A Night in Tampa, This and That

The past two weeks have flown by! On Sunday evening (June 15), Thomas and I went to Islands of Adventure. We went on 5 rides and 4 of them experienced technical difficulties, including a pretty scary experience on Velocicoaster. Right before we got on, it shut down. It was down for about 10 minutes and then reopened and we boarded. There is a point on the ride where it accelerates into a huge top hat. But, the ride came to a halt. We were stopped for a few minutes, then it started rolling backward slowly. Then, it started backing up fast before reversing course and accelerating into the uphill climb. I am not doing a great job of describing it, but it was scary. Several people on our car started screaming at the fast backward motion that is definitely not part of the regular ride. The other delays were more minor. Regardless, we still had a nice visit. They recently opened up the express lane for Hagrid's. Our pass allows us one express after 4 on each ride and it was so nice to use it for Hagrid's. The park was surprisingly empty, so the wait was super short, I believe around 20 minutes. 

Last week Luke had a baseball camp. He went with a friend. They drove Mon-Wed and we drove Thurs/Friday. There is little I appreciate more than a good carpool! Luke enjoyed the camp and somehow the boys convinced both sets of parents to stop at Wendy's for a frosty after camp each day.

We did not pick up the girls last weekend, because we had plans to go to Tampa and watch some baseball. It was a Rays/Tigers series. We generally don't like to root against the home team, but we couldn't pass up the chance to see the Tigers. Right now, the Rays are playing in a minor league stadium, so there are no bad seats. We drove down Friday after Luke's camp and our half day at work. Waze said it would take an hour and 50 minutes. It took 2 hours and 20. But, we made it to our hotel to check in and rest a few minutes before heading to dinner at Chick-Fil-A. We got to the game just in time for them to announce a rain delay. I would say about a third of the crowd was Tigers fan, which makes sense as they Spring Train about an hour away. We saw some really great plays, but the Tigers lost (score was a crazy 14-8).

Only picture I took, Jake Rogers batting. He tossed Kara a ball back when he was in the minor leagues and we've rooted for him ever since. I sent this picture to her (unbeknownst to me, Thomas did the same thing). Also shows how good our seats were.

We went back and did it all again for the Saturday game. It started at noon and we had an early lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Why mess with a good thing? We had some trouble getting into our car, but a quick trip to WalMart for a new key fob battery thankfully fixed everything. For that game, we sat right behind the Tigers dugout, which was really cool. Unfortunately, they lost again.

The drive home went well, right around 90 minutes, which is best case scenario. I don't think we did anything Sunday.

The next week was uneventful. Luke went to camp at the middle school along with two neighbors, so once again a great carpool! Thomas missed a couple of days at work, which made my days extra long and boring. And, there was some type of emergency that required them to carve up one of the roads we use to get to work and the detour added 15 minutes to our commute each afternoon. With the return to office we discovered a Tropical Smoothie in a neighboring building and have been going there once a week for lunch. I love, love LOVE the watermelon mojito. Unfortunately, it is only around for summer. Probably better for my wallet (and waistline).

Today is Friday. Thomas and I took the day off to take Luke and a friend to Aquatica. They were giving our level of passholder $20/beach bucks (used like cash in the park). And, right now, we have 10 passes, so $200! If you're wondering, our family has 5 passes (everyone but Jack). They expire on July 1. But, it was cheaper to buy a new pass than to renew the current passes. So, I canceled the current passes and bought 5 new ones. But, there's a few days of overlap. Hence the $200. We bought some new drink cups, lunch, ice cream, walking tacos, water shoes for Luke, and cotton candy. And, we had 10 quick queues that they used after lunch when the lines got long. If Luke's friend, Gael, ever goes with us again, he is going to be sorely disappointed by how cheap the visit will be in comparison. 

In final news, I can't resist a mom brag. Jack got a 1510 on his SAT! He studied completely on his own and made a nice improvement. He already had a 1400, which is good enough for Bright Futures, but he felt with a little studying he could do better in math. He was right. His superscore is now a 1540! He isn't sure what he wants to do and is not even sure if he is ready to go away to school, but this score along with his grades and activities should open some doors if he wants to.

A few bonus pictures. I enjoy facetiming with the girls. Anna calls every day during her break. Kara calls most days. And, both girls sent me their schedules. I like to randomly look during the day and see what they're doing. We are picking them up tomorrow and I am looking forward to spending some time with them. They are now halfway done!

A very full schedule!