Ice Skating Exhibition, Easter & Other News

On Saturday, April 15, Anna performed her ice skating routine for the first time. Marta came up for the day and Jack, Kara and I went to watch. Thomas and Luke were at a baseball tournament, but Thomas had watched her practice on Wednesday with her music and we recorded the performance. Both he and Luke were disappointed to miss it, but they had committed to the tournament before we signed up for the showcase.

Anna had two goals: 1) to not fall; and 2) to finish with the music. And, she easily met those goals. She remembered everything, did not fall, and finished with the music. It was probably the best she has skated. She was very nervous and her coach said she considered backing out, but she did it! Now, she is looking forward to doing an actual competition.

After her skating, we went to Cracker Barrel (Anna's choice) and then Target. It was a very fun and successful outing.

Anna with Summer, her skating coach.

Marta came up to support Anna and treated us all to dinner.

In other news, Luke got invited to try out for some special baseball tournament through perfect game. It is kind of like an all-star team. He is very excited about it. 

We went shopping for Kara's 8th grade formal dress, but it did not go well. Sometimes having teenage daughters is awesome and sometimes it isn't.

On Friday, we let Luke and Anna skip school and we went to Volcano Bay. It was crowded, but we had a great time. Kara couldn't miss school because of theater (the show is this weekend!) and Jack didn't want to. Kara said it was okay with her if we went, so we did. I have been promising them a Friday at Volcano Bay for a few months, so it was good to check it off. 

And, since this is in no particular order, I will end with Easter. We started the day with an egg hunt, Luke's favorite thing. The Mottas came up to spend the afternoon with us. We had a  ham dinner and played Grounded for Life. It was a nice day!

I actually won! Although in this game it doesn't matter, it's all in good fun.

We noticed that Luke and Amanda have the same haircut! :)

Visits and Updates

My dad turned 81 on March 24th. My brother Jim and his wife Sheryl came down from Virginia and the plan was for all of us to get together at my Dad's on Saturday to celebrate together. Unfortunately, my dad wasn't feeling well, so we had to cancel the plans. Instead, Jim, Sheryl and Kevin came here. Kim had plans for later in the day, so she didn't have time to come to Orlando. I would have gone to Winter Haven or Lakeland, but we didn't have a great place to meet and my house is the halfway point for Kevin, so I lucked out and didn't have to do any driving. It was really nice to visit with them, although it would have been even nicer to have been in the same room with all my siblings. I can't remember the last time that happened. We have all seen each other, just not at the same time. Unfortunately, no pictures. 

Our other recent visit was with the Darrows and (some of the) Rays. Me, Jack and Luke met up with them at Universal on Wednesday after school. Anna had a skating lesson and Kara didn't get home until late and had a lot of homework. But, the boys and I had fun. We had dinner and ice cream and rode a couple of rides. It was really good to see them. It took Luke and Brandon a minute to warm up, but then they had a great time hanging out. And, Jack enjoyed catching up with the kids and hearing about some mutual friends in Maryland. I was glad we were able to see them. I miss Maryland and our Maryland friends!

In no particular order:

Luke played in a Perfect Game baseball tournament. Perfect Game is a higher level than what his team regularly plays and they got slaughtered. They were in a tough bracket. There were three teams in his bracket (and I think  3 or 4 brackets) and those two finished in first and second in the tournament. One was from Texas and the other from Tampa. For us, the drive was only about 30 minutes, so pretty low investment cost. 

Thomas and I went to Fun Spot on one of our Friday's off. We had a really good time and sent this picture to the kids while they were at school.

Anna has been working hard on her skating. She is performing in a showcase next Saturday, so she has been in high gear with practices. (I have a lot of  videos, but no pictures.)

I have been super busy at work with a protest, which is when a contractor challenges the Government's source selection decision. The Government has to justify its actions, which is a lot of work. 

We have officially started swimming. Well, at least Luke and Anna have.

Thomas is trying to decide his favorite animated movie. He has 4 contenders that we are rewatching: Tangled, Toy Story 2, Madagascar. and Cars. 

Luke competed in Battle of the Books. His team finished 4th (out of 16) but only the top two get to move on, so he was disappointed, but hopes to do it again next year.

Jack has been playing basketball at the Y and it is going well. 

Kara has been going to lots of play practices. We are only two weeks away. Lately, she has mostly been working on painting scenery, which is not her favorite.

Spring Break 2023!

Originally, Spring Break was supposed to start on Friday, March 10th. But, that turned into a hurricane make-up day. Regardless, we decided to pretend it started on Friday (well, sort of). Thursday afternoon, we picked up Kara from school and all of us went to Universal. I wanted to see the parade again before the time change. The floats light up, so it is better to see it when it is dark out. We had dinner at City Walk, rode a couple of rides and saw the Mardi Gras parade, catching lots more beads in the process. I had told the kids if they weren't doing anything, they could stay home from school on Friday. Anna was the only one who took me up on the offer. 

Jack was in a store when I took this picture, but he was there too. We got there early to make sure we got our preferred spot.

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So fun when the floats have a confetti cannon.

Friday night, we went back to Universal. This time it was just Thomas, Anna, and me. Lines were short and we rode lots of rides. Saturday, Luke had a baseball game. It was one of the Little League games (as opposed to travel) and they won something like 15-0. Those games seem really unfair and I don't like it. Although, the team they played did actually have a few really good players. That night, we went back to Universal. This time it was Thomas, Anna, Kara and me. We had a good time. 

Sunday, Thomas, Kara and Jack went to a Tigers game. I stayed home with Luke and Anna. Luke ended up going to his friend Mike's house that afternoon, I don't think we did anything else. The baseball Wilson's enjoyed the game, but traffic was terrible! Thomas had planned on going back for Tuesday's game but decided he was not up for the drive.

I had to work most of the week. I have a protest, which means a lot of work for me. I am not sure if we did anything fun Monday. But, Anna did injure her foot. Luke was chasing her and she caught it on a door. It really sliced her toe. We debated taking her to urgent care, but decided to see how it looked in the morning. One toe is super bruised and she has a deep long cut between her pinky and third toe. It still looked bad on Tuesday, so Thomas took her in. They said it had to be within 24 hours for stitches, which it was, but they still did glue. That afternoon, Thomas took the older kids to see Ant Man. I had to work. They all liked the movie. I think I let Luke do electronics while they were gone and I worked.

They did x-rays to make sure the bruised toe wasn't broken.

Wednesday, I worked a few hours in the morning, then took Luke to Fun Spot. Thursday, both Thomas and I had to work until about 3 and then we went to Universal. Friday was Luke's actual birthday. All of those days are detailed in his birthday blog post.

Today is Saturday. We went to Target. Luke used a Target gift card from Davi to buy Wubble Balls and candy. Kara went to a friend's birthday party at a painting place. Luke and Thomas practiced baseball. We all went to dinner at Culver's. Anna and I went for a walk and we played Grounded for Life again.

 Sunday, morning I took the girls to Good Will. That afternoon, Luke went to Mike's birthday party. They played something called Gellyball, which is a gentler form of paintball. Luke really enjoyed it.

It was a good break. Even though I had to work, most people took the week off, which meant I didn't get a lot of emails or taskers and was able to devote time to legal writing and research. It is the mostly lawyerly thing I've done in years! I enjoyed spending time with my family. It was a little unusual for us not to be traveling, but we enjoyed the week at home. I think it was a good blend of activity and relaxing. 

Happy Birthday, Luke!

In Florida, Luke's birthday always seems to fall during Spring Break. That is both good and bad. Good because we can do things like go on a cruise (last year) bad because crowds are higher for local outings. Luke had several requests for his birthday: visits to the arcade, fun spot and a trampoline park. We also had a reservation to be on a float during Universal's Mardi Gras parade (passholders get to reserve one night, he chose to go the night before his birthday).

Fun Spot lets you bring a friend free during your birthday week. Luke decided to bring Adrian, his favorite friend from his baseball team. Kara and I met Adrian's family there on Wednesday. We were there at park opening and did go-carts and all the other rides, at least the ones they wanted to do. At one point, Luke told Adrian not to worry, the park didn't close until mid-night! I should have definitely set expectations. Fun Spot is small, but easy. They rode rides, ate pizza for lunch, and played in the arcade. We had to force them out at 4:30, I think Luke might actually have been willing to stay until midnight. Adrian gave him a game and a Guinness Book of World Records. Luke loved both!

Adrian, Anabel (Adrian's sister) & Luke

Kara went on this crazy ride (she's in the center). Luke, Adrian and Anabel got in line with her, watched the ride go upside down and one by one retreated to the tilt-a-whirl next door :)

Thursday, Thomas and I had to work in the morning/early afternoon. After work we went to Universal. We had gone three days in a row last week (post to follow, maybe?). And, it was way more crowded this week. We rode Men in Black, had dinner, and then checked in for our float. We got assigned the lead-off float--River Boat. It is probably the least exciting float, but we still had an amazing time. We threw thousands of beads and the atmosphere was awesome.  When we got off the float, we had to wait for the all-clear to get escorted back to the park from the backstage area. Our float captain asked if it was anyone's birthday and Luke told her it was his. Everyone from the float, about 60 people, sang him Happy Birthday (we were still backstage, so we weren't allowed to take pictures). Then, people starting putting beads around his neck. One girl even gave him a cool, light up necklace in Mardi Gras colors! We left the park after that and went to get Krispy Kreme for the morning. Even though it was around 9 and they closed at 10, the light was on and they gave each of us a warm, green (in honor of St. Patrick's day) donut fresh off the line. 

My favorite thing at Universal. Too bad it's only once a year.

Birthday Boy!

Friday was Luke's actual birthday. Mike came over at 9 and Thomas left with the boys around 1030 to go to Arcade Monsters. His other good friend, Davi, met them there. It opened at 11, and they had lunch around 1230, then kept playing. Thomas had to drag them out around 4:15. They stopped for slurpees on the way home. 

We had Luke's requested dinner (Pasta Roni fettucine alfredo). The rest of us also had chicken and broccoli, but Luke only wanted the noodles. And, on his birthday, he makes the rules :). He chose a cake from Menchi's and it was delicious! We played the game Adrian had given him, Grounded for Life, which is like Apples to Apples but funnier. And, he opened his presents. 

And, that concludes Luke's birthday celebration. We still owe him a trip to the trampoline park. But, we will probably do that once the Spring Break crowds have left the area. Today, we might go shopping to let him spend his gift cards from Mike and Davi. 

Copying here from Lana, 9 things about Luke (in no order):

1) He's very smart. He's in the gifted program at school and rocks reading and math (he's already read a million words this school year!)

2) He loves sports, especially baseball

3) Because he was born on St. Patrick's Day, his middle name is Patrick

4) He loves pajamas, as soon as he comes home, even if he knows he is leaving the house again, he will change into pajamas

5) He does not like regular cake (hence the ice cream cake)

6) He does really like video games

7) His favorite YouTuber is Mark Rober--he loves his videos (especially the squirrel mazes)

8) He can name the Detroit Tigers starting lineup

9) He really enjoys playing board games and just wrapped up a heated game of Risk with Jack

Lakeland, MPA, Sports

It's been a little while since I've written, so this will just be quick catch-up blog (in no particular order). 

Baseball's Spring Training started. We went to the Tiger's Sunday game on opening weekend. First, we stopped in and saw my dad. We had a good visit. Jack asked him about his military service and he told us about being stationed in Puerto Rico and being an executive driver. My dad has always been really personable and extroverted, which is why he said he got the job. My mom was much more introverted and I would say all 4 of their children are introverts, which is kind of interesting. I don't know what the odds are, but it seems like at least one of us should have taken after my dad. It used to drive us a little crazy as kids. We couldn't go anywhere without seeing people my dad knew. And, if he didn't know someone, he would before we left wherever it was. Anyway, we had a nice visit and then went to the Tigers game. It was fun to be back at Spring Training. We enjoyed the game with the new rules (most notably the pitch clock). Luke was featured on the score board a couple of times between innings. The only drawback was it is unseasonably hot right now. We have experienced several days with record high temperatures. For example, yesterday was 90 degrees. It is barely March!

Always fun to be on the scoreboard. Luke got a lot of air time. :)

After the game we went to Marta's for dinner. We didn't stay too long because it had been a long day, but it was nice catching up. And, they have 16 baby chickens! We all enjoyed holding them (except Jack for some reason).

I think Boomer was a little jealous, so Thomas held him too. Fun fact, I have know Boomer for well over 20 years and I don't think she's ever let me hold her.

I volunteered to be a chaperone for the band MPA. I was not on Jack's bus so he was spared from having to sit with me. But, I talked with the other moms. It was fun seeing the competition and his band was really good. I enjoyed all of their songs and thought they sounded amazing. I also got to see them do the sight-reading portion. That was entertaining and they did a great job there as well. They got handed music they had never seen before and were given 2 minutes to go over a march and 3 minutes for an overture. When the clock stopped, the band director couldn't say another word. He just raised his arms and they played. I thought it was very entertaining. It was a bit of a long day, but I am glad I went and would do it again.

Like everything else at their school, the band is huge. This is just the 9th grade band.

Anna met with her ice-skating coach for the first time on Wednesday. The coach did an evaluation and will choreograph a routine for Anna. Her music will be "Once Upon a December" from Anastasia. She will start learning the routine this week (we hope!). Kara is still busy with theater rehearsals and Jack finished another session of basketball at the YMCA. A new session starts tomorrow. Luke had a baseball tournament this weekend. They played 5 games again, which is so many for little kids. Both days had a report time of 7am and the fields were about 40 minutes away. It is a lot, but Luke still loves it and goes without complaint. He played really well and went 5/8 at bats today with some amazing plays in the field. His team won 4/5 games and finished the tournament in 3rd place.

He didn't pitch very much, but we got a picture of when he did.

That is roughly all the news. Jack and Anna are still accumulating driving hours. Anna has also been volunteering as a tutor. She tutors a 4th grader in science and enjoys it. We are always busy, but no complaints here!

And, some final pictures to conclude this quick summary:

Luke played hooky one day and went to a spring training game at Disney's Wide World of Sports. I didn't go, but expected that the stadium would be amazing. It wasn't.

And, one Friday night, the girls, Luke, Thomas and I went to Universal. We had a ton of fun at the Mardi Gras Parade. Luke and Anna caught the most beads.

Kara's Birthday Weekend

As I know I have written many times, our kids get a choice on their birthday: a party with friends, a gift, or an outing (when they were little, the outing was frequently Great Wolf Lodge). On Sunday, Kara turned 14 and she chose a gift. 

Her birthday extravaganza started on Friday. She skipped school and we went to the mall to let her pick out Doc Martens boots. She also got some goodies at Bath and Body Works. Then, we went to lunch at her chosen restaurant--Olive Garden. We were going to go to Fun Spot that night, but the forecast wasn't great, so we stayed home.

Trying out the brownie lasagna.

Showing off her new Docs

Saturday, she wanted to go to the library. I took her, Jack, and Luke (Jack drove) to the downtown branch, which is our favorite. While we did that, Thomas took Anna to ice skating. After lunch, the girls, Thomas and I went to Universal Studios. We started on the Studios side and rode Jimmy Fallon. Then, we went to MIB. They shut the ride down right before our turn. We ended up waiting an extra 30ish minutes because someone lost a flip flop and demanded it be retrieved. The worker said that normally if someone loses something they make them wait until the end of the night to get it at lost and found. She said this person must have been very demanding, since they try not to shut down rides, especially MIB, which is 23 years old. It was annoying to wait, but the story made it worthwhile. Can you imagine the level of self-importance that would make you inconvenience hundreds of people to get back a flip flop now versus at the end of the night??? Especially when they sell footwear at the park. Weird! 

We had dinner at Kara's chosen spot, Red Oven Pizzeria in City Walk, one of my favorites. Then, we went to Islands. We rode lots of rides with very little wait including walking directly onto Trolley in the Sky! We left around 8:30. I think the girls would have stayed longer, but Thomas and I were tired! 

Trying out the Mardi Gras cake.

The castle lit up for Gryffindor during the nighttime show.

Caroseussel!

Strike a pose in City Walk

Sunday was Kara's actual birthday. We had donuts for breakfast and spent a lot of the day baking. Kara wanted to make her own cake. I assisted and took care of dish duty. Her theme was "chocolate covered strawberries." She made a strawberry cake from scratch with homemade chocolate buttercream. She put a layer of strawberries in the middle and decorated the cake with chocolate covered strawberries. The individual parts were amazing! But, I am not sure the chocolate frosting complemented the strawberry cake as much as a plain buttercream or strawberry frosting might have (writing this in case we make it again so we remember). Regardless, it was very tasty and she did a fantastic job. I think it is the best buttercream I have ever tasted (espresso powder put it over the top) and the strawberry flavor in the cake was on point. Kara also made the cookie dough for the Valentine's cookies she is going to make for her friends. In between baking, we went for a walk and she played poker with Thomas and Jack.

We had the cake and she opened gifts--a Wicked shirt from Jack and Etsy slime from Anna and Luke. I hope she felt very loved and celebrated during her weekend 'o fun. It is hard to believe she is 14 now. We looked at pictures and read stories from previous birthdays. We feel lucky to have her for our daughter! She also received many many texts from many many friends.

Ren Fair, Wicked, etc

Jack asked a few months ago to go to a Renaissance Festival, at the time there were none in the area. But, we didn't forget his request. So, when we saw one coming to Melbourne, we decided to go. It wasn't nearly as big as the one in Maryland, but it was fun. We saw a few shows. Everyone agreed that the jousting was the favorite. Jack was a little disappointed, he expected it to be more historical, but it was just like every renaissance festival/fair I've ever been to (more fantasy than history). My brother lives nearby, so he met us there. Then, we went and saw his new house. It was a fun day.

The "wheel of death" was cool, we had seem him perform in Maryland and enjoyed his show at both events.

Wicked is playing at the Dr. Philips Center. Kara is really interested in theater right now, so I wanted to take her. But, tickets were really expensive and there weren't many seats available. I decided to try my hand at their ticket lottery. And, I won! We got tickets for $31 each. We had to go on a Wednesday night, and we didn't know where our seats would be until one hour before the show. But, $31 was way less than any seat in the house, so we vowed to not be disappointed no matter what. And, our seats were great! They were in the 4th row, off to the left. The view was very slightly obstructed, but overall was way better than expected. I am not sure how those seats were chosen. I asked the people to the left of us (so even more obstructed than ours) if they were also Lucky Seat recipients and she said no and volunteered that they paid $125/ticket + fees! We both loved the show. Elphaba and Glinda were especially amazing. Although, Kara said she liked the show Anastasia, which we saw in DC, better. We didn't get home until 1130, but both us were fine getting up for work/school the next day.

View from our seats.

If you can't read the sign, it says "Our World Famous Gummy Bears." Obviously, we had to test that out. Kara said they were really good.

Anna made a friend at ice skating and met her at the open skate on Saturday. It was the first time Anna has done the games at the skating session and she had a good time. She made some skating goals for 2023 and is interested in learning a routine to compete. She is going to look for a coach and see what happens. 

Grainy picture of Anna skating. It was captured from a video I took of her practicing a jump.

Luke and Anna spent a night at Marta's a couple of weeks ago. She took them and her grandson, George to Legoland on Saturday. They had a very fun time. Kara went with me to pick them up on Saturday night. We got to town early and did some shopping and she got a milkshake from Andy's, which is a Winter Haven staple. I am still doing no sugar, so I didn't get one. But, Kara said hers was amazing. She let me choose for her and I got her the fruit salad milkshake, which doesn't sound appealing, but trust me--it's the best! We stayed for dinner at Marta's house and then made the drive home.

In other news, Luke had his first baseball tournament this weekend. His team only won 1/4 games. But, Luke played well. He had some great defensive plays. In fact, he had an unassisted double play. He caught a ball and then tagged a runner out. So, that was cool. He also did well with batting. Jack had a basketball game, I was with Anna at ice-skating, so I missed the game, but his team won and Thomas said Jack played well.