More November

One of the coolest things about living in Florida is occasionally friends from other places visit and we get to hang out with them. Earlier this month we were able to join the Darrows at Epcot and Hollywood Studios. For Epcot, it was me and the girls. Jack had cross-country and Luke had baseball. The next night, me, Thomas, Luke and Anna met them at Hollywood Studios. We had a great time and it was so good spending time with their family. I miss Alecia. I feel like I haven't made many close friends in the 5+ years we have lived in Orlando and it is bittersweet to spend time with the ones from Maryland. I don't know if it is being at a different stage in life or becoming more reclusive since Covid, or some combination, but I feel the loss more keenly when I spend time with the people I was closest to in Maryland. 

I didn't take any pictures, but thankfully Alecia had a few

Speaking of friends, on Tuesday the Wills' cruise ship passed through Port Canaveral and we met up with them at the Orlando Wetlands and Fort Christmas. Anna is still recovering from her wisdom teeth removal, so she had to opt out, but the rest of us had a lot of fun. We saw a ton of alligators and cool birds at the Wetlands. At Fort Christmas, the kids played football while Kayce, Thomas and I looked through the Pioneer Houses. It was so nice to see them. Our kids were constantly running between our two houses in Maryland and it is fun to see them growing up. They will be back in April and I am glad our goodbye was "see you in a few months".

We saw so many gators, including one eating a fish.

It's very picturesque, but not a lot of shade, making it a perfect fall/winter spot.

But, lots of shade at Fort Christmas

Anna had her wisdom teeth out on Friday. During the drive home she was pretty funny, asking repeatedly, "Am I going to remember this" and no matter what I said, she wasn't happy with the response. She also told the nurse she loved her and asked me if I tipped her. Apparently, the nurse very sweetly held her hand before and after the surgery. So, maybe I should have brought an extra $20. Anna was also very chatty, we kept trying to get her to stop talking so she could keep the gauze in place. At one point, she was saying it hurt and I told her that maybe if she stopped talking she would feel better. She stopped talking for about 5 seconds then commented on how not talking didn't work. 

When Luke had his cyst removed, he kept asking if Thomas took the day off from work. When Thomas had his arm surgery he asked repeatedly whether I had his shoes. And, for Anna it was the question about remembering on repeat. She would also say, "I don't understand why I wouldn't remember this because I'm alive right now." Our brains coming out of anesthesia are funny things!

Telling the nurse she loves her, she said it and held up the heart. (screenshot from a video)

Anyway, her recovery has been okay. The day of the surgery, she was very nauseous and dizzy. Fortunately, the bleeding wasn't too bad. We did tea bags, which I think helped. The second day (the day after surgery) she looked pretty good, but could barely open her mouth. The next two days she was extremely swollen, but felt a little better. Tuesday she ate her first solid food--scrambled eggs. Yesterday the swelling was finally better, but her jaw is still very stiff making it hard to eat. Today (Thursday) she is doing a lot better. Our plan is to have Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. We decided that last night and it worked out better than expected because poor Kara is sick today. 

Anna made this on Sunday :)

Other news I have not written about--Jack's cross-country team made it to State's! They didn't place, but Jack enjoyed the experience. And, it had been a long time since his school had qualified for State's, so they had a lot to be proud of. The Regionals were held in Boca Raton and States were in Tallahassee, so Jack got to spend the night with his teammates at both meets. He is ready now for track to start. 

Fender Bender, Halloween, Sorta Sad Saturday, HHN Concludes

What a week we've had! On Tuesday, I was at work when I received a call from Anna. She said they got into an accident on the way to school. I left work and drove to the school. Jack had hit another car while turning into the school. The woman he hit was a teacher at another school and was very understanding. Fortunately, it did little damage to her car. Our car has a very large dent in the rear passenger door. Luckily, the door still functions normally, so the there was no frame damage. Jack felt terrible. Thomas and I were very thankful no one was hurt, but angry that Jack had made some errors in judgement. He's only been driving to school for 3 months and we had talked repeatedly about driving cautiously and fighting the "teenage instinct" that the actuaries had (correctly) calculated when we added him to the insurance. 

He still went to school that day and we had a stern discussion after dinner about expectations going forward. We believe firmly that the punishment should fit the crime. So, he has to pay for the ticket and any increase in insurance and is only allowed to drive to school. We also made him scrub the car. We likely aren't going to get the car fixed, despite the fact that that is going to greatly lower the value of the car. We are hoping that the insurance won't increase too much, and as stated, it is cosmetic. So, that was our crappy Tuesday.

Halloween was Thursday. Jack had some friends come over and they went trick-or-treating. Kara went to a friend's house. Luke had a friend come over and Thomas took the two of them. So, it was just me and Anna at home. We did not have as many trick-or-treaters as last year. We bought 360 fun-sized candy, gave two to each kid, and had about 50 left at the end of the night (including this for next year, also starburst are not popular). I went inside at one point and no one rang the doorbell. We had our lights on and our decorations up. I thought maybe the crowds had left, but when I went back out 10ish minutes later, there were still a ton of kids out. It is so weird to me that kids don't ring doorbells anymore. I remember my older three fighting over whose turn it was to ring the bell.

Luke was Charlie Brown from the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Jack went as the same thing when he was around Luke's age. Unfortunately, we didn't save the costume, so I had to make it again. 

Kara was Brad Pitt.

Jack was Goose from Top Gun (complete with mustache). 

And, of course the yearly photo of all 4 kids. Anna had a baby mask in case she changed her mind and decided to trick-or-treat.

Friday, Thomas and I had a date night to Halloween Horror Nights. He doesn't love it like I do, but he gets a free ticket with his pass so he will go once a year. We had a great time. Well, I had a great time, Thomas had a tolerable time. He didn't like it quite as much as last year, but still enjoyed a few of the houses. We did 6 different houses, and did 3 of them twice, so 9 total walk-throughs. I had a good game plan, so our longest wait was 20 minutes. Well, 45 if you count being in line before the event opened to get a jump on the night. We were home by 9, which was good because we had a busy Saturday ahead.

I was really looking forward to Saturday. Jack had districts for cross country. Luke's baseball team had a tournament only 30 minutes from our house and it was marching MPA, my favorite band event of the year! And, Marta and Elizabeth were coming up to see Luke's game and the MPA. It was going to be a great day! But, Jack woke up sick. He still ran, but probably should not have. Fortunately, his team finished fourth, so they get to move on to regionals. But, it was not a great race and it isn't as much fun to watch when your child struggles (he still finished in 20:30, but that is a lot slower than his more recent times).

While at the meet, I got a message that Marta and Elizabeth weren't going to be able to make it. Kara and I still went to Luke's game. Once there, we sat around for an hour while it rained. The game was eventually canceled. So, kind of strike 3 on the day.

On the positive side, the MPA was good and the band had their best performance of the season, earning straight superiors. So, that was nice. But, it just wasn't the day I wanted. There was some other stuff too with a close friend having a medical emergency, but that's not my story to tell. Anyway, it was just a sad Saturday. Which was especially hard because I was really looking forward to the day. 

I think Jack is in the picture. I need to ask him.

Sunday, I went to Luke's game. They lost 8-7. Luke pitched two innings and only gave up one earned run, but it wasn't his best day at the plate (he went 1-3) and his team made some big errors. But, we did go to lunch at Culver's. 

It was the last night of HHN and Kara and I went for a few hours. We were there on the opening and closing nights. And, the house we did first, way back in August, was the house we did last. It was based on the movie franchise Insidious and was really amazing. My favorite house of the year. It was the scariest house I think they've ever done, at least in the years I've gone. We had a good run with HHN, with 11 visits over 10 weeks, but I am ready to move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And to close, one kind of funny story from HHN Friday night--Thomas and I were browsing the gift shop and I got startled by a stationary mannequin. All those haunted house jump scares had obviously gotten to me :)