Sunday 9 April 2017

A Week in Review (March 26-April 1)

A Week in Review (March 26-April 1)

Watched: The new live action Beauty and the Beast movie with my friend Katie.  It didn't quite hit the spot like the original did, but I enjoyed and am glad that I went to the theater to see it.  I am so glad that I had another girl to go with because I don't think either of my boys would have enjoyed it very much.  They went to see the new King Kong movie, Skull Island instead.  Jack enjoyed it more than Nick, but they each gave it positive reviews.

Read:  I finished up Maybe in Another Life on Sunday.  I really enjoyed this chic lit book. It was a very quick and easy read that drew me in. If you are looking for affirmation that you can be happy no matter what choices you happen to make this book makes that all seem like a possibility. Definitely a book I would recommend as a fun "beach read". It won't change your life, but you'll enjoy the journey.  Next, I started The Mountain Between Us.  It is clear to me that I was on a chic-lit streak when I put all these books on hold.  With all the traveling I didn't get a chance to finish it, but I know it will be done next week.

Listened: To my text message go off again and again, as they continued to announce delays on our train that was taking us from Orlando to Tampa.  The fare is ridiculously slow, so you can't complain all that much.  We all really enjoyed the ride once the train got there.  If speed isn't a factor in your travel, I recommend taking a least a short trip by train.

Made: It into Orlando so late on Tuesday evening that by the time we made it to our hotel it was actually Wednesday morning.  The luggage took forever to make it off the plane!  I will admit that I was very nervous about us even getting there since they were calling for a lot of snow to hit on Tuesday night and I was afraid it might arrive early.  Luckily there wasn't more than a light dusting and it only effected the plane ride for a few minutes as we drove through the rough weather.

Felt:  So exhilarated to be at Harry Potter World.  Even though we made it in so late, we were at the park in time for early admission.  While heading for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, we stopped off at the Dragon Challenge ride.  We checked Jack's height at the entrance and they said he just barely made it.  However, once we made it onto the ride, they told him he was too short.  He was devastated.  I rode the ride anyway and it was a great one.  Hopefully we will make it back there again, so Jack can experience it. We made it to the Harry Potter ride next.  If you are a Harry Potter fan, I can't describe how awesome this ride was.  Even the wait in line is amazing!  Luckily, Valerie had suggested buying the photo pass and we were able to capture some hilarious photos of us on rides. We were all surprised by the Flight of Hippogriff ride.  It looked to be a "baby" coaster, but it actually had some decent speed on it.  Next we took the fun ride on the Hogwarts Express.  Once over there, it took us a while to find Diagon Alley.  It's quite clever that they don't have the entrance be clearly marked.  We didn't head straight for the Harry Potter ride, but looked around at all sorts of things.  It's all really a sight to see.  While in line for Escape from Gringott's, we tried some pumpkin juice.  Jack didn't like the aftertaste and I thought it was too sweet.  Towards the end of our day we tried the Butter Beer and none of us really like that either.  We are definitely the odd ones out.  We rode plenty of other fun rides and had more great experiences, especially at the Rip Ride Coaster, which was Jack's favorite ride in the park.  At the end of the day, Jack tried to see if he was tall enough for the Hulk ride, which has the same height restrictions as the Dragon Challenge.  At least this time, they told him "no" at the beginning of the line instead of the end.  this really put a damper on the end of his day.  Again I tried it because the line was short, but I didn't like this one.  I hated seeing miss it by less than a 1/4".  So, we decided to ball up his socks, stick them under his heels and he went on the ride.  He loved and was very glad he got to go.  I was feeling too woozy so Nick went on it with him instead of me.  Exhausted, we headed back for the hotel, got a little swimming in, and turned in early-ish.

Planned: On Jack being with us for most of the time while we were at sea on our cruise.  He usually suffers from FOMO (Fear of missing out) when he's not around us, so he tends to hang out with us.  However, the cruise ship had such fun activities for their kid's club that he often chose to spend hours there.  We did allow him to sign himself out and I think knowing that he wasn't stuck there made a big difference in his ability to enjoy it.  We told him we would either find him there, the basketball court, or our room.  It worked out perfectly for all of us.  He learned many new games and was always entertained.  We spent plenty of our evenings watching him shoot hoops with the big kids.  He was almost always at least 6" shorter than any other player on the court, but that didn't stop him from being a crowd favorite.  I suggested to him that he offer up a game of knock out and that caught on quickly.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the game a lot.  Cruising is so amazing that Jack and I are already planning when we can take another one!  (Hint:  It's no where as soon as we'd like.)

Loved: Our time in port.  We docked in Cozumel but took the ferry ride over to Playa del Carmen.  Our excursion was to the Amazing Secret River.  We walked a path in the jungle down to a cave entrance and onto what used to be the bottom of the ocean 2.5 million years ago.  There were amazing stalagmites and stalactites to behold.  The water was freezing though.  Not being warmed by the sun really makes a huge difference.  Luckily they provided wet suits!  They didn't allow us to take our own photography, so we only have the memories in our head.  They attempted to take some pictures, but wetsuit and helmet are not flattering looks.  Plus, I felt the pictures didn't concentrate enough on the background.  It was definitely not like anything I have experienced before.  After lunch, we headed back into the city and down to the beach.  We only had a couple hours before we had to catch our ferry back to our boat.  Luckily, Senor Frogs had tables on the beach so Nick could enjoy a beer and Jack and I could enjoy some time in the ocean.  Nick failed to take any pictures of that because he just doesn't think about capturing the moments like I do.  We tried to snap one as we were waiting for the ferry, but there is a lot of shadows.  Oh well, we have the memories!  We picked up our one souvenir for the trip for Jack.  We haggled for a Mayan Chess set.  Sadly, we didn't leave enough time and we ended up with a set of mismatched pieces, but he loves it and we made it work.  I am sure if you ever see us in person, he will gladly show it to you and offer you a game (or ten).

Here are the pics for the week:



   

 
   

 
   
 
   

 
   

 
  

 

Pictures from Nick's Phone:

 

    



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