I feel like I'm perpetually behind on my blog, between president's birthdays and everything going on around here, I'm always trying to catch up. I'm going to attempt to get all caught up before our last October birthday on Friday. The good news, I have a brand new (to me) laptop to get all my work done on, and Asa is in the office so he can't distract me!
We have to rewind to a week ago Saturday to MarineQuest. You might remember we went last year, and loved it. It's one of Peyton's favorite events, and Hayden tagged along. (Calib was getting over a cold and opted to stay home and sleep in). MarineQuest is an open house of the Fish and Wildlife Center at USF over in Saint Pete. It's held the same weekend as Science Fest (which is right next door, so you can go to both!)
We got to help clean up the beach, although everyone was helping, so there was very little trash to be found.
But the boys each managed to find a little something.
There's all kinds of booths that range from telescopes to animals, and everyone is more than happy to answer your questions.
We got to check out a shark diving cage...
...and learn about all kinds of large fish and sharks. These guys were real life (dead) sharks.
They even let the kids pick them up.
Notice only Peyton wanted to play with the dead animals, Hayden wanted no part in that.
There are a ton of touch tanks, too.
We learned about the stages of fish.
And got to look close up at some eggs.
Plus there was a catch and release pond.
Hayden stepped up to fish first...
...and then Peyton was up.
But Peyton caught a fish almost immediately.
Eventually, Hayden caught one too.
But he wanted nothing to do with it, when the awesome fisherman asked if he wanted to see the fish.
The guys were great, and even though it took Hayden forever, they made sure both boys caught one.
We checked out some big lobsters...
...some baby stone crabs...
...and some normal sized lobsters we got to pet.
We also got to check out some police boats.
The Mote Maine Aquarium had touch tank as well.
We saw some other animals...
... played some games. ...
...and got some give aways.
We also stopped by and got a Whatever Pop. It's been so long!
I took Hayden and Peyton out to lunch at PDQ after wards. We got stuck in traffic going across the bay, and they were total troopers, even though they were starving, so this was their reward.
Then it was off to the airport to pick up mom. The boys and I played our usual airport game, where I read a destination off the screen, and they tell me where it is. Peyton nailed it, and Hayden didn't do too terribly.
Saturday night we had chili for dinner. Can you tell who feeds Sophie at the dinner table every night?
On Sunday afternoon we were off to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. You might remember we did this last year too.We used our same costumes from the move Up, that I made last year, because, well, they're awesome.
So here's the deal on the party, it's not a bad deal for non-passholders. For $70 you can bet at the Magic Kingdom from 4 pm to midnight, and get all the party festivities for less than the price of a one day ticket. However, for Passholders who can go anytime, it's quite pricey to go, and the passholder discount is pretty much a joke. (Like $3 off a ticket or something.) But, it is SO. MUCH. FUN. And, my mom offered to take us, so there's that!
(At first I didn't like the thought of covering up the water around the castle, but I feel like you can get much better pictures with the new set up).
The only new thing I had to get this year was a new t-shirt for Calib, and we handed down the rest. Their sashes are getting a little small though, if we do it again next year, I might have to re-do them a bit.
For the party, guests can get in at 4 with their party ticket, even though the party doesn't actually start until 7 (when all the non-party guests have to get out of the Magic Kingdom). That meant we had time for some fastpass rides. We did Jungle Cruise and Pirates.
Of course, mom was with us, so we had to do her favorite: It's a small world.
Then, as Wilderness Explorers we went exploring.
We also found a relatively short wait for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!
Another great part about the party: the costumes! Not everyone dresses up, but it's the only time adults are allowed in the park in costume, and it's fun just to people watch. Plus, I got a lot of "Kevin's a girl?" (If you've never seen Up, I can't help you here. Also, go see Up. It's amazing!)
At 7 the party starts, and you can get all kinds of "party only" treats.
We got candy corn ice cream in a poison apple take home mug. (I wanted the mug more than the ice cream!)
Even the grown ups get trick or treat bags, which is awesome. I mean, Calib (and apparently Peyton this year) aren't into trick or treating in the neighborhood anymore, but they will all get behind trick or treat at Disney (and they give out the good candy too!)
Plus inbetween trick or treat stops, you can hop on some rides, with generally very short waits. (Buzz Lightyear was walk on!) Each party only sells a certain number of tickets, and ours was sold out. It felt more crowded than last year's sold out party, though, so I wonder if they upped the number of tickets. Still, wait times weren't bad.
But since we have passes, we weren't really there for the rides. We were there for the party. There are characters that are only out for the party (think Lotso, Jack and Sally, all SEVEN dwarfs!), and some of them join in on the dance party.
Every trick or treat stop, you get a whole handful of candy, so the bag they give you fills up pretty fast.
And I mean you get to trick or treat all over Disney!
Even in the Tiki Room!!
We found a spot on the new lawn for the Halloween show a the castle, and Celebrate the Magic.
And then we stayed for the best show of them all : HalloWishes. It is one of the best fireworks shows ever. There's no way pictures could ever do it justice, especially these. But I'm telling you, it's amazing.
The villains take over the show, the music is great, and the fireworks are all around you. I love HalloWishes.
There's no electrical light parade during the party, instead there's a parade you can only see at the party. We went to the second parade hoping to avoid some crowds, but we still had to sit down kind of early to get a front row spot. Asa made a game with the kids betting candy on who would win in rock paper scissors battles.
They got really into it, and it was so much fun to watch.
Then, before we knew it the headless horseman rode past us and it was time for the Boo to You parade. The music is the best, and the song will be stuck in your head for days. (I can't type about it now, a week and a half later without hearing it in my head).
We had some awesome character interactions in the parade too, thanks to our costume. Aladdin came up to the boys and yelled "Adventure is out there!".
Both Mr. Smee and Mickey did the sign for wilderness explorers which was awesome. Hayden was thrilled!
It's such a fun event, everyone needs to do it at least once, and I'm lucky enough to have done it twice. It's just as fun the second time around.
At midnight, the party was over and it was time to head home, but for us, that was ok, because the next morning we were heading off on our cruise!
Next Up: Cruise Day 1: At Sea!
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