Orlando or bust!

Region for Cross Country was on Oct 10th and Ridgeline swept the boys and girls in both Varsity and JV for the 2nd straight year.  Britton had been battling a cold so he wasn't super happy about his race, but I believe Jenna got a PR for the course so she was happy about that.

Jenna

Britton running with a pack

They both loved being part of a very large and fun cross country team so it is always a bit sad to have it end.

This picture kind of sums up AJ.

He is a super hero playing with cars on the table.  He has a big personality and doesn't let little things like me saying, "Please get off the table" stop him from doing what he wants to do.

This is his first fall and he has loved playing with the leaves that are everywhere this time of year.

Britton finished out another fall season of club soccer.  He was with a new coach and team this year and enjoyed it.  There were a few conflicts with cross country, but somehow we made it work.  His ability to drive himself to practices was a HUGE help for me.

 

In September Frontier Airlines ran a flash sale and had round trip tickets to Orlando from SLC for $85. I know, right? When would I ever find another deal like this again? I had about 2 hours to figure out if I could make a trip to Orlando work for over our fall break.  We had enough points to cover the flights and hotels and I had bookkeeping money saved up so I could take the kids to Disneyland,  only I didn't want to go over UEA because everyone else from our state does that and it is just too busy! I reasoned that going to Orlando meant we wouldn't be fighting the UEA crowds at Disneyland so we could actually make it work. The only problem I could see was that it was going to be too much for AJ.  The flights would be hard and the long days at the park and the crowds would be too overwhelming for him.  I asked Adam if we should book the tickets or not because I wasn't at all sure what to do. I knew I would probably kick myself for not getting the cheap flights while I had the chance, but didn't want it to be miserable for AJ.  Adam turned to me and said, "How about I stay home with AJ and you guys can go?"  That scenario never would have entered my mind, but after he said it I thought it sounded like a brilliant idea.  Taking the kids to Disney has been my dream, not his, and it was going to save us a lot of money and worry to have him stay home with AJ. If I had had a few more days to think about it I probably would have chickened out, but since I had to make a snap decision I decided to just book tickets for myself, Britton, Jenna, Korinne and Jameson. Adam would take AJ to S.G. to visit with Gramma and Grampa and lots of cousins while we were gone so in the end everyone would have a fun vacation.

Frontier Airlines is a LOW BUDGET airline. No screens, no snacks, no drinks.  Fortunately I had an iPad and stuff for Jmo on the flight, but I had no idea there would be zero entertainment options so Korinne was not prepared for 6 hours of pure boredom. Let's just say I have a lot of selfies just like this one on my phone. 

When we sat down in our seats and realized that the plane didn't have any screens I said, "Good thing you brought a book" and she replied, "Yeah, but I didn't actually want to read it!" Ha! She was pretty sure she was going to die, but I'm happy to report she lived.😊

Our flight getting to Orlando was delayed a few hours so we didn't arrive until about 11 p.m. but the hotel I booked was right by the airport so it was just a short shuttle ride away.  We got up bright and early the next morning and used Uber to get from our hotel to Universal Studios Florida.  We brought our backpacks with us and put them in lockers while we were at the park.

We loved Universal Studios.  Harry Potter land was amazing and was completely different than what they have at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Oh yes, we had to have Butterbear.  It was delicious and tasted like a super fancy cream soda.

Seriously they had an entire city block in Harry Potter World. The ride was through the bank vaults at Gringotts and was over the top. The kids absolutely loved it.

We really loved the 3D rides at Universal and Jameson was not only tall enough for everything, but he was game to try it all. He looks older than he is so sometimes I have to remind myself he is still only 5 years old. The shows were amazing and the lines were short so it had all the makings of a great day!

Universal closed at 5 so we had plenty of time to get an Uber to our next hotel, the Disney Dolphin.  We ordered some bottled water and groceries from Prime Now (Orlando is one of the cities you can order something and have it delivered for free in 2 hours or less) and had them deliver it to our hotel.  The kids took a quick swim while I waited for our order to arrive.  I also picked up the stroller I had rented for the next 2 days (I knew Jameson could only do so much walking and it was nice to have our lunch and snacks with us) and got everything ready for our early magic morning at Magic Kingdom the next day.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom (Disney World) the next morning before the sun was up and went straight to the most popular ride that we weren't able to secure fast passes for: The 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. (They don't have this ride at Disneyland) We were able to cover a lot of ground during that first hour, which I totally love.

Jameson wanted to go on the carousel and Jenna and Korinne were game.

Britton decided to sit this one out. 😊

Jameson was tall enough to drive a car on the motor speedway, which was a dream come true.

 

Korinne waiting to get out in front of us.

We just happened to be walking in front of the castle when a big show started.  Talk about being in the right place and the right time.  Disney definitely knows how to put on a show with top talent.

The teacups was our last ride of the night. 

Proof that I was actually there with the kids.

Magic Kingdom closed at 7, but we were cool to leave by 6.  We felt like we got to do everything we wanted to do and big crowds were starting to arrive for "Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party" that night. We went back to the hotel and went swimming and hot tubbing and I was able to do some laundry (we only brought backpacks and were limited to 2 outfits). 

We tried to get to bed early because the next morning was our early magic morning at Animal Kingdom.  None of us had ever been to Animal Kingdom so we really had no idea what to expect.  Things didn't get off to a great start, however, when we had to wait for the morning shuttle for 45 min. (they are supposed to come every 20 min) and got there 15 minutes after it was open.  I knew enough to know that we were supposed to go straight to a new ride called Avatar, Flight of Passage to beat the crowds, but by the time we got there the line was already 3 1/2 hours long. (3 1/2 hours! And this was on a "magic morning" so the park was only open to people staying in the DisneyWorld hotels and not the general public!)  We decided to hit the Safari and some other really cool rides first and hope the line got shorter later on in the day.

The Safari was legit.  We were able to see so many cool animals wandering around. It definitely made you feel like you were on an actual African Safari.

We got really good at waiting in lines after 3 days at parks.  We played a game called "Heads Up" with the phone and the girls did a lot of hand clapping routines like this one. Disney lines can get long, but they also move along quickly so it doesn't feel like you are waiting too long.

One of my favorite rides of the entire trip was the Everest Express which is in the mountain behind the kids in this picture.

We went on it 4 times. It went up and down, inside and outside, frontwards and backwards and stopped and started.  I loved that you never really knew what was going to happen next.

At 2:30 p.m. I noticed that the wait time for the Avatar ride was down to 150 min which was the shortest the line had been all day.  We figured it had to be good if people were willing to wait for such a ridiculous amount of time to go on it so we decided to just bite the bullet and get in line. Even the outside of the ride was amazing. You felt like you were actually in the movie set. 

Bless Jameson's little heart, our wait ended up being around 2 hours and he handled it like a champ. Of course they have quite a few things to entertain you in line, so that certainly helped. I know you are probably asking yourself if the ride was worth it and I can honestly say that YES, it was SO worth it! It was the most AMAZING ride I have ever experienced! It has only been open since May 27th of this year so it is the latest and greatest that Disney has to offer.  I would have gotten right back in line just to be able to experience it again, but I knew Jameson didn't have another 2 hour wait in him so we went and had dinner instead. What was it like? Think "California Flying" (at California Adventure) on steroids. I seriously felt like I had been transported into another world and could fly. When it ended people were cheering and clapping and all I could say was , "Wow. That was amazing." Hats off to all of the engineers who figured it out and to Disney for throwing an insane amount of money at it.

In front of the big tree in the center of Animal Kingdom.

The shows at Animal Kingdom were incredible. When it started to get really busy in the middle of the day we headed straight for the shows and they didn't disappoint. The River of Light show after dark was truly magical and a great way to end my 41st birthday.  I love thrill rides and new experiences so going to Animal Kingdom was the perfect way to spend my big day.

We got in late that night but were also able to sleep in the next morning so it all worked out. On Sunday I rented a car so we could go to church at a ward nearby and then drive out and see the ocean since we don't get to see it very often.

Jmo really LOVED the ocean.  He loved wading in the water and playing with the sand.

As we left he said, "Mom, can we come back for my birthday?" We had just spent 3 days at amazing theme parks but if you ask him what his favorite part of the trip was he will tell you that it was going to the beach, hands down.

We had to get up at 4 a.m. the next morning to catch a 6:15 flight out of Orlando and guess who was on our same flight to Las Vegas? Our neighbor Cara.  She had gone on a cruise with her Grandma and cousin and was heading home, too.  What a small world. One of  Britton's teachers at Ridgeline was also on our flight along with his son who was on the cross country team with Britton and Jenna. We caught our connecting flight in Vegas and got Jenna home in time to go to ballroom that night.

Cara, Korinne

While we were in Florida Adam sent us some pictures of AJ in S.G.

I think he had just as much fun as we did.

After returning home my friends had a birthday breakfast for me, because they are cool like that.

Erica, Hilary, Emily, Lacie and Carrie

Where's AJ?

My parents are leaving soon for their mission to Independence, Missouri so my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Brent came down for Sunday dinner to see them off.  We will definitely miss going to their home for Thanksgiving this year!

It's always hard to get back into the swing of things after a vacation, but we are slowing getting caught up and back on track. Our days are busy around here and it seems there is always more to do then time to do it. This entry doesn't cover every thing that happened the last few weeks, but of course, "something is better then nothing." and so here it is!