Happy 18th Anniversary, Florida!

 Ok. So, if you thought I went MIA because I hadn't posted in forever, I assure you, all is fine and well. BUT, for whatever reason, Blogger stopped wanted to upload pictures. I finally decided to catch the blog up, just sans pictures, hoping maybe someday I can go back and add them. But, in the meantime, I had months worth of things to tell you all about. But now, I've done that. I'm actually in the current month, which is awesome- because I had to tell you about my last cruise way back in November, before I filled you in on my next one I have coming up next week. Also, our month is about to be BANANAS. Literally, Asa and I will be home four days in a 28 day time span. So, buckle up. You're about to get vacation after vacation from us. 

For now, though, we've just celebrated our Florida Anniversary. That's right, it's been 18 years since two crazy kids up and moved three babies, two dogs, a cat, and a beta fish to Florida. Best decision I've ever made. I can't imagine what life would have been like without living here. Yes, Florida has it's faults. The traffic is terrible. My god, the traffic. There's SO MANY people living here now (I contend I've been here long enough, I'm not part of the problem). The summers are down right brutal. And the current political climate is not exactly freedom and inclusivity. That sucks. But, day to day, I do love it here still. I do appreciate all the things I have in my life that I love so much, I would not have had it not been for moving here. My house. My pups. My homeschooled kids. My neighbors. My library. My animal shelter. Just, all of it. 

We celebrated by having a pretty blow out weekend. It started Friday with tickets in Orlando to see Fall Out Boy. It had been Hayden and Calib's big Christmas present, and they were finally cashing in. It was an awesome concert. For real, it was SO good. There was fire, and beach balls and snow and magic tricks and piano and a giant dog that sang along. Jimmy Eat World opened, as did the Maine, and they were all pretty awesome. We finished up with a midnight run to White Castle, and I never felt so 22. 

Asa and I also had date night to see the first Rowdies match of the season (it's Tampa's soccer team out of Saint Pete for those of you who don't know). The weather was perfect, and the game was exciting, all though it did end in a tie. Still, a fun night out. 

We filled in the weekend with a trip to Lake Eola to see the swans (though we couldn't feed them thanks to a bird flu outbreak), drinks at outdoor bars (No Vacancy may be a new favorite), awesome food including bbq, crepes, and seafood nachos. And of course, there were gorgeous water views. All things I love about my home state, and all things I'm grateful to have in March. (Don't ask me that question in August). 

In other March news, we've been a bit dog crazy here. Taking care of neighbor dogs, and walking our favorites at the shelter. We had social media training the other week, and we're going to start helping with some pictures and outreach for the Pasco County Pups, plus we've been working with these two, very scared bonded girls named Cherry and Blossom, and making some progress to get them out of their shells. 

Teen D&D is over for Asa until the end of April, but he's still been running Chess Club at the library. I, meanwhile, had a crafting and a cricut class for March. We've also been going once (about to be twice) a month to the Senior Center to play chess with some of the seniors there. So, you know, volunteer work is going well. 

In non-volunteer, but kind of volunteer work, we also all had our training to work the polls. Today (the 19th) is Florida's presidential primary for Republicans (literally president is the only thing on the ballot). But, here I am blogging- because I was an alternate for Ballot Distributor, and I didn't get picked. But you know who did get picked? Calib and Asa. Asa is running the machine that tabulates your ballot, while Calib, for whatever reason was assigned PRECINCT SUPERVISOR! He is running his own precinct. Not even fair. He had to go pick up his bag and keys and stuff yesterday. The downside was everyone got up at 5 this morning to get it all set up- and I was up at 5 in case they called me as an alternate (though, I didn't have a car to get anywhere, since Asa and Calib are at two different precincts.) They will get paid for their work though, so it's not quite volunteer. But, yea. That's why I've been catching up on blogs today- I've been up for hours and theres nobody but my puppies to talk to (Hayden is still asleep, and later today they'll be at the library for hours). 

In other news, we did celebrate Dom and Nando's birthdays a bit late- we all got together and went to Beasley Farms to feed the animals and buy some plants, and then went roller skating, which was super fun. Not everyone was great at it (sorry, Hayden), but we all had fun: Dom's dad and sister, OG Teresa and Mike, Marcus, Dom, Nando, Hayden, Genesis, Asa and me. Jake and Ama even joined us for the Beasley part. 

Another day we took Hayden and Genesis to the aquarium. We pet jellyfish, said hi to the axolotls, identified bird poop frogs, and even took the Wild Dolphin Cruise, where you get to go out into the bay on a boat to spot dolphins. It was really pretty cool (and a great deal for passholders at $12), we spotted lots of birds and pelicans, but also quite a few dolphins, including some bow jumpers at the front of a cargo ship and some jumpers behind our boat in its wake. Afterwards, we took Genesis and Hayden over to Sparkman Wharf and split the taco deal, and got a few donuts at Everglazed. And, we spotted our cruise ship in port that we'll be on next week! 

Of course, we did the whole Pi Day pizza thing at Blaze: twice in fact. Asa and I went for lunch since we were over that way after spending the morning at the shelter, and then we took Calib for dinner. And, it was Thurs-yays at Starbucks so we got bogo drinks both times too (since Blaze is right next to Starbucks). 

And per March traditions, we have all filled out our brackets to see who will be the winner of dinner. I'll miss most of the tournament, but I'll get the first round and part of the second round in before we head off on our cruise ship to Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. 

I think that about covers up to today, so I am officially caught up. Color me impressed. 

Next up: A week on the Jade 

Leap Day 2024

 You know I love a good off-beat celebration. My favorite holidays include Presidents Day, Election Day, and Leap Day. Leap Day is my favorite though. I say it's better than Christmas, because it only comes once every four years (and that year is an election AND summer olympics year, so that's always exciting- though I got screwed out of those in 2020). I always want to do something really fun with our 'extra day' (yes, I know that's not exactly how it works), but people are always befuddled when I ask 'what are you doing for Leap Day?' 

We got a jump on our leap day celebration this year (get what I did there?....jump? leap day?), and headed off to Disney on the 28th. I had gotten a great deal on a DVC room at Old Key West resort (by renting points from DVC Shop) which was especially exciting because Key West is considered a 'Deluxe' resort, and on certain nights and at certain parks, only deluxe resort guests get to stay in the park two hours after normal closing to ride rides. With the way lines had been lately, and reports that those nights were virtually empty in the parks, I was super excited to take advantage of those extra hours the night before Leap Day in the Magic Kingdom. Plus the 'kids' always like to go to Disney if we're actually staying there and not just going for the day. 

Though, when we arrived at Disney, our room was not ready yet. We decided to play some mini golf to kill time, and yet again found ourselves back at the Fairways course at Fantasia mini golf. I had some bad putts, but I am getting better at that course for sure. 

After putt putt our room was ready, but we were getting hungry, so we decided to stop at Disney Springs first and have an early dinner at the Polite Pig. It's a favorite around here. We got the Butcher Board with all the extras and enjoyed it thoroughly. And then we stopped by Gideons to wash it all down with some Peanut Butter Cold Brew. The best iced coffee in the world. (And we picked up some sweet treats too). 

Old Key West is one of the few Disney resorts I haven't stayed in. I'd have to think about it, but it might be the only one I haven't stayed in. (If the Polynesian when I was five counts). The room was nice, we had lots of space, a nice big bathroom, our little mini kitchen, and a balcony that looked out onto the golf course. But we were kind of stuffed off in the corner. It was fine, because we weren't really there to be at the resort (while a 'quiet pool' wasn't too far enough, it's just so spread out the main lobby and pool were really far away). Still, it's one of those really sprawling Disney resorts, but unlike places like Saratoga, Caribbean Beach, and Port Orleans it didn't really have a hub to it. And not a lot of sidewalks to walk places. It was just kind of weird. But, it did have the bus to Magic Kingdom, so we hopped on that around 7. 

The plan was to get to the park and do some of the lower wait attractions before the park closed to 'normal guests', and we did just that. We hit up the Tomorrowland Speedway, the Teacups, the Barnstormer, and Dumbo before pausing to watch the fireworks from the back to the park (the hub, as always, was too crowded for us). That did, however, help us get in line for Winnie the Pooh before the fireworks rush. Then it was on to under the sea, Philharmagic, and the carousel. And that was all before the park was set to close. We grabbed some waffle sandwiches to fuel up for the rest of the evening. And then, man, the park emptied out. Everything except for Seven Dwarfs was walk on (that took us 20 minutes of waiting). But no problem with Jungle Cruise, the magic carpets, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, or Peter Pan. We had just enough time to squeeze in Mine Train, and Space Ranger Spin before it was time for our Tron virtual queue I had nabbed earlier in the evening. And as the clock struck midnight for Leap Day, we found ourselves hanging out in front of the castle. Not a bad way to start Leap Day. 

Lets rewind, a second, back to Leap Day 2012- when Disney stayed open for 24 hours to mark the event. I took a picture of the clock on Main Street, with the castle in the background to denote how long into the night the kids made it (I think it was 2-something), and so on my way out in 2024, I snapped a picture of that same clock with the castle in the background. And, I'm sad Blogger STILL doesn't want to post my pictures, or you'd get to see that. 

It was late by the time we all went to bed- maybe 2. I was the first to wake up the next morning, so I had my breakfast of coffee and gideon's cake outside on the patio. Because calories do not count on Leap Day. 

Since Leap Day is such a special occasion, we did spring for Genie+ to skip the lines at $25 per person. We didn't get to skip as much as I thought we would, but it was a decent deal for what we did do. We started out our day in Hollywood Studios, and got to meet with Frozone, go on Star Tours, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. 

Then we made our way over to Epcot, where we took in the topiaries for this years Flower and Garden Festival that had just started the day before. We had some snacks, enjoyed the flowers, and did some rides: Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Soarin, and Nemo. 

By now it was time for dinner, so we headed over to Disney Springs for our reservation at Homecomin' (my favorite!) We picked this as our special Leap Day dinner because on leap day we do 'backwards dinner' where we have dessert first. So, you have to pick somewhere that has good desserts. Not only does Homecoming have good desserts, they even have a dessert sampler which comes with their moonshine cake, hummingbird cake, and pecan pie. We got that (which confused all the wait staff when they'd come out with our next dishes and saw we had dessert), and we devoured it. So good. And then we all got dinner- my fried chicken was to die for. 

At dinner, I said 'you know, if we make it to Animal Kingdom, we would have technically been to all four parks ON Leap Day (thanks to being in Magic Kingdom for midnight). Everyone was very tired (there had been a lot of steps), but decided it'd be fun- so off we went to Animal Kingdom, and we made it just before they closed Kilamonjaro Safaris for the day. And evening safaris are usually the best. Full of animal activity- and this one did not disappoint. 

It was all a good kickoff for the new passes, in which Asa and I plan to 100 percent Disney again (where we do ALL the things at Disney one one pass!) I've made the list, but I think there are probably a few more secret odds and ends around, plus things opening this year that we'll have to add along the way. 

We headed home after that, because we had a Leap Day time capsule to dig up from the yard. It was a tiny bit of a bust though. Asa did in fact remember where it was buried- but the whole wood box had decomposed over the years. This was the first time we tried burying it, because 2020 Leap Day was the first one where we owned a house. Previously they were just wrapped up in my closet. 

Anyway, some things made it through, in ziplock bags. Other things, not so much. We did find something we think will be much sturdier and buried that with all our new treasures and predictions in it, so that'll be fun to see in four years. (I purposely don't write about what's in there, so it'll be a surprise in four years). Olivia, of course, could not be here- but she called and we wrote down her 2028 predictions. 

Next up: March! The current month! I'm actually doing it, I'm getting the blog caught up! 

February 2024

 Now that I've got Hayden's birthday blog out of the way (we are just a month and 12 days behind on blogs at this point!), it's time to get you caught up on all the other February happenings. 

I'm saddened to report, we didn't get to go to Boston at the beginning of the month like we had planned. After Jake left the end of January, we were still a bit sick- and we were racing against our travel clock. Our tickets had long been booked to spend four days up there with Nate and Allison and Layla- all so Asa and Nate could go to a Caligula's Horse concert. We were debating on going or not- we obviously didn't want to bring the Foster's our germs. But then a few days before, Nate got sick- and that was the nail in our Boston coffin. I am so hoping we get to go sometime when the weather is better- but our calendar is filling up with no northeast trip on it, so we'll see. If nothing else, the LAN Party crew will be here in September- and I CANNOT. WAIT. I did tell you they're moving here, right? Cuz, I am stoked about it. 

Anyway, the cancelled trip left us with a weekend on the calendar with no plans. I was able to pick up a last minute market at the Pasco Flea Fest at Heritage Park. It's not the best of names, but it was a decent market for me, and I made a couple hundred dollars. Score! We also used that weekend to take our annual Lakeland/Plant City trip, because it isn't strawberry season if you don't go to Plant City for shortcake. We hit up Born and Bread (who is now open four days a week instead of two!!) for cruffins and coffee, swung by Parksdale for shortcake, plants, and a flat of strawberries, and then it was off to Keel Farms to stock up on ciders. Best errand run there is. 

February isn't just strawberry season, it's also state fair time! Calib, Asa and I went on a random weekday and pet and fed all the animals, grabbed some honey from the bee guys, held some baby chicks, loved on some cows, and nabbed a $3 mini elephant ear. 

And of course, we did President's Day around here. We played True American, and despite some tough competition, and going last, I was still the winner. Asa had it in the bag until he couldn't name three correct facts about Grover Cleveland (he always gets Cleveland and Taft confused. Admitedly, I do see the resemblance). That meant I got to eat or typical Presidents Day meal of Nancy Reagan Mac and Cheese, Calvin Coolidge carrots, apples, and biscuits off the Benjamin Harrison china. I also had a lovely prohibition cocktail in the Thomas Jefferson copper mug. 

Asa and I had a date day to Orlando. We renewed our Disney passes, complete with the Water Park, Sports and More option and played some mini golf on the Fairways course at Fantasia Mini Gardens (it's the hard one thats more like real golf than putt putt). Turns out, with practice, we are getting better at that one. Then we made our way over to Seaword, where we got our free tray of fish to feed the seals and sea lions. Some awesome nice guy told us about Lotus, a seal who will wave you to for food. And she did in fact do so. I gave her like three of my four fish, I was so impressed. After Seaworld, we changed and had a very fancy, romantic dinner out in Orlando, and then made our way to Epcot in the pouring rain. We didn't mind, though, we put on our rain jackets, and were the only people playing in Journey of Water while the rain poured down. It stopped in time for the fireworks, and by then there were hardly any people there, so we were able to nab a great spot in the World Showcase to watch Harmonious. All in all, it was a really great day. 

Other than that, there were a few random days. I made Oakley pupcakes for her birthday, and then doled them out to the neighborhood pups too, so they could join in on the celebration. Jake and Ama came over and hung out, and Ama ended up staying over. She didn't mind that Hayden and Genesis were going to a play in the morning, while Asa and I headed over to the Grove for another market. I did pretty well there too, and made enough for Kratewalker fries from Flippin Fries (seriously so good), and some coffee from Provisions- plus plenty more to take home. That evening Jake came back to get Ama, and we rode our bikes through the neighborhood to get some tomato plants from the Buy Nothing group- and Ama told me how this was quintessential suburban life in the states. She's not wrong. 

In projects this month, I did get around to building Dipper his shelves on the wall by the French doors. He seems to like them enough- though the last two shelves still need some carpet on them, and I want to add toys and scratching posts. But still, it's pretty cool. 

And that *almost* does it for February. In the unlikely scenerio in which I eventually get to add pictures, I'm going to make our Leap Day trip it's very own blog. 

Next Up: A Leap Year! My favorite! 

So Long Waterstraut Childhood!

 As the calendar flipped to February, we were just days away from Hayden turning 18. Hayden. 18. Yup. Our last one made it to adulthood. 

And you know what? I'm not really sad about it. I mean, you've been here. You've seen the blog for the last 13 years. I did ALL the childhood stuff. I exhausted all the Pinterest Boards. I spent all the time with them. I did all the projects. We had sleepovers, built blanket forts, conducted Olympics, made traditions that included frozen tshirt contests and weird Christmas trees, we simulated governments and job interviews and candy bar elections. We celebrated Presidential Birthdays, made up kid friendly drinking games in True American. We had Leap Day time capsules, and ate a meal from every country in the world. We made everything from slime to stools, watched all the Disney movies, we made videos, took all the trips we could possibly afford, and made it to Alaska and Hawaii. We had Finer Things Club, and played Survivor- we had sticker charts, and the 'X' system, and trust charts. We read Harry Potter, and then lived it. We volunteered. We ran through fountains. We picnic-ed. We ate an untold amount of Uncrustables on Tom Sawyers Island in the Magic Kingdom. I could go on and on. But, basically: we did it all. 

And now, we have three empathetic, kind, well adjusted, well-rounded humans. And that was always our goal. Asa and I did it, the biggest project of them all: raising kids. And now, we're on to our next adventure. Life with adult children. And boy do we deserve it. It was a long chapter- perhaps an entire Part one. And now, it's time for Part Two. I couldn't have picked a better person to do both parts with me. Thanks, Asa. It's been amazing raising these humans with you. Long days, short years. Awesome times. 

The night before Hayden's birthday it was Chess Club and TAB at the library. Hayden is so loved there, and Asa and I were there for Chess Club anyway, so the whole group of teens, some librarians, and some of our friends from chess, all surprised Hayden by jumping out at him in the meeting room and singing Happy Birthday. Marina even brought cupcakes for the event. It was all very nice. 

Of course, we did the midnight thing- where we all wished Hayden a happy birthday. Olivia even texted. 

And even though Hayden is 18, they still asked me to make the pirate treasure map to find birthday presents. I thought it'd be cool if instead of our house, I made a map of the whole street, and hid things around at other people's places. Of course, everyone was on board- and Hayden didn't know that's what I was doing until they opened the map. It went over well. 

Genesis was able to come over for Hayden's birthday too, so she went on the hunt for us and contributed her presents to the cause. Among Hayden's favorite gifts: finally getting the piano tuned, and a bunch of canvases I scored on Buy Nothing the day before. I had gotten smaller ones on Amazon, but then someone just happened to be giving away giant canvases. Hayden's been working on those ever since. 

The neighbors did also swing by for cake that evening, which was nice. And we had a little party. Jake and Ama even came down for the event on a work night, which was super nice of them. 

Hayden wanted a kind of low-key birthday, which I think was delivered upon. But the day after, Asa and I took Hayden to Epcot to teach them how to be a Disney adult. It went over super well, after all not only did we get to go back to the Moana part (Hayden's fave!) but it was the Festival of Arts, which is right up their alley. We talked to artists, walked around and looked at all the amazing works, listened to some Broadway singers live, and ate some very tasty snacks. Hayden even got themselves a really cool painting with all of their birthday monies. 

Overall, a successful birthday for the newest voter in Pasco County. And just like that, I'll never have to sign another waiver for a kid again! Woohoo! 

January 2024

 Happy New Year (just two and a half months late)! Lets continue our catch up blog sans pictures (at least until blogger gets it together). 

January began with a very floridian 'polar bear plunge', where Vince and Alicia invited everyone to their house to take some shots and jump in the pool. Most of us did it (and it was very, very cold), but some watched from the sidelines. I jumped in the pool, and took a shot because I'm 'down for whatever', a phrase we are using this year to try new things. 

While we hung out with grandma, playing this new game, 'Strike' Clint got us for Christmas we got back into some of our volunteering we'd been neglecting. Dog walking, and library classes- I even taught the teens how to make dream catchers, and Hayden wasn't even embarrassed about having me with their group of friends. I also made a trip with Oakley and Fire Theresa to Busch Gardens, and tried to spot a rocket launch with Jen (we are still trying to make that happen- it's always been too cloudy/too rainy, or been scrubbed. Boo!) 

Of course that first week of January was a lot of taking down lights. We made it part way mostly by ourselves, but we found Vince and Andy from down the street and they helped as well. Andy's wife made us fresh baked cookies again, which means we're now calling Teresa #3, 'Cookie Teresa'. And Mike even got up in a tree at one point. It's always a little sad the first couple of nights after you come home with the lights down. It looks so plain! 

We had our last taco party of the season as well- we landed at 643 tacos this year, far breaking the record thanks to our neighborhood taco parties. The Bucs even won the last game of the season, sending them to the playoffs. And then, they won their first playoff game, which was just bananas! Nobody thought the Baker Mayfield Bucs would make it to the playoffs let alone win a game. They'd go on to lose to the Lions in the divisional round. Though that did mean we got to have another giant pizza But, I had such mixed feelings about them playing the Lions. The game was on the anniversary of my dad's passing, and he was such a Lions fan. We all put on our Navy hats, and I low key rooted for both teams. We also had some hot buttered rum in his honor (though out of our Bucs Super Bowl Champion cups). Of course, the Bucs couldn't hang with the Lions, who were surprisingly good this season. I'm looking forward to next season for both teams though- we've got Baker back, so I'm excited about that. And, I feel like the Lions are contenders now. 

My mom left just over a week in January, we made our customary Goody Goody Burger stop after we dropped her off at the airport, and I'm pleased to note the banana pancakes are still just as good as ever. But after all the events and all the visitors, it was time to shut it down for a bit. Asa and I needed some Waterstraut only time. Not that I don't love anyone- but my social meter was depleted. (T'Ola even so nicely sent me a pin that lets you move the needle according to your social meter). 

Asa and I made a trip to Seaworld, and collected on our passholder free stuff, including a tray of fish to feed the sealions and a pass to get to ride the new roller coaster when it comes out. Then we stayed overnight at All Star Movies. It's a Disney 'value' resort, aka the 'cheap ones' and it was infact cheap. Something like $100 for the night. The rooms have been redone and are actually quite nice for the value resorts, and we even got ungraded to a preferred room right by the pool and the lobby building. Of course one of the super fun things about the value resorts is their larger than life scenes throughout the resort. We walked through an oversized 'Andy's room', 'wore' a larger than life Mickey hat, and found ourselves on TV with the Dalmations. 

We ate over in FLamingo Crossings, had smores, played Ping Pong and made a trip to the Magic Kingdom, catching the end of the fireworks while waiting for the Magic Carpets. And of course, we watched Country Bear Jamboree one more time before it closed for its refurbishment. The next morning we had Mickey Waffles, played putt putt at Winter/Summerland, went back to Seaworld to visit the penguins, and then made our way to Epcot for the Festival of the Arts. We ended our Disney day splitting a sandwich and some fries at Terralina Crafted and getting our favorite coffees at Gideons. 

In our Corinne and Asa time, we made it out to see Bella, the goats and the chickens at Beasley with Hayden and their friend Genesis, plus I was super excited I got to wear my sweatpant overalls and wear my winter hat- because it was still pretty chilly here. 

Calib made it down to Naples to visit with his grandparents, leaving me and Asa to have a sleepover with the pups. They actually did pretty good, when I lined up all their beds on the floor next to my side of the bed, they knew right where to sleep. 

Through it all- I taught a macrame class at the library and walked dogs- until I got a sinus infection. Still, I powered through. And once I was better- we made it to an Andrew Mcmahon in the Wilderness Concert in St Pete at the Pier. It was an amazing concert. He sang some new songs, some from Jacks Mannequin and Something Corporate. So good. He played the piano, pointed to Asa (who was just about four people back from the front), and crowd surfed on an inflatable llama while taking a shot. Seriously, so good. Jake and Ama came and met up with us, because they hadn't seen us in so long, so it was nice to have their company too. 

After all of that, Jake came to visit and was here for a week. Although, I think we caught some illness at the concert, and spent the week passing that around. He did bring the Balls and Bacon Fantasy Football trophy with him, because I was the winner, after beating Calib in the Super Bowl. (Suck it, Calib). I'd like to thank Josh Allen, Travis Kelce, and Deebo Samuel for making it all possible. 

We also went to all the places we went with Cort, only they were WAY less busy, because, well, if Cort is here- everyone's here. So we did Busch Gardens again, Sparkman Wharf (which has an Everglazed now!), the aquarium,  all that fun stuff. We swung by Armature Works and enjoyed the warmer weather. We also had a random power outage at like midnight one night, and Dom and Nando ended up hanging out until it came back on. 

And then, of course, we had the NFL Championship Sunday, which is why Jake comes in the first place. This years pizzas: Detroit Lions Thanksgiving pizza vs. San Fransisco Ghrideli pizza for the NFC, and KC BBQ chicken pizza vs. the Baltimore Ravens crab cake pizza for the AFC. Fun fact: the Raven's pizza was the last pizza we had never had. They were all good, but the NFC won for the pizzas for sure. 

Jake went home, after his annual January trip and the month that I spent half of sick, came to an end. And now- I'm even more caught up. 

Up next: The end of the Waterstraut childhood

December 2023

 Again, no pictures. And again just a quick catch up on our holiday. 

When we got back from our cruise, we had a very busy weekend. Our friend/neighbor Dom was graduating from USF, we were throwing him a party, and Olivia was coming home the same day! So, it was a dash to go to graduation (in which Dom had the COOLEST cap- because I made it from him, and it lit up!), decorate and set up for the party, and then running to TPA to grab Olivia (who luckily was on time), and then coming back for the party. 

So, that was a day. And then, Olivia was home! She was here for about three weeks, which was just lovely to have her around. We tried to squeeze in lots of different activities. We had a 'fake Thanksgiving' where we pulled out the table cloth, did a turkey, and even had pie. We were able to pick out our customary ugly Christmas tree, get our Chinese take out and pizza, play all the Christmas games (I still made a punch board with activities and a Christmas Bucks auction), and even have her help finish putting up the lights. We also made a trip to the Budhist Temple, and spent the evening at the Nebraska Mini Mart (after a failed attempt to see the boat parade). 

Oh, the lights- they were gorgeous this year- and so much work- but we literally got them strung across the whole end of Blue Spring Drive before the curve. 22 houses (and only one opt-out). Everyone came together with lights, or money to fund the lights, extension cords (and the use of their electricity), ladders, and even freshly baked cookies to keep us going. We got to meet more people down at the 'north end' (hi Dayna!), and we even had a big block party in ours and Vince's driveway to celebrate when they were all done. Later, some of us went on a Chistmas light bike ride and all decorated our bikes, blasted music, and brought Bailey's for a toast. So fun. Blue Spring is the absolute best of people. 

We also went out to celebrate Mike's birthday- we went to dinner along the water over in New Port Richey, and had a campfire in the driveway to celebrate. Olivia was like 'what is happening?!?' you know, with all the get togethers with people. 

Asa and I somehow found time to squeeze in our normal Disney Christmas day- where we saw the trees at Disney Springs, the Gingerbread concoctions at all the resorts, the new lights and garden in Epcot, and Magic Kingdom's main street all decorated. We finished up the evening back at Disney Springs being 'snowed' on, which I just adored. 

Christmas was all our usual stuff- Santa Pancakes, Seafood dinner, presents (the tree was in the front room, which was a little different- but it was less of tree and more of a bush, so it fit best out there), and general playing games. The big present this year for Calib and Hayden: tickets to see Fall Out Boy in March (spoiler alert: we just went this past weekend, as I'm writing this- and it was AMAZING!) 

And then, in a fun turn of events, the Sattler's decided to come visit for a few days (sans Gwen who didn't want to spend all that time driving for just a few days here). But, Cort, Holly and Garrett decided to surprise my mom by coming down here too. Mom comes down nearly every Christmas, though this year her plane was very, very delayed. I think she ended up landing around 5 am when it was supposed to be midnight. 

Anyway- the surprise went well, and then we spent four days going to the beach, playing games, going for walks, looking for a 'wild suburban alligator' (which we never did find), and eating delicious food. We went to the beach, the aquarium complete with snowball throwing, and Busch Gardens. We ate at Ulele, grabbed an ice cream flight at Sparkman Wharf, finally hit up the Flan Factory (Cort's favorite food), and even ordered a giant pizza from Hawkeyes (who are finally back open!) 

Before the Sattler's left, we made sure to show them around the Clubhouse. And even though it was 50 degrees, we swam in the heated pool,  complete with winter and santa hats, and snuck all of us into the mens sauna. We played some tennis, and we took them to Whit's to get some ice cream. 

All in all, a great couple days- but oh so busy! Olivia flew back home to Phoenix the following day, but grandma stayed through the new year. We did a Costco trip, and had a low key new years. I will note, I promised Hayden I would finally get to fixing up a better ladder for their loft by New Years, and I finished with like three hours to spare. So, you know. I kept my Waterstraut promise. 

Next up: Happy 2024! 

Allure of the Seas: Holidaycation

 Alright, blog readers, here's the deal: for months I've been unable to upload pictures to my blog! Even Blogger hasn't been a help. In the meantime, I haven't blogged at all- which is so weird, because how does anyone know whats going on at the Waterstrauts without it? Well, we have been really busy (Life is just so full in the best way lately), so here's my plan.. I'm going to speed through what the last few months have been like- in word form only. Someday will I hope to add pictures? Sure! But, I need to get caught up ASAP because our next month is absolutely jam-packed (and I am in no way exaggerating). 

So lets rewind all the way back to November- when I last left off on the blog. Asa and I were getting on a cruise ship! And one of the big ones too: Allure of the Seas. 

It's not a new itinerary: we went to Nassau and Coco Cay and back on our four days, but we were so excited to get on one of the BIG boats. Sure, it's the oldest of that big gigantic class (Oasis) but we got it for $210 per person, and that is just insanity! Of course, it's not as good as the free ones we've had (and have coming up!), but still, you can't beat that. And we've kind of landed on a trip for the holidays instead of gifts, so this totally fit the bill. We sprang for the coffee package, and the key, so we could get into all the activities early and it was so worth it. 

Allure has all kinds of stuff including ice skating, rock climbing, mini golf, the flo rider, and even a zipline. We did it ALL. Sometimes more than once. I even got up on my knees on the flo rider, which I was super excited about. 

Of course there were usual activities- but most of them had their own home places instead of being in various lounges. Karaoke had it's own venue- as did the comedians. 

We hardly did any trivia on the boat because there was so much else to do (though we did make it to 'Disney name that tune'). We watched their production of Grease, which was awesome- but nothing like the aqua show that was just AMAZING with divers, and acrobats all at the ships aft. 

We learned on this ship to go to the casino early for bonus money, and we learned how to cash in our rewards for our first Platinum trip on Royal (thats their loyalty levels- our new tier came with half off wine, and free money to gamble with in the casino). We turned that free money into $40 real dollars and then used that to buy our half off at the 'Rising Tide Bar' where you order your drinks and then the bar 'rises' from the indoor prominade to the outside Central Park area. That's right, there's a whole outdoor park in the middle of the ship. 

We lost long stretches of time in that park. Besides the delicious roast beef sandwiches at the Park Cafe, they also had chess sets and a fun bar out there. (While we didn't have the alcoholic drink package, I did get one for non alcoholic drinks). There were lots of mocktails, smoothies at the gym, and milkshakes for me! Plus frozen drinks at the pool. It's a package I would totally get again. It was my splurge since I did so awesome at a market a couple of weeks earlier. 

We also loved our location of our room- an inside space on floor 7 right by the stairs. We were just between the coffee and Boardwalk on deck 6 (a place with a carousel we rode every single day), and the Central Park area on deck 8. The Boardwalk even had a hotdog place Asa was really fond of. 

Of course there were all our cruise favorites. Desserts. Towel Animals. Mega Breakfast. Christmas Decorations. Ping Pong. Swimming (even when it was so cold nobody else dared get in the water but us-- but we really wanted to swim in ALL the pools). We listened to music, ate a delicious dinner at the upcharged Mexican place, and of course snorkeled in Coco Cay. 

I will say, our trip to Coco Cay wasn't our favorite. I mean, it was fun- we did some snorkeling. But, the water was really rough when we were there- so rough our kayak tour out to see starfish got cancelled. And I didn't feel comfortable going out past the rocks- so just some smaller fish. We did get some non alcoholic drinks, and finally made it out to the bar floating in South Beach. 

In Nassau we only got off the boat because the new port was done and we wanted to see it. It is really nice, but it seems so 'Americanized', like subdivision ish- like they had to fix the port all up to American subburban standards. I don't know. It's nice- it just isn't super authentic- but I guess that's most cruise ports. You need to get a little out of there to really see what the place is like. 

We didn't want to be off the boat too long anyway- there was just SO MUCH to do on the boat, and we were like 'who knows when we'll be on one of these big boats again', so we wanted to cram it all in. We logged at least 20,000 plus steps on the boat every single day, just trying to fit everything in. 

So, while I did absolutely love my time with Asa- it was just four very, very full days. I thought once I went on one of those big boats, I would be sad going back to smaller boats. But the reality is, they're both so much fun- just different kinds of fun. And, the smaller boats are much more laid back, there was no Deck 4 shuffleboard to be had on Allure. In fact, no shuffleboard at all on our trip. While they do have one behind the aqua theater, it was never open. 

Now, the big boat is awesome, because I never once felt it move. We'll see how a small boat goes for me soon, because as I write this, it's actually March (even though I'm going to post it as a November blog), and Asa and I are about to take our free NCL cruise to Mexico. It's out of Tampa, and that means boats have to be small enough to fit under the sunshine skyway. 

Either way, I'm hoping for ping pong and shuffleboard, drinks by the pool (NCL gives you 'free at sea' with the drink package included-just pay gratuities!) Plus, a whole new set of ports. God help me if we don't make it to Roatan for whatever reason. We have the COOLEST excursion planned. But, that's for another blog. I gotta work on catching up! 

Next up: It was a SUPER busy December. I'm just going to roll it into a huge blog to get caught up.