vacation Friday: Hollywood Studios

Today we went to Hollywood Studios for the day and it was an excellent day.  We started off with Mickey and Minnie's Railroad and that was probably Joshua's favorite. 

We then headed over to the StarWars land.  We got on Millenium Falcon twice because the line was nice and short.  Joshua enjoyed being a gunner while the rest of us tried different jobs the second time.  Turns out that we're not very good pilots.  I was able to follow the story a lot better the second time, and I'm not sure if it was because it was the second time or if it was because I could see the screen better.

After we got off Joshua bee-lined to the gift shop: he knew what he wanted, and that was a Empire-themed shirt.  We tried the blue and green milk; I liked the blue milk better by far.  It was more refreshing while the green milk was more sugary.

We then went on the big ride of the day: Rise of the Resistance.  It was cool but there was so much to see.  

We got a few fun pictures in the area too.  Using the force...

Looking cool...(Ben and I nailed it.  Not sure what Isaac is doing.)

And being happy.

From there we went to the Toy Story area for a while.  We waited in our longest line for Toy Story, although it was only about an hour.  Joshua was almost done by the time we got to the front of the line, but I had thrown their phones in the backpack and that helped a lot.  I also had a new puzzle toy that was a pretty big hit with the kids, but only one person could use it at a time.

Cheryl and Joshua did the Alien ride.  It had been one of Joshua's top picks and since he really didn't want to do Tower of Terror they were able to quickly do that one instead.

Then it was suddenly lunch time!  We went to Woody's Lunch Box and the logistics could have been better.  We mobile ordered our food, but it felt like a crowded and confusing rush to actually get the food.  I guess it worked out because seating was also in short supply, so having to wait for the food gave Ben and the kids time to get a table.  The food was really good though.  All the adults had totchos and I would totally recommend them.

After lunch we had some time until the next planned activity and we had been going all morning so we did some of the sit down shows.  I do love the muppets and the Indiana Show was not at all what I was expecting, but it was still really cool.  We also went back to Star Wars Tours.

Then it was time for our next big ride: Slinky Dog.  It was Joshua's first real roller coaster and possibly Isaac's too.  Isaac throughly enjoyed it, Joshua was pretty happy with it too.  It was just the right amount of scary for him.  I also enjoyed it.  During the second *up* I thought there was going to be a big down, but then it was a nice gentle crest.

Ben did an amazing job with the lightning lane stuff that they have and so we rode Toy Story again, this time using the short line.  I improved my score, so I was quite happy about that.

Dinner at Prime Time was next.  I had the meatloaf and some of Joshua's jello salad.  

Then the Tower of Terror with Isaac.  We walked right on due to the fast pass; it was amazing.  Isaac was giggling the whole ride which was hilarious.  I find that ride slightly scary, but to giggle?  It made me giggle too.

Ben had booked another Mickey's Railroad just in case we had time so we went over there.  The line, even the fast line, was a little long so it took a bit longer than we were hoping but Joshua really wanted to do it again.  We had been planning on Fantasmic but by the time we were out it was just a bit too late and we decided to just go home.  It was probably an excellent decision; the lines for the skytram were shorter, people were starting to hurt, and we had had a late evening and early morning today.  

Overall: an excellent day.

We came home to find the lovies relaxing and watching TV.

Friday: no school

The kids didn't have school today.  It was a pretty normal day, although they did have a rock climbing lesson.  Ben and I wanted to make sure they weren't developing any bad habits (they're not) and just give them a few pointers on how to do things better now that they've practiced for a while.

This evening Joshua was giving me a back massage and he got up to kitty paws.  He saw Tornado right next to us, so he carefully picked him up and put him on my back.  I was expecting Tornado to leave promptly but instead he sat there for a minute.  Then he laid down, long enough for Joshua to find a phone and take some pictures.

 

Thursday: ice

Well, canceling classes preemptively was a good call because Hope was closed until noon.  (It was also nice because they can send out a text to tell everyone classes are canceled, while I can only send out an email.  I'm not sure everyone checks their email regularly.)

I went outside this morning to check the garage before we opened it (it was perfectly fine) and noticed that you could hear the trees creaking as they moved in the wind.  It was odd.

Besides that, it was a rather normal day.  We didn't do anything special, but the kids played together well and I heard a lot of laughter.  I did some work but not too much; it was nice to have an ice day.

Wednesday: ice

We all stayed home today.  Ben had enough work to do from home and everything else was canceled.  It started raining/sleeting around 11am and by 4pm we had some icicles on our windows.

The kids don't have school again tomorrow, which means in the last two weeks they'll have gone to school all of 2.5 days between planned days off, vacation, and ice days.  I decided to cancel my classes for tomorrow.  I have an extra day in the spring semester that I usually use before spring break, but I'm also nervous about the roads and sidewalks at 7:30am...I expect they're still going to be bad.  We also weren't quite sure what to do with the kids as we're not ready to have them brother-sit for seven hours.  I need to go into Hope for a meeting, but it isn't until 11:30 and I expect roads will be better by then.  (It'll also be for only about two hours, so it is a reasonable amount of time for brother-sitting.)

Ben said the back deck looks really cool right now; there are even more icicles.

Tuesday: ice day

I knew a winter storm was coming, but it got here a bit faster than I was expecting.  It looks like it is supposed to arrive tomorrow noon-ish.  While there isn't too much snow expected, there is a good chance for ice.  So school is canceled!  I have a few things that I "need" to do tomorrow, but for the most part it's a good day for it.  Thursday, on the other hand, is not an ideal day so I'm hoping they have school then.

Besides that, it was a pretty normal, albeit boring, day.

Monday: leaving the house

I woke up today not really that excited about today.  I wasn't, and am still not, completely sure why.

But regardless of my feelings on day, it started and I had a bunch of things to do.  None of my errands lined up well and I ended up coming and going from the house a lot.

*I brought the kids to school and got groceries.

*I went out for lunch

*I had a dentist appointment.

*I picked up Joshua from school

*I picked up Isaac from school

*We had dinner with Larry

It's been a while since I've been back and forth from the house this many times.  Top it off with my neck being really weird in the afternoon and the day ended up just fine.  There were a bunch of good things, many normal things, and some annoying things.

Sunday: neck

Today was a pretty normal day: church, naps, games, Legos.  However, I have a weird ache in the back right of my upper neck.  I'm not sure I've ever realized this muscle existed, let alone have any idea how I managed to hurt it.  It isn't a big ache but without medicine it's enough to be periodically annoying.