On Tuesday, May 30th we drove down to Orlando, Florida for our family vacation to Universal Studios for the first time ever. We stayed at Dockside Resort for one night and ate Mexican food at CityWalk as we scoped out our new surroundings. We woke up at the crack of dawn to head to Islands of Adventure by boat taxi. And we enjoyed our first ride on the Flight of the Hippogriff. Maggie was super brave and rode the Velocicoaster with me before the lines got too long. Wow...what a ride! It even had boosters built into it that speed you up along the ride. Soooo crazy! The family favorite was the Forbidden Journey that took us through the Harry Potter castle. We had lunch at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and dinner at NBC Sports Grill. The next day we got to experience Hagrid's Motorbike ride and it was really worth the hour and a half wait....especially with the surprising special effects and track tricks. We rode a few more 4D rides and then went to Volcano Bay water park for lunch. We loved the fast lazy river that carried us around the loops at warp speed. We ended our night with dinner at Mythos...it truly was delicious (lamb burgers, scallop risotta, swordfish and the best tasting chicken strips ever according to Mags). We checked out a few more of our favorite rides and a couple new ones from the 2nd park (Universal Studios). The next day was Maggie's birthday...more on that below!
Butter beer was really tasty. I preferred it frozen, but Riley liked it the regular way. Maggie enjoyed the frozen apple cider. The interactive displays and the re-creation of Harry Potter world was really well done! The train ride between the two parks was also pretty special. I'm so glad we were able to treat these kids to this trip at this age. Disney was great at ages 5 and 7 as they still felt connected to certain characters and stories. But this theme park was greater for their ages (11 and 13) because they were able to remember it really well and appreciate the effects a little more.
We got to celebrate Maggie's 11 birthday with 11 special gifts including jewelry, a personalized t-shirt, a watch, some books. We surprised her by taking her to Pat O'Briens dueling piano bar and having everyone sing Happy Birthday to her. She got to pick 2 songs for them to play ("Billy Jean" and "Tiny Dancer"). We scoped out Diagon Alley and ended with a sweet treat from Toothsome.
We ended our trip with breakfast at Hard Rock Hotel (where we stayed in order to get the Express Pass which I highly recommend as it kept the lines we had to wait in to a true minimum). The hotel had it's own slide and Maggie loved the ducks that were swimming in it as well. We headed back home with a full heart of memories and fun!
Maggie and Riley were in for a surprise once we arrived home. Their birthparents had sent them special gifts/cards for their birthdays. Lonnie picked out a 3D printer for Riley and created a homemade card for him that had a Star Wars theme. Tabitha sent a sweet card and Amazon gift cards for Maggie. She sent a thank you and Andariel replied back to the message as well wishing Maggie a very happy birthday too!
Uncle Edward and Aunt Amanda indulged Maggie with a tortilla blanket and fidget toy that she had put on her Amazon Wishlist. This child keeps us laughing!
Riley had 2 teeth pulled this summer to make room to move back his front teeth and install a button device that will be the last attempt (our decision) to correct his overbite. He has been such a trooper through all of this ordeal! Hopefully the end is in sight and he'll be able to get some relief from braces soon!
Maggie got to celebrate with a few friends at our Shiland Hills pool with a party that involved swimming, slime, sunglasses, smacking a taco pinata, and shirts that were tye-dyed! Yaretsi and Zoe were so much fun to have around. Unfortunately, Kaida got sick at the last minute and Ashley was out of town, but Maggie still managed to have a good time!
We got to celebrate Maggie's final dance performance. She did a great job with "Vogue" and "Pon de Replay" and we loved how her confidence has grown as she has committed herself to learning these routines and performing them in front of large crowds. She's off to new adventures, but I hope she'll look back at these years of training as years where she developed not only her dance skills, but her ability to work as a team with others to create and express ideas through this type of art.
Birthday parties are so much fun! We got to celebrate Roger's girlfriend with a surprise party and Maggie got to celebrate with Stella's Under The Sea sleepover.
Puppy LOVE! We made homemade icecream (Cookies and Cream) as part of our Summer Bucket List and had some sweet puppy snuggles with 9 Golden Doodles that were born to a family at our church. Simple joys in life that are meant to be savored.
The Message version of Proverbs 18:24 says:
Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.
I'm so thankful for these two friends in my life (Rachel and Kyra) who have become my Soul Sisters and daily prayer warriors. We use technology in a powerful way to connect with each other through the Marco Polo app, but it's truly Holy Spirit that is the one at work knitting us together and allowing us to comfort and encourage each other. It's what I hope for develops for both Riley and Maggie. Father God, may they develop not only a deep friendship with each other (like this photo shows of them talking to each other in Maggie's upper bunk), but put people in their lives that will draw them even closer to you and encourage them in their faith journeys!
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