Most of you have probably already heard about our adventure last Tuesday, but in case you missed it, we totally shook Bill Clinton's hand, and by we, I mean me, Asa, and Peyton. You might remember in 2012, Peyton and I went to rallies for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. We really wanted to do that again this year and go to both, but so far Hillary hasn't stopped by Tampa (or at least not anytime in the last two months or so.),, and we already had tickets to a Trump rally on Wednesday (I'll get to that in a minute). Not being totally sure she'd stop by here, when we heard Bill Clinton was holding a rally in Safety Harbor, we decided to give it a go. We didn't get the email about the rally until late on Monday (for the rally the next day), so I asked the boys who was interested, and Calib and Hayden were unenthused. Since it was Asa's day off, he got to come along! Safety Harbor is a cute little town across the bay, so we decided to go a little early for an early dinner, and some Pokemon hunting along the water.
But we probably should have gotten to the Community Center for the rally a bit earlier, by the time we got there there was a HUGE line. We were told the first 300 would get in the room with Bill, but then the next 300-400 would be allowed in an overflow room, where you wouldn't get to see anything, but there would be speakers set up so you could hear. The volunteers thought we'd be right around the 300 mark, so we crossed our fingers and waited in line for the next hour until the doors opened. And for good measure, we had Trump supporters yelling at us.
When the doors opened, the line moved pretty slowly as they sent everyone through security. And just when we were at the very front of line, with about 10 people in front of us, they shut the doors and announced the room was at capacity, so the overflow room it was for us. We didn't go through security or anything, we just got put in a room with a speaker. But, there was a fence of sort set up, to keep the crowd behind, because they said they couldn't tell you for sure, but that Bill might stop by at the end of the rally. Since we were some of the first people in the overflow room, we were right up against the fence.
So, we waited, and we waited. Almost two hours, and then Bill showed up. He gave a rousing speech, talked about Hillary's proposals, told everyone to lay off the Trump supporter who was protesting because they 'had a tough week', and told everyone to make sure they were registered to vote. And then, when it was all over, some very official-looking guys in suits came through to tell us Bill was going to come in to shake hands. About five minutes later, he showed up. We weren't allowed cameras, just our cell phones, so Asa got pictures this his. We were at the front of the fence, so he shook our hands, but he was making sure to get people 4 or 5 deep behind us, too. So Peyton and I moved aside so he could shake other people's hands, and ta da! awesome pictures! Now, I don't like to talk politics, so lets take that out of the equation for a second, if you guys know anything about me, you know about my love for presidents, so this was like the highlight of my year. It could have been any president really, and I would have LOVED it. Peyton and I went to a rally with Bill last time around, but we weren't even close to shaking hands with him, so this was pretty awesome. It turned out to not be such a bad thing to be in the overflow room!
Afterwards, we stopped by the marina, to check for Pokemon at Peyton's request. The weather has been LOVELY here lately. We're finally not so humid, with cooler temperatures, so I obliged. It was a lovely evening for a stroll down the pier.
The next day, Asa was in the office, while Peyton and I headed off to our Trump rally.
Trump was scheduled to appear in Lakeland at 3, but the doors opened at noon. That seemed excessive for me. And no matter who the candidate is, I'm less excited about seeing them than an actual president (unless a candidate is a president). Anyway, so we thought we could get there at 1:30 and be fine. Lakeland is about 40 minutes from our house, but we got stopped on the exit for the rally. And then we sat and sat and sat in traffic. It was miserable. It took us an hour and a half to go the mile from the exit to the rally location, at an airport hanger, and by the time we got there, it was nearly time for Trump to speak, and there was zero parking within a mile of the place. There was no way we were making it in time, so we decided to cross our fingers that he comes back (in which we know to leave way earlier) to Tampa, and just head home. Romney had a rally at the Land O Lakes high school, and our new house is right there, so maybe we'll get the house and the rally in the next few weeks (We are still waiting to hear about the house, btw. Rumor had it we'd maybe hear about a closing date on Friday. But, here we are at Tuesday, and still nothing. BOO.)
In other events over the last couple weeks, Asa and I went out to Disney on a date day. We tried to get everyone on board to go see the Electrical Light Parade one last time, but the boys were not super thrilled with going. Mostly because our last day to see it was the day before Hurricane Mathew was supposed to hit, and we were sure it would be packed (since there was talk of the park being closed both Thursday and Friday- which turned out to be the case). But, Asa and I decided to power through. We showed up at Disney Springs for lunch.
Our first stop was D-Luxe burger, we split the southern burger, complete with a fried green tomato. It was fine, but kind of pricey, and it didn't blow me away. (To be fair, we did get the AP discount, which makes it much more reasonable). But really, where it's at is the dipping sauces that come with the fries. Those are all kind of awesome.
We stopped by the Daily Poutine for some Latin Poutine. It had pulled pork, black beans, and queso on top of yuca fries. I thought it was the best poutine ever. Asa wasn't a huge fan though, he liked the classic we had last time much better. For dessert, we had the banana nutella crepe from Aristocrepes. It was messy, but so awesome.
Then we spent the entire afternoon at Typhoon Lagoon. We had some rain at times, which emptied out the park a bit. So we had the lazy river practically to ourselves.
For dinner we made reservations for the California Grill. I mean, it was the last electrical light parade, we wanted to honor the occasion! We were hoping to have a light dinner, head into the park to watch the electrical light parade, and then watch Wishes from the viewing platform at the California Grill, since you are allowed back up if you show them the receipt from earlier.
Asa ordered his favorite drink on Disney property, the Apple Mule. While I enjoyed my triple filtered water. Because, that is, for real, a thing they serve at the California Grill.
We got our fancy butter with our dinner rolls.
And then we just ordered some appetizers. We had some sushi, a Califronia Roll and a Shrimp Tempura Roll. They are yummy, but I'm not sure they are much different than the Kona Cafe, which comes in with a cheaper price tag. The flatbreads at California Grill are always on point. Since everything they serve is fresh ingredients, their menu is always changing with the seasons. The heirloom tomato flatbread was a new addition, and it was delicious. It's worth going there for the flatbreads, alone, I promise.
We also decided to be adventurous and get the charcuterie board. They bring out a little menu describing what is on it. For the most part, I wasn't a huge fan of much on this board. Some things were spicy, and some things just had weird textures. I probably wouldn't get it again, and I say I probably wouldn't- because the assortments are always changing. I for sure wouldn't get this one again. But, I'm super glad we tried it.
It did come with the cutest little toast too!
The great thing about having dinner at the Contemporary, is that you can walk right over to the Magic Kingdom afterwards.
Our assessment that the park would be packed was spot on, but I'm not really sure we knew what we were in for. It was like Christmas time packed. Even the people mover had a 15 minute wait! THE PEOPLE MOVER! We did have fast passes for Space Ranger Spin, so we did do that (and totally killed it with our scores), but that was it for the rides. Wait times were crazy.
We decided to sit down an hour before the parade, and even then, it was impossible to get a front row seat, so we settled for sitting behind a couple of kids, thinking we'd be able to see. Turns out though, 11 year olds can be just as tall as me. *sigh*
But, we did get to see the Electrical Light Parade one more time, which is really what we were there for. I will so miss it. Hopefully, someday, they'll bring it back to life again.
It started sprinkling at the end of the parade, and we'd been dodging the rain all day, so we decided not to go back up to the California Grill to watch the fireworks, and headed home instead.
We haven't been up to a ton of other stuff. We're doing a lot of boring adult stuff. Packing, sorting, taking care of doctors/dentist/vet appointments, and waiting to hear on the house. But, we have managed to squeeze in some fun.
We visited Top Golf, but Hillsborough County was out of school for Columbus Day, and the place was pretty packed, so we had to settle for a first floor bay. We did get a couch though, as opposed to a table. I actually really liked the first floor, and got what was probably my best score. But, if given the option, I don't think we'd do it again. Nobody else was too big of a fan.
Since we were at Top Golf, we also made a quick Costco run. Our new Costco is coming along, so hopefully it'll open in the next couple months. We heard February, but we also heard it was going to be open in August, so who knows.
In the world of football, the Bucs played a Monday night game, which is always kind of weird. But, we all hung out and watched the game together at home. And they actually won, so that was a plus.
And our two Sundays consisted of a taco bar and a baked potato bar.
October is full of presidential birthdays, so Asa has been enjoying his presidential drinks. Chester Arthur's is actually pretty good. Which is funny, because he sucked as a president.
Oh Hurricane Mathew, was a whole lot of nothing for us over here on our coast (thanks for the concern though!), we just got some rain, though nothing to really write home about, and had some really breezy days. Some birds seemed to have been a little concerned about the weather though.
In other news (as I wrap this up quick- Asa and I are headed to dinner with friends), Calib saved up points to buy NBA2K for months. I bought it when I could get it 20% off on Amazon (since points don't actually equate to money in the real world), and told him he couldn't have it until he saved the points.
Speaking of Calib, he's been driving a little more. Still mostly just parking lots. But, at least the old Target parking lot has a PetCo, so Ellie goes along and then gets a treat at the end (which, maybe she shouldn't- she had her check up and she's gained 8 pounds since the last time she was there).
Speaking of doggies, Porkchop is doing well, and his mellowshirt seems to be helping his anxiety. He's almost done with his medication for his tooth incident, so there's that. (Of course, now Ellie has ear drops, so Asa has basically been a dog nurse for the last couple weeks).
Oh, we did get our first papaya off our tree. But, then we forgot about it, and nobody ended up eating it. Major fail.
We might be taking down a lot of things in this house, pictures and such- but Candy Bar Election stuff is going up. We did some more updates, and we've worked on a blooper compilation which is HILARIOUS.
Oh, and we also mailed out even more candy bar election campaign care packages!
We've also all been fighting off colds. So, that hasn't been ideal.
And, I leave you with Peyton getting stuck in a chair.
That's it from here! We're off to dollar tacos for dinner!
Next Up: I REALLY hope by the next time I blog, I have an update on the house. But, in the meantime, we are planning on hitting MarineQuest Saturday if everyone is feeling up to it.
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