Father's Day & Jack gets his License!

Interrupting the vacation posts to bring you back to our daily lives. I had to work Monday after vacation. Fortunately, I did not have to go into the office so I didn't set an alarm and decided to start my day whenever I woke. Normally, I log in at 6am, but I slept until about 730. Thomas took the day off to recover, but he went to Universal to meet up with Kevin. Not my brother, who was on the cruise with us, but Thomas' best friend from childhood. They had a week planned at Universal and Disney and Thomas joined in when he could. He left the house around 930 and none of the kids were awake so he went on his own. He had a fun day.

That night, I took Jack to his final driving lesson. It went well and the teacher told him that he thought Jack would pass the driver's exam. The rest of the week was pretty routine. Anna, Kara, Luke and I were all fighting colds (sore throats and coughs). Jack also had it, but only for a day or two. Anna definitely had it the worse. She has been sick for over 2-weeks now. Fortunately, she is on the mend, although I just heard her cough in the other room, so it is still lingering a bit. For me, it lasted about a week. And, a few days for Kara and Luke. Funny how that works. I assume it is the same virus for all of us, but we had such different experiences. Thomas never seemed to catch it (knock on wood).

On Friday, our family met up with Kevin and his crew at Magic Kingdom. It was a passholder preview day for the new Tiana's Bayou Adventure and we scored a virtual queue spot. Splash Mountain was one of my favorite rides, but I promised to give Tiana's Bayou Adventure a fair shot. Not going to lie--I don't love it. The "story" just isn't there and it didn't feel cohesive. But, it did have some cool elements and I am glad we got to ride. We hung out with Kevin until dinner time and then our family left. We were still tired and not feeling 100%. But, we had a really fun day. We even did a couple of new-to-us, or haven't done in years, things--the Riverboat, Tiki Room, and the already mentioned Tiana's.

Saturday, Anna, Thomas and I met up with Kevin one last time for brunch at a Cracker Barrel. Then, they started their 18-hour drive home to Missouri. Maria, one of Kevin's girlfriend's kids had a flight later that night, so she came home with us (she had work on Monday morning so didn't want to do the drive). She spent the day hanging out with Anna. At one point, Maria, who is 19, and Anna decided to go to Menchi's. I offered to drive them and then Anna remarked that Maria could drive. I hadn't even thought of that! But, I was very happy to hand over my keys. All these kids, and their friends, getting older--it is going to take some getting used to, but I think I'm going to like it. They went exploring a bit and when they got back, we all went to Tijuana Flats, then dropped Maria off at the airport. We enjoyed the extra time with Maria and I think we may have convinced her to come back for Halloween Horror Nights.

For Father's Day weekend, Thomas' first request was the baseball card shop and Tijuana Flats, which he did Saturday. Sunday, he wanted to go to Universal. We got there around 230 and got in line for Hagrid's. The posted wait was 65, but I think we waited just under 40. It was a pretty quiet day at the parks and we did a lot of rides. For me, the best part was staying for the new nighttime show, it was really good, with water fountains, fun music, fireworks and drones. Hopefully, Thomas felt celebrated. He is a great father and we are lucky to have him!

Now, it is almost like vacation never happened. The kids are all busy. Kara is babysitting a couple of days a week. She and Jack go to the gym often (though not together) and hang out with friends. As mentioned, Anna is still recovering, so her summer is off to a slower start. Luke is at baseball camp this week. Thomas and I have already done our days in the office. I miss sitting on a balcony with the mountains to look at!

In biggest news, Jack got his license this morning! He passed the driving test! For his first non-supervised drive, he and Anna went to Taco Bell for lunch. He is pretty excited. I am excited for him, but I am definitely going to be nervous for a while. I didn't take any DMV pictures, :(