Spring Break 2023!

Originally, Spring Break was supposed to start on Friday, March 10th. But, that turned into a hurricane make-up day. Regardless, we decided to pretend it started on Friday (well, sort of). Thursday afternoon, we picked up Kara from school and all of us went to Universal. I wanted to see the parade again before the time change. The floats light up, so it is better to see it when it is dark out. We had dinner at City Walk, rode a couple of rides and saw the Mardi Gras parade, catching lots more beads in the process. I had told the kids if they weren't doing anything, they could stay home from school on Friday. Anna was the only one who took me up on the offer. 

Jack was in a store when I took this picture, but he was there too. We got there early to make sure we got our preferred spot.

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So fun when the floats have a confetti cannon.

Friday night, we went back to Universal. This time it was just Thomas, Anna, and me. Lines were short and we rode lots of rides. Saturday, Luke had a baseball game. It was one of the Little League games (as opposed to travel) and they won something like 15-0. Those games seem really unfair and I don't like it. Although, the team they played did actually have a few really good players. That night, we went back to Universal. This time it was Thomas, Anna, Kara and me. We had a good time. 

Sunday, Thomas, Kara and Jack went to a Tigers game. I stayed home with Luke and Anna. Luke ended up going to his friend Mike's house that afternoon, I don't think we did anything else. The baseball Wilson's enjoyed the game, but traffic was terrible! Thomas had planned on going back for Tuesday's game but decided he was not up for the drive.

I had to work most of the week. I have a protest, which means a lot of work for me. I am not sure if we did anything fun Monday. But, Anna did injure her foot. Luke was chasing her and she caught it on a door. It really sliced her toe. We debated taking her to urgent care, but decided to see how it looked in the morning. One toe is super bruised and she has a deep long cut between her pinky and third toe. It still looked bad on Tuesday, so Thomas took her in. They said it had to be within 24 hours for stitches, which it was, but they still did glue. That afternoon, Thomas took the older kids to see Ant Man. I had to work. They all liked the movie. I think I let Luke do electronics while they were gone and I worked.

They did x-rays to make sure the bruised toe wasn't broken.

Wednesday, I worked a few hours in the morning, then took Luke to Fun Spot. Thursday, both Thomas and I had to work until about 3 and then we went to Universal. Friday was Luke's actual birthday. All of those days are detailed in his birthday blog post.

Today is Saturday. We went to Target. Luke used a Target gift card from Davi to buy Wubble Balls and candy. Kara went to a friend's birthday party at a painting place. Luke and Thomas practiced baseball. We all went to dinner at Culver's. Anna and I went for a walk and we played Grounded for Life again.

 Sunday, morning I took the girls to Good Will. That afternoon, Luke went to Mike's birthday party. They played something called Gellyball, which is a gentler form of paintball. Luke really enjoyed it.

It was a good break. Even though I had to work, most people took the week off, which meant I didn't get a lot of emails or taskers and was able to devote time to legal writing and research. It is the mostly lawyerly thing I've done in years! I enjoyed spending time with my family. It was a little unusual for us not to be traveling, but we enjoyed the week at home. I think it was a good blend of activity and relaxing. 

Happy Birthday, Luke!

In Florida, Luke's birthday always seems to fall during Spring Break. That is both good and bad. Good because we can do things like go on a cruise (last year) bad because crowds are higher for local outings. Luke had several requests for his birthday: visits to the arcade, fun spot and a trampoline park. We also had a reservation to be on a float during Universal's Mardi Gras parade (passholders get to reserve one night, he chose to go the night before his birthday).

Fun Spot lets you bring a friend free during your birthday week. Luke decided to bring Adrian, his favorite friend from his baseball team. Kara and I met Adrian's family there on Wednesday. We were there at park opening and did go-carts and all the other rides, at least the ones they wanted to do. At one point, Luke told Adrian not to worry, the park didn't close until mid-night! I should have definitely set expectations. Fun Spot is small, but easy. They rode rides, ate pizza for lunch, and played in the arcade. We had to force them out at 4:30, I think Luke might actually have been willing to stay until midnight. Adrian gave him a game and a Guinness Book of World Records. Luke loved both!

Adrian, Anabel (Adrian's sister) & Luke

Kara went on this crazy ride (she's in the center). Luke, Adrian and Anabel got in line with her, watched the ride go upside down and one by one retreated to the tilt-a-whirl next door :)

Thursday, Thomas and I had to work in the morning/early afternoon. After work we went to Universal. We had gone three days in a row last week (post to follow, maybe?). And, it was way more crowded this week. We rode Men in Black, had dinner, and then checked in for our float. We got assigned the lead-off float--River Boat. It is probably the least exciting float, but we still had an amazing time. We threw thousands of beads and the atmosphere was awesome.  When we got off the float, we had to wait for the all-clear to get escorted back to the park from the backstage area. Our float captain asked if it was anyone's birthday and Luke told her it was his. Everyone from the float, about 60 people, sang him Happy Birthday (we were still backstage, so we weren't allowed to take pictures). Then, people starting putting beads around his neck. One girl even gave him a cool, light up necklace in Mardi Gras colors! We left the park after that and went to get Krispy Kreme for the morning. Even though it was around 9 and they closed at 10, the light was on and they gave each of us a warm, green (in honor of St. Patrick's day) donut fresh off the line. 

My favorite thing at Universal. Too bad it's only once a year.

Birthday Boy!

Friday was Luke's actual birthday. Mike came over at 9 and Thomas left with the boys around 1030 to go to Arcade Monsters. His other good friend, Davi, met them there. It opened at 11, and they had lunch around 1230, then kept playing. Thomas had to drag them out around 4:15. They stopped for slurpees on the way home. 

We had Luke's requested dinner (Pasta Roni fettucine alfredo). The rest of us also had chicken and broccoli, but Luke only wanted the noodles. And, on his birthday, he makes the rules :). He chose a cake from Menchi's and it was delicious! We played the game Adrian had given him, Grounded for Life, which is like Apples to Apples but funnier. And, he opened his presents. 

And, that concludes Luke's birthday celebration. We still owe him a trip to the trampoline park. But, we will probably do that once the Spring Break crowds have left the area. Today, we might go shopping to let him spend his gift cards from Mike and Davi. 

Copying here from Lana, 9 things about Luke (in no order):

1) He's very smart. He's in the gifted program at school and rocks reading and math (he's already read a million words this school year!)

2) He loves sports, especially baseball

3) Because he was born on St. Patrick's Day, his middle name is Patrick

4) He loves pajamas, as soon as he comes home, even if he knows he is leaving the house again, he will change into pajamas

5) He does not like regular cake (hence the ice cream cake)

6) He does really like video games

7) His favorite YouTuber is Mark Rober--he loves his videos (especially the squirrel mazes)

8) He can name the Detroit Tigers starting lineup

9) He really enjoys playing board games and just wrapped up a heated game of Risk with Jack

Lakeland, MPA, Sports

It's been a little while since I've written, so this will just be quick catch-up blog (in no particular order). 

Baseball's Spring Training started. We went to the Tiger's Sunday game on opening weekend. First, we stopped in and saw my dad. We had a good visit. Jack asked him about his military service and he told us about being stationed in Puerto Rico and being an executive driver. My dad has always been really personable and extroverted, which is why he said he got the job. My mom was much more introverted and I would say all 4 of their children are introverts, which is kind of interesting. I don't know what the odds are, but it seems like at least one of us should have taken after my dad. It used to drive us a little crazy as kids. We couldn't go anywhere without seeing people my dad knew. And, if he didn't know someone, he would before we left wherever it was. Anyway, we had a nice visit and then went to the Tigers game. It was fun to be back at Spring Training. We enjoyed the game with the new rules (most notably the pitch clock). Luke was featured on the score board a couple of times between innings. The only drawback was it is unseasonably hot right now. We have experienced several days with record high temperatures. For example, yesterday was 90 degrees. It is barely March!

Always fun to be on the scoreboard. Luke got a lot of air time. :)

After the game we went to Marta's for dinner. We didn't stay too long because it had been a long day, but it was nice catching up. And, they have 16 baby chickens! We all enjoyed holding them (except Jack for some reason).

I think Boomer was a little jealous, so Thomas held him too. Fun fact, I have know Boomer for well over 20 years and I don't think she's ever let me hold her.

I volunteered to be a chaperone for the band MPA. I was not on Jack's bus so he was spared from having to sit with me. But, I talked with the other moms. It was fun seeing the competition and his band was really good. I enjoyed all of their songs and thought they sounded amazing. I also got to see them do the sight-reading portion. That was entertaining and they did a great job there as well. They got handed music they had never seen before and were given 2 minutes to go over a march and 3 minutes for an overture. When the clock stopped, the band director couldn't say another word. He just raised his arms and they played. I thought it was very entertaining. It was a bit of a long day, but I am glad I went and would do it again.

Like everything else at their school, the band is huge. This is just the 9th grade band.

Anna met with her ice-skating coach for the first time on Wednesday. The coach did an evaluation and will choreograph a routine for Anna. Her music will be "Once Upon a December" from Anastasia. She will start learning the routine this week (we hope!). Kara is still busy with theater rehearsals and Jack finished another session of basketball at the YMCA. A new session starts tomorrow. Luke had a baseball tournament this weekend. They played 5 games again, which is so many for little kids. Both days had a report time of 7am and the fields were about 40 minutes away. It is a lot, but Luke still loves it and goes without complaint. He played really well and went 5/8 at bats today with some amazing plays in the field. His team won 4/5 games and finished the tournament in 3rd place.

He didn't pitch very much, but we got a picture of when he did.

That is roughly all the news. Jack and Anna are still accumulating driving hours. Anna has also been volunteering as a tutor. She tutors a 4th grader in science and enjoys it. We are always busy, but no complaints here!

And, some final pictures to conclude this quick summary:

Luke played hooky one day and went to a spring training game at Disney's Wide World of Sports. I didn't go, but expected that the stadium would be amazing. It wasn't.

And, one Friday night, the girls, Luke, Thomas and I went to Universal. We had a ton of fun at the Mardi Gras Parade. Luke and Anna caught the most beads.