Florida Vacation, 2015

We went to Orlando in June. It was the bomb. Unbelievably HOT (who would have thought?), but incredibly fun.

Universal Studios was awesome! We got Orlando Flex passes which gave us access to the Universal parks, Sea World (I know, I know), and two water parks, so we went to a theme park Every. Single. Day. And a dream of mine finally came true.

I got to go to Hogwarts.

IT'S AMAZING. If you suspend your adult brain, just a tiny bit, you will have the time of your life. And so, I did. I let go of about 30 of my years and had the time of my life pretending that I had actually arrived at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. When we flew with Harry on The Forbidden Journey and Escape from Gringotts, I WAS REALLY THERE. All in, folks. Allll in.

This must be what it feels like for 4 year olds at Disney World.

Eating at the Leaky Cauldron. THE LEAKY CAULDRON.

 Butter Beer, Gilly Water, Pumpkin Juice... We had it all.

 Wands that work, BECAUSE OF COURSE THEY DO! They cost a pretty penny, but these were the only souvenirs we got the kids. AND you can't really go to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley without going to Ollivander's, can you? The answer is No. You cannot.

 I know we spent hours over the course of our week in Ollivander's. These two pulled every. Single. wand from the shelves, no joke. NO. JOKE. I think Evan would have just stayed in there if we had let him.

 While the actual train ride between the parks itself is merely "Meh", it was still pretty cool getting in line at Platform 9 & 3/4. Plus, it's WAY faster than having to walk from one park all the way to the other one.

 Hagrid's Hut is in line for the Flight of The Hippogriff. If you happen upon it when the line is about 2 minutes long, then do it. Otherwise, seriously, pass it up. Super short ride, crazy slow line. The Dragon Challenge is WAY better and the line moves insanely fast through the abandoned castle.

 I had really hoped that George and Fred would make an appearance in their shop. Or that something would explode. Nothing did, but it was definitely loud and crazy and had all of the tricks and jokes you would expect to find.

 In line for Forbidden Journey, AGAIN. (We rode it at least 3 times). This line might seem long, but it is sooooo worth it. YOU GO THROUGH THE CASTLE. The really real Hogwarts. I'm serious. This is the real deal.

I said it. I did. "Sherbert Lemon!" That griffin totally spun around IN MY MIND.

Holy crap, there were goblins. COUNTING GOLD.

 REAL FREAKING GOBLINS.

 These two got to hang out all week which made our lives with the Teenager Who Despises Heat way more tolerable. This is right around the time that Kayla admitted she had never watched all of the movies and NEVER READ ANY OF THE BOOKS. We allowed her to stay with us, but just barely.

HONEYDUKES!! Candy and air conditioning. Two of our favorite things.

If you go to Universal, don't skip the shops in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. Take the time to really explore, because they are amazing. And definitely don't forget to go down Knockturn Alley! The kids used their wands and made all of the creepy spells work and Corinne scared the living @#$# out of me when she put a pretend rat on my foot while we were in Borgin and Burkes. I screamed loud enough to make her laugh and other customers stop and turn. This has become one of her favorite memories. So...yay. Little brat.

 Did you know there are other things besides Harry Potter at Universal Studios? There are. The Mummy ride was a really awesome surprise. If you go, do not walk past this ride!

If these were just a little bit cheaper, I might have been convinced...

 Ice cream for dinner because VACATION. (Also, ice cream for breakfast because you can't take ice cream and toppings on an airplane.)

 On one of the hottest days, we went to Sea World and had a really good time, despite the misgivings of Evan and me. (Ever watch BlackFish? Yeah.) Still, the roller coasters were awesome and there were several animal experiences that were worth the trip. We left early so that we could go back to our rental house, eat Chinese food, and swim. And swim we did.

 I'm starting to really see the resemblance that everyone talks about.

 Renting a house is SO WORTH IT. We paid about $800 for a 4 bedroom, 2 bath with a game room and a pool that overlooked a golf course. FOR 9 NIGHTS. Yeah. Do the math, and try to find a hotel that can even come close to comparing. SO WORTH IT.

These kids swam in the early morning and as late as we wanted. Sometimes for just a half hour while we sat on the deck with our beers and said "Holy shit, this is a good vacation."

Right behind that attractive man is a tree with Spanish freaking moss on it...And a black bird that stole golf balls off of the course. It was an extra entertainment watching golfers in garish clothing searching for balls in 100 degree heat.

And because we were in Florida over Father's Day, we surprised this guy with an air boat ride in the swamp!

5 alligators, 3 cows, 1 turtle and hundreds of birds later, we left with smiles on our faces. It was amazing. We used The Spirit of the Swamp, if you're looking for a recommendation. For the price, experience, and customer service, it was worth it.

My God, so many memories were made...

Perspective

I like reaching out to other people, because you never know what small detail may just be the ONE small detail that totally flips that person's day (week? Life?) around.

A simple link on Facebook flipped my day around. A link to a page about the universe and all of its massive expanses of the unknown is what it took for me to reveal a little perspective on my otherwise ordinary Thursday morning.

When something as unfathomably enormous as an entire collection of unexplored galaxies isn't visible by the human eye, my mind has to marvel at how insignificant my daily trivialities truly are. Annoyances are just that: annoying. Whether or not my floor is clean or if my children learn how to properly conjugate a verb isn't worthy of more than a moment of my worry. These are made up issues to occupy our brains from wondering and worrying about the real questions of our lives: Why are we here? What is the purpose? Am I important?

If a galaxy can house trillions of stars that may have billions of planet systems which may give life to an untold number of life forms, then the significance of my life is not of LESS value, but MORE. The value of my mind and the love within my family is just as large as that of those hidden galaxies.

Most likely, I will never know what lies outside of our own solar system. And I really don't care, because all that is truly important to me is directly in front of me, every day I have the opportunity to open my eyes and breathe on this tiny blue planet.

Snapshot memories

17 years ago today, the weather was GORGEOUS, much like it is right now. I clearly remember certain details... Like walking into a nail salon for the first time in my life, only to turn around and leave because the SMELL! The FUMES! I couldn't handle it. I went home and did my own nails (as usual) for the next day, which was my wedding.

We had a very fun rehearsal that night. Complete with the whole "bouquet made from bridal shower gift bows" and much laughter, despite the very serious setting of the Catholic church we were getting married in. I remember how the soloist and pianist both had shocked expressions on their faces when I paid them. They had said "whatever you feel is appropriate" in terms of payment; can you imagine that? I didn't think I was overpaying, but it was obvious that I was.

We ate dinner at Connie's Pizza in Naperville. I guess I should say "The restaurant formerly known as Connie's Pizza" because it's now a road house grill or something. This saddens me. Their pizza was great, but the best part was that for the rehearsal dinner, I finally got to eat UPSTAIRS. The upstairs section of the restaurant had been an enigma for me throughout my entire childhood. So mysterious! It seemed fitting that on the night of my wedding, I was finally allowed upstairs. Connie's knew I was an Adult.

I remember giggling with my girlfriend in the family room of my parents' house. I wasn't living at home at the time, but it seemed strange to sleep in the apartment with Patrick on our wedding night, especially after all of the lies we told to the Catholic marriage counselors. ("No, we're totally not living together.") . She was adorably pregnant with her first child and wanted to sleep on the recliner to support her back, so I slept on the couch and we watched old movies and had popcorn...

All that night, I kept looking at my hand, with only the engagement ring, knowing that in just a few hours, I would be wed to my best friend....

17 years ago I was envisioning and imagining and wondering about what our lives would look like. 17 years later, I am still envisioning and imagining but also remembering and treasuring all of the moments we've shared.

Don't want to forget....

Just strolling in the woods in April...

Keep in mind that he's 6'4" and she's only 8 years old... 

 We were SO happy to be able to walk and enjoy the woods! Only buds on trees, which means we can walk off the paths without risking poison ivy...

 That's a whole lotta love... Dozens of true loves that have come and gone before us.

 You can take the gymnast out of the gymnasium, but you can't take the gymnast out of the girl. 

 I'm so lucky. (He's even more gorgeous on the inside).

I love her crazy 8 year old teeth. Such a happy kid on such a happy day...

This Girl...

The only sounds are the steady hum of the gymnasium's a/c on full force as it desperately attempts to triumph over this sudden and oppressive heat wave. I can see my 7 year old's gymnastics' team through the viewing window and it isn't difficult to spot my own child in the sea of flipping girls. Her green and orange tie-dyed leotard screams for attention. She is so... strong. Hours and hours of dedicated physical work have transformed my baby girl into an Athlete with a capital "A." Never again will I be able to watch gymnastics during the Olympics without knowing how much time and dedication they have invested... To say nothing of the cost!

She is on the bars now, doing an extremely repetitive drill: pike and swing, pull-up and over, cast and flip and land. And again. And again. AND AGAIN. A break to chalk up her palms... And Again. Small corrections to toes and elbows... And Again.

Wherever her determination comes from, it definitely isn't from me. Wherever her drive and push stems from, it isn't from her Momma. In many ways, I do see myself in her, but I see myself at 37, not 7. When I WAS 7,  no adult outside of my immediate family could have known how blue my eyes were as I didn't want anything to do with them and wouldn't look them in the eye, but this girl? This girl will introduce herself to you and your children and invite you into a conversation so detailed, you would think she was an adult instead of barely out of first grade...

This girl has confidence and curiosity and a fearless quality about her that most adults envy.

I know that I, for one, do.

More Just Write pieces found here...

Sometimes We Do Educational Shit

Whoever said you need a lot of money to have fun was lying. Well, there is some validity to the idea. I mean, it sure is a hell of a lot EASIER to have fun when you are whipping $50's out of your pocket instead of counting the quarters from under the couch cushions, but IT IS POSSIBLE to have a pretty swinging time without spending any cash. Even if you have kids and don't want to "have fun" by pressing your finger over the nozzle of the hose and calling it "water-park-fun-time."

Our boys were busy making a zombie movie* with some friends on Sunday so Patrick and I took Corinne to the Isle a la Cache in Romeoville for their Island Rendezvous where a bunch of historical reenactors bring the 1750's French-Indian fur trading period of Illinois back to life.

I am such a homeschooling mom: can't stop forcing history down their throats, even in Summertime.

Somehow, I don't think Corinne minded and was dancing within minutes of walking on property.

I had to drag Patrick away from the beer brew tent where they discussed, in great detail, how beer has saved humankind repeatedly. I nodded and smiled. Yes. Yes. Beer is good. All praise beer and its ability to not pass on plagues and shit. Secretly, I think our forefathers (or mothers?) knew what they hell they were doing by giving their kids a little liquor every day. Methinks slightly buzzed children would be easier to handle. "I would be happy to muck the stalls and kill the chicken, Maw! Right after I slam this brewsky!"

 Ooohhhh! Reflections!

 

 I love how every fair and carnival and party we ever go to will have a beading station. I also love how my daughter is a sucker for them Every. Damn. Time. We were just happy that there was a bench made of very inadequately matched logs that were nailed precariously together. Being risk-takers who like to live on the edge, Pat and I decided to fling our asses onto the same "bench" at the same time and WE BOTH SURVIVED.

Smiling Kid Picture!
(I swear, hubs is not scratching himself in background.)

Nature! Complete with bubbling brook and touched up greenery!

Well. That's just damn adorable in its own right. Guess who was eating up all of the attention? It's a good thing she's not an only child because that man of mine would spoil her rotten.

I was there! In a selfie! Because I love the way I look at exactly 2.5 feet away from the camera.

Even girls know that weapons are the key to survival. Also, there was an awning and it was getting toasty out. Girls especially know the value of shade.

I am only slightly disturbed by how comfortable she is with skulls and all of the dead animal skins. My children don't seem to have issues with the whole "circle of life" idea. Thank God, because I need help with dead animal removal more often than I projected when I agreed to become an adult.

The canoe and backdrop set up for photo ops was just too good to pass up. So we took one.

Or two.

Maybe I took my photo shoot a little too seriously...

And then we discovered the costumes and we had to start ALL OVER because HATS!

At this point, she said something akin to "This is going on the internet, isn't it?"

Oh, silly child.

I promise you that no coercion was required to get him into this outfit, though I will admit that I was desperately trying with all of my womanly whiles to convince him that the long white dress was actually a Frenchman's SHIRT that he was supposed to belt and wear with boots but he wised up before it was over his head when he saw the lace collar...

At first, I thought Patrick took this pic because he was interested in the book about Plainfield that I was reading...

My baby girl took this shot and I have to say it's my favorite from the entire day...

More nature! 

WHAT. IS. THIS?? We seriously want to know. It was big and weird and I've never seen one in Illinois in my thirty~cough~some years.

Falcons are cool.

Hawks are cooler!

Men who have activities like reenacting past time periods with their sons/grandsons are pretty freaking awesome, to be honest. Talk about a hobby that has a PURPOSE. Bring it on. You GO Mr. Hawk man, even though you didn't tell us that the hawk and falcon show wouldn't start for another half an hour and we sat on your hay bales for 15 minutes in the blazing sun with a 7 year old.

You still rock my world.



*When they say "we want to be out of the house without you for a while doing something creative" I don't question a good thing.**

**"Mommy, know what zombie blood tastes like? Cherry Kool-Aid!"***

***don't know why I used a double asterisk up there. Seemed like a good idea at the time and now it just seems superfluous and silly.