October Updates 2015

10/31 - Greg got up really early to drive to College Station with Doug.   A&M was playing at 11am.    Kids were up by 6:30-6:45.  They played XBOX.  I slept in a little bit.   We all got dressed and went to Panera for breakfast.  We came home and took Patch to school for a walk.  We didn't have to much time before Colin's parents got there.   After that it was shower time and time to watch the A&M game.   Kyler Murray was starting as Quarterback for A&M for the first time.  Kasey sat in living room with me watching the game and carving her pumpkin.  I was explaining it was kind of hard to do, but she could do it.  She wanted to follow a tough outline, but ended up doing her own thing.  She told me that she could do anything that Landon could do.  I told her that was correct.   Landon was in the bedroom totally vegging out.  After Kasey finished her pumpkin carving she joined Landon.   We all decided to eat lunch at home.  Greg was really surprised that we didn't go out. :)   Aggies won.   We chilled out some more then got ready for trick or treating.   Landon was Iron Man, Kasey was Tinker Bell and I was a leopard woman.   We headed to Cracknells about 5 for some pizza dinner and few drinks before trick or treating.   Fun group of kids and families to hang around with.  After trick or treating the boys wanted to exchange some of their candy.   It was also daylight savings so we let kids stay up a little later.  Landon and I headed to friends how who was having a party.  All the kids were in rooms playing video games.  The adults were hanging out having a few drinks.  We had a good time.

10/29 - Landon got Knight of the week.  We had to read about it in the newsletter - he forgot to tell us :)   Landon had a friend over to spend the night so they were playing xbox.  Kasey wasn't happy so Kasey and I got to watch a Hallmark movie.  Greg just chilled out on his ipad.  We all went to Mi Cocina and then Greg got us some ice cream for nice treat.

10/28 - Landon had another baseball game.  We got to 2nd inning and the boys were losing 10 to 4.   I was guessing it was pretty much over.   Landon played catcher multiple innings.   He got an out at home, threw and out at 3rd and did a good job holding runners at 2nd.   He got a walk, then on 4 errors got to home.  As he was coming home, he touched the bag and his back foot got tripped so he ended up flipping over into the dirt.   I was a bit worried, but he got up and went to get on his catchers gear.   We started the last inning just in time.   The boys held the other team to 4 runs so we got to bat again.  Yankees scored 5 runs to tie the game.  After that night we were ok to tie

10/26 - Landon had a make up baseball game.   It was a tough one.  Landon got a hit with 2 RBIs.  He had a few tough things happen and the team lost.  Rough late school night.

10/25 - We had cub scouts and Daisy scouts today so we didn't do a lot in the morning but get ready for that.  The boys went on a hike with cub scouts.    Our girl scout troop added a few new girls.  Today the girls planned a tea we are going to have in November.  It's fun to watch their minds think through what they wanted.  They settled on a Halloween theme with cupcakes, mini sandwiches and grapes :)

10/24 - We had a ton of rain on Thursday so the whole weekend of sports and cub scouts was cancelled.   We got to hang out most of the day on Saturday.

10/22-  I was traveling in Detroit, but Landon had a soccer game.  Crazy rain started in Dallas.  Bengals were winning 3 to 1 and they called the game because of lightning.  So they count it as a full game.  Kasey was sitting on the side line with the grandparents under an umbrella.  

10/21 - They forecasted a lot of rain over the weekend in Dallas.  On Wednesday they rescheduled baseball games for the weekend.  Friday they rescheduled soccer game.  Landon also had a cub scout event which was also rescheduled because of rain.

10/18 - we got home so Greg could do some cub scout stuff and soccer practice with Landon.   Kasey and I went one of her friends bday parties.  The girls painted a unicorn.  It was fun for all.

10/17 - The kids got up a little early but not to bad.  We all got up  and got ready to get out of the house by 9am.   We first headed to Agglieland Outfitters.   Landon and Kasey both got a shirt.  Landon got some shorts and Kasey got a small purse that we thought was about $10.  Come to find out the next day it was a lot more than that so we made it a birthday present.   After that we headed to Northgate.   Doug and the 4 of us went to the Chicken.  We started with some Tijuana fries and some drinks.  The kids got dominoes and then a little later we played pool.  We hung out, had lunch, and then headed to park for the game.  Unfortunately A&M lost to Alabama.    After the game we headed back to the house.  Greg cooked out burgers and we ate, got kids ready for bed.  We were all pretty tired...

10/16 - Kasey got Knight of the Week.  She was so excited and got to bring home Coco and coconut (stuffed monkeys) to hang out with over the weekend.

We picked the kids up about 2:30 and headed to College Station for the weekend.  We rented a house in College Station with the Steiners, Doug and Dave's dad.   When we got into town we picked up Double Daves pizza rolls and headed to the house.   It was really nice outside so we sat on the patio and ate our dinner.   The Steiners and Doug came back from dinner.  Landon and Doug (and sort of the girls) played some football as the sun went down.   Tracy, Nancy and I sat outside most of the evening drinking wine and visiting.

10/11 - We got up early about 6am the next morning to go fishing.   The 4 of us went with Landon's Den leading Rob.   We went fishing with salmon eggs.  We didn't really catch anything but had a good time.  Rob caught one that he brought back. Kasey got to watch him prepare it and Greg and I got to try the rainbow trout.

After that we hung out at the camp site.  Landon played some football and hung out with other boys.  Kasey hung around.   In the afternoon we let the kids go swimming then they went to ride paddle boats, canoe and kayak.   I actually went home with another family because I had to be at work early the next day.

That evening Greg and kids had chili a little in the dark.  Then they went up to the dam to see the stars

I got home went to get Chinese food and some ice cream.  I got to have some time along with food I wanted to eat, some wine and a Hallmark movie.  I enjoy those times.  It was very quiet but I slept pretty well until 4 something am

10/10 - We went to Landon's baseball game.  Yankees won.  Landon had a nice out throwing from short to first.

After the game we went with grandparents to Elkes for lunch.  She had Philly Cheesesteak special which Greg, Landon, Gramps and I all got.  Then we went home, packed the car and headed to Oklahoma for our first family camping trip.  It was cub scout camping event with several people from the pack.  

Greg had made chili that we were able to warm up and eat, cornbread and brownies.   We enjoyed it.  Then we had campfire.  The area had a burn ban so the boys made a campfire with flashlights.  At campfire several of the boys told jokes - including a few that got a little scary for Kasey.  Kasey and I went back to the tent to get ready for bed while there were some stories told around the camp fire.
Kids slept in our tent on mattress.  I slept on camping pad which I apparently didn't blow up very well.   I don't think I slept well.  Kids got cold a few times through the night.  Kasey woke up about 2:45am and said "I want to do something other than sleep".  Silly girl.

10/9 - Greg got up and left at 6am to drive 3 hours to help set up tents in Oklahoma at campout.   They set up, had lunch and he drove back in the afternoon.  We went to dinner when he got back and then packed up for camping trip.

10/5 - Landon was getting ready for bed and called me in telling me there was an ant on his faucet.  As I have done in my bathroom I squished it with my hand and washed it down the sink.  Landon got really upset and sad for the ant.  He really doesn't like animals of any kind being hurt.  I'm predicting Landon will become a vegetarian at some point.  He mentioned not liking seeing all of the meat in stores that we waste it.  He's also really upset that they are supposed to dissect frogs this year.

10/4 - The soccer team (Landon's Bengals team) was going to the FC Dallas game in theory to watch the game instead of practicing.  On the way home Kasey decided she wanted to go too.  It was nice day so I was for sure up for it.   It was a nice day, all the kids got FC Dallas winter hats.  Some of them watched part of it, and others just talked.  It was a fun activity though.   Of course when Greg went to get some food he stood in line for almost 20 minutes and missed 2 goals that were right in front of us.  FC Dallas won 4 to1 against Houston.

Good times!

10/3 - What a day!  Greg was helping set up for Popcorn Blitz.  Kasey and I walked the dog. Landon went to sell in Popcorn Blitz.  Then it was time for lunch at home and getting ready for baseball.   The boys won 10 to 7.  After that we headed home for a quick change and then drove to College Station.  We got there just in time for the 6:30pm game.  We got to our seats right before it started.  The Aggies won - YEAH!   After the game the boys went out.  I took the kids to hotel.   It was after 10:30 so very late for them.  I had to go park the car and told them to get in pajamas and brush their teeth (guess who forgot their toothbrushes 0oops).  We had pull out couch and King bed.  I tried putting both kids on pull out couch - after at least 30 minutes of he's touching me, she won't move over, laughing, talking etc.  I moved Landon to the other bed.   By this time it was almost midnight but they finally went to sleep.  I was tired.  I read a bit and went to bed just before Greg got back

10/2 - We went to First Friday after work.  Yummy food truck, beer, friends and the kids got to run around in the great weather.  I think we all had a good time.

10/1 - Being an engineer I have worked mostly with men and groups that are majority men.  My new team is almost completely women.  At the end of the meeting everyone was giving one thought from the last few days.  A few ladies were talking about feelings and hugging.  The other engineer in the room looked at me and said, we're used to working with dudes.  There aren't discussions on feelings or hugs much with the guys.  It was pretty funny and so true.

I had 2 days of staff meetings with my new team.  It was good to meet the WW team and get to know them some.   I was excited that I could participate in the meetings (talking) even though I haven't been with the group much.

The first night we went to an outing.  We had a tour guide to take us through Trinity Groves.   We started at Souk for appetizers and a drink, had good BBQ at the place down there and then went to Community Brewery for some beer, mini cakes from Cake and a brewery tour.  It was pretty cool.  The tour guide was a little much, but she knew a lot of information.  It was a fun night

September 2015 update

9/27 - We had Birthday celebration with the Myers family.   We went to Abeulos for yummy food, then back to the Myers house for some Greg Dessert (even though it was Cindy's birthday celebration).  After that we took the kids to look for Halloween costume shopping.  Kasey is going to be Tinker Bell and Landon is going to be Iron Man.  We got back just in time for boys to go to soccer practice.

That evening Landon put on his sunglasses with multi color mirror lenses on under his mask and walked around with his gloves on playing iron man.

Kasey and I have started trying to sit down several days a week to read - having her read outloud.   I think she really needs this to help grow her reading.  She has found that she likes Dr Suess.  He's good for having weird made up words that you have to try and sound out, and also using words that are similar.

9/26 - We started the day taking a long walk with Patch.  Kasey took a bike ride with me.  Greg and Landon went to hit some baseballs.

Then we went to lunch and got ready for baseball.  The boys played the Dbacks and ended up losing 12 to 7. They were all a little off today.  Landon did score a run.

After that we chilled out at the house til it was time for soccer.  The team won big again we think 12 to 1, and Landon scored 2 goals.  Boys have really enjoyed the last few games, but we thing the remaining few will be tougher

9/25 - After work we decided to try out McKinney Oktoberfest.  We had some food, got to try Tupps beer.  Then the kids wanted to ride a few rides. Kasey wanted to ride the dinosaur roller coaster, and Landon wanted to go on the little ferris wheel.  I went with Landon.  Before that Kasey and I waiting in line for another roller coaster, but they had to shut it down for some safety reason.

Also in the ride area there was a game where you throw a ball at 3 bottles to win something.  They guy let Kasey play for free and she got 2 down.  Landon tried and hit it low so missed.  Of course the guy rubbed it in telling Kasey she could always remember when she did better than her brother.   On the way out we got some Helmuts strudel for breakfast.  1/2 apple, 1/2 cherry.   We also bought a fun pumpkin A&M sign for the front yard in the fall

9/21 - Landon had soccer game.  I had to leave a little early, pick up Kasey from piano, get the two of us dinner, and then get to soccer game.   The boys ended up winning 10 to 0.  Landon got a hat trick (3 goals).  Apparently before the game Pops told Landon if he scored 3 goals he would get him a Star Wars Lego. Needless to say after Landon got 2 goals he was really trying to score again even though the team didn't need to score again.

9/20 - we got up, Greg got our old TV out of the house and to a friends for a garage sale.  Patch and I went for a walk during neighborhood garage sale.   We then went to get the kids, had lunch and Elke's and raced home to get ready for baseball.  Kasey and I were about to leave and they cancelled the game for rain.  We got to hang out some watching A&M football and doing laundry/cleaning.

Landon still had a soccer game at 4:30.  We all went to the game.  The Bengals won 8 to 0.  Landon scored 2 goals, Dylan C got a hat trick, Mike scored 2 goals, and Micah score one.  Great games for the Bengals.  After the game we went with the Dowdy's to Mi Cocina for dinner.  It was homecoming so we got to sit outside and watch kids take pictures before their dance.

After that we came home and Landon/Mike wanted to spend the night together.  They only had about an hour before we made them go to bed.  Landon got out a big Lego, but Mike wanted to sit with Greg and watch football.

9/19 - I left work later than I wanted, but went home got Greg and the kids and we headed to Addison.  We met Grammy so the kids could eat and spend the night with them.  Greg and I met some friends as Oktoberfest.  We enjoyed some beer.  For food we mainly ate outside the big tent.  We had Schnitzel sandwich, and then we got skillet potatoes and Spaetzle with toppings (yum).   We had a good time.  I even bought a new A&M decoration for the house.

9/13 - We got up, Greg had to run to store for some shampoo and got som sweet rolls.  We had them in our room, all showered and then right before we left Greg brought out clothes in so we could get dressed.  We got dressed, checked out and headed hom.

9/12 - I got up to walk the dog before everyone got up.  Then we all got ready to go to College Station and head to Landon's bamseball game.   Landon had a good game.  It was bases loaded, 2 outs, 2 strikes and Landon hit a double to center field.  He got two RBI.   Yankees beat the Leopards even with head coach in Poland.  Greg and others coaches did a good job and boys won 11 to 8.

After the game we went home to change and headed to College Station.   We ate lunch in the car to get down faster.   We checked into Motel 6.  Somehow I booked a smoking room, oh my.  We basically left everything in the car and it was still gross.  Our kids are spoiled staying in nicer hotels.  This was only one we found that didn't require 2 night stay.  It was ok.

After that we headed to give parking passes to the Steiners.   We were able to stop on University in traffic and have Landon run out to give it to them.  Then we headed to North Gate.  We sat on the patio and had a few beers before going to the stadium.

Then we headed to new parking in E lot and walked to the Stadium.  Kasey had a bag of dolls with her to play with elizabeth.  We took the Escalators up to our area.  It wasn't to bad once we got on escalators.   Then we got some food and headed to our seats.  We are further in the endzone now, but we have armchair seats that have a back.  Yea!  Even Kasey said the seats were better because of this.  We have a little ledge behind us that we can put things.  Also there isn't anyone behind us so the kids can stand up without bugging to many people.

The Aggies had a good win.  The game wasn't to loud, but we weren't playing to tough of a team :)
We walked down the ramps on the other end of the stadium.  Greg, Doug and the Steiners went to North Gate for a few drinks.  I took the kids back to our smelly hotel because it was late.   It all worked out

9/11 - I had to work all day.  Greg had to lead baseball practice at Dbat from 4:30-5:30.  So Kasey went home with a friend and Landon brought a friend home.  I picked Landon and a friend at 5:30 and headed to Mi Cocina for dinner.  There were several of us sitting outside.  The adults got to have a few drinks, and the kids got to run around.  Greg got to wrap up early and joined us as well.

At some point the husbands decided they were going to try out the new bar in Watters Creek area.  Landon and Kasey started fighting and so we had to leave.  The guys had fun and stayed out for a while

9/6 - Kasey came in about 7:10 to wake Landon and I up.  We made some bacon, and cheese eggs and had that plus fruit and toast for breakfast.  The kids went out to play with the dogs.
In the afternoon some of our cousins came over.  Kasey got to play with her cousin Ayla who is about 3 months younger than her all day.  They had fun playing games, wii, going outside and just playing. 

The grownups got to chat and spend time together.  Landon kind of hung out on his own, but he was ok and went outside with the dogs some.

Travis was there after working all night.  He was tired, but hung in there and was a trooper.  It was fun to hear what everyone was up to.  We talked about the kids and everything going on.   Later Kasey came in after playing with the dogs.   She said that Bella was being mean to Abby and that she had knocked Kasey down a few times.  She said to me that she needed to talk to the parents.  And she did, she told everyone.  She even told Nina that she needs to be careful for her baby with Bella.  It was pretty humorous.

We had great food as usual.  We had brisket and Craig brought ribs, sausage and chicken.   We all hung out talking later.  We laughed a lot.   Good times with family.  It had been to long since we had visited.

9/5 - We slept in some.   Landon and I went to breakfast because we didn't know what time it went til.  We let Greg sleep some.  We all had breakfast then went to chill out for a while.  Landon and I watched the 2nd Iron Man and Greg and Doug watched Sports Center.  Then we got ready for the day and packed up.  We took all of our luggage to Doug's room for a while.  We walked to Flying saucer for lunch and some drinks.  We played some darts and hung out.  Then we headed back to hotel so Landon and I could watch the rest of Iron Man 2.   Then it was time to head to the game.  Landon, Greg and I drove, and Dave, Doug, Tracy and Elizabeth took the train.    In the Stadium we got to see Greg's Sister Cindy and her boyfriend, one of my friends who I went to school with from elementary through college, and then later saw one of my cousins I haven't seen in a very long time.    The Aggies won so it was a good game.   After that we headed to Conroe to Aunt Mary's house.  We got out of the parking lot pretty easily and got on the road.

Everyone except Grammy were in bed when we got there.   Landon was asleep and we let him sleep in the bed so Greg slept on the blow up mattress.

9/4 - I worked from home, got to have lunch with the kids, and then we picked them up from school a little early to drive to Houston.  We dropped Kasey off with Grammy and Greg, Landon and I headed to Houston.  On the way down Landon watched Iron Man 1.  We got to Houston, checked into the Magnolia, had a drink with Doug.  Landon even got a a shirley temple.   After that we went to a restaurant around the corner.  We ate on the balcony for the experience.  It was a little warm for me, but I'm all for the experience.  After dinner Landon and I walked back to the hotel.  They had milk and cookies in the lounge so we did that.   The boys came back and Landon and I headed up so he could go to bed.   I finished watching Iron Man and the boys walked over to the Saucer.

9/3 - Went to curriculum night at the school.   It sounds like 4th grade is going to be pretty tough, but the teachers are great.  Kasey's teacher said that she is sweet and a good helper.

August 2015 update

8/29 - Today started sports season.  Crazy day.  Landon had a baseball game at 9am.   It started out a little slow.  Landon made a mistake - on 2nd had a guy on 3rd and he tried to steal 3rd. He got out.  But boy did he make up for it.  His next at bat he got a triple that went all the way to the fence.  He also got a double play - caught pop fly and ran to 2nd for double play.  He played well at catcher as well.  Good game.  Yankees won 8 to 7.

Landon is now at Boy scouts for some activities.  They did some running, jumping and other physical activities.  While they were gone Kasey and I watched girl scout cake wars.

Then we all went to lunch at Elke's.  We came home and chilled out for a little while then Kasey and I went to girl scout event.  I had some training and she got to hang out with Violet and make some swaps.  She had a good time and we learned about some ways to get girls to lead and decide what they do.

After that Kasey and I got to have a quick dinner the 2 of us at Chick Fil A.  Then we headed to Landon's soccer game.  The boys played hard, but lost 4 to 2.

Then Landon went with the Dowdy's to friend party.  Greg went to FC Dallas game with a friend, and Kasey and I got a small treat finished Girl Scout Cake Wars and got her to bed.

8/25 - Kasey got on pink today and was really excited

8/24 - First day of school.   Greg and I both took the kids.  We dropped Kasey off and did a drive by with Landon.   They both had good days at school.  They like their teachers.  Landon has a boy in his class that is a bit of a trouble maker.  Kasey had them last year.

8/20 - Back to the Castle.   Kasey got to meet her teacher Ms Carter.  She was excited.  Kasey has several boys in her class that she knows and has "liked" over the years.  Friend from preschool, boys from last years class, boys from the neighborhood.   Hope she doesn't get in to much trouble.
Landon got to see his new AIM rooms - she has 2 now and look great.   He got to meet his homeroom teacher Ms Dreher and his math teacher Ms Dobson and science and social studies teacher Ms McGraw.  Landon wasn't sure he'd have any guy friends in the class, but he has a few.
It should be a fun year.

8/17 - I started my new job today.  I've been in Wireless connectivity for about 5 years at TI and enjoyed the ride.  I'm excited about new adventures.  I will be managing training and field communications across several business units at TI.  I'm excited to get started.  Biggest change is that my new group is almost all women.  That's a new one for me, but several of them I have known or worked with for years.

I started out heading to Houston because one of my bosses lives and works there.  We spent a day and a half doing brain dump and starting to transition things to me.

8/4-8/12 - See Vacation post - Walt Disney World

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.