A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 43 Recap

This week we had to power through Monday and Tuesday after school to head to the most magical place! Teaching classes went so slow, as I'm sure work and school for the kids went too, but eventually we made it to Cincinnati to fly down to Orlando. On the way there, we admired God's masterpiece in the sky.  So beautiful. We flew out on Frontier airlines and checked into our hotel around 11:30 p.m. Since the next morning we would be up early to head to Epcot, we tried to get to sleep quickly. 

Wednesday we got up and put on our matching shirts. We ordered them for our last trip, but they didn't arrive in time so we finally got to wear them. Maw and Paw were able to come on this trip too.  I was suppose to be at two conferences that were in Orlando and Tampa this week, but both were moved to virtual, so I could do both! Worked out perfectly. We were most excited to ride the new Ratatouille ride, which Jeremy got in the queue at 7 a.m. so we could ride around 3 p.m. It was amazing. It ranks up there with Fast Track and Soarin' at Epcot. Definitely a must do at the park. Kids don't like Epcot the most because we love to walk around the countries and eat and drink, and that's surely not a favorite of theirs. They endured, but Isaac loved the Ratatouille chef hat that lit up, yet it was only at the front of the park and we left through the boardwalk entrance. Ended up we couldn't get it anywhere on Disney property...so now it's on his Christmas list. The other noteworthy part of Epcot was the show at the end. It was over the top amazing. Everyone was tired, and the kids were ready to go back to the hotel, so not sure they enjoyed it as much as the adults.

Thursday we headed to Magic Kingdom. We had a game plan to conquer the park, but shortly into the day nearly directly in front of the castle, we stopped to take some pictures. That's when the melt down on the kids end came to head and Jeremy went off.  Nothing more magically than a dad losing his shit in front of the castle! Besides the rides (especially Space Mountain and Splash Mountain - opposite ends of the park) the best part of MK is the show on the castle. The technology and electronics combined with a flying tinker bell and fireworks make it the most magical thing you'll ever see. We've discussed several times that our kids are outgrowing MK, but it's the tradition that keep it coming back. This year is also Disney's 50th year celebration, making everything even more over the top awesome. 

Friday was Hollywood. We specifically chose this park for today since it's my least favorite and I had to stay back at the hotel for 3 hours presenting at the conferences that I was scheduled to present in-person, but was now virtual. I presented at PRSA's Educator's Academy and ABC international conference too.  What were the chances that I would have two separate conferences and have a 10, 11, and noon session? Apparently really good. When I was finished, I checked us out of our hotel and met up with the rest at Hollywood.  Jeremy and Olivia had waited in line for Rise of Resistance Star Wars ride. It was a 2 hour wait that turned into nearly a 3 hour wait when it broke down and they let 1 regular line person in to every 9 in the fast pass line. This was because the new thing (started the day we got there) was the Genie FP lane. You have to pay $15 per person for the genie line and $30 per person for this ride. Jeremy had not paid extra, so they were in the regular line. I'm sure losing it with patience! Olivia had to pee so bad that during one of the rooms they had to tell a park worker (Storm Trooper) and he luckily took them out of line to the employee bathrooms and brought them back. Funniest part he asked Olivia what color the soap was when she came out and said good when she answered correctly. It was his way to make sure she washed her hands!  When they returned to line, and eventually made their way to the ride, both raved on how cool it was. We once again closed down the park and had to head back to our original DoubleTree hotel in downtown Disney to get our luggage before heading over to the DoubleTree at the entrance of Universal. Maw and Paw spent a couple hours on bench at Hollywood while we all ran around. I think we are wearing them out. 

The kids have never been to Universal Studios. We were most excited for Olivia (and me) to see Harry Potter world. We didn't get park hoppers, which prevented us from riding the train between the parks, but Oh M GEE. Harry Potter land didn't disappoint. After the incredibly long lines the last three days at Disney, we were pleasantly surprised by the very short waits at Universal. The roller coaster rides were the bomb. The 3-D rides were amazing. But HP world was beyond fantastic. Everyone rode the first ride HP and the Escape from Gringotts was so neat. Walking in line wasn't bad because there was something to see in every room. The ride was so fun. Then everyone else was ready to move on and Olivia and I asked to stay behind. We had a wand from the Zigenbusch's who let us borrow their's. We did spells, drank Butter Beer, and tried on a Slytherin robe that I was easily talked into buying- customized with her name! We all enjoyed our first day at Universal so much, but was sad to exit by 6 p.m. so they could have their Halloween Nights people in during the evening hours. We went back and ate at TGI Fridays that was right next door to our hotel. Then I took the kiddos down to the pool for an evening swim before heading to bed. 

Sunday we were back at Universal, this time at Island of Adventure side. It was forecasted to rain today, so we tried to get in as many rides as we could in the morning. The roller coasters were so fun and we got on two right away. Then we headed back to the King Kong ride before it started to be overcast. Then Isaac talked us all onto the log water ride. Are you kidding me? We all got so drenched we had to stand in those family dryer's for $5 to try to dry out! Drowned Rats. When we headed to HP land and wanted to ride the rides, we went on the first one and Maw lost her thinking when it leaned you back and swooped you around through Forbidden Journey. Maw and Paw decided to pass on the Hagrids Motorcycles. Those were amazing and had an unexpected surprise that was so cool that made it unforgettable. Again we finished up early and headed back to Jimmy Buffets for volcano nachos for dinner. YUM. 

Monday was a wasted day. If we had to do it again we would have flown out first thing in the morning, but since our flights were late, we went back down to the shops outside of Universal. Maw's feet were killing her, so we ended up finding out there was a bus that left our hotel and took up the mile down the street to the entrance. That helped a bit. We ate at the sports restaurant and sat at a table that was a Foosball table. Kids were entertained.  Then we headed over the movie theater and watched Ron's Gone Wrong, a movie about a bot that was damaged, but the kiddo loved it. Reminded us somewhat of Isaac and made Jeremy and I cry. LOL. When we were finished we headed back to the hotel to get our luggage to head to the airport. All and all a super successful trip. Expensive as heck doing two parks instead of one, but overall the memories were made!

Here is the Snapfish Album of pictures if you want to live through them all. 

A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 39 Recap

Well, we have put it off for long enough. After finding out our dear friend Steve Kurtz (Kurtzy) was in the hospital with COVID, we decided it might be time. I didn't tell anyone I was was doing it, but instead called Jeremy after I had done it and announced I had got the Moderna COVID vaccination first shot. There were so many contributors as to why I decided, but the #1 reason is that I want to travel to a conference in Seattle in November
and they stated the only way we would be able to attend is with a vaccination card. Don't mess with my travel and getting outta here. 

Kurtzy and I celebrate the same birthday. In fact, I remember joking in college something about my birthday and he said it was his special day too. I made him show me his ID and sure enough...birthday buddies. He also played football with Jeremy and was a close friend, close enough Jerm asked him to be in our wedding party. Most of the pictures I had of him were from our wedding. When I read the news on Facebook that on Tuesday, Sept. 21 he died of COVID, I didn't believe. it. Jeremy certainly didn't believe it either. We stayed up late that evening looking at pictures and remembering our friend. It was raining hard out, so we went outside around midnight and brought in all the outside furniture's covers so they didn't get wet. (Keep reading-ugh) Jeremy finally drifted off around 1, but I was reacting terrible to the shot. I was cold and teeth chattering and couldn't get comfortable. Furthermore, I was feeling like bugs were crawling on me. I ended up sleeping on the couch that night. 

Tuesday we thought was the worst, but Wednesday was our rock bottom. Since I was sleeping on the couch I heard Jeremy yell/cry out NOOOOOOOOOOO. Oh noooooooo. I ran downstairs to find the entire basement flooded throughout about 3 inches high. The kids came running down and we were all in disbelief. I started making phone calls. We found out we had $1,000 deductible and only $5,000 coverage. So the first thing we did was carry all our furniture up into the garage. We were exhausted from being up so late, I was really beat with maybe 2 hours sleep and my right arm felt like it was going to fall off. To make matters worse, the back stairs are wood, my feet slipped and I went riding about 5 stairs down on my back into the water. I sat at the bottom and just cried. Then said, well there is no time for this and got up and kept going. Now we have 2 sump pumps, a 3-foot retaining wall AND a back-up generator should we lose power. We didn't lose power and the sump pumps were running, but the water was still falling over the wall like a waterfall. It was simply too much to keep up. We called the city later in the week to come look to see if there was a back up on our street. They said it wasn't their problem, but it was the third highest recorded rainfall in a 12 hour period in Lima since 1901. Oh thanks, that's comforting- NOT. 

We called Browns first to get the water out. Luckily, they were there within the hour pumping us free of water. Next we called Swartz to dry us out. They came and Laken's hubby Jayden works for them. He rode some thing that looked like a segway and sucked out the water out of the carpet. He was here for like 8 hours on that first day. They put up 3 dehumidifiers and nearly 40 little fans throughout the basement...for 6 days.  They had to drill holes in the walls to dry out the insulation, so they took off all the baseboard. They also pulled up all the carpet to dry underneath as well. In the end we didn't loose too many big things- just the mattress that went on the pull out couch and the xbox that sat in the water too long. Otherwise, everything else was salvaged. We didn't get to put everything back together until the following weekend, but finally is put back together and all cleaned!  

Back at school, the PRSSA Chapter had a big week with speaker Steven Miller, ONU alumni who has worked at Disney for the past 23 years. It was such a great topic and since Steven had had Dr. I as a professor and this was Zoom call, we invited him back as well. Since we are headed to Disney soon for their 50th anniversary, I was particularly interested in all the tips and insight he could share about the parks. How fun to work on something so monumental. 

After the week we've had, Jeremy and decided we needed a night away at Texas Roadhouse on Friday night. I ordered a fishbowl drink and posted it on Facebook. My sweet friend Ann decided she wanted to treat me to the fishbowl and electronically venmo'ed me some dollars to cover it.  So stinkin sweet!  

The last part of the weekend ended with Isaac mowing by himself for the first time. Jeremy is so particular about his lawn, that I couldn't even believe it was happening, therefore I grabbed my phone and started recording. I don't totally feel comfortable with him running this next to the pool yet, but he's getting good.  I don't even know how to turn the the thing on and move it out of the garage, so win for me.