Even though the Olympics are over, we've been staying busy. Now that school is back in session, we figured it was time to get out and about and take advantage of less daytime traffic, and lower crowd levels. Monday we headed out to 'The Beach, Tampa'. We visited twice during the Olympics, but I had gotten tickets ahead of time for one last visit before the exhibit closed on Thursday. So we headed out to Amalie Arena for one last swim in the giant ball pit, and collected our free ice cream.
As always, it was a super good time. The pit was starting to show the wear and tear of the last few weeks, but it was still awesome. The boys buried themselves in the balls, we climbed around, we threw a few at each other, and left when we were all exhausted. I'm so glad we were able to visit three times. It was so much fun every time we visited.
After the ball pit, we headed out to go bowling. We still had Peyton's free birthday games, plus the boys all have 6 free games left on their cards, so we didn't have to pay a thing! (Which always makes things more fun!) Asa let everyone pick names (we never put our own up there anymore), and Peyton was not happy when Calib suggested he be 'NotYep' (which is Peyton, backwards). In one of Calib's less finer moments, he agreed to let Peyton pick any name for him, if he would be 'NotYep'. And so, Calib spent an entire game of bowling being referred to as 'Moron'. At least he was a good sport about it.
Oh, and our new phones are still a novelty. Hayden took a ton of pictures (and some pretty funny video), while Peyton and Calib always think the best time to send Asa a text message is when they're sitting right next to him.
Asa ended up winning, and Hayden lost- so he returned all the shoes.
In other news, football season is back. Which also means, Madden 16 came out. Everyone was deciding what teams to be, so they all put teams in a bowl and picked out a random one. It was actually an Asa led activity, I had nothing to do with it. I adore watching football, but I hate talking about it (especially in the preseason, and especially when it's Madden). I try, because 3/5 of the house is super into it. But, I don't fake interest all that well.
Speaking of football, we did get totally free tickets to the first home preseason game last night. (I'm a little out of order here, but whatever). Peyton and Hayden declared they weren't super into going. I mean, it is just preseason. But, the tickets were free, and as previously discussed, I love football. So, Asa, Calib and I went out to the stadium. We all really wanted to see the new video boards we'd been hearing so much about. They totally lived up to the hype. But holy geez, is the stadium super bright at night. Those things are crazy! And the Bucs looked really good. (Preseason, I know, also they played the Browns, so there's that).
We left a little after halftime, when the 2nd and 3rd stringers made their appearance. It was fun to go out just the three of us though. Peyton and Hayden aren't always (or in some cases, ever) into the games, so it was kind of nice they got to stay home and do their thing, while we did ours.
Wednesday was the first '3' predicted on the crowd calendar since May. I was skeptical. Sure, Florida kids are back in school, but I know not everyone is. Usually you don't see anything below a 5 until Labor Day. But, skeptical or not, it'd been forever since we hit an amusement park- it was totally time. We decided to do our very first Universal/Disney combo day. First up was Universal.
It was decently busy at Universal though. Calib, Asa, and Peyton were dying to go on the Hulk roller coaster since it was finally back open from refurbishment, but Hayden and I didn't have any interest, so we went over to Seuss Landing.
Hayden and I spend a decent amount of amusement park time waiting for everyone else. Hayden just isn't that into big rides. He even gets freaked out about stuff he has already ridden. Really, any given day, I have no idea what he'll go on, and what he won't. So, actually these new phones are kind of great, along with Pokemon go. Hayden and I went off to Suess Landing to hunt Pokemon, and to ride some rides. It was perfect, we never felt like we were waiting!
While the lines were pretty long, we did manage to hang out in Jurassic Park for a little while. That whole set up reminds me of Jungala. (Speaking of which, we're hoping the weather holds out for our weekend and we can make a family trip to Busch Gardens and Adventure Island).
And of course, we made a trip to Hogsmeade.
And then we were off to ride the Hogwarts Express. Peyton was super excited when he took over the Hogsmeade Station.
Not that we've made a lot of trips to Universal (although I'm hoping to go a whole lot this fall!), but everytime I ride the Hogwarts Express, I love it more! It's the most awesome way to switch parks. And it dumps you off at a very authentic looking Kings Cross Station.
We were off to Diagon Alley for some Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer. The Butterbeer was awesome as always. But, the big surprise of the day went to the pumpkin juice. It was quite good, and I don't even like pumpkin all that much. (To be fair, it's mostly apple juice, with pumpkin puree).
Peyton still had not cashed in on his free wand from Oliveranders he got from me and Asa for his birthday, so that was a must stop this trip. He decided on Narcissa Malfoy's wand. And this time around he got an interactive wand. He didn't use it at all this time, but my cousin and her husband and kids are coming to visit in November for a Universal trip, and Peyton kept talking about how they could use his interactive wand then!
It also doesn't matter how many times I go to Diagon Alley. It might be my favorite place in any amusement park. And I've been to a lot of amusement parks.
The boys had wanted to go to CowFish at CityWalk for awhile now, so we decided to splurge. You do get a passholder discount at least. And, CowFish is awesome. We got some truffle fries, and milkshakes. Cowfish has the best milkshakes, but they might be rivaled by the new Chocolate Emporium which opened this week. We just didn't make it there to check it out, yet.
Hayden got the kids Bento Box, which is still one of the best kids meals in the history of ever.
Calib and Asa both went with 'burgers' but in different form. Asa's was normal, Calib's was burgushi. It's basically a burger in sushi form. And he got the BBQ Pork burgushi, which is just like it sounds. I might have to get this one next time.
Peyton and I got the adult Bento Box. You get a slider, choice of sushi, sweet potato fries, edamame, and cucumbers. I love having a lot of different things to eat, so this is a great option. Plus you get a burger and sushi. It's a fun combo.
Plus, Cowfish is just fun! You design your own fish, and then 'send him to the aquarium'. Fun!
After dinner, we headed over to Disney. We haven't been to the Animal Kingdom in awhile, and they've been open late all summer. I'd heard good things about the atmosphere at the Animal Kingdom at night, and I wanted to check it out. Plus, based on the wait times, it did look like Animal Kingdom was actually a 3, unlike Universal.
We did have Fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris. I had heard that riding it at sunset was perfect, but if you went too late, it was hard to see the animals in the dark. In order to ensure a sunset ride, we booked the Fastpasses. The normal wait was 25 minutes, so it was a good thing we did. (The 25 minute wait, however, was the longest wait in the whole park).
Oh, but the safari at sunset totally delivered. I had never seen so many animals out and about. Even the lions were active, and they almost never are. I highly recommend checking it out!
The wait for everything else was tiny though, they hardly waited for Expedition Everest, and some stuff was even walk on.
We didn't check out the Jungle Book nighttime show. I hadn't heard that many great things about it, and I know it's just kind of a placeholder until they figure out all the technical issues with Rivers of Light. That one, I can't wait to see.
Today we took Hayden out to last Build N Grow in the Avengers Summer Series.
And we stopped by the library, got some books, signed up for some fall programs, and early voted.
Hayden's Avenger puzzle is now complete. It looks pretty awesome.
So, the Olympics are over. But we still have lots of stuff leftover. Which means snack time around here can be pretty awesome.
We didn't do much this week in the way of school work, and I think for the next couple of weeks, that'll be pretty par for the course. We heard we're probably 4 to 6 weeks away from closing on the house, so I don't think I'll try and squeeze in any big theme weeks between that time. Just lots of bookwork, some lessons by dad, and documentary movie nights, until we get all situated. We do have Candy Bar Election stuff going on though. So it's not all bookwork.
Next Up: If the weather cooperates, we'll be headed to more theme parks.
