Cruise Finale, Back to Routine & Howl-O-Scream

We had a really fun day on Sunday. Originally, we planned to get off the ship and see a couple of things in Nassau. But, people were tired and wanted to have a more relaxing day. Everyone was still up early; Thomas and Jack went to the gym and then we all had breakfast in the Windjammer. Luke did the flow rider after breakfast. 

He did great, especially for his first time.

Our next activity was laser tag. We were second in line and made it in the first group to play. I’ve never played laser tag on a team, which made it super fun! It was aliens against robots and we were split up on the two different teams, so half of us won and half of us lost. After laser tag we had lunch and then we decided to go and do another round of laser tag. It was just that much fun! That time, we did have to wait in line for a bit, but it wasn't too bad. From there I took Luke to the kid's club so that the rest of us could see Grease. It was good and everyone enjoyed it. Then we had dinner followed by ice-skating. 

We ended the night with some late-night pizza, then went back to the room and packed. We were among the first off the ship the next day (we got lucky and used the front staircase which funneled us to a different exit then everyone else on the ship. It actually created a bit of problem, because Kara took an elevator and we had to get them to open a huge door to get her to us). But, we figured it out and were in the car by 715.  All the kids went to school, where they were very tired.

Kara outside the laser tag/ice skating venue.

Our week back to normal life was busy! Jack stayed after school on Monday for basketball "open gym". Anna went to a teen leader's club meeting at the YMCA. They are going to do volunteer activities, activities to strengthen leadership potential, and an end of the school year retreat to North Carolina. She is obviously very excited about the last part. 

On Tuesday, Jack had band practice, Luke has baseball and Kara had theater. Theater was really important because Kara had to practice her monologue, which she performed as part of the arts exhibition on Wednesday night. She was one of two theater acts chosen to perform (out of over 30) and she did a great job! Luke went with me, but Thomas had to take Anna to ice skating. 

We picked up some cupcakes to give Kara after her performance, Luke tried one too.

Performing her monologue. Closing her eyes while she waits for some thief to return her purse.

Thursday, was more baseball and band. Friday night was middle school night at the high school football game. That meant Kara got to go and sit with the band through half-time. Anna and I dropped her off, then grabbed a quick dinner at Chick-Fil-A before going to the game. We left after half-time, but had a good time. I went back and picked up Jack after the game ended.

Saturday, I took Anna driving for about an hour. Thomas took Luke to a baseball tournament. I took Anna skating and that night Jack had a basketball game. Sunday, I took Jack driving. Luke's tournament continued. Kara babysat and we did a little shopping. 

Sunday night, I took Kara to Howl-O-Scream at SeaWorld. I got a free ticket for donating blood and bought a second ticket from another donor who didn't want it. We had a really fun time. It was way more relaxed than HHN. It was also smaller and a completely different atmosphere. We went through all of the houses (some of them twice), saw two shows, and had a snack. There were no long lines or huge crowds. In fact, we went through 3 of the haunted houses by ourselves! I probably like HHN better, just because the houses there have such amazing designs, but I would definitely got back to Howl-O-Scream. 

First scare of the night, we had just walked in and were looking at the map, when a door opened (totally obvious now that there is a hole in the map, but we didn't see it at first) and some guy popped his head out and yelled at us to ask if we needed help!

First house of the night.

Any surprise that our favorite house was cruise themed?

Cruise Day 2

Saturday was everybody’s favorite stop, CocoCay! We had breakfast in the main dining room, and we got to sit with everyone! The adults enjoyed not having to fight the buffet crowd, although I think the kids were disappointed. From there we went right to the beach. Luke wanted to try out the sports area before it got crowded, so we did that first. We played ping-pong and basketball and volleyball. Then most of us decided to head to Chill Island,  Jack decided to stay behind and play a little bit more basketball. On the way to Chill Island, we saw Marta and Frank at the Oasis Lagoon Pool and Luke decided to stay with them. 

At the beach, Thomas, Anna and I snorkeled, Kara relaxed on a beachside lounger. We snorkeled for about 30 minutes and saw lots of cool fish, but no stingrays, which is what I was hoping for.  After we snorkeled I went in search of Jack, which led to me looping the island without finding him. It turned into about an hour of all of us looking for each other without success. Jack did find Elizabeth and Travis, so that was good. While I was trying to reunite the family, Thomas was staying with all our stuff on the beach. And, the craziest thing happened. Some guy tried to steal one of our snorkel sets. The snorkels were on a chair behind him and Thomas saw the guy walk by and pause and turn around, then the thief walked by with one of our sets. It took Thomas a minute to realize what was happening and then he tracked the guy down, who said he was just borrowing it. Thomas told him no and got our stuff back. Who would steal someone’s snorkeling stuff? Who would want to put their mouth on a snorkel that belong to a stranger?!?!  Gross!

We finally met up with everyone for lunch, which was delicious. I love the make your own taco option. In fact, I love it so much that apparently, it was my only CocoCay picture. After lunch we hung out in the massive pool for a little bit and were back on the ship around 130. 

Everybody showered and the boys did the rock climbing wall, they all made it to the top and rang the bell. Luke also did the sky pad again. Elizabeth and I played some ping-pong and we all watched the ship pull away from the pier. Thomas took the kids to the arcade for a bit. He said it was mostly a rip-off, with several games taking their money with no game play. But, Anna did hit it big and won 1000 tickets on one machine.

All three on the wall. From left: Jack, Thomas, Luke.

Big winner!

I love how the island looks in the background on this one, like Kara is standing in front of a prop.

We dressed for dinner, which was formal night. Anna wore her tiara, which must be a common birthday occurrence, because the waiter asked if it was her birthday (while calling her queen). She said it was and after dinner, he brought her a piece of cake and our whole area of the dining room sang to her. It was a very nice moment. After, I asked Jack if he felt left out, he said no, I wouldn't eat the cake anyway. It didn't occur to him to feel left out of being the center of attention. Such different personalities these twins have!  After dinner we played miniature golf and then went to the evening show, which was a comedian juggler. Everybody enjoyed it, Luke said it was his favorite show ever. After dinner Luke and Jack went back to the room and the rest of us got some nachos at playmakers and then we called it a night. It was a full fun day!

Birthday girl!

Birthday Cruise, Day 1

The kids were off of school on Friday, so we used the opportunity to schedule their second-annual-birthday-weekend-cruise! Before departing on Friday morning, I took Anna driving for about 30 minutes. She made some good improvements and I even let her drive the mile home from the park where we had been making circles around the parking lot. 

Our check in time for our Independence of the Seas cruise (first time on this ship) was 10:30 and we left our house around 9:30. It only took about 45 minutes to get to the port and check-in was a breeze. We had to wait around for the ship to officially open for boarding, which happened shortly after 11. We went straight to the Windjammer, but it didn’t open until 11:30. We were among the first in line for lunch, which was good because it was super crowded by the time we left. After lunch we walked around the ship and then Luke, Thomas and I changed into our bathing suits and tried out the waterslides and pool. The waterslides were okay, but very slow. Luke also later did the sky pad and rock climbing wall. 

The VR wasn't working on this trip, so it was just jumping.

We relaxed in our room until dinner, which was in the main dining room. There was a snafu and our table was not with the Tilleys/Farnhams. That was a little annoying, but it was my own fault for making assumptions about our reservations being linked. After dinner, we walked around the ship. We played shuffleboard and enjoyed the night sky, including a really great view of Jupiter and a beautiful pink sunset. We saw the 9:15 ice-skating show which I thought was good, Thomas did not like it, and the kids were somewhere in the middle. Oddly enough, every male skater who had a solo performance fell (either 3 or 4). After the ice skating show, we called it a night and went to bed.

Jack went to the gym. The rest of us enjoyed the views. This picture doesn't do it justice, but the pink sunset was beautiful!

Jack and Anna are 15!!!

It is hard to be believe that our first borns are 15! They each had requests to celebrate over the weekend. Jack's list was short. He wanted to go to the downtown library. Anna wanted to go to the mall and ice skating. The library ended up being closed, so Jack didn't get his one request. I took Anna and Kara to the mall. Anna got a dress, makeup from Sephora, a tiara (she wants to wear it on the cruise), a headband, Cinnabon and lunch in the food court. On Sunday, Anna went ice skating. Then, we all went to Universal. We met up with the Grunds. The teens walked around on their own. Luke, Mike and Mia played in the dinosaur area and rode some of the rides. We stayed until park closing and a good time was had by all.

The kids were still off from school on Monday due to hurricane flooding and power outages (not in our area, but other areas of the county). And, it was Jack and Anna's actual birthday! We started the day with presents (because Luke didn't want to wait). It was a busy day. Thomas took them to the DMV and they received their learners' permits! They took drivers ed through virtual school, which alleviated one of the requirements. But, they still had to do an online test that could not be completed until they were 15. They did that right before the appointment and fortunately, they passed. Once they had the permits, Thomas took them straight to a large parking lot and gave them their first lesson. Thomas said Jack was very confident. Anna was more cautious. They are both very anxious to get back out there. 

For lunch, we had Jack's requested meal--KFC. Then, we had Anna's cake, which was an ice cream cake from Menchie's. Jack didn't want any, so she got peanut butter and it was amazing! For dinner, we had Anna's requested meal--Cracker Barrel. Jack had coke cake for dessert, which he loved. He could have chosen any type of cake or dessert he wanted for his birthday, but he insisted he didn't want anything. However, he couldn't resist the lure of coke cake. I was glad he ended up with something. It was a nice celebration of our favorite twins.

Anna's cake was amazing!

He was not interested in sharing.

Jack had his well-visit today. He is 5'11.75"; we told him he can round up to 6 feet now. His rate of growth has definitely slowed. He only grew one inch in the past year. He blames me for the fact that he is not as tall as he would like. His dad should have married someone taller. Of course, then he wouldn't exist, so I guess he can't win either way. Anna's appointment is Thursday. I miss the days when they were little and we would take them in together. Time is going by quickly!

Hurricane Ian & Jack's braces

We first became aware of Hurricane Ian about a week before landfall. The forecasters knew it was coming to Florida, but did not know precisely where or with what intensity. The Saturday before landfall, they seemed to settle on a path closer to the panhandle. The girls and I went to WalMart Saturday morning to grab something for a birthday party and Walmart was crazy. I couldn't figure out what was going on, it was like black Friday. Then, I realized it must be the hurricane. People that seemed panicky made me feel panicky, but I just grabbed what we came for and got out of there as quickly as possible. 

On Monday, they were forecasting it was going to hit Tampa Bay and then come up through Orlando early Thursday morning. It was only going to be a Category 2 at landfall, so not much for us inland to worry about. But, we did make sure we had water on hand. They cancelled school for Wednesday and Thursday. There were mandatory evacuations for Tampa Bay. Then less than 24 hours before landfall, the path shifted more south. It was now beelined for Fort Myers, and it was going to be a Category 4, maybe even a Category 5. That is when things really get scary. Again, not so much for us inland, but for those taking the direct hit, a Cat 4 is catastrophic. I felt really bad for those in the new path, I worried they didn't have enough time to evacuate and that it would be hard for them to find gas and places to go, since other parts of the coast had already left. Anyway, I knew it was going to be ugly. And, it was still forecasted to pass right over us, but since it was going to be so much stronger at landfall, it was slightly more worrisome.

Tuesday night, we ordered 6 large pizzas--one for each of us. We told everyone to make it last (and they have, it is now Saturday and we still have 2 left). We also did our last minute preparations of moving all the stuff from the pool deck and porch to the garage. Wednesday was rainy and windy. The girls went swimming in the rain. Thomas and I had to work and I had a lot of stuff to handle for end of fiscal year. Wednesday night was a little scary. The wind and rain were really loud and we were under tornado watches all night. Because of our previous flood issues, I got up a few times to make sure the roof wasn't leaking. And, when I did manage to fall asleep, my phone beeped me awake with flood warnings. I couldn't turn it off because we needed to be aware if the tornado watch turned into a warning. It was a looonnnngggg night. Thursday morning seemed better and the boys went swimming, but then the wind picked up again. There was a lot of flooding in the neighborhood, but fortunately, it seemed like most of our neighbors had little to no damage. We also never lost power.

By Thursday night, the rain had stopped completely and the wind was more mild. Kara and I went for a walk. We saw a few downed trees and lots of water in the streets, but it seemed mostly okay. School was canceled for Friday. Thomas and I still had to work, but it was a quiet day. Orlando had a lot of flooding. Apparently, the worst flooding in hundreds of years and it may have still been a category one when it hit us (that is what the reporters speculated, but the wind didn't seem that bad to me, so I want to see something official). And, the hurricane didn't pass directly over us, it ended up shifting quite a bit south. It makes me nervous for our future in Florida and what could happen if the storm had come in from the east and closer to where we live (we are closer to the east coast). As it was, we couldn't safely leave the neighborhood until Friday because of flooding.

This is in our back yard. The retention pond, which is normally about 10 houses away overflowed all the way past our house.

Always fun to swim in the rain.

Luke's school playground. There is normally not any water in this area.

Path he walks to school is under water.

Boys swam too, the water was much colder on Thursday than Wednesday

Water down the street. One of the neighbors measured it at over 15" deep at its deepest point

Also on Friday, Jack got his braces off! It was supposed to be next week, but they called on Thursday and asked if he could come in Friday instead. And, since there was no school, it was much easier for us. Plus Thomas had already taken leave for a dentist's appointment that was cancelled.  So, two kids down and two to go! 

He said he has to learn how to smile without braces.

School Drama

Luke is smart. He is in the gifted program, reads around a 6th grade level, and always tests in the 99th percentile for both math and reading (in fairness, that is on iReady, which I think is artificially inflated). Last year he was in an accelerated class. His school had one for each grade beginning in 2nd. Then, a new principal came and got rid of the classes. She believed it created a system of haves and have nots. The teachers also didn't like it. According to the new principal there was "no joy" in the school when she arrived. But, she failed to communicate this to any of the parents, who then arrived at open house to find their kids had been split into different classes (except for 5th, since they had been together the longest they allowed them to finish their elementary school career together). It didn't make as much difference to us since Luke had only been with the kids in his class for one year, it was the same as any other year. Although, we were a little disappointed as we liked the pacing of the accelerated class and it was a good group of kids. But, some parents were very angry. And, it lead to a whole thing. There were meetings at the school and the associate superintendent was called in. Lots of drama. I went to the meetings, but it was very frustrating. I actually left the second one early, because I couldn't take listening anymore. It was two sides who really didn't care to hear the opposing view.

My perspective is that there is very little incentive to ensure students like Luke are challenged. Schools (and teachers) get judged on student growth, at least in Florida. If a student is already maxing out the test, they really can't show much growth. I know that (most) teachers are doing their best for their students, but they are human and their time is limited. I also know that none of our older kids were in an accelerated class and I don't believe their academic growth has been stunted. It is another topic that has taken up more mental space than it deserves. That seems to be a theme for me this year. I don't know if there will be any more meetings, but I have decided I am out. No more meetings, no more getting involved in this debate.

In other news, and a topic that truly matters and deserves mental space--my niece is back in the hospital. Her experience has really made me lose a lot of faith in the medical profession. She has been sick since January and in and out of hospitals since May. I am really hopeful that she is finally on a path to recovery. But, every doctor seems to have a different idea of the best path forward and none of them seem to really communicate with each other. It is sad and frustrating and disappointing. Some of the doctors decided early on that an eating disorder was the root cause of all her issues. They ignored any evidence that didn't fit that theory, ignored what my niece and her family were telling them and literally wasted months. I don't feel like this is my story to tell, so I don't want to delve too far into the details. I just want to say that I am sad for what they are going through and I really hope the current path leads to good results.

In other, better news. Kara had her monologue and a group act selected for the thespians competition. She is really excited about it. All the kids had straight A's on their interim reports. 

I feel like we are all super busy. Almost every day somebody has something going on, frequently multiple people have different activities. It can be hectic, but most days I don't mind. With two kids in high school, time is going by faster than ever and I know the years with all 6 of us living under the same roof are limited. But, we still have enough time left that I don't have to feel stressed about it. It is actually a good position to be in.

To conclude: a few pictures from the past week.

We finally tried Crumbl Cookies. Well, the girls and I did. Luke wasn't interested and Thomas and Jack aren't eating added sugar.

Leu Gardens. Thomas was being silly, but these roses smelled amazing!

They had a scavenger hunt with fairy doors. These were 4 of my favorites.

Thomas went ice skating with Anna. She said he did great!

Halloween Horror Nights!

Last year, Kara and I had a great time at Halloween Horror Nights: 30 Years of Fear.  In preparation for this year, I looked for last year's blog to see if I had written anything that would help us successfully plan our day. Imagine my surprise when my search came up blank. Apparently, I didn't even mention it. That doesn't really seem like me, but maybe I don't know myself as well as I thought I did?

Anyway, our annual passes give us one free ticket to the event. Kara and I both really like this type of thing. No one else in our family does. It is odd, because I don't like scary movies or books, but I love me a haunted house! Kara complains that she doesn't know if she likes scary movies, because I won't let her watch any. But, at least she knows she loves a good Halloween event. 

We went on Sunday night. I was hoping a Sunday would mean lower crowds, but it was one of their more packed nights. Probably due to the fact that it was the first night in (seemingly) weeks that wasn't plagued with thunderstorms. We got to the park around 2:45 and rode the Mummy. Then, we basically just waited for the holding area to open. We managed to be first in line at our holding area (they have several around the park)! This was very exciting for us. Being in line so early meant lots of waiting, but we talked and played games and time went by quickly.

No one in front of us! 

Our first house, one of the event's most popular, was based on the movie Halloween and it was really fantastic: amazing set designs and some really cool elements. Our goal for the night was all 10 houses and 5 scare zones, plus a couple of snack breaks. They have two shows, but one was the same as last year and we didn't want to waste the time seeing it and the other we just missed (I could never find the show times). We had planned out the first four houses, but lines quickly started to build. So, we did a small pivot to try and chase some lower wait times as the park got more crowded. We were fairly successful. We did wait in a few long lines, but we chatted and made the best of most of the waits. The only frustrating one was Bugs: Eaten Alive which had a posted time of 45, but took 66 and we just crawled so slowly toward the front that it felt even longer. I was bitter about all the Express pass people who got to skip the line. I even texted Thomas wondering why I bothered with law school if it doesn't mean I can randomly buy express passes to save myself and my daughter from waiting in long lines at Halloween Horror Nights? Thomas reminded me I work for the Government. Then, Kara reminded me of my cruise habit and I decided to be more positive. If you are wondering, Express passes were $130. Each. Plus tax. 

Last year, Kara's favorite house was "Puppet Theater" which was in the same place as this year's "Descendant's of Destruction"

We did all 10 houses. My favorites were Halloween and Dead Man's Pier Winter Wake, which was absolutely stunning. Whoever designed that house is a visual genius.

I found this picture online. This is the first scene in Dead's Man's Pier. 

We got pretty tired as the night went on. Around 1130, we still had two houses left. One was The Weeknd (based on the performing artist) and it had a posted wait of 120 minutes! The other only said 50, so we did that one first and ended up waiting 33. We decided we would hope for the best and get in the line for The Weeknd, even if we ended up waiting 2 hours. When we got there, we were excited to see that the time had shortened to 95 minutes. Guess how long we ended up waiting... Wrong! 17 minutes! It was such a pleasant surprise to end the night. They changed the time to 35 right after we got in line and then we only waited half of that. We finished that one around 1245. We had outlasted most of the crowds, and briefly considered doing Dead Man's Pier again, but we were t.i.r.e.d. And, as Kara reminded me, she had school the next day (fortunately, her school doesn't start until 9:30, there is no way Jack or Anna with their 6:15 bus pickup time could have managed).

Last house of the night!

We had done what we set out to do--all 10 houses in one night. We felt very accomplished. Both Kara and I were sore and tired. I was trying to figure out why we would be sore. We walked around 17000 steps, which is a lot, but not unusual for people who spend a lot of time at theme parks without getting sore. I am guessing it is because of all the standing. We only sat twice in about 8.5 hours and that was to eat our snacks. Speaking of which, we had a brisket crepe, which we had tried for the first time at HHN30, and the chicken "offals." We liked both. We had also brought a few things in with us.

The "Offals" were really good. Sweet and spicy.

In conclusion, I liked almost every house. They all (except 1) had something interesting or fun about them. Kara and I rated each of them right after leaving the house on a scale of 1-10. Here are Kara's rankings (screen shots from Kara's phone, she kept track all night): 

Kara's rankings

My rankings weren't as descriptive, so I will just list them in my order of most to least favorite: Dead Man's Wharf; Halloween; Legend's Collide; Weeknd; Blumhouse; Chupacabra; Descendants; Hellblock; Bugs; Coven. 

And now, the rest of the pictures:

They change out the scareactors every 45 minutes or so and they all wear these long capes to hide their costumes and makeup.

From one of the scare zones.

As we were leaving, I commented to Kara that we never saw the Pumpkin King. Then, there he was.

And now, I have it all written down to help with planning in 2023!