"Remember When" & Winter Haven

On Sunday, we spent a lot of the day in Winter Haven. On the drive down, we listened to a flashback top 30 country countdown from 2004. The number one song was "Remember When" by Alan Jackson. It is probably my favorite song of all time. I shushed the kids and sang along. Then, I realized how my perspective has changed since that song came out. In February 2004, I was in my final months of law school. I had just married Thomas and our whole life was in front of us. The song symbolized the start of my adulthood. I identified most with the initial verses, particularly the line, "remember when, 30 seemed so old, now looking back, it's just a stepping stone to where we are, where we've been, said we'd do it all again. Remember When..." At the time, 30 was still a few years away, but for some reason, I just loved that line. Well, I loved the whole song. But, I remember thinking, that yes, at one time 30 did seem old, but now it is just around the corner. And, I liked thinking of it as a stepping stone from my past to my future. It made me excited for my future with Thomas. I thought that one day, "the sound of little feet (will be) the music, we dance to week to week". It was all in front of us and I couldn't wait!

I have spent a lot of time thinking about that song over the past week. I hear it regularly, I actually have a jewelry box that plays the melody. But, I haven't thought about the words in a long time. And, I realized that now 30, and 40(!) have come and gone. We are still dancing to the sound of little feet. But, they are getting a lot bigger. We have experienced challenges I never anticipated. But, I am still so glad to be living this life with Thomas. I am so thankful for the love I feel for him, likely more than I imagined in 2004. I don't yet completely relate to the final verse: "Remember when, we said when we turn gray, when the children grow up and move away, we won't be sad, we'll be glad, for all the life we've had and we'll remember when." But, I thought about how in another 16 years, that will be my life. The children will all be grown and out of the house and I don't want to be sad, I want to be thankful for all the moments I am currently living. It is a good reminder for me to enjoy this stage of life. I tend to get so frustrated at the little things and I need to remind myself that this is just another short phase; it goes so quickly. I was shocked when I realized that the song came out more than 15 years ago. I "remember when" it was released so vividly. I imagine the next 15 will pass in much the same manner.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming. On Sunday, we drove to my dad's house and had lunch with him. We played Spoons, ate pizza and chatted. Kim and Kevin came by to see us and Luke spent a few hours talking to "Hey Google." At one point, he came up to Thomas and whispered, "Dad, you might want to cover your ears." When Thomas asked why, he said, "because I am going to tell Hey Google to turn on the fire alarm." Thankfully, Google doesn't know that command! We had a really nice visit.

Then, we headed to Marta's house for dinner. Matt, Cristin and George were also there. The only one missing was Elizabeth. We had a good time with them. It is so nice to be able to spend time with our Florida family and it is why we moved here. I look forward to many more similar visits!

And, in other random news, the weather has been really nice lately. On Monday (President's Day), Jack, Kara and I finally set out to find the elusive Lake Nona. It was a short bike ride from our house and was really pretty. It is nice to be spending time outside in "winter". It makes up for it (a little) that it is too hot to be outside in summer.

Volunteering and Kara is 11!

Last Sunday, the girls and I had our first volunteer hours scheduled at the Give Kids the World Village. We were signed up for the breakfast shift, which required getting up around 6:15. We got assigned to tray duty, which basically entailed handing people trays and silverware and carrying things for them as necessary as they made their way through the breakfast lines. Anna is a little shy, so it was hard for her to go up to people and offer her help. I obviously had no trouble and Kara did pretty good. She liked finding smaller kids and assisting them through the line. Anna also did fine, but I usually had to volunteer her (e.g. "my daughter Anna here is going to be your personal assistant..."). I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I am an introvert, but it is easy for me to make small talk and it is a happy place. The families were all getting breakfast before heading out to do super fun Orlando things. And, breakfast was awesome. They had a waffle station, omelets, pancakes, yogurt, oatmeal, cereal. Pretty much any breakfast food you can think of, plus--an ice cream station! We saw lots of people getting milkshakes. So, naturally, everyone is pretty happy. Obviously, the food is donated for the families, so they are very strict that volunteers cannot eat any of it. But, they did have some pancakes in the breakroom that were delicious.

My goal is at least once a month for 2020, but even though it was fun, I don't love it. I feel like they already have tons of volunteers. When we were there, there was a group of college students up for the weekend with the sole purpose of volunteering. There are also people who plan a volunteer vacation. And, lots of other large groups. So, I just don't feel needed, and I kind of want to be someplace where they actually need volunteers. Well, they do need them at GKTW, but they have plenty of willing and able volunteers, you have to sign up months in advance for some positions! Regardless, I will still do a minimum of 12 sessions this year.

at GKTW

Kara's birthday was Wednesday. The big 11. I teleworked so that I could go to the school and have lunch with her and Luke. It is a lot different than it was having lunch with them at their Maryland school. You have to sit at tables in the lobby, you can't actually go in the lunchroom. And, there isn't a lot of space, and it all has to be prearranged, so we don't do it very often. But, I don't think we've ever missed a birthday at school, either Thomas or I always find a way to make it. Well, until this year when Jack and Anna started middle school and it's no longer allowed. But, this blog isn't about them.

So, I was home and started my telework at 6am. Then, I took an hour break and brought everyone to Dunkin Donuts so Kara could pick out donuts for her class and the other kids could pick one out as well. Donuts are the current trend in 5th grade. After I go them off to school, I worked a bit more and then walked to the school. I love being so close! We had a nice lunch and enjoyed chatting. I really appreciate that my job has some flexibility that makes it all possible.

Kara's chosen meal was lil' smokies (two years in a row!) and BLT's. It was super simple, so we were able to make it happen on a school/work day. She asked for a whoopie pie cake and I found a recipe online; it was delicious! Since we are holding firm on small birthdays thanks to the Disney passes, her only gift from us was a Harry Potter book--The Artifact Vault. Luke and Anna got her a fitbit type watch and Jack got her a Harry Potter cookbook. I think she had a good day.

Her cake was delicious, but total mom fail--we didn't have candles! 

Birthday Celebrations

Since moving to Florida and buying all kinds of annual passes, we have not been celebrating birthdays in the traditional way. Well, I guess in part we do. We still have cake and a birthday meal. But, instead of a party or big gift (their choice when we lived in Maryland), here, when it is your birthday, you get to choose a theme park and then dictate the day.

Anna wanted to go to Busch Gardens, but we convinced her to wait until the weather was nice. To reward her for her patience, we decided to go on a day when crowds are very light--which meant pulling the kids out of school. We haven't done that yet this year, at least not for something fun, so we figured one day was okay. We went on Monday, February 3rd, a mere 4 months after her actual birthday. (whoops!) We arrived at park opening and went straight to Cobra's Curse--a family favorite. We ended up riding it 5 times that day! Anna rode all the roller coasters, most of them multiple times, which I think was her birthday goal. We pretty much could just walk on whatever ride we wanted. It was very fun. We also saw a lunch time doo wop show and a pretty amazing ice skating show. Luke rode the log flume 5 or 6 times and absolutely loved it. They have two really cool playground areas, they are multi-level, with climbing nets, crawl tubes, and rope mazes. All the kids enjoyed running around. We ended up leaving around 3 and had an easy drive home. The day was amazing and a huge success and I wish we could skip school and work more often!

We loved the Sesame Street topiaries

The birthday girl!

Today, Saturday, February 8th, we celebrated Kara's birthday. She chose the Magic Kingdom. We got there at opening and went straight to Space Mountain. We were on and off in about 15 minutes. By the time we got off, the line was probably around an hour. And, by mid-afternoon it was over 2. We rode several rides in the first 2 hours and then our fast passes started. We had lunch and spent about an hour on Tom Sawyer's Island. The wait times were crazy by now, for example, 80 minutes for Haunted Mansion. I remember when February was a slow month! But, Kara had planned perfectly and we did all our rides during the first two hours plus our three fast pass rides (Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder and Peter Pan). After that, we got ice cream and did the show-type attractions: Hall of Presidents, Carousel of Progress and Monster's Inc. We left around 5 and had a relaxing night at home. It was a nice day.

On a funny note, Anna and I were both wearing Hollywood Elementary shirts. I teased her that we were twins and thought she might go change, but she went with it.

Luke was nervous, but has gained some bravery since the last time he rode. He loved it!

They look a little nervous...

My favorite ride photos come from Haunted Mansion

A nice family photo.

It's been a fun weekend. Friday night we went to Sea World. We bought the dining plan, so it is nice to go, have dinner and walk around for a couple of hours. They are having their version of Food and Wine and we got a special dessert--Cheesecake in a cone. It was pretty good and we look forward to trying more items. There was an amazing sunset and I had fun trying to get a good picture.

In random news, Luke got picked for Rocker of the Week. He was the first boy picked when school started (his teacher alternates between boys and girls) and was the first picked after everyone had their turn. It was a fun week for him. He got to bring in items for their estimation jar (fun sized M&Ms, there were 32 and he said guesses ranged from 5 to over 100), an item for show and tell, and his favorite book. He is really doing amazing in kindergarten.

Girls Trip!!!

On Thursday, Alecia, Michelle, and Sarah flew from Maryland to Florida. I had been looking forward to their trip for a few months (since they booked it). We are all Harry Potter fans, so the main plan for the trip was to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Their plane landed at 12:53 and we started the trip with lunch at Chili's. From there we headed to Sea World. Passholders had a bring-a-friend free option for January, so I was able to get them free tickets, which made it worth it to go for a few hours. It was a little bit cold and a little rainy, but we still had lots of fun. We fed the stingrays (my favorite), walked around some of the different aquariums, saw the penguins (my other favorite), watched a couple of shows and rode Mako--my favorite roller coaster. Hmm, lots of favorites in that day. After Sea World, we walked around the Florida Mall and enjoyed shakes for dinner. Then, it was back to my house where we watched tips and tricks for Universal Studios.

Alecia did not love feeding the sting rays, but she was a good sport.

I think everyone loved the penguins, can you see them there behind us?

Friday was the big day--the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We got there before park opening and were in line for Hagrid's Magical Motorbike before 9. The wait for that ride can top 3 hours, so we were happy to see it at less than an hour. We rode it and there were a few things that felt a little bit off (long pauses). When we got to the end, the attendant told us we could ride again due to the technical difficulties. So, we did. I felt very lucky. It has been labeled by many as the best ride in Florida and the waits are always long, and, we got to ride it twice in less than an hour! It was pretty amazing, but I still think I like Gringotts a little better. Maybe I need to try them both a few more times to fairly judge???

In line for Hagrid's--with Hogsmeade in the background

We rode all the Harry Potter themed rides and a few others (The Mummy, Race through New York, and Alecia and I did Doctor Dooms Freefall). We browsed in the shops, tried all the different kinds of butterbeer--hot, cold and frozen. We also tasted butterbeer ice cream (thanks Sarah!), clotted cream (meh) and fudge. My favorite was the drinks. The hot was surprisingly good, but the frozen is still my favorite. It was an amazingly fun day. Except for the race to Hagrid's, we took the day at a leisurely pace. There was lots of laughter and just a happy feeling to the day. We have known each other a long time; they were among my first friends when we moved to Maryland, almost 10 years ago. Even though I have taken a slightly different path, I still feel very comfortable with them and they are just great ladies. I think all women need some girl time now and then to just recharge!

But, back to the trip. We opened the park and stayed until closing. We had dinner at City Walk and then headed back to my house where we watched a few more YouTube videos, but now with the perspective of someone who has "been there, done that!"

Saturday, we went to lunch at Chicken Salad Chick (another favorite ;). Then, we went and checked out Disney World. We only had a few hours before their flight, but it was just enough time to park at Hollywood Studios and take the Skyliner over to Epcot. We walked around the Epcot resorts and tried 12 (yes, 12!) different kinds of ice cream at the Boardwalk. Then, we took the Skyliner back to the car and I dropped them off at the airport.

These are a fun bunch!

It was perfect for me, I feel like I got all the benefits of a getaway, but, I still got to sleep in my own bed. Thomas handled the kids. They were my guests, but I didn't have to cook or entertain them, I was just part of their vacation. It was fun and I hope they come back and we do it all over again!

Wilson Staycation, Spelling Bee and Braces

We had a super fun 3-day (4 if you count Friday) weekend during the MLK Jr break. We started right after school on Friday with a trip to Hollywood Studios. They closed at 8, so we didn't have a lot of time, but we still managed to ride the Millenium Falcon and Slinky Dog--two of our favorites.

On Saturday, we went to Aquatica. It was pretty awesome. Where else can you go to a waterpark in January?!?!? The average high this time of year is 71, but it was around 78. The water was heated and the air felt nice. We did all our favorites and the crowds were fairly light. Marta met us after lunch and we did the Roa Rapids together and walked around. She hadn't been in at least 10 years and wanted to see how it had changed. She said there were lots of new attractions and the landscaping was much more advanced and beautiful. From there, Marta came to our house, we played some games and then went out to dinner at Cracker Barrel.

Day 3 we went to Kennedy Space Center. We had been planning on going for a while, but had been waiting for nice weather. The high was in the mid-60s and it was a beautiful day. They were having a rocket launch, which we did not realize. It was scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed (unbeknownst to us). It was incredibly crowded. We bought annual passes after realizing that we were going to need a few days to see everything. The annual pass was cheaper than 2 day passes so it made sense. After sorting out the passes, we went straight to the bus tours, where we were quickly put on a bus. But, there was no tour, we just drove in silence. We didn't realize it, but they were busing everyone to a viewing spot for the rocket launch. It was at the Atlantis area. We watched a couple of short films and then went outside for the launch. The rocket itself actually didn't seem that impressive to me, but the trail of fire and the vibrations and sounds were amazing. It was a very cool experience and it was so funny that we just kind of stumbled into the day.  We were definitely the epitome of "sheep" just kind of following the crowds and going with the flow (totally not like us!). After the launch, we took a bus back to the main visitor's center, we were going to go into some of the other buildings, but the lines were insane. Plus, now that we had annual passes, we knew we would be back soon (it is only 45 minutes from our house). So, we headed out and stopped for a late lunch at Wendy's. We were so inspired by the visit that we went home and watched Apollo 13. It was another fun day!

Day 4, we went to Moss Park and finally did our hike. It was another slightly cooler day. We enjoyed being outside and doing something new. It made us anxious to explore some of the other outdoor sites in the area. We found a pretty pier and tested out my new camera.

It was a great weekend and I definitely love "winter" in Florida!

In spelling bee news, Kara finished 4th in the 5th grade spelling bee. She was frustrated because she had worked so hard and the top three moved on to the county. They gave her a word she had practiced, but she got confused and missed it. We were really proud of how hard she worked and thought she did amazing, especially for her first time. They didn't do spelling bees in Maryland, but they start them here in 3rd grade.

In a strange twist, Jack participated in his school spelling bee. His teacher was allowed to pick a few students and asked if anyone wanted to do it and Jack volunteered. For some reason, Anna did not get to participate. She has a different teacher and as I previously blogged, she won for her class, and was told she would be in the school one, but then she wasn't invited to participate. She didn't want to ask her teacher about it, and didn't want me to inquire, so we just let it go.

Thomas went and watched. I was working, but he texted me the play-by-play. Jack made it to the 6th round (there were 12 kids left). At that point, they had exhausted the words on the study sheet and got all new words. He knew a lot of them, but unfortunately, not the one he was asked--dervishes. He spelled it as he thought he heard it--derbishes. Six other kids got out in the round, so we were pretty impressed with his finish. He correctly spelled: hazmat, differed, commodore, brayed, and proportionate.

Waiting patiently for his turn. I have no idea what he was laughing about.

And, finally--the second Wilson kid is in braces! Kara got them on Wednesday. She is not a fan, but I am sure she will be happy when she has beautiful teeth in 18-24 months.

Before

After

January Resolutions and Other Nonsense

For January, I have made some resolutions and actually began taking some positive steps toward achieving them. First, I want to get healthier. My start for this one is to give intermittent fasting a try. I downloaded the Life app and have done 16-18 hour fasts 8 days in a row. I like it because it is easy, flexible and if I like it, I could stick with it. There are supposed to be a lot of health benefits, so we shall see how it goes. I have also retired the scale. I will still do a monthly check-in, but I am going to try not to worry about it for now and instead focus on making better food choices.

Next, I decided it was time to volunteer. One of Thomas' Maryland coworkers told him about a place called Give Kids the World. It is an amazing place where children who had or have a critical illness get to spend a magical week with their families enjoying Orlando attractions. They allow volunteers as young as 10. Anna, Kara and I went to orientation and we have signed up for a few opportunities in the coming months. My goal is once a month for 2020. GKTW is a very popular place, so it is harder than I thought to find openings for all three of us together, particularly when we are available (after school and work and on weekends, which is when most other people are also available). But, the girls and I are excited. Thomas is going to volunteer as well. He couldn't go with us on to this orientation, since someone had to stay behind with Luke.

That is it for resolutions for now. But, I am happy and hopeful that perhaps these will be positive changes that will stick.

Friday night we went to Epcot. They are going to be closing Test Track for refurbishment for about 6 weeks. It is a family favorite, so we decided to go ride. We also did Spaceship Earth, which is going to be closing soon for 2.5 years! It is another one we all enjoy. We don't know when, but we will be sad to see it go. It is nice to be close that we can go for just a few hours.

We were going to go to Hollywood Studios early to try and get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance, the new Star Wars ride, but Luke is sick. He had a high temperature last night of 103. It came down a bit with Tylenol. He also had a headache and said he just didn't feel well. I was worried he had the flu. I got up and checked on him in the middle of the night and was relieved he didn't feel quite so hot. But, this morning, his temperature was still high, so I took him to an urgent care. He tested negative for flu, so we will just wait it out.

It has been really warm here all weekend. The average temperature is 71 for this time of year, which would be wonderful. But, it has been in the mid-80s the past several days. Which, honestly, I don't mind. But, we keep waiting for a cooler day to go hiking. Last weekend was nice, but Thomas was sick. And, this weekend was a bit hot and humid (plus Luke was sick). The girls are enjoying it, because it makes it easy to go swimming. It is so funny to me that they are swimming in January. But, that is life in Florida.

Rest of Winter Break

Today is the last day of the greatest winter break of all time. What made it so wonderful? Well, first of all, Thomas, the kids and I were all off of work/school for an astounding 17 days in a row! It was amazing and it felt like it lasted forever (but in a good way!). That is probably because it was almost like it was split into 3 parts. The first was Christmas. The second was the visit from the Wills and the third was the final week.

The Wills left on New Year's Eve. I had a cold and took some Dayquil and was out by 9:30. Thomas and Kara were the only ones who stayed up to watch the ball drop. We had sent them to bed, but Jack and Kara were still awake when I went to bed. Thomas went up and Kara revealed their plan was for all the kids to come to her room at midnight for her to drop a ball from the top of her bunkbed. Thomas offered to let them come downstairs. Jack said he wasn't going to make it until midnight, but Kara took him up the offer. They played cards and passed the time until midnight.

My sister and her family came up on New Years Day. They had received a new game for Christmas--Unstable Unicorns and taught us to play. It was a lot of fun and we had a good visit.

On the 2nd, we went to Planet Obstacle in Lake Mary. We met up with my friend Holly, whom I've known since I was a teenager and her two younger kids (5 & 8). Planet Obstacle claims to be the "world's largest indoor obstacle course." Thomas and the kids all played and Holly and I chatted and took pictures. There was a rock climbing wall, ninja warrior course, trampolines, a ropes course and a zipline. The kids loved it! We had a hard time getting them out of there. But, after about 3 hours people were hungry. We went to lunch at Steak and Shake.

Luke, Kara, and Thomas all rang the bell (on different levels)

Jack on the ropes course

And Kara and Thomas. Luke did it too (a lower level)

the zipline. All the kids loved this!

This thing was entertaining. You have to try and hold on until you reach the top and then slide down. We only saw a couple of kids reach the top--but both Kara and Luke did. So funny!

On Friday, Marta and Elizabeth came up to visit. Unfortunately, Elizabeth had to head back to the island to continue vet school on Sunday, so it was our last visit with her. We had lunch and hung out, then went to the Florida Mall for a bit. I wanted to go to Hallmark and Bath and Body Works. The mall didn't have a Hallmark (crazy, right!?!?!) and the line for Bath and Body Works was insane. But, we did get some Rocky Mountain Chocolate and new Crocs, so it wasn't a total bust. We went to Menchi's (frozen yogurt place), played some games and had Chinese food for dinner. Another nice day!

Saturday and Sunday, we hung around at home, watched movies and took down our Christmas stuff. Even though there have been a few chilly days, Anna and Kara have still been testing out Anna's new mermaid tale in the pool. Now, Kara is determined to save up to buy one for herself. Unfortunately, I haven't thought to get a picture.

Today was our last day of break. Thomas isn't feeling well, so I took the kids to the Orlando Science Center. We had lunch at Subway, saw the exhibits and watched a movie on their giant screen about the oceans. We had a really good time.

Hurricane simulator--up to 78.8mph

Got to love a giant marble run

It is going to be so hard to go back to work tomorrow. After 17 days of sleeping in and doing whatever we want, no one is going to want to get up and resume our dull routine. At least the weather is good, while I generally appreciate the slower pace of January, I am so tired of the cold once Christmas is over.