperature that night--28 frigid degrees. It was, of course, sad. 

This is showing the slope of the deck two minutes before it sank. It would have been nearly impossible to hold on for long.

They also had a replica of the grand staircase.

After the Museum, we went to Sonic for dinner. My food was not good and I am feeling a bit sick. But, everyone else seemed to like it. Most of us weren't ready to go "home" so we did one more activity--The Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. It is billed as the "longest downhill ride in the United States with over 1 mile of track." You get pulled in your sled to the top of the mountain and then it is a single car roller coaster all the way down. You can slow yourself down if you so choose or go full throttle. Luke was too short to go alone, so he rode with me. I let him control the brake, which he opted not to use at all. I was scared! I wasn't prepared to go with him and I couldn't remember what the weight limits were. I asked the operator who responded with a, "yes, there is a weight limit, but don't worry you won't come close." All I could think about was the kid that died on the Orlando swings who exceeded the weight limit, but no one told him. So, I spent the ride worried we would fly off the track because of my failure to make them pause and verify the number (I found out later it was 375 pounds, so she was right--we were not close). 

They have a second ride discount, so we decided to go one more time. This time, I went alone and braked whenever I saw fit, which was much more enjoyable. Thomas rode with Luke, who again went as fast as it would allow. It was fun and everyone really liked it. We hope to go back on our return trip to try it in the dark! Again, we weren't allowed to bring anything in our pockets, so no pictures, except for this one from their website to show what the track and carts look like:

Last Minute Trip

We have a trip to Tennessee planned later in the year with the Wills. And, we decided it would be a good idea to do a preview. Initially, we were going to come up over the long Memorial Day weekend and go to Dollywood. Then, somehow it turned into (almost) a week's vacation. We are doing some of the things we won't be able to do when the weather is colder and some things we will probably want to do more than once. I gave the family a list of options and had everyone rank them 1-8. Then, I averaged out all six of us and this was the family priority list:

1.3-Dollywood (four of us had this at number 1, Kara and Jack ranked it #2. Jack's #1 was ziplining, Kara's was Titanic Museum)
3.3-White water rafting 
4.8-Mountain Coaster
4.5-Titanic Museum 
4.5-Horseback Riding 
5.1-Zip Line
5.1-Splash Country
7.1-Ropes Course

We left on Friday at 6am on the dot. We had picked out breakfast and lunch food to minimize stops and pulled into our rental house at 4pm. The drive was okay. I feel like traffic has definitely gotten worse in the past few years (well, maybe decade). Thomas and I used to make the drive from Virginia to Florida all the time from 2001-2004 and 2007-2009. Then, we made it frequently from Maryland (2009-2019). But, I feel like the east coast is not as fun to drive as it once was.

Anyway, we got the rental house, checked things out and then went to Walmart for supplies. The house is nice and cabin-like. It has a cute barn, mountain views, and a farm across the street.

Sunday, we started the day with horseback riding at Deer Farm Stables. The ride was 45-minutes, so much shorter than the one we did last year in North Carolina, which the kids seemed to prefer. Almost everyone enjoyed it. Kara said she feels bad for the horses and that makes it hard to enjoy the ride. Fortunately, the horses seemed well taken care of, they had a weight limit, and list on their website all the ways they ensure the horses are given a good quality of life (no consecutive rides for example). So, hopefully, the horses are happy enough. My horse, Thor, was exceptionally well-behaved. He didn't require any direction from me. Jack was in front of me and his horse, Black Jack, was much more spirted. It was fun to watch while I relaxed on Thor.

After the horses, we went to our next event--white water rafting. This has been on my bucket list for years! I remember counting down to when the big kids would be old enough and then we had Luke and had to start all over again. The one we went to was for kids 8+ on the Upper Pigeon River. There were class III and IV rapids, but they were pretty quick and it didn't feel too scary. Thomas and Jack sat in the front and they bore the brunt of it. At one point, Jack almost flew off the raft, but Thomas grabbed him. There were a couple of people in our group who did fall out, but fortunately, no Wilsons. I am glad we did it and I would happily do it again, but I think my preference is the nice, relaxing, river float. Thomas and Anna also enjoyed the white water rafting, but said they prefer a relaxing float. Luke thought it was amazing and gave it a 10/10 and Jack and Kara similarly loved it and would prefer it to a lazy float any day of the week. All in all, I think we are off to a good start.

I'm not sure why everyone but Luke is looking worried, maybe because the water was so cold!