Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida Family Vacation - Aug 4-12th

8/4 - We had to get up at 4:15 to get ready and head to the airport.    Pretty early, but lucky for me I went to bed before 11 so I got about normal sleep :).  Greg and I got ready and got the kids up about 5am.  Basically they got dressed and we headed out.   We met Grammy and Gramps at the airport.  Thanks to them for getting up so early to come pick up our airport.    Greg took Patch the night before to Grandma and Pops.

Kasey watched Barbie and played some minecraft on the plane.  Landon watched the first Captain America and played a little mindcraft.  I watched Arrow.  Greg played candy crush and took a nap.  Getting up at 4:15 is pretty early.

When we got to airport we went straight to Magical Express - which is a bus that takes you to your hotel.  We all got to try out that our arm bands worked and kids were excited.   They had videos on the bus about the different parks, some Disney Trivia and some older Disney short cartoons with Mickey and Donald.  I probably enjoyed it the most.

We got a text that our room was ready.  We went in, confirmed our credit card was correct and headed to our room.  With Disney that take your checked luggage and take it directly to the hotel.  You don’t have to pick it up.  We dropped a few things in our room and headed to downtown Disney for some lunch and a little shopping.  We grabbed some sandwiches and some smoothies.   Went shopping at the big Disney store, Lego store and the Christmas store.  Fun but a little warm.  We event went to the pin trading store.  The kids traded their first pins, and we bought a few as well.  While in there it started pouring rain so we stayed a little longer.  Then we headed back to hotel.

We hung out in our room until dinner time.  Tonight we had dinner in our hotel.   The night before we left we decided that BBQ was good to have because we probably wouldn’t have it on the trip.  Guess what our first dinner was.  Little Crazy place at Wilderness Lodge called Whispering Canyon Cafe.  They specialize in big family style BBQ.  Kids got milkshakes too because it's included :-)

After dinner we went and got our bathing suits on and headed to the pool.  There is a fun water area for kids, a bigger water slide that all of us went on multiple times, a big pool and a bar for Greg and I.  Greg and I would take turns holding Sangria, and watching the other 3 go down the big slide.   It was fun.   Greg and I went into the Jacuzzi for a few minutes before we left.   Each hour near the pool is a Geiser.  We got to watch it go off which was pretty cool.

We headed up, got showers and everyone in bed.  Didn’t take to long for any of us to settle down :)

8/5 - Today was our first full day at Disney.   Magic Kingdom opened at 8am so we got up before 6:30 to get ready and be at the boat at 7:30.  Luckily we had ordered groceries ahead so we could have quick breakfast in the room.  Today we had bagels.

We walked out to the pier to wait for the boat.  It was pretty but already starting to get muggy.  There was a nice guy sitting up front with us and gave Landon a Star Wars Velcro which was really nice of him.

We got to the park just in time to see the opening.  They have key characters come in on a train to open up the park.  Really cool.  Then as we walked in they were walking down a ramp so kids got to wave at them.

We went and got our pictures in front of Cinderella’s castle.  A little scaffolding on the side, but still cool.  We walked around some and headed to the Mind Train which is newest ride.  They have 3D Dwarfs from Snow White that talk and move, but are animated.  Pretty cool.  It was fun ride, but Kasey wasn’t to sure about it.

Then we decided to do Meet Anna and Elsa - it was 30 minute wait which is the shortest it would ever be.  Landon was not happy, but he went along with it.  Kasey wasn’t really sure, but I knew when she got in there she’d like it.  She got to have both of them sign her signature book and get a picture.  Then we got a whole family picture with both of them :-)

Then we went to It's a Small World because there was no wait.  It was fun with Landon picking out different countries and Kasey really liked some of them too.  Always one of my favorites.

We also went on the Carousel - all 4 of us rode horses next to each other.  It was simple but fun.

Then we saw Rapunzel’s castle.  Kasey wanted to go visit, but it was basically a bathroom so not much to visit.

After that it was time for our first Fast Pass at the Enchanted Tales with Belle.  Fun interactive storytelling of how Belle and the Beast fall in love.  They pick several people to help in telling the story.  Greg got picked to play a knight and Kasey got to be Chip the cup.  She was really excited and enjoyed it.  She got to jump up and down with Mrs Potts and really liked it.  Greg also got to play a few roles, and was a good sport.  I was smiling the whole time :)  Landon was not happy, but later said it was ok.  Kasey and Greg both got their pictures with Belle :)

Then we went to the new little Mermaid ride.  simple ride that plays songs from movie which I love. Kasey and I enjoyed it.  Landon was ready to stick himself in the eye :)

After that we saw Gaston signing autographs and taking pictures.   I wanted to get in line. Of course he left before we got there.  Didn’t want to wait about 30 minutes for him.

Then we went to Mickey’s Philharmagic.  Which was a 3D and at times 4D show with several characters and fun songs and similar parts to several movies.  Little Mermaid, Aladdin, LIon King, Peter Pan and others. Also had Mickey and Donald in them.   Really cool.  Funny watching kids trying to grab things they see in 3D.  Landon actually enjoyed this one.

Then it was time for lunch.  We had reservations at Be our Guest.  Basically lunch in Belle and the Beast’s ballroom which is very pretty.  Also snowing outside.  You go in, order on touchscreens and then go sit down. Somehow they come find you with your full order.  We had some good sandwiches, green beans and yummy triple chocolate and lemon cupcakes.  It was nice break in AC, pretty good food and I enjoyed the scenery.

Next we walked to Tomorrow Land.  The way we went took us by center area where they were having a dance party.  Chip and Dale, The Genie, Minnie, Woody, Stitch and a few others.  Then Minnie, Mickey, Goofy and Donald popped up.  They played fun music and wanted everyone to come in street to dance.  I was the only one that wanted to dance, but it was hot so I was ok to move on.

Next we had Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.  Fun little ride where you got to shoot stuff from moving cars.   We enjoyed it.  Landon wanted to do it again, but I think without fastpass the wait would have been pretty bad.

After that we went to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.  Sitting inside making you laugh with Monsters from the movie.  It was short and fun.  We laughed.  Several people got picked from audience to be on screen and part of it.  Not us though.

Then we went to Tomorrowland Speedway.  Cars that go around on track.  Landon was tall enough to ride by himself.  Greg went on his own, Landon did and I pushed the pedal for Kasey as she steered.  Kasey made the comment that she was a better driver than Landon.  It was funny, and fun family activity.

Then we went to Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.  It went through house and what was new in the 1900, 1920s, 1940s, and then what they thought future would be like in after 1960s.  It was shown at the World's Fair in 1965.  Some of the future was pretty accurate with bigger TVs, talking to appliances, virtual games, displaying games on TV.  Fun

After that it was time to catch the monorail to the Polynesian hotel for our dinner at Ohana.  Very Hawaiian feeling.  Huge spread of food.  They had salad, wings, dumplings, chicken, steak, shrimp, pasta and veggies.  All was very good.  Kids liked most of it too. For dessert the kids got brownies with whip cream.  Greg and I got yummy bread pudding - so good.  We enjoyed that a lot.

We headed back to hotel.  Apparently boats had stopped for 1 ½ hours because of lightning.  We took boat to Magic Kingdom, they were going to stop boats again so we debated staying.   We were all pretty tired so we headed to hotel on next boat.

Because of lighting pools were closed.  We chilled out in the room for a while until pools reopened and we got ready to head to the pool.  Landon had fun on the spray area.  Kasey liked the big slide, Greg and I spent some time in jacuzzi and going down slide with Kasey.

After that it was shower and bed.  What a fun first day     

8/6 - Last day at Magic Kingdom.   My plan was to get up early to get in a few things in before it got crazy and then also stay late for the Magic Kingdom Electrical Parade that I loved as a kid.

We started off the day taking the boat to the Magic Kingdom.  We again got to see the opening ceremony with some of the key characters.   We thought we’d do a few character visits.  We went to see Mickey because it was short line.  In all our business with vacation we forgot to call Grandma to wish her happy birthday on the 5th.  So we asked Mickey if with the kids he would say happy birthday to Grandma.  It was cute.  Kids got him to sign their little books.  This Mickey could talk which was pretty cool.  Then we went to see Tinkerbell - one of my favorites.  We got a few pictures with her which was fun.  Kasey decided she didn’t want to wait in line for Minnie mouse.

We headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad when it opened at 9.  It took about 6 minutes to get to ride which is pretty good.  Landon had wanted to go on this ride so we did. It was a pretty good little roller coaster.  Kasey rode with me and was pretty scared the whole time.  We got done and wait was still pretty short so we decided to ride again.  Greg convinced Kasey to go and that she could ride with him.    He made it fun so she wasn’t scared, and I got to enjoy it because she wasn’t freaking out.

After that we decided to ride Splash Mountain before heading to our first fast pass.   It was like a 12 minute ride and of course during parts you can get wet.  All of us got a little wet, but Landon more than most.  He didn’t really like being wet and sweaty at the same time.  The theme was Brer fox, rabbit and bear.   Some cute things to watch, and cooler than outside.

After that we went back to do our FastPass at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  It was fun to ride again. Kasey put her hands up this time.

Then we went to a couple smaller rides. Barnstormer which was little roller coaster kind of shaped like an airplane.  It wasn’t to bad, but really short.  Then we all went on Dumbo ride which is always fun.  Who doesn’t want to ride in Dumbo.

Then it was time for lunch.  We at in TomorrowLand, normal park food.  We tried to stay inside and the cool for a little while, but the kids were ready.  They wanted to ride Tomorrowland Speedway again.  Kasey drove while I pressed the gas, Landon drove himself and so did Greg.  It was pretty hot, long wait, but that’s what kids wanted to do.

Next was Space Mountain which we had a fast pass for.  We went over and saw that the Fast Pass line was really long.  We got in line anyway.  It didn’t take that long -about 30 minutes start to finish.   We got inside and realized that it was single seat so no one could sit next to Kasey and make her feel more comfortable.  She still went, but didn’t like it.  Landon loved it.   He wanted to go again. We had free Fast Pass because of an issue with a ride the day before.  So Landon and I rode Space Mountain again in Fast Pass Line. Yea!

Kasey and Greg had a snack and waited for us.   The kids and Greg wanted to go get in the pool for a little while.  It was really hot and we had changed our last fast pass to after dinner.  There was a parade at 3pm, and I ended up staying to watch it while they went to the pool.  Glad I stayed.  Very fun parade with just about any princess you can think of.  I enjoyed it even sitting in the heat.

Then I headed back to the hotel for a short swim before dinner.  Felt so good for all of us in the pool.

Dinner that night was at Chef Mickeys.  Good food buffet, and during dinner Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto come around to your table, sign the kids books and take pictures with them.  They really enjoyed it and so did I.  Greg and I even got in a few pictures with them.  When Mickey came over Landon handed him his signature book.  Mickey happened to look at the other page which had the Mickey signature from the morning.  He motioned that that was him, so he wouldn’t sign.  We joked and took pictures.  Landon wanted to compare the signatures.  Mickey knew better :)  Love Disney.

After dinner we headed back to Magic Kingdom.   We got there and took the train to FrontierLand.  Greg and Kasey used their special fast passes on Splash Mountain.  Landon and I tried going to Hall of Presidents, but the timing didn’t work.  We tried to do a shooting thing, but I had no money.  So we walked around a few stores and hung out waiting for our Fast Pass time for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Landon and I went in and got through pretty quick.  We waited for Kasey and Greg to come out and then we went to reserve our seats for the Electrical Parade and fireworks.  

Greg and Kasey then went on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to use the last Fast Passes for the day.  Then they got back to our spot just in time for Landon and I to run to the Presidents Hall.  When I was a little girl and went to Disney World, I really wanted to see the Hall of Presidents.  My parents took me, but I fell asleep.   I went a few years back for a work trip and tried to go again, but it was closed by the time I got there.  Needless to say I was excited to see it. Landon actually really enjoyed it as well.   

Kasey was really excited that on the Railroad and Splash Mountain that she put her hands up.

After we got back, Greg went to get a funnel cake for us to share and then the Electrical Parade started.  I still think it’s way cool.  Kasey was up on Greg’s shoulders to be able to see, and Landon was trying to stand on different things to see.  At any rate I think we enjoyed it.  I know I did.  Then we sat down and waited for the fireworks.  To me still amazing - focused around wishing for a Star, but really a great show overall.

Such a fun day. Not sure it's correct, but Fitbit said we walked over 20k miles.   Feet are tired….

8/7 - Today was Epcot Day. We were able to sleep in until about 7:45 since we stayed up so late.  Didn’t want to again burn both ends of the candle.  I’d say it was an ok day. Originally I wasn’t going to go to Epcot, but they had a princess lunch that Kasey wanted so we scheduled a day around that.

We took the bus to Epcot.  Wasn’t to bad, but took a little time.   

We got to the park, got a few pictures in front of the big ball and went on our way.   We had a fastpass for Soarin at 10:10 so we went straight there.  Overall FastPasses have been good for us.  Reduces wait time quite a bit.   We all went. Kasey wasn’t to thrilled and Greg wasn’t really either.  Landon and I really liked it.  Its basically, you in a chair with seatbelt feeling and seeing like you are souring over many beautiful places.  I thought it was really cool and neat to see different places.

After that we went to see a short video about Circle of Life with Simba and Timon and Pumba talking about making the world a better place.  Then we walked towards to the World area.  Kasey and I had princess lunch in Norway.   The boys walked around and went to lunch in United Kingdom.  Greg got to have fish and chips and beer.

Kasey and I had Norwegian food.  We had a waiter named Hans who told Kasey he was a good Hans.  He was nice and lived near Oslo,Norway which I have been.

They started with a plate of cheese and meats including fish, with side bowls of cucumber salad, fruit and shrimp salad.  Kasey ordered the beef and I had meatballs.  Both were good.  For dessert there was chocolate mousse cake which we both liked, and Apple cake which only I liked and a rice pudding with strawberry on top that Kasey liked.   It was a good meal.

The night before Kasey had filled up most of her pages in her signature book, so Greg found more paper that could be used for signatures.  It wasn’t in the book I had made.   She wasn’t happy, but lived with it.   At lunch Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel all came around signed a page for Kasey and took their picture with her.  It was fun.  At the beginning she also got Belle’s signature and picture.   When Ariel came by she looked through blank pages and asked if anyone had come by.  I told her it was a long story.  She said sometimes I have long stories too :)

We had a good time.   After lunch it started raining pretty good.  We met the boys in a shop.  We stayed in there a bit then put on rain coats and went walking.  We ended up on the other side for Mission Space Fast Pass.  In this you basically get in a simulator and it goes through a mission to Mars where you whip around the moon.   There is a green - easier one and Orange more stringent one.  Landon and I went on Orange and Kasey and Greg did Green.  It was pretty amazing the G forces you felt in the simulator.  We took off, shot around the moon and landed.  Greg later rode the Orange on his own and agreed that there was a lot more G force in the Orange.

After kids played in area doing group games trying to beat another team in the room. Landon seemed to enjoy it.

After that we walked by Test Track and single person line was about 70 minutes.  Greg and Landon decided to go.  I got Kasey some popcorn and drug her almost kicking and screaming to see Captain EO - Michael Jackson show.  I knew it wouldn’t be there that much longer so I wanted to see it. Kasey really didn’t like it, but survived.

After that we met the boys again to go to Sea ride about Finding Nemo.  It was ok, pretty cool at the end where they show the cartoons inside a real water tank.

Then we went to last fast pass for Turtle time with Crush.  The big turtle from Finding Nemo that says Dude a lot.  He had fun interaction with kids and audience.   It wasn’t a fixed thing for sure.  Kind of cute.

After that we went to see all the live aquariums.  Dolphins, sharks, Manatees, sting rays, lots of fish.  It was pretty cool.

After that we walked to Germany area for dinner and show at Bier Garden.  It was buffet and good food, we also had good beer.  The show was good using some older instruments like many bells, very long pipes.  They sang some fun songs and even did the chicken dance. Kasey and I danced at our table.

AFter that Landon wanted to do a search for clues activity in China area.  We found the clues, got hidden codes, saw a Monkey rise from the water, and saw how many Chinese characters were in the word hotel.  It was pretty fun.

We were all pretty tired today. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.  Early up!

8/8 - We started early, up at 6am so we could be at the bus stop at 7.  We got there early to be near front of the line and go sign kids up for Jedi Training.  We were close to front of the line, and when they opened at 8 we were able to get in and sign kids up for 9:15 Jedi Training.  We had a little time before they had to be back so we went to ride Star Tours.  Very cool!  Its a virtual ride that takes you in a runaway ship to places from the movies.  Darth Vader, Droids, and others attack you and R2D2 and C3PO have to get us away to safety.  They call out a Rebel in the ship that is being searched for.  Landon was the first Rebel.   We ended up going through this ride twice before going back to Jedi Training check in.  Greg was really excited and even went back a 3rd time while kids were preparing for Jedi Training.  They gave all the kids robes, kept them busy with a little Star Wars Trivia then took them over to training site.  They gave them water and put them in height order.   There was Jedi who trained all of them.  They each got training light sabers and were taught a sequence of hitting arms, legs, ducking and hitting up.  Then Darth Vader came out and tried to convince them to go to the dark side.  Each kid got to fight Darth Vader using the sequence they had learned.  I thought it was pretty cool.  Then in the end the kids had to use force to get Darth Vader to leave.  Kasey was pretty into this.   I think they had fun even though it was hot in the robe.

After Jedi training we went back to Star Tours one more time.   Each time you end up in Star Wars shop after you ride.  Landon really just wanted to go to the store.   Each time we rode it parts of it were the same, but parts of it were different.  By the 4th or 5th time I think we had seen all or most of the segments so it was just different combinations of those.  Still cool though.

After this ride we let Landon build is double ended purple light saber and both kids built a Droid.    Kasey had been asking for really cool set up that had little figures for both Princess Leia and Queen Amidala.  We finally let her get it instead of making a light saber.  We also made a  Myers family Star Wars picture - they put our faces into a picture of Anakin, Padme, Luke and Lea.   Pretty expensive but cool.  Luckily they let us send all of our stuff to the front of the park to pick up on our way out.  Yea for not carrying stuff.

Then we needed to sit down for a while and we were hungry.  We stopped in Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater Restaurant.  Its set up like an old 50s drive in.  The tables are old Cars that say Disney on them.  Burgers and stuff, and big screen with old 50s Sci Fi previews and clips.  It was a cool place and food was good.  It was also nice to sit down for a while.

After lunch we walked to Lights, Motors, Action! show where we had a fast pass.  Pretty pointless to have a fast pass, you just walk in a different line to get to the same group of people trying to find seats.  Oh well.  Show was pretty cool.  They were showing how they filmed Car chases, fire, guys jumping off buildings, and then showed the edited version.  It was neat to see the Chases.  They even had lightning McQueen come out.

Then we headed to see 3D muppet show.  It had fun comedy like usual, and wasn’t to long.  I enjoyed it.  Keep in mind that most of these rides/shows are now in 3D.   

After that we walked to Toy Story Midway Mania for our last fast pass.  It was much shorter line.  Basically a ride to shoot different kind of virtual Midway games - balloons, knock something over etc.  Greg got over 110k, Landon got in 90k, I was in 70k and Kasey got almost 40k.  It was pretty fun, but probably not something to go back to many times like Star Tours.

At this point we were all pretty tired.  Kasey wanted to go back and Greg offered to take her and cool off in the pool.  Kasey wanted to play with her new toys.

Greg got us some drinks, and then Landon and I decided to stay for a few things.  We added a Fast Pass for Great Movie Ride.   Before that we went to see Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.  It was pretty cool.  They had 3 big sets and showed different things from movie and had stunt doubles doing it.  Pretty fun for 3 different scenes.  Interesting how many people it takes to do a scene like that.

After Landon and I got in the two extra rides, got him a snack (Churro), we headed back to hotel.  Greg and Kasey were swimming.  Of course as we changed into bathing suits they came back.  We all hung out a bit, and then got ready to eat dinner in casual place downstairs.  It was kind of nice to have low key dinner.

After dinner we did a little packing and then Landon and I headed to the pool.  Landon founda  friend he’d met a few times at the pool so I let him play and didn’t even get in.   I kind of had weird feeling that something was wrong, but let him have some space.  Then I got up to go check on him.  He was walking towards me crying.   Several things ran through my head.   He said he had chipped his tooth falling on the slide. Half of his front middle top tooth was gone and in his hand.  I didn’t yell, made sure he was ok and we headed upstairs.  He was pretty shaken up, and said sorry several times.  It could have been a lot worse.  Hopefully its not too sensitive when he eats tomorrow.  I called the dentist and she said sounded like we could wait til we got home to do anything, but to call back if things changed.  Good times….

8/9 - Today we went to Animal Kingdom.  We had to pack, get the bell service to take our packed bags for storage, eat breakfast and head down for the bus.   We got everything done by about 7:25 which I was pretty impressed with.  Landon ate my adult breakfast of waffles shaped like Mickey. I had kids eggs and bacon which was just right.  Kasey and Greg had pancakes.  We made it to Animal Kingdom about 8:10 which was about 10 minutes after early open so that is good.   We headed in and took a few pictures with the huge carved tree.  Then we headed to Dinosaur ride.  Landon wanted to go.  All 4 of us got to sit together and get away from big Dinosaurs.  It was pretty cool.

After that we went to a ride called Primeval Whirl.  It was still early and both kids enjoyed it so we went twice.  Took a little while for Greg and I to get our backs straight again, but it was all good.

Then I suggested we go ride Expedition Everest.  It was roller coaster that we had fast pass for later in the day, but it had a short wait and as on the way to where we were going.   It starts out pretty slow going forward, goes up quite a bit, but doesn’t come down a lot.  Then you get to a part that looks like the ride is broken.  It stopped and then takes you backwards, fast going in circles etc.  I think it was a pretty good ride, and it was Landon’s favorite thing of the day.  It was a bit crazier than any of the other rides we’d been on.

After that we walked to a different area and went on Kilimanjaro Safari.  We were in pretty big open buses.  The driver went through showing us different kinds of animals and telling us about them.  We saw hippos, giraffe including a few babies, lions, elephants and several other things.  Overall I thought it was pretty cool.

After that we went on a walk on a trail to see Gorillas.  We also saw several birds and some other animals, but was nice little walk.

After that we had Fast Pass at Kali River Rapids.  Lets just say we all got soaked, really soaked.  Kids weren’t thrilled and almost wanted to leave.  We decided to have lunch.  At least Greg and I had a little different lunch which was nice.  We sat, ate, tried to dry off.   We had about 2 hours til our next fastpass.   We decided to go see the tree and thought we’d go see the Bug’s life show inside.  Landon said no, that the description said it was scary.  I told Greg to take Kasey and I would stay with Landon.  Landon caved in and we all went. Oh my, it was kind of scary.   There was a part that went dark and you heard bees. Kasey says she felt something poke her back and really scare her.  Then there we big spiders from the ceiling.  At the end they said that all bugs, roaches could leave and you felt little things moving under your butt.  Kasey was crying, and none of us were thrilled.

We went to hang out for a little bit.  Landon went to play drums.  They had done it earlier and Landon was trying to play piano song on drums.  It was pretty cool.   

We decided to go to bird show at 1:45pm and then go use our Expedition Everest Fast Pass.  This time Kasey wanted to ride with me and we both had our hands up!  Fun roller coaster.

It was time to go.  Landon really wanted a few Avengers Pins, but we couldn’t find them there.  We left, rode bus to hotel near ours to get the Avengers pins and then took a boat back to our hotel.  We called Uber, got our luggage and were on our way to Universal Studios.

We checked in, got our stuff to room and decided we should go get our Universal tickets and passes.  We printed them and then headed to Jakes in the hotel to eat dinner.  Pretty simple but nice to be close.

8/10 - Today we started exploring Universal Studios in Orlando.  While the troops would have preferred a down day, that was not in the plan.  We had an extra hour at Harry Potter World because we were staying on property.  We also got Express Pass to use on most rides for staying on property (Not Harry Potter rides of course).  We left the hotel around 7:30 and walked to Universal.  It was already pretty muggy out.   We were walking up just as they opened up the gates at 7:45.  It took us a little while to get through.   

Greg had to go get picture cards for us.  I had ordered the online plan for Universal as well, but you had to check in to get special cards before using it.  The kids and I headed to Harry Potter World - Diagon Alley.  Most people were getting in line for Gringotts ride, but we went straight to Ollivanders for wands.   We got there early so we got to have the experience.  It was just the kids and I.   There was a lady witch there that looked like one of the teachers from the movie who was helping to see which wand would pick Landon and Kasey.   She had Landon turn on a light and all the lights started going on so she had to stop it.  Then she had Kasey ring a bell and it went a little crazy.  She had to stop that as well.  Then she switched the wands and said they were perfect for the kids and would work well.  They also were tied together with cores both being from feather of the same Phoenix bird.   It was fun for the kids, but they actually wanted to pick their own wands.  They both found interactive wants that they liked.  With the interactive wands there is a map around Diagon Alley where you can use the interactive wants to make things happen.  You move the wand in certain ways in front of cameras and it does stuff.  After we got wands we went to get in line for Gringotts ride.  In theory it was still shorter than normal time.  It was quite long, and Kasey didn’t have much patience.  Then the ride basically stopped working.  We stayed in line for a while thinking it might start back up then we gave up.   We got Express passes to come back later and go in short line.   

After that we went around doing the interactive wands.  They opened blinds, made it rain, made a bird sing, turned on some cool stuff, turned on water.  Kids enjoyed it.  We also went into Gringotts bank front - Kids wouldn’t ask the Goblin questions.  Kasey wanted to ask how much money was in Gringotts - his answer was you wouldn’t believe it.  Then we were back in area and looks like Gringotts was back up and working.   Greg stored our backpack and we headed in with our Express Passes.  Line wasn’t bad for that.   The ride was pretty cool.  Many of the rides at Universal are similar.  You are in a car of some sort, and moving around on track with virtual images on screen all around you taking you on a journey.  They one was trying to get Harry, Ron and Hermione out of Gringotts.  Kasey didn’t like it at all.  There was a Dragon in it (same one on top of Gringotts building that would breath fire every 10 minutes or so).  Kasey didn’t like that either.

After that we did a few more wand interactions then went for an early lunch.  We decided to sit down in air conditioned Leaky Cauldron.   Kids got butterbeer & Mac & Cheese with fruit.  Greg got fish and chips and I got Shepherd's Pie with Salad.  Greg and I also tried some of their actual beer.   Good lunch, fun atmosphere.

After lunch we went looking in Quidditch shop, Fred and George's shop.  We were about to head out and saw a dark section that had Borgin and Burkes.  It has some cool, but darker clothes and stuff.  Cool things in the window, lots of skeletons.

We headed out to ride some rides.  We started with Simpsons World.  We waited in line for a while for Simpsons ride.  It was a bit crazy - more virtual roller coaster circus ride where sideshow bob was trying to get us.   It was actually hard for me to see from back seat.  Same for kids, but I think Greg really enjoyed it.  After that we got family pictures on the Simpson couch which was fun.

We walked around, got some pictures with few of the statues.  They even had the Duff beer with same pipe going into different types.   We headed down to Moes Tavern.  Greg and I had some Duff beer and Kasey had a flaming Moe (basically orange drink with dry ice in it).  Landon didn’t like it.  We took a few more pictures and decided to go ride Men in Black.

With our express pass the wait wasn’t long so we decided to ride it again.  This one is a shooting game where you are shooting as many Aliens as you can.   Pretty fun.  Kids and Greg really enjoyed it.

After that we headed to Disaster ride.  I remember going on ride like that when I was a kid at Universal.  It was one of the coolest things.  This one was fun, but not quite the same.  They take you into a studio to record some parts, then put everyone in big bus/train/subway to go through earthquake and subway almost crashing into us.  At the end they show video with extras and even showed Greg, kids and I on screen when they showed some of crowd.  It was still fun.

After that Kasey wanted to go meet Gru.  She really wanted a snack, but convinced her to go see Gru since she really wanted to the day before.   They had people Minions, Vector, Gru and the girls come out in their cars.  They did some dancing in the street.  One of the Minions got Kasey to go out there with her and dance some.  She doesn’t want to participate much, but she really enjoys it when she does.  Then she wanted to meet Gru.  We got in line for Gru, got his stamp and Kasey and I got a picture with him.  What fun!

After that was snack time.   Part of the park is set up like San Francisco so there was a sign for Giradelli chocolate.  I was wanting some of their chocolate ice cream, but it was a fake store.  Greg and kids ended up getting popcorn and Churros instead.

Then we split up a little bit.  Landon went on Transformers ride with Greg and Kasey and I went to Shrek 4D.  With Express line wasn’t to long - tends to be about ½ the wait.   It was cute, but kasey didn’t like mean Dragon or spiders in that one. Poor child, hope we haven’t scared her.  This one was about Shrek after movie.  The short king came back as ghost trying to find Fiona and Shrek saves her of course with the help from Dragon and Donkey.

Greg and Landon went through Shrek as well and we met up at Minion ride.   We went in.  This ride was about Gru training us to become Minions.  We ended up flying all over the place, messing things up  - in the virtual world.  In the end we turned back to human and stayed that way.  Cute movie/show.

We were close to leaving and I really wanted to go to  ET.  Landon and I went to ET and then Kasey and Greg went to meet Bart and Homer Simpson.   After that we met up.  We ended up I went to Diagon Alley to get Landon Buckbeak Hippogriff.  Greg took both kids to Men in Black to ride one more time.  They took longer so I found a cool hallway with benches to hang out.  I also took a few more pictures.

Then we headed to dinner at Lombard’s Seafood Grille.  It was a nice sit down dinner and at least some of us got seafood.

After dinner we checked on Hogwarts Express and the wait time was down to 10 minutes so we decided to go.   It was pretty cool, showing inside windows going from Diagon Alley to Hogwarts on window/video screens.

Then we walked home from the other park.  We probably should have taken water taxi.  We are all tired, one more day of fun then back home to reality.

8/11 - Last day of vacation.  We spent today mainly at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure with a little bit over at Universal Studios.

We left again about 7:30am.  We headed to the water taxi, but missed one so we decided to walk.  We beat the next water taxi.  They opened at 8am and we headed straight for Harry Potter World - Hogsmeade.  At Universal Studios there were other things open, at 8am at Islands of Adventure it seemed that only Harry Potter World was open.  At any rate we went straight to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  I didn’t really know a lot about it, but heard it was good. Kasey kept asking what kind of ride it was.  I said I really didn’t know.  Greg mentioned maybe doing a ride swap so she didn’t have to ride it, but we end taking her anyway.  Ooops.  It has many things he didn’t like. This one wasn’t 3D so there were real things coming out at us.   The dragon she didn’t like from Gringotts, spiders, the crazy Tree from Harry potter, several Dementors, etc.  Needless to say she didn’t enjoy it.   Landon wasn’t crazy about it either.  It was still early so I decided to go again as single rider.  I got through pretty quick.  During that time Greg and kids rode Ride of Hippogriff twice.  Both kids really liked it.  Little roller coaster that went kind of fast, but wasn’t bad at all.  When I got off we all rode so Landon didn’t have to ride alone or with others.   It was a cute ride.  Then Greg wanted to go ride the Journey again as single rider.   During that time kids and I rode Hippogriff ride a few times.  The last time kids got to sit together in front of roller coaster.  They liked that.

After that we started going through Hogsmeade with the kids wands.  They got to move and do a few new things which was fun.  They turned on music box, made plants move, and other things.  Good fun.

We then went to honeydukes to check it out.  We got a water, some pumpkin juice to try and a few chocolates.  We ate and drank.  We liked the pumpkin juice but it was quite sweet.  They decided they would let me go on Dragon roller coaster - one of the bigger ones in the park.  I went alone and got up pretty quick.  I picked the red one that they said was faster (the blue one had more turns and was more intense).  I really enjoyed it.  Turned upside down 4 times.

We thought we would take a ride the other way on Hogwarts Express.  It has a different experience each way.  We got on pretty quick and headed for Diagon Alley.  Once we got there Greg and Kasey went on Men and Black and Landon and I went to ride Gringotts ride as single riders.  It wouldn’t have been to long, but the ride stopped while we were in there.  It was fun though to go through again and enjoy it.  We walked in the Money exchange again, asked the Goblin who Harry Potter was.  He said is this to difficult for you?  The kids got to sit in Hagrids motorcycle for a picture which was fun.  We finished up wand activities including -  making a skeleton dance, moved a little wooden man up a light, and made shrunken heads talk and sing.  The kids called Ministry of Magic on the London pay phone.  Basically said they were closed.

We went back on Hogwarts Express to Hogmeade and were going to have lunch at Three Broomsticks, but the wait was to long.  So we walked on and found a place with Gyro platters.  We all got them and enjoyed something a little different.  

Then we headed to Dr Suess world. We all rode a little train that was very simple but cute.  After that and coming back for sunscreen Landon and I headed to Super Hero area.  Landon got to meet Captain America, hold his shield and get a few pictures.  It was fun.

Then Landon and I went to ride Superman ride.  It was pretty cool, but a little scary like the others.  3D, bad guys coming at you at every turn.  I thought it was pretty cool.  During this time Kasey and Greg went to Cat and the Hat a few times, rode the Dr Suess train again and hung out some in Dr Suess land.

After that we met up.  I wanted to ride the hulk ride.  It’s roller coaster they do metal detectors to make sure you don’t have anything in your pockets.  It was an awesome ride and didn’t have to stay in line to long.  Kids got Icees.   

Then we went to close out pictures and get a few printed.  We got end of vacation picture of all of us.  Greg and Kasey walked back to hotel.  Landon wanted to do something else.  He mentioned going to other park to ride Mummy ride. We decided not to do that, but ended up riding what I call tea cup ride (but super hero themed) and did some shopping.  There were a few more super heros out and Landon got his picture with one of the bad guys.

Landon and I walked back to hotel complaining that our feet hurt.  We got to room, crashed for a few minutes then headed to the pool where Kasey and Greg were.  We got down there.  We all played with beach balls some.   Kasey took me through tour of mini water park.  Really just wanting to get me all wet.   It was fun and felt good to be off my feet.

We had dinner again in hotel at Jakes and spent time packing up for early morning return to reality tomorrow.

Overall I think we had a wonderful trip.

Landon’s favorite was getting a wand. His favorite parks are Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Universal

Kasey liked Magic Kingdom and riding Men in Black at Universal.  She really liked being Chip with Belle and meeting Anna and Elsa.

I loved it all, and I think Greg had fun too :)

8/12 - We had to get up at 4:45am to get to airport for our flight.  We had a car pick us up at 5:30.  Kasey was excited that they had a car seat for her.  We all just wanted to take a nap on the way to the airport.

Landon and I watched 2nd Captain America movie on the way home which is a good one.  Greg and I both took little cat naps.

Grammy and Gramps met us at the airport with our car (Thanks!).  It took a while to get our luggage, but we got out pretty quick.

We headed home and I had to change clothes and leave for a team lunch.  changing groups at TI and my new team was having an offsite so I thought it would be good to attend.  I was a little out of sorts, but it was fun.  We had lunch and did a painting of Dallas city scape.

After that headed home to spend some more time with the family.  We were all pretty tired.

July 2015 updates

7/26 - 7/31 - Landon at Allaso Ranch sleep away camp - This is Landon's commontary on camp
Sunday - They got to camp, did swim test and he passed.   This camp was star wars themed so camp at night was centered around that. Darth Vader was trying to destroy the earth.  R2D2 was trying to descramble message from Yoda to stop him.   Yoda picked 3 people to find the 5 pieces to decrypt the message.  The 3 were BuBu Fett, Demetri StormTrooper and Howard Wookie Wookiewitz
Monday - Did bible study and went canoeing.   Went Canoeing with Mike.   Did a mid day face off between teams and Green won.  Then went to lunch and went to the pool in the afternoon.  The pool had 2 waterslides and was fun.   It also had a lazy river with innertubes.  Ate dinner and did camp at night. Red team won

Here is actual Letter written by Landon on first few days:
Dear mom and dad,
I've been having a blast.  I passed the swim test.  It was hard.  We went canoeing.  I went in a canoe with Mike.  We also did a game.  It went ok.  We got 2nd.  We had lunch and then we took a 20 minute nap.  Then we used a compass to do a treasure hunt.  The treasure was candy.  Then we tried to catch water animals.  We caught 3 frogs and a riffle beetle.  We got in the pool and it was awesome.  
Sincerely, Landon  P.S. Thanks for the Chewie the Wookie

Tuesday - Landon and Mike and then Landon and Carter did the giant swing.  Got into harness and hung side by side in huge swing.  This see saw which is part of low ropes.   Then did mid day face off.  Green won.  Then had lunch.  Then went to the pool.  Then did bible study.  Went to camp store - bought little owl.  Then ate dinner then went to camp at night. Blue team won. Then had night swim

Here is Landon's actual letter from Tuesday
We did humongous rope swing.   It was amazing.  Then we did a see saw.  WE also did a game where you throw a ball into a bucket.   We won.  We went to the pool and gift shop.  I still having a blast.  Love you.  Sincerely, Landon

Wednesday - Went horseback riding for the first time.  Painted a horse.  Practiced with a Lasso.  Went on a hayride.  Had breakfast in the barn. Then went to the pool. Then mid-day face-off. Blue team won Then lunch and more pool time. Next was bible study and dinner. We did camp at night and blue team won

Thursday - Bible study then pool. Mid day face off and lunch. Then we went to the pool and ziplining. Next was dinner and camp at night. Green team won. 

Friday - Bible study then low ropes and basketball. Then Mid day face off and lunch. Next was pool and dinner. Blue got camp champs. I had a blast.

7/26-7/30 - I was traveling all over.  Went from Dallas to Hong Kong on a 16 hour flight, then about an hour car ride to Shenzhen on Monday early morning.  We had training conference there.  Meeting people and seeing how things worked.  Tuesday night we went to get foot massage.  I had gotten one before in Shenzhen where you wore you own clothes, we all sat in private room in recliners and had nice foot massage.

The place we went was a bit different.  We had 2 ladies and 2 guys.  They separate us guys and girls into a very nice locker room.  Since the ladies don't really speak English they told us to take clothes off, put on towel.  Then we had to take a shower.  Then we had to put on a special outfit.  Kind of like scrubs - shorts and shirt.  Then they led out out to big area where we met guys.  A little awkward with co-workers, but whatever.  We all got foot massages, and either got neck or head massage.  It was nice, but kind of noisy.  It was interesting.  The ladies working there all had outfits on based on what they did.  Foot ladies had an outfit, shoulder and head had a different outfit.   At the end a few other ladies with different outfits came over to guy that was with us that spoke Chinese.  They were basically discussing with him that he could do something additional to meet the minimum charge.   He got a coke :)

Wednesday we left at 9:30am for airport heading to Tokyo.  4 1/2 hour flight and then almost 2 hour bus ride it was a day of travel.   Thursday morning we had a good meeting with local TI team in Tokyo.   We had lunch at little Italian place that I've been to many times over the years.  Then I headed to the train for the airport.   I took Taxi to get train.  He tried dropping me at wrong entrance.  Then my credit cards wouldn't work to get train ticket.  I waited in line to have a person help, and missed the train I wanted to take, but there was another one sooner than I thought.  It all worked out but was stressful.   I got to check in and the lady told me that Economy was full so they put me in Business.  For a 12 hour flight I won't complain - even though it was a middle seat.  By the time I got to the gate they were calling my name to put me in window seat instead.  Business class makes a good difference in travel.  I got to watch movies, TV show, sleep for few hours.

7/26 - Greg with other friends took kids to Allaso ranch for first long overnight camp.   Landon had clothes in baggies for each day, a manly overnight kit, towels, & bathing suits.  He was on Green team, the Wookies.  The whole week was Star Wars Themed so the boys were excited.   We made him a care package.   Box with Star Wars pictures on top, a Wookie book, journal, envelops with paper to write home, a journal, disposable camera, Itty Bitty Wookie, Wookie container.  I also wrote letters to Landon for each day and included a couple cool facts (mainly star wars related).  

7/25 - Greg has left for College Station the night before.  We had Landon mostly packed for camp, me packed for China and Japan.  Landon had soccer game which they lost by many goals, and then Grammy and Gramps took me and kids to the airport so I could catch my flight to Hong Kong.  16 hour flight which is quite long.  I got to watch some movies which was good.  I finally got to see Big Eyes.

7/19 - we got up and took the dog for a long walk.   We came back for all of us to shower.  We went to Jersey Mike's for lunch.  Yummy.
We went to orientation for Landon's overnight camp.  Then went to the pool for a while with friends.  After that we went to try out a BBQ place in Allen, it was pretty good.  Kasey and I split a BBQ beef potato.

7/18 - We started the day with soccer.  Landon was supposed to have his first game in several weeks, and we got to the field and the other team couldn't get enough players so they forfeit.   Kids wanted to play so ended up having a game kids vs dads.  The dads won, but they all got some exercise and had fun.  We got to have lunch at Elke's.  Landon wanted the big hamburger. After lunch we went to get Dairy Queen blizzards. Kasey wanted a vanilla blizzard with nothing in it so she got vanilla ice cream in a cup.  Silly girl.

That afternoon Landon had cub scouts learning more about first aid.  That afternoon Greg went with Doug and Dave to watch US team play in Gold Cup - they won 6 to 0.  Then Greg went with Doug to FC Dallas game. It was kind of his birthday celebration with the boys.  Kids and I went with the Dowdy's to see Ant Man at Studio Movie Grill.  Fun movie.

7/15 - I had a friend take me to work so that Greg could come pick me up to go to coaches night.   Its fun to get excited about football season and hear the coach get excited about the team, new stadium etc.   Will be a fun year.

7/13 - Lyn was in town so we had a little girls night.  A few of us went to Village Burger Bar for a few drinks.  Fun to spend some times with the ladies.

7/12 - We got up today around 8ish.  Landon made the two of us breakfast - Peach yogurt and he put in strawberries, blueberries and peaches that I had cut up.  I made Kasey eggs and Greg had cereal as usual.   Kids and I went to walk the dog.  Landon had Patch, Kasey wanted to swing.  Landon took patch on short slide.

We went to lunch, and then decided to clean up the play room.  Mind you that we've bascially had an unusable playroom for at least 6-9 months.  We got it cleaned up pretty good.  We all kept saying it was weird to see the floor in there.

Grammy and Gramps came over so we could celebrate Gramp's birthday.   Kids had made cards, and gifts out of paper.  Both kids put planes on the cards, and Landon actually made a paper airplane.  Kids showed Grammy the play room, and they both played piano for them.  Fun to see them excited and doing well.   Then we headed to Uncle Julios for some yummy food.

7/11 - We had a fun busy day.  Got up, kids and I went for a walk while Greg mowed the yard.   Then Greg and Landon went to cub scout meeting.  After that we went with the Dowdy's to Trinity Groves.  We had lunch at Luck which was pretty good.  Then we went to have a beer at local brewery called 4 corners.  It was pretty warm, but fun to do something a little different.  We were celebrating Greg and Jason's birthdays so it was fun.  We came back and went to friends pool birthday party.
That night I got to go see Magic Mike XXL.  I liked it better than the first one.   Fun!

7/10 - Gramp's birthday.  Grammy and Gramps looked at some houses.  I had to be at work at 7am for a meeting so I actually left around 4pm.  It was a bit of a stressful day, but hopefully it will all work out as its supposed to.    Greg picked up some food so we could eat at home and watch the US mens national team game.  They won, but it was a tough game.

7/7 - US Mens National soccer team played Gold Cup game in Frisco.  Greg, Doug, Juan, Dave, Jason Dowdy and I went early to Jakes before the game.  We had some beer and burgers.  Dave was a good man and brought face paint so we all got our face paint on, took some pictures and headed to see the end of the first game.  We saw a few people in line for beer and met up with Marissa and Gaby for the game.   We saw few friends from various places and even saw few friends of kits - Brock and Sutton were there.
US won 2 to 1.  It was a fun time and glad US won

7/5 - Kasey woke up middle of the night not feeling well, so I ended up sleeping in her bed.  I couldn't go back to sleep thinking something might be wrong with Landon.  When we woke up got a call that he got sick in the middle of the night.  He was fine though.  Poor thing.

After getting Landon we chilled out for a while, went to lunch and then then went to Solis' for some pool and food.  We came home and watched the US women's team in world cup against Japan.   US scored 4 goals in firs 16 minutes.  It was fun to watch as a family.

7/4 - We took it easy in the morning, went to lunch and headed to friends for 4th of July party.  We had fun hanging out and swimming.  Kids had a blast.  Kasey was singing, dancing and doing fancy jumps off the diving board.   Landon was having fun playing with the water guns.

After eating Greg went to FC Dallas game, kids and I stayed.  After dark kids got to do sparklers, smoke bombs, snakes and little pops.  This was the first time for Landon and Kasey.  They had fun, but we didn't get to go see big fireworks.  Landon ended up staying the night and Kasey went home late and went to bed.

7/3 - I had day off for July 4th.  Greg had to work and take the 4runner in.  Kids and I went to Starbucks for hot chocolate and breakfast.  Kasey had a croissant and Landon had a sweet roll.   We went to hang out a bit then Landon went to a friends birthday party at Maine Event.  Kasey and I went to the salon for manicures and pedicures - such fun.  She knows what she wants.  The lady didn't do her toes like she wanted, but we both thought it was cute.  She wanted a pattern of every other toe a different color. She did big toe one color and little toes different color.   We had dinner at Mi Cocina with friends.

7/1 - Landon came home from camp today.  He had a great time, but is tired.  The boys met me for lunch so I could see him.  When they got home, Greg went to the bathroom and Landon was asleep on the bed in that short time.

Landon got to do several things - they got to play human foose ball, shoot bbguns, archery, their group won dodgeball tournament, they had a swim party, got to help serve and clean up dinner, made rockets and shot them off, did big slingshots.  They slept in tents.  Landon had a cot, small pad, sheet and blanket.  I think they slept ok because they were tired.  Basically slept 10-6 which is much shorter than normal 8:45 to 7 or 8

June 2015 updates

6/30 - Landon was still gone at Webelos camp so I came home a little early so Kasey and I could watch the Little Mermaid.  She's funny - she was kind of yelling at the bad parts and clapping when they got married at the end.  Fun!

6/28 - We had a fun day.  Greg drove Landon to Webelos camp - this first overnight camp away from us.  He was going with 3 other boys from our Den and a few others from our Pack.  They got there Sunday mid day and stayed until Wednesday morning.

I had planned for 22 ladies from various groups to go see Dirty Dancing the Musical.  We met at Taco Joint for a quick lunch and headed down.  We got a few pictures and headed in.  The performance was pretty good.  Few parts I didn't like, and the lead guy was a great dancer but not a great actor.  Other than that it was a lot of fun!

6/27 - We mainly hung out, and then went to Landon's soccer game at 4:30pm.  FC Knights won their first game and played really well.  Landon had a few assists and played well.

6/26 - I got back from a trip - I traveled to Phoenix and then to North Dakota and Minnesota.  I spent a lot of time traveling.  I got back Friday late afternoon, Grammy and Gramps picked me up and took me home.  I changed into bathing suit and headed straight to girl scout troop summer swim party.  Kids had fun in the water for a while.  Then it started lightning and thunder some.  We got kids out of pool and had some cake.  We wouldn't let kids back in yet.  So they went to play at the playground. 

One of the kids got stung by a wasp so we ended up calling the party a little early.   Greg had gone to watch Women's World Cup and then FC Dallas game.  Kids and I watched end of US game when we got home.

6/21 - Fathers Day - Patch woke me up a few times between 6-7.  Then Kasey woke me up saying she slept until 9:24am. She was excited and Greg and I were glad to sleep in too.   We got up and got ready.  We had lunch at Ten 50 BBQ with both of our dads.  Good food and low key which was fun.   We came home and basically hung out in the afternoon.  We got up about 5pm and headed to Roman Cucina which is good Italian food.  To finish off the day we got some dessert and Pacuigo.   I think Greg had good fathers day and home our dads did too.

6/20 - started out the day with soccer.  FC Knights played hard, but lost 5 to 3.  It should have been 4 to 4, but not great refs.   After that Kasey and I went to her friend Lucy's birthday party.  It was at Allen Community Ice Rink.  Kasey had never gone ice skating before but she did great.  She stayed along wall for most of the time, but by the end she was going out in the middle on her own.  She really liked it and asked if she could do the same thing for her birthday.   Fun idea.

That night we had neighborhood party.   Always a good time where we get food, drinks and kids can run around and play.

6/19 - We had a good busy week.  Kasey had Twilight camp every night til 10pm.  Landon had camp invention (for gifted and talented kids) during the day and Twilight Camp at night.  Because of some weather his Twilight was cancelled for 2 days.  The kids had fun.   I enjoyed being a leader at Eagles Nest Twilight camp.  It was fun leading 4th graders, and neat to see Kasey in that environment enjoying herself and being independent.

During the week the older girls I was with got to cook with fire and cut things with knives, light matches, climb rock wall, walk across rope bridge, shoot arrows in archery, get wet, go through maze and scavenger hunt.   They also got to dunk me in dunking tank - Kasey got to watch too.   Very fun week.  Last day girls got to have snow cones, hot dogs and smores, face painting and then watch the movie Brave til midnight.

6/16 - Storm Bill is heading in but somehow didn't get to bad tonight.  Landon's Twilight was cancelled because of lightning, but mine and Kaseys happened.   My unit had cook night.  We made Spaghetti and Meatballs and Apple Cake.  The girls (most 9 years old) all got to strike a match, cut something, help cook prepare and help clean dishes.  They did great!  Kasey had a blast as well and I even got to see her a few times running, having fun and they came by to say hi.  Needless to say I have no problem getting my 10,000 steps in this week.

6/15 - We started Crazy week.  Landon has Camp invention at Norton from 9-3:30, then Twilight camp until about 9pm.  Kasey and I have Twilight camp from 6-10pm.  Greg is working and keeping all of us fed.   I am a leader at Eagles Nest Twilight Camp, and Kasey is camper.   We are having a great time.  I got to shoot a bow and arrow with my girls for the first time.  my unit has 8 4th graders so same age as Landon, but get to see Kasey some.  Kasey and Lucy are buddies and run around having a great time with their unit.

6/14 - We started with FC Knights game.  We played another club team so it was tough and kids lost, but they played hard.  Going to be a tough season.  Hopefully we get to play other Rec teams.
 Today was Kasey's Dance Recital.  We went to Elke's for lunch and then came home to get ready for the recital.  The boys had to put slacks on (neither of them wanted to).   We headed up there.  Grammy, Gramps, Grandma, Pops, Cindy, Carlos and the 4 of us were there.   We got some pictures of the family and went to get our seats.  Kasey got to sit with us  for a while because her dance was later in the Act.  I took her back to dressing room around 13th dance and then came back, got her flowers and went to watch her.  She did a good job and seemed to have fun.   She was done right before intermission.   Got her back.  She got flowers from us, Grammy/Gramps, Grandma/Pops and Cindy/Carlos.  We got picture of her with all the flowers and she was just glowing.  So proud of her.  She wanted to stay and watch the 2nd act.   Because of crazy schedules Landon and I left to spend a little time together.

We took all the flowers home, then headed to watters creek.  We went to little chocolate place Landon had iced hot chocolate and I had Chia Tea.  We sat outside (even though it was a little warm for me).   We asked each other questions.  He told me his favorite project in school was Poems he wrote for mothers day, he's still not happy that I wasn't there.  I'm bummed that I wasn't.  We decided to go for a walk.  There was a group that had dogs for adoptions so we went to check them out, and then walked around some more.

We went home and we all headed to dinner at Razoos.  Then we went to Baskin Robbins for a little celebration.  I love baskin robbins.  I got to have favorite flavors I had as a kid - Peanut Butter and Chocolate and Chocolate Mouse Royale.  Yum!

6/12 - Kasey is starting to sing along to music on radio.  So fun.  I love music a lot and it makes me smile to see and hear her enjoy it.    I ask her which songs she likes and we'll talk about ones we don't like.

I took a 1/2 day off work for Kasey's dance recital rehearsal.  We got her dressed and got a little make up on her.  In the car on the way there she had to go to the bathroom.  Kasey told me I didn't tell her to go potty before she got dressed.  I told he she didn't remind me :)

We got checked in, went potty and went to get a seat.  Kasey gets to watch several dances before going backstage.  She wanted to make sure we were counting the numbers so that we went back on time.  I took her back stage, we got a few pictures and then the moms went back to watch dress rehearsal.  The girls did a good job and was fun to watch them.

We ran home.  Kasey changed and we went to get our hair cut.  I got almost 4 inches off and Kasey got an inch cut off.   Greg and Landon went to dinner at Mi Cocina where several others were. Landon ended up going to Top Golf with friends and spending the night.

6/11 - Landon started piano lessons today.  He's starting at a different level than Kasey because he's older.   Of course its not fair and they want to see if each other can play the others music.  Should be interesting.

6/7 - Landon decided he wanted to hang out with Grammy and Gramps instead of going to A&M vs TCU game.  So Greg, Doug and I dropped kids off and headed to Fort Worth.  A&M won that game.  The boys stood along 1st baseline again.  I brought a chair and decided I'd rather sit in shade in 90+ degree weather.   Aggies did win so got tickets to Monday game.  Ended up with schedule that just Greg and Doug went.

6/6 - We started the day at Landon's indoor soccer game.  We have a team of 6 girls and 8 boys who play soccer on different teams.  When we got there we found out that we play 7 + Goalie, and that the league is combined rec, competitive and club teams.  We played a club team so it was tough.  The team played really tough but lost by multiple goals.

After the game Kasey went home with Grandma and Pops.  Landon, Greg, Doug and I headed to Fort Worth to watch A&M and TCU play in super regional.   We first went to 3rd base line, but the wall was taller than Landon so he couldn't see.  We ran across the stadium to try and find some shade.  We sat in a little spot under bushes at the end of first baseline in outfield.  At least it was cooler.  Landon wanted to go exploring a few times.  I showed him how to call Greg on my phone and gave him my phone and wallet to go get a snack.  A&M didn't win....

6/5 - Today was the last day of school.  Kids had a good day.  AFter school kids had gone to pool with Greg and several friends.     I grabbed burgers on the way home.  We ate and headed to Montgomery Farm First Friday to hang out and visit with friends and let the kids play

6/4 - I worked all morning and went up to Landons end of year parfy at the park and pavilion.  Kids go to have popcorn bag with a few fun topings and sugar drink. They also had rice crispy treats and a few other things. They played nukem on volleyball coart and sat in shade on playground to eat snacks.  Kasey wore a fun shirt Grammy got her saying she was Norton kindergarten graduate.  She wore it to school to have friends sign it.

They had fun.  Greg went to get Kasey and we headed out.  Kasey and I had a little shopping to do for twilight camp.  Landon and Daddy went home.

That night we had a playoff baseball game.  The boys played hard.  Landon caught a fly ball in center field, got a hit/RBI, ended up stealing home, helped get a few balls from outfield to stop runnings

6/3 - Today was Kasey's Kindergarten program.  The whole grade sang 3 songs which were fun.  Kasey also had a speaking opportunity to say a sentence about volunteers - Greg and I both got our names on the list for volunteering.  She did a great job.  Grammy, Grandma & Pops, Greg and I were there.  Greg was sick, Gramps was sick.   We got a few pictures with Mrs Savitch and a few friends including a few of the daisy troop.

That afternoon was the kindergarten Party at the park and Pavilion.   Kids got to have pizza, ice cycles, chips/fruit and fun new water bottles.  The kids enjoyed running around to have fun.  Of course Kasey wanted to play with friends in the sand.  She had a good time  I had to leave a little early for all afternoon meeting

6/2 - Today was field day.  Greg was able to go up to school.  Kasey played on the water slide pretty much the whole time.  Landon didn't want to have much to do with Greg so he left a little early to have lunch with another dad.

6/1 - Landon had first game of baseball tournament.  Yankees won 10 to 4.  Landon got a hit, RBI, Caught fly ball at 3rd base, stole home, and got hit by ball.  Good game yankees!

May Blog Updates

5/31 - Another busy day.  We started going to brunch at Bonnie Ruth - yum.  Then we got ready with all drinks and Popsicles and we headed up to the pool for cub scout pack pool party!  Kids were setting up forts, and using water guns.  They were having a good time.  Kasey and I had to leave a little early to get home and shower for Kasey's piano recital.

5/30 - We had a ton of rain for a few days so last baseball game was cancelled.  We had end of season party instead.  We met at Rudy's for breakfast and fun.  Coach Jeff stood up and said something nice about all the boys.  It was pretty special.  The families thanked the coaches.

That evening we went to Rough Riders game with Cub Scouts..  The boys got to go on the field before the game, and then we had dinner and hung out in our seats.  Kids had fun. Kasey and I left a little early to get her in bed earlier.  The boys came home later.  After I left the game Landon started tracking the hitting for each hitter in the game.  Fun!

5/27 - Kids had higher education week  - they wore college shirts (A&M), college hats, bright colors and sunglasses and tennis shoes.  Kasey enjoyed dressed up some.  Landon could really care less.  Kasey was selected to have a speaking part in her Kindergarten program.  Its a pretty hard sentence for her but she was able to memorize it in a day.

5/24 - We had Landon's family birthday party today.  We had lunch at Uncle Julios which everyone likes.  Then we headed back to house for some ice cream cake and presents.  Landon picked to have ice cream cake over having Greg and I make something.  He chose Cookie Dough ice cream, chocolate cake, and chocolate outside of cake with hershey kisses.  Family got Landon Anki drive which he really wanted, cool circuit building (which he loved and by the end of the day had built an AM radio), 3D ball puzzle, Mindcraft lego and other fun things.

That afternoon we had girl scout meeting.  Girls got their cookie sale awards, and got to make some fathers day gifts.  Girls had fun!

5/22 - I worked up til lunch then came home since Landon's birthday party with friends was today.   About 1:30 a thunderstorm came through.  Pretty loud, shook the house.  It went through pretty fast and was about done when we got the kids at 2:55.  We all went home picked up stuff and headed back to park.  We had joint birthday party with one of the girls in his grade (Sutton) who has a birthday the day after his and Landon has a crush on.   We ended up with about 30 kids.  They played nukem, played on playground, played basketball and just ran around some.  Then we all walked to the pool.  It was in the 60s - in May in Texas, Crazy.  Almost all the kids jumped in the pool.  We had some drama between boys and girls, between few boys. Overall they had a good time.  Got wet, played outside, got some pizza, sugary drinks and some cookie cake.   Everyone seemed to have a good time.   

Kasey got to hang out with Chloe and have dinner.  They had fun.  She also got Knight of the week for the 3rd time this year.  Pretty good :)

5/21 - Landon had baseball game even with rain.  He got RBI and out at 3rd.  Boys won bottom if inning 7 to 6

5/19 - Tonight Kasey and I went to parent/camper night for Twilight camp.  Its Kasey's first year.  I have a unit of 4th graders so it should be interesting.

5/17 - With Landon's party cancelled for potential weather of course the day was beautiful.   Greg made French Toast for breakfast.  Greg went to watch soccer with the boys, so kids and I went to Spazo for lunch.  We shared some Alfredo and Stromboli.  Then we had some chocolate moose and Creme Brulee for dessert - yum.

The kids and I went to the pool for a little while.  They thought it was cold, but had some fun.  That evening we went to Taco Joint for going away party for the Kearns family.  We will miss them.

5/16 - From all the rain Friday we assumed that games would be cancelled.  Baseball and all but 1 soccer field were closed. Landon got to play soccer.  Bengals won 5 to 2.  They played a good game.  Landon had 3 assists, and 2 went in the goal as he says :)

That afternoon, Greg went to have a beer with Jason, Landon went to Mikes House.   Kasey and I walked/rode bike some, met the new neighbor Brad and worked on her school project.

5/15 - After work we had school carnival.   It threatened rain and morning had rained quite a bit.  So they set up everything inside the school.  Of course during the carnival it was clear outside.  They had In-n-out burger truck come bring food to those that ordered.  Several games for kids to play, cake walk, bounce houses in the gym.  They also had Kona Ice which kids liked.   Landon walked around most of the time with Sutton and Colin.  He said today its the best time he had in his life.  Hmm.  Supposedly Landon and Colin have a crush on Sutton.  Walking out found out that one of the boys down the street kissed Kasey.   Growing up to fast.

We left the carnival to walk Colin home.  We went by Crawfords house where some families having a few drinks.  All the kids were in the pool in their clothes.  Of course mine wanted to get in.  Kasey borrowed a bathing suit and Landon asked and he jumped in with his clothes on.  Kids had a great time.  Was fun til it was time to leave and kids didn't want to get out of the pool.

We headed home and straight to bed.  Of course it was past bed time.

5/14 - Greg was WatchDog today.  I didn't have to many meetings so I worked from home.  I went to Pie Five and got Pizzas and Salad for Landon, Greg and I to have lunch. Kasey's lunch is to early.  We had a little early birthday lunch.  We got to eat with Mike and Jason Dowdy.  

That afternoon I took Kasey to dance because they were trying on costumes for her recital.  Cute costumes but will require some pinning to keep them all together.  Right after dance we went back home.  Greg took me to Amy's as a few of us girls were going out for dinner and concert.  We went to a little place called Medina Oven and Grill.  Little Mediteranean place.  It was cute.  We got up front parking, sat outside.  Good food.  Then we headed to the concert.  Nelly, TLC and New Kids on the Block.  We were like teenagers again yelling and singing.  Very fun concert.  We danced a lot during Nelly.  NKTOB was great.  Mostly same songs we knew, same dances.   Joey and Jordon had solos where they were mostly shirtless.  Pretty hot.

We had a pretty easy walk back to car, and got out pretty quick.

5/10 - Fun Mothers Day.  Didn't get to sleep in to much, but Greg made breakfast.  Yummy scones from Fredel and cheese eggs.  Kids gave me their hand made gifts - Landon made a pretty paper flower and they created a whole book of poems which was fun.  Kasey made a picture frame that she colored many different colors and it had a picture of her that says I love you because you are sweet.  She also made a few sheets filling out questions about me.  I Love those!

We had lunch with Grammy, Gramps, Janice, Nanny, Buddy and Jody.  Yummy Paesanos.  Then Kasey, Mom, Janice and I went to see Steel Magnolias at Cinemark as part of classic series.  Fun movie - lots of laughs but sad too.  I think Kasey liked it some.  Hopefully someday she'll want to watch girly movies with me :-)

5/9 - We woke up in time to call and check if games were rained out.  They weren't rained out so we got up and got ready.   Landon had soccer game at 9.  Boys played hard, but lost.   We were sitting on sidelines under umbrellas as it rained.   At the end of the game Grammy and Gramps were taking Kasey and I to pick up my new glasses.  As we left they cancelled games for the rest of the day.  Grammy and Gramps took Kasey and I home then we went to get my new glasses.  Kasey said I looked weird :)

That night Greg went to FC Dallas game.  The week before Landon saw a preview for ET at school and decided he wanted to watch it.  So we did.  Kasey really didn't want to watch it, but watched the whole thing.

5/7 - What a day.  I presented to 102 people in my class.  Then I tried to get home.  What a crazy day.  I went to the airport.  Had some clam chowder one more time.   We got on plane, the pilot said prepare for take off.  He started speeding up down the runway and when he was going pretty good speed, the pilot slammed on his breaks.   I don't get scared often on an airplane but it was a bit scary.  We had to go back to the gate, wait for maintenance to check everything including the breaks and tires.  Several people got off to try to catch different flights.  One guy got escorted by the flight attendant off the plane.

We finally took off, of course I missed my connection.  Luckily I was upgraded to first so I had some wine.   By the time I landed they had booked me on flight leaving a few hours later.  They took several of us on a bus to different terminal.   I grabbed a bite to eat a beer and waited.  Then they came out and said our plane was broken but they had another one at a gate across the way.  Needless to say we didn't leave on time.   We finally took off, about 30 minutes before landing the pilot came on saying he was asking the flight attendants to sit down the rest of the flight because we were flying through weather.

Grammy and Gramps picked me up.  By the time we got a little ways down the road it was pooring down rain, 

very hard rain, little visibility.  Greg met us at garage with an umbrella.   I jumped out got my bags so they could go home.  They made it home ok, but I'm sure was long drive.   Needless to say I was glad to be home.

Landon and his class had a really cool mothers day tea.  Since I was presenting at conference there's no way I could change my schedule

5/5 - I had a trip to Boston to visit customers and present at Embedded System conference.  Landon had a make up soccer game tonight.   Bengals lost the game, but Landon scored 2 goals.  Of course I missed it :(

5/2 - Boys won in soccer.  Landon had an assist which is good.  They played hard.   The boys won baseball as well.  Landon got an out playing short.  He also pitched, but had a tough time.  He struck out and was pretty upset about it.

That night Greg and I went out with the Dowdys adults only.  We had a nice dinner at Capitol Grill then went to have a drink afterwards.  I think it was about 1am when we went to bed.  Thanks to Grandma and Pops we got to sleep in some.

5/1 - I got to go with Landon's class on fieldtrip today.  We went to Dallas Children's Theater and saw a play on Jackie Robinson.  It was a good play kept most of the kids interest.  There were a few language issues but overall good.  

That evening we went to Montgomery Farms first Friday for some beer, pizza and let the kids run around and play.  It was fun talking with friends and seeing all the kids play.

April Blog Updates

4/29 - Kasey lost her 2nd tooth, bottom middle left.  Greg just pulled it out.  Bled for a little while, but she'll be ok

4/26 - today was our busy day today.  We slept in some.  I went to get kiddos.  We had to get a birthday gift.  Then Kasey had to make a card and then practice piano.  We had quick lunch at home.

I went to girl scout training for Twilight camp all afternoon.  Kasey had a girl scout meeting at the Heard Museum which she thought was fun.  Landon and Greg had soccer practice.  Then Kasey had a birthday party.   Landon played for a little while, but Greg, Landon and I went to dinner at Village Burger Bar while Kasey was at the party.  I went back hung out some and then brought Kasey home.

4/25 - With rain during the week, Landon didn't have baseball game.   We had some breakfast.  Greg had to go to work for a while.  Kids and I watched Castle then we got dressed to take Patch for a walk.  Kids rode their bikes and we headed to Eriksson.  I walked Patch around, Landon drove his remote control car and Kasey mainly hung out in the shade.

We got home and I took a shower.   Greg came home and we went to lunch at Pot Belly.   

Kasey, Grammy and I went to Merle Norman to have express make over and they took pictures of us.  It was fun.   We got to try some new things which was fun.

After that Grammy took the kids home to spend the night.   Greg and I went to Trinity Grove to try a Spanish Tapas restaurant. It was really good, but not quite De Tapas.  Afterwards we went to have a piece of cake which was ok.   We then headed back closer to home to see a movie.  We got to see Kingsman which is a comedy spi movie.  i really enjoyed it and thought it was fun.

4/24 - Landon got knight of the week!

4/19 - We had a very lazy day.   Kasey wanted to decorate my nails.  I painted my toenails and let her decorate them.   she used multiple colors and decorated each of them separately.   Then Landon wanted to help.  I told them each one could paint one of my thumbs.  Kasey made a rainbow with multiple colors with a hat.  Landon painted an owl.  

4/18 - This week seemed to have kids downstairs more than normal.  Landon had bad allergies in the middle of the night, and with spring storms Kasey comes down scared every time.  No games today because to much rain.   Greg went to FC Dallas game in the rain - ended up staying through several lightning delays and got home after 1am.

Kids and I had left overs at home then watched some movie/TVs.

4/17 - Landon played in younger Yankee scrimage.  Tough game but Landon got an out at 2nd.

4/16 - I signed up to chaperone Kasey's field trip to Dallas World Aquarium.  She was so excited that I was going.  She sat with me on the bus.  I had 5 kids, 3 girls and 2 boys.   We started out the morning with one of the girls asking why my stomach was big.  I told her everyone is different and thats ok.  She asked if I ate to much junk food.  I said maybe, she said her mom did.

We got there and walked all around.  The  kids were pretty good and enjoyed the animals.  We got to see them feed the sloth which was cool.  After the field trip I took Kasey out of school because we could.  We went and had lunch the two of us at Freebirds - her choice.  Then we had yogurt across the street.

4/12 - Someone's phone went off at 6:45am.  We all got up, checked out the Elephant outside.  We got packed up and headed to have some breakfast.  Then we went to check out a few other animals which was cool.  Kids got to pet a few of the animals and learn about them.    We got free tickets for feeding giraffes.  We went to put our stuff in cars and went back in a bit.  Kids fed giraffe's then we went to Dino bird show.   After that Landon and I went home to have lunch with Greg and Kasey

4/11 - We had soccer and baseball games.   Tough game for Bengals, we had to leave a little early and rush to baseball.  I drove and Landon and Greg changed in the back.  Tough game, ended up losing by 1 run in the last inning.  Boys played hard though.

That evening Landon's Pack was spending the night at the zoo.   We got there and all had dinner outside.  Then we headed in.  We had a few tour guides who were really cool.  One lady was a teacher who did this on weekend and they other guys was a scientist of some kind..  They were great asking the kids thinking questions and teaching them cool stuff about the animals.   He was asking questions about flamingos.  Apparently what we think of their knees actually their anchors.   Kyle (one of tour guides) asked what else was different about them.  Landon did a quick experiment and shared that he thought they stand on 1 leg to lean down for balance.  He tried it and leaning down far on 2 legs was hard to stay up, but if you stand on one leg with the other going back you can balance.  We all tried and agreed.   I was proud of him :)

We had fun seeing and learning about different animals.  We learned that owl feathers make little to no noise when they go through the air.  We got to pet a few smaller animals.   We got to have a snack and the kids ran around playing chase.  We were staying in the big building in Out of Africa area.  We all set up sleeping bags and then got to have smores.

Kids finally went to bed about 11.  I went to sit outside where it was cooler and read some.

4/10 - One of my friends helped set up cameras for Animal Planet at the Dallas Zoo.  One of the Giraffe's was pregnant and they were showing live feed of the birth and the baby.   I signed up to get a text when she went into labor.  Landon and Greg had gone to FC Dallas game, a friend had Kasey and I met them at Mi Cocina.  While eating, we got a text that the giraffe went into labor.  Giraffe's carry their babies for 15 months and have about an hour of labor, but they deliver standing up so the baby drops about 6 feet.  We didn't get to see the birth live, but when we got home from dinner we got to watch the baby stand for the first time.  It was pretty cool.

That night Greg and I watched the live feed some.  Cool to watch the baby drinking moms milk, walking, etc.

4/6 - We booked our trip to Disney World and Universal Studios for the summer.  I'm probably most excited but it will be fun.

4/5 - Happy Birthday to me!  Greg let me sleep til 8 or almost 8.  He went and got Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast.  We all decided we like the little donut shop near us is better.   We all got ready and met Grandma, Pops and Nanny at Ten50 BBQ for lunch to celebrate birthday and easter.  Then we went back to Grandmas for a little while to have dessert. We had German Chocolate cake and kids had ice cream.

That evening Greg went to Dallas cup game with the boys.  The kids and I had left over Chicken, dessert and I finally got them to watch Goonies.  They liked it of course. Someday they will believe me that the old movies I want them to watch.

It was a good birthday!

4/4 - Landon and Greg left early for soccer pictures.  Grammy and Gramps came to pick us up to head to soccer game.  Bengals had a tough game but boys played hard.  We had to leave a little early to get changed and get Landon to baseball.   Boys played a good game and won in baseball.  Landon got an out from short to first.

After games we went home for a while.  We went to early dinner with Grammy, Gramps and cousin Nina at Babes.  So good.  Then we went back to Grammy and Gramps for ice cream cake.  Kids go to play with Legos Grammy got them for Easter.  Grammy and I got to have some wine and got to talk some with Nina which is fun.  They boys watched basketball and maybe took a nap :)

4/3 - Greg went to Dallas cup game so kids and I died eggs and had dinner.   Landon and I got Freebirds and drink from Sonic and ate at home.   Kids had fun trying to make color darker. Landon added oil to make spotted with multiple colors.  Kasey got to add glitter and a little bling.    They enjoyed it.

4/2 - Since elementary school I've had a friend with my same birthday.  We now have families and are all older.  She's in Dallas for a little while so we planned lunch for early birthday celebrations for us and our moms.  We went to Chocolate Angel in Plano which is always yummy.  I had their famous spicy pimento cheese sandwich yum.  Of course we had to share some desserts.  Everything was yummy.  It was fun catching up talking about getting older, Disney World kids etc.  Good Times