Epcot (Day 3 of Disney) was my Mom's favorite park. There was a big loop going around a big lake where they had mini villages from countries around the world. By the front entrance was a bunch of futuristic rides and exhibits.
The future is bound to be full of giant spheres like this one
Inside the dome was a ride that takes you through the history of technology. They take a picture at the beginning and used it in a little animation at the end, showing us in the future. Aaron and I really nailed the facial expressions.
This ride was all about sustainable agriculture. Our little boat took us through this garden where they had melon and tomato vines growing to look like trees and all sorts of cool experimental stuff like that.
Mom discovered Club Cool, where they had 8 exciting flavors of soda from all around the world. Most were really different from anything I have tried before.
Italy's soda was super bitter and gross, but the others were all good!
Elliot loved this color exhibit that was in a strangely under-marked building near the big ride everyone else was going on.
This video is from the magic paintbrush thing inside the color place. He was SO EXCITED.
Mimi & Elliot by the Finding Nemo ride
Note his oh-so-appropriate hammerhead shark shirt
We got rained on pretty good in Epcot, although apparently it was nowhere near as close to the downpour they toughed out the night before in Magic Kingdom. I would have liked to spend more time in Epcot, but Elliot needed to sleep and everyone else was tired from not being murdered in an alleyway until late the night before. My favorite ride of the whole trip (out of the pool of rides that pregnant gals can ride) was Soarin' at Epcot. The park gets a lot less hype than the others, but we found a lot to like there!
Universal Studios is not part of Disney, and it definitely had a very different vibe! It was Aaron's favorite park. Their rides were way more extreme. They were fast where Disney was slow, and everything was high-tech special effects or digital screens compared to Disney's animatronics. The Woolfs and Aunt Trisha are die hard Disney fans, but I think that Universal Studios is the way to go- at least if you don't have kids and are not pregnant.
We bee-lined it for Hogsmeade, where I quite enjoyed a frozen butterbeer. Aaron reports that the rides were awesome. Universal Studios is actually comprised of two parks. The plan was to spend the first half of the day in Islands of Adventure, then take the Hogwarts Express to the other park. The other park has Diagon Alley.
"Posidon's Fury" was the only attraction outside of Curious George and Dr. Suess world that is on the list of pregnancy approved attractions. We had no idea what it was, but mom and I decided to check it out with Elliot in tow.
It turned out to be an awesome special effects journey. This tunnel had water spiraling over it somehow.
It ended with an intense pyrotechnics battle between Poseidon and the bad guys
You could feel the heat of the fire, and it freaked out Exhausted Elliot. He had his head buried in my shoulder for the whole fight.
It was all downhill from there. The sleep deprivation finally came to a head and Elliot flew into full meltdown mode. I wheeled him across the park with him desperately trying to escape the stroller and screaming at the top of his lungs. The guy by the entrance gave me his default "Have a great day" with a really funny look on his face like "clearly you are not having a great day, but I have no idea how to deviate from my script."
This does not do it justice.
4ish hours later, Elliot woke up and I decided to go back even though we we wouldn't have much time before it got dark and closed. I really wanted to see Diagon Ally, and it did not disappoint!
Gringotts
Weasleys Wizard Wheezes
After that, we had just enough time to take Elliot to Curious George before the park closed. What we didn't realize was that it was a splash pad, which was less than desirable since it was now dark and raining. That did not dampen his enthusiasm.
Video- Us taking shelter in a curious george train car in the rain with a very enthusiastic Elliot.
The next day was Friday. We had flights leaving in the afternoon, but we already had tickets to Animal Kingdom because somehow our 4 park deal was cheaper than buying 3 day passes would have been. We had debated skipping it depending on how long exhausted Elliot slept in, but ended up going.
Elliot with some Gorillas
It didn't take long for us to regret our decision. The park was super hot and crowded, and we were worried about Elliot having another meltdown on the plane if he had another no nap day. We said our goodbyes to the Woolfs and headed home for a brief nap before heading to the airport.
Overall, we had a good Disney experience! We had a pretty good set up with the big rides group and the kid, pregnant lady, and non-roller coaster enthusiasts group. It was also really nice having Aunt Wendy plan the itinerary and reserve all the fast passes using her extensive Disney knowledge.
The day after Mary's wedding, we flew to Orlando to meet up with my Mom and her sisters at Disney World! We were really excited to spend time with relatives that I haven't seen for a long time and to give Elliot his first theme park experience. My Aunt Wendi found a super rental house near the parks and used her extensive Disney knowledge to plan our itinerary.
The Loback Sisters
Welcome to Disney Hollywood Studios!
Elliot hugging Jake the Pirate
This was a much warmer reaction than the Easter Bunny got
We bumped into a few characters coming out of their changing rooms on the way to their spots
Oh hey Pluto!
One great thing we had going for us was that my mom rented a scooter. She's recovering from ankle surgery and can't walk or stand for long periods of time. My Aunt Trisha had a scooter too. The scooters let us skip a lot of the lines. It was definitely the first real perk of my mom's crazy injury saga!
The adventurous group- Aaron, Brynlee, Uncle Troy, and Cassidy.
They don't let pregnant ladies like me on the fun roller coasters.
We hit up the pool in the rental house after that first night. The Woolf girls had picked up some color flashing fake ice cubes from dinner that day, and we had fun tossing them around.
The next day was Magic Kingdom, which was my favorite because it had the most rides that I was allowed to go on. It was also the most crowded.
The crew at Magic Kingdom
It was a little crowded :)
We knew we were later going to be visiting the castle in Spain that the Disney castle was based on, so we snapped this picture for reference.
Elliot and Mimi were doing some serious bonding.
By this point, Elliot was on board with the idea of going on rides. If we wandered around with him in the stroller for too long, he would start asking to go on another ride.
Buster Bubbs and I flying solo on the carousel
Kissing his horse thank you after the ride.
My boy is a little bit adorable sometimes.
Very intensely playing in the gift shop after the Winnie the Pooh ride. Mom and I were quite content to enjoy the air conditioning while he played for a bit.
The classic teacups ride
The dumbo ride had a genius line management thing where they gave you a restaurant style buzzer and let you play in an air conditioned playground instead of standing outside for half an hour or more. Honestly, waiting in this line was one of the highlights of the day and we were a little disappointed when our buzzer went off. I had to climb up and drag Elliot out of the net tunnels.
Elliot couldn't reach the up/down lever, but loved telling Daddy which way to make the elephant go!
The Barnstormer- the only roller coaster Elliot and I were able to ride the whole time. Elliot LOVED it, even though his Mimi had to closer her eyes most of the ride!
At this point, I left with Elliot to put him down to sleep. He refused to fall asleep in the stroller, and it was impractical for me to drive half an hour each way to take him home for a nap during the day. We were hoping he would make up for it by sleeping extra long at night. He got enough to make it pretty happily (if also at times quite groggily) until day 4. But you will have to read on to get to that exciting part!
I thought that park closed at 9ish, and expected the rest of the crew back around then. I started getting nervous when it was 11 and had no word from them. The last text I had gotten was from Aaron several hours earlier saying "We got enlisted by some guy to go on a treasure hunt!" I started to suspect that the treasure hunt was an elaborate ruse to murder them in some Disney alleyway. Fortunately, the treasure hunt had been exactly the magical experience it was advertised to be. I didn't know they were staying for extended hours, and Aaron's phone had died.
These two lovely people got married on May 27! After 5 long years, I am no longer the newest Blood in-law. Mike is a really great guy, and I am thrilled to add him to the family. He is an excellent match for Mary.
Weddings are always happy occasions, but this one seemed extra special. Both of them have been through a lot, and their happiness seems especially deserved. We were able to go to the sealing. It was very sweet, especially the long hug between very teary Mary and Dad Blood at the end.
Rebekah and Andrew greeting the bride
Rebekah and Ally, the two flower girls. They coated the floor with flowers, then cleaned them up so they could toss them again. Rebekah is happy with her acquisition of 3 stepsisters!
Aaron is now 28! For the second year in a row, we went to a wedding on his birthday (last year it was my cousin Aaron, this year it was Mary). We celebrated a day early. It was an off Friday, but he worked a half day to flex some time for our upcoming vacation. He came home and helped do some packing prep until Daniel and Wendy showed up. They flew out for the wedding, and had enough time to come down and spend a day with us. We took them to San Xavier mission, then came back for dinner and cake!
I am extremely proud of this year's peanut butter cheesecake
I made it in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker). I had to do a little scrambling when the pan I prepared the cake in didn't fit into the pot, but it turned out perfectly cooked! The ganache covered up the very uneven surface caused by transferring pans and the tin foil sticking to the top.
Daniel and Wendy seem concerned he's not going to get the candle out
We had the pleasure of having one of my oldest friends come to visit! Emily was in my primary class going back as far as I can remember. We were the only girls our age at church most years, so we were tight. Emily is the type of friend that feels natural to be around, even if we haven't talked for years.
Emily and her husband, Spencer, are on one of the coolest trips I have ever heard of. They had three months between when Spencer graduated and when he started medical school. They decided to fill this three months by visiting all 47 National Parks in the mainland United States while living out of a converted minivan.
They took out the back seats and built this frame that lets them put storage bins under their mattress. The frame has hinges to let them lift the mattress and access the storage bins from the trunk and from the front. It is a genius set up. They let me try it out, and I can vouch that it was pretty comfy too!
Elliot and I met up with Emily and Spencer at Saguaro National Park, about 40 minutes north of here. We went on a short hike together and had a picnic lunch.
Old friends, older cactus
I always make people smell creosote when I'm in desert tour guide mode
I took Elliot home for a nap while they explored the park a bit more. They came over after that and spent the night with us. It was great catching up and getting to know Spencer. He's a great match for Emily. Elliot loved them both, and was quite impressed with their spaceship-drawing capabilities. At one point, Spencer did something cool with one of Elliot's toys and Elliot said "Wooooooooow, Spencer!" in a super cute voice.
I used things like laundry machines, couches, and wifi to persuade them to stay well into the next day, even though they had a long drive ahead of them to their next stop. We hit up Manuel's for some Mexican food (a must when you are this close to the border).
They have a neat blog documenting their adventures. Check it out at thetrailtrippers.com
A few weekends ago, I went out to buy some more maternity shorts. There is a Petco next door, so Aaron and Elliot waited for me there. I joined them afterwards, and was able to catch this friendly employee letting Elliot help her feed the hamsters he was goggling at. Never have little pellets been dropped into little bowls with so much excitement.
A few days later, we were walking by the park when a boy from the ward wanders up to us. He got pretty close before we realized he had a snake draped around his neck. The snake's owner followed (probably to make sure that Joey wasn't stealing his snake), and he offered to put his horned lizard on Elliot's shirt.
Oh hey lizard
I guess you are on my shirt now
I'm not quit sure how I feel about this
Ok I'm done now
Quietly freaking out
When I asked the guy why he had two snakes and a horned lizard at the park, his answer was "5th grade graduation." Why not?
