Fun and Games

When we're home we do try to do some fun things here, too!  I ordered a set of dominoes and taught William (and John) how to play the version I learned from my grandma.  To me it was just called "dominoes" but the internet also calls it Five-Up.   First game and guess who won?

We finally made it to Six Flags to use our season passes.   I was so excited to go to Hurricane Harbor, the water park.   It was a total bust:  William was too short for most of the rides, the line to even get into the lazy river stretched around the park, and the ride for the family slides was an hour.    We did get to ride Goliath with William for the first time though! And as we were browsing in the gift shop John noticed two seemingly identical dolls. . . except one was $11.99 and one was $220! 

Baseball Wrap-up

We rescheduled our WDW trip to make sure we made it home in time for the last baseball game!  And we did - arriving home from Orlando at noon and resting up before the 6 p.m. game.   William had an excellent year batting and base running and made nice improvements with his fielding.  He especially enjoyed being pitcher - which meant fielding next to the machine.   I had a lot of fun going to their games.

 

This last picture is from the end of season tournament.  They were eliminated in the first round by the same team they lost their last game to.  But it was neat that they played at Nike Park which is where John plays his softball games.  It was their first game "under the lights" and on a field that actually had real sand in the infield.  



First Floor Updates

This summer we celebrated 8 years of William, and therefore, 8 years in our house.   We finally put the finishing touches on our kitchen/first floor redo that is about three years in the making.  I covered the kitchen (2014?) and floors (November/December 2016) in earlier posts.  In June while we were in Hawaii, we had every surface painted and new white trim installed by our next door neighbor.   Happily, we were able to have most of it done while we were traveling.   Between Hawaii and work travel, I was only home for a few days of the chaos.   I'm really happy about that!   A friend recommended a furniture store to me that has in-house complimentary designers, so I called the same designer she had used for her house.  Made it so easy for this accountant to figure out what "goes" together as I was picking new furniture for all the updated rooms.

I didn't take many "just before" pictures - meaning how we had the house decorated the last few years.  But I did find the original MLS photos from when the house was listed for sale in 2009 when we bought it!

Dining Room:  before the walls were a light green above the chair rail and faux finish glossy green below.   Now all of the trim is white, there is picture frame molding, and the walls are Versatile gray above the chair rail and throughout the house.  The sheers have been replaced with white wood blinds, and the tan carpet by coffee colored wood.

Entry/Stairs: We stopped at the stairs (although the paint carries up through the landing), since changing the carpet is part of the upstairs phase.   However, we had the spindles painted white, plus the walls and floor.   I'm planning to use java gel stain on the oak hand rails this fall.  I already have the stain; now I just need the time.  I'm honestly thinking that carpet is the only first floor "as is" item left now that every ceiling, wall, floor, door, base board, crown molding and light fixture have been painted or replaced!

 

Formal living room:  Until six months ago, this was our play room - train table, art table, toy box, toys, and an old couch.   However, once we pulled everything out for the wood floor installation, we realized we didn't have to put it all back.   William had aged out of many of the toys, and for the ones he hadn't we allowed him to put in his room. (I had always resisted having too many toys in his room, so that his room was for sleeping only.  I'm over that now. . . )  I assembled some storage cubes for Legos and art supplies, and he uses the coffee table for Lego assembly.  We donated our old couch and moved our family room couch and chair into this room when we got a new sectional.

Family room:  The biggest change was tearing down the half wall between the kitchen and family room as part of the flooring project.  That led us to a sectional to create the division between the two spaces again - along with the rug.   And I've already shown fireplace and bookshelf updates on my Facebook page.  I'm so happy with how all of it turned out!   I can't believe how long I resisted the white!   Laying on the sectional is so comfy, and it is the best view of the entire house.  I think the photos look a little sterile, but attribute that to my photography skills.  That's certainly not the case in real life.  It's very homey.

 

 

Kitchen:  We kept the same layout of the kitchen when we installed the new cabinets and counters but we enlarged the island and removed the desk to the right of the refrigerator in favor of more drawers and a flat buffet top.  Aesthetically we added crown molding, installed wood blinds, and more lights with recessed cans throughout the entire space.  

 

 

 

 

Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom & Typhoon Lagoon Party

Our final day started at Hollywood Studios rope drop.  After seeing the Animal Kingdom crowds the day prior, we didn't want to battle those again. And since we had our FastPasses starting there mid-morning, we decided we would tackle our favorite rides at Studios first.   We had talked up to William that he was finally tall enough to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster, so that's where we headed first.  It was great!   From there we did Tower of Terror and Toy Story (and two trips to Starbucks), We were heading out the door to Animal Kingdom by 10:30. Hollywood Studios was a great success!

Now that we knew what to expect from the Animal Kingdom crowds, we were fine.   Our first stop (after a few more photos) was Flight of Passage.  It was amazing!  It was like Epcot's Soarin' but so much better.   Absolutely loved it and can't wait to ride it again.   Since it was still crazy hot, we got frozen drinks (another strawberry margarita for me, and a multi-colored slushy for William) to enjoy while collecting some Wilderness Explorer stamps.  We've been working on the book for 13 months now and still lack all the stickers from Conservation Station/Rafiki's Planet Watch area.  In all of our trips to the park we have never been to that section.   Next time!

 

 

After wrapping up the rides and attractions we wanted to do, we went back to the hotel to do laundry and nap (me) and nap and arcade (the guys).   Our evening plan was the free DVC Moonlight Magic party at Typhoon Lagoon.   We had never been to a Disney water park.   It was fun - especially the free Mickey ice cream bars and the new Miss Adventure Falls raft ride.  But I'm not going to hurry back.  Lines, even at the special event, were long and the rides aren't very thrilling.  We did get some cute character photos with no wait!  Though I may have reconsidered a Sebastian photo if I had considered I'd be getting less than 4 hours of sleep before the flight home!

 

Animal Kingdom - Pandora First Looks & River of Light in the Rain

Wednesday was our full day at Animal Kingdom park.  Since we were moving to a second resort for the next two nights, we packed up our bags and dropped them off with bell services to transfer.  We would usually rope drop at park opening but were tired from the late night before (and no sleep our last night at home due to packing and early flight) so just planned to show up by 10 to start our FastPasses and exploring.    We made it by 9:45 and based on the lines to get through security and have tickets scanned, thought I had misread the operating calendar and there must be a 10 a.m. opening.  Nope; that was just a sign of how many people were coming out to see the new Pandora: World of Avatar land.  An hour after park opening, the turnstiles were still packed.   

 

After grabbing our Starbucks, we ventured into the crowds for some photos and exploring since our FastPass for Na'vi River Journey didn't expire for 45 more minutes.   The detail throughout the land was amazing!  So beautiful and detailed.   My favorite was a water feature that sprayed with hand movements.  William did a lot of testing it out!  I was also glad to see that once we were into the park that it didn't feel crowded like it had at the entrance.   

 

After our ride, we got our treats.   I got my first Mo'ara margarita (strawberry and blood orange flavored with strawberry boba balls) - very refreshing in the swampy heat!  William got a Mickey ice cream bar and John got a cold beer (served in a chilled Solo cup, which we got a big kick out of).  We enjoyed our treats as we walked across the park to Expedition Everest.   

Our next pass was for the safari ride, and just as we loaded our vehicle it started to rain.   The rain mostly stayed out of the vehicle, since it has a top but a little sprayed in sideways and I wasn't willing to get my camera out.   However, the rain cooled off the animals and we were rewarded with a lot of activity.  The most amazing was six elephants all bathing together in a little pond.   I've never seen so many or so close!  Following the safari we grabbed cute caramel apples for snacks back at our hotel.  We needed to rest up since we had evening dinner and show plans. 

Disappointingly we didn't see a lot of animals from our savannah view studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Not sure where they were all hiding from the heat and thunderstorms.   When we stayed in a similar room last June, they were always outside to see from our balcony.   After the pool for the boys and a little work for me, we cleaned up for dinner at Tiffins, a new signature restaurant inside of Animal Kingdom park.   I was worried the service and food wouldn't be up to snuff since it was in park dining.  But it was fantastic!  We really enjoyed ourselves.   I had a waygu strip steak and short ribs and John had venison medallions and sausage.  William even had a few bites of meat off of our plates.  

 

Crowds were low post-dinner, during rain, pre-show, so we took advantage and rode Expedition Everest two more times while wearing our ponchos.    We also rode Primeval Whirl, another 48 inch-plus ride, for William's first time.  John and I hate that ride so we can be one and done with it.  It's too jerky.   Of course William loved it!   Then we filed into the amphitheater to see Rivers of Light, the water/light show that was supposed to debut last summer but had months of technical difficulties.  The rain actually made the show very beautiful.   The guys said they really liked it, but I thought it was only ok. . . . .If you're into that sort of beautiful, artistic interpretation.  I mean, it's not like it's a castle fireworks show!  Haha.

On our way out around 10 p.m., we swung by Pandora to see if standby lines for the rides had decreased.  We rode Na'vi River Journey again and then William and I went home to bed.  John stayed back to wait in line for his first (two) ride(s) on Flight of Passage since the park stayed open until midnight.