Disney, HHN, Broken Toe and More.

Kara and I have been trying to get our money's worth from our HHN passes. We have gone five times. It has been nice having the multi-night pass. We still did the one super-long night, but our other visits have been shorter. We get in, get some houses done, have dinner and/or snacks and then leave when it starts getting more crowded.

Thomas and I did a Wednesday date night and went to HHN. He doesn't usually like those type of events, but I was pretty confident he would enjoy several of the houses. We weren't trying to see either of the two most popular houses, so we were able to take a more relaxed pace.  We had dinner and then ended up doing 6/10 houses and Thomas enjoyed all of them. He appreciated the elaborate sets and costumes, just like I suspected he would. In fact, he wants to try and go again. Unfortunately, Kara and I are at the end of our multi-night pass and I am not sure we will be able to get there, for reasons that will become clear below. (ohhhh, foreshadowing...)

Date night in the fog!

On Friday, Thomas and I took the day off and went to Epcot. We rode our favorite rides (Guardians of the Galaxy, Test Track, Soarin', and Spaceship Earth) and hung out in the aquarium for a bit. We had a nice lunch and then headed home. I bought Genie+ but we didn't use it that morning, because I spent the day stacking lightening lanes for our planned evening at Hollywood Studios. We bought our passes in May and have been wanting to ride Slinky Dog at night ever since. We have tried two or three times but were always thwarted by bad weather. 

Jack watched Luke and Thomas and I took the girls. We got there around 4:15 and immediately began using our lightening lanes. We rode a lot of rides and had a relaxing dinner at the ABC Commissary, where we played with all the Disney filters in the app and waited for our lightening lane for Slinky.

Then, the skies got cloudy and Slinky closed. We rode Toy Story Mania and Swirling Saucers and waited. They told us that the ride wasn't closed for weather, but for technical issues. So, we decided to try and wait it out. We rode Millenium Falcon (Thomas and Kara were stellar pilots) and then saw it was reopened. By now, it was after 8 and the park closed at 9. It definitely looked like it was going to start raining at any time and we were really nervous we would be thwarted again. We got to the front of the line and could hear the downpour. At this point, we were dry in the line. But, we got on the ride anyway and off we went. In the pouring rain. Let me just say, it was not fun. We could not see anything, the rain was cold and it was coming down hard and it hurt! But, everyone on the ride was laughing because it was just ridiculous and so uncomfortable! 

The ride didn't close because there was no lightening and when we got off, there was no line, because who would be crazy enough to ride it in the heavy rain? Us apparently. We walked right on (to a ride that is normally at least a 90 minute wait!). I wore my sunglasses (shared with Thomas) and could at least keep my eyes open. We ended up riding 4 times. Each time, the rain was a little less. It was hilarious and something I foresee us talking about in the future (remember that time we rode Slinky Dog over and over in the pouring rain?). I was sad the boys weren't with us. 

I love that the girls always managed to pose for the camera.

Zoomed in on Thomas and I on the first ride :)

We were soaked! This was after our first ride.

We would have kept riding, but the park closed. We hadn't intended to stay quite so late, as Anna and I had to leave for skating at 445am, but we couldn't help ourselves. We were still home and in bed by 10. It is nice to live so close.

On Saturday morning, I took Anna to skating. She went over her program and did a few classes, both on and off ice. We were at the rink from about 545-945 and then went and visited with my dad. He is doing slightly better. Meanwhile, Thomas and Luke had an eventful morning. Thomas went running and ended up tripping on a curb. He took a hard fall and broke his big toe and sprained his right wrist. Luke's hand was swollen from an ant bite he received on Thursday night, so he couldn't play baseball. But, Thomas still took him to the game and he served as a bat boy and was a good sport, cheering on his teammates. They were kind of a sad mess (Thomas and Luke, not the baseball kids).

And that, is another week in the life. I never got the part I was foreshadowing (Thomas had surgery on his arm--unrelated to the fall and I have Covid). But, this post is getting long, so stay tuned for another exciting post where I highlight this week's events.