So Long, Wishes

We're in May now, the 'hurry up and do all the stuff before kids are on summer vacation' time of the year. I told the boys we are going to Disney no less than once per week, but they weren't totally on board. I had Fastpasses for the 11th in the Magic Kingdom because it was the very last show of Wishes, the Magic Kingdom nightly fireworks show that has been there for the last 13 years. But, we also have tickets to the Pandora preview on Monday, and the boys moaned about going to Disney that close together. Because that's the sort of spoiled children I'm raising- the one's who say were going to Disney TOO much! And the one's who say 'I mean, Wishes is cool and all, but I don't need to see it one more time.' and 'It's a long drive, and we've seen it a million times.' 

But, Asa and I haven't had much in the way of date days for awhile, mostly just our Wednesday grocery shopping trips and some other errands, and I was going to see Wishes one more time no matter who wanted to go, so we decided to just make a day of it. 

But then you're always presented with the first world problem of what to do before Wishes. I had night time Fastpasses, so we couldn't get any for earlier in the day, and we decided to get up whenever- go to Disney Springs for our lunch crawl, then over to Typhoon Lagoon to wait out the heat of the day, before dinner and then the Magic Kingdom. 

Our first stop was Blaze pizza. We always want to do something different, but the green stripe pizza just calls to us. It's chicken, red peppers, pesto and arugula, and is every bit amazing as it sounds. This time around, it was a little light on the arugula, next time I'm asking for extra! 

Then it was off to the Morimoto Asia window for the cold noodles. I don't know the official name, and I know cold noodles doesn't sound that appealing, but I am not a noodle person and I love these. We also went to the Daily Poutine for the French poutine. You guys. It's fries smothered in Gruyere and mushrooms, and it is amazing. Fun fact: there's a Canadian based restaurant in Oakland that serves Poutine, and we're going to go for Canada day. (We have to get some countries in on vacation or we'll fall completely behind!) 

And of course, you HAVE to go to the Hanger Bar for a Teddy's Tea and a Scottish professor. 

Then it off was off Typhoon Lagoon for the afternoon. We did the lazy river no less than four times, and hung out at the Crush N Gusher pool. It was pretty packed for a weekday in May, but that's kind of par for the course. We stayed almost until closing and then changed for dinner. 

We decided to go over to the Wilderness Lodge to try out the new Geyser Point Bar and Grill. Asa got a Black Cherry mule, which he liked enough. But, since it's by the pool- the only cups they have are plastic, and you don't even get the mules in a copper mug. 

We also ordered the brisket dip. This one was why we stopped by, we'd heard good things about it, and it didn't disappoint. 

After drinks and snacks/dinner it was time to head over to the Magic Kingdom. We would later be really glad we took the boat from the hotel, as it was CRAZY trying to get out of the park for everyone else. The line for the monorail and ferry back to the main parking area was at Christmas-time levels. Apparently I wasn't the only one who wanted to see Wishes one last time. Anyway, it was a good pick, because our boat by far had the shortest line, we waited for a boat for about 5 minutes and hopped on, leaving the crowds in our dust. It was lovely! 

Even when we got to the Magic Kingdom (three hours ahead of the fireworks), people were already sitting on Main Street waiting for the show. People had t-shirts commemorating the last Wishes- and hats and buttons, and all kinds of things. It was a little sad. We decided we wanted to see it one last time, but we wouldn't stake out a spot for three hours, we'd just keep checking back around the hub and make a decision when it was time to find a spot. You have to find that good balance of where and when it's time to call it. 

Anyway, the upside of the boys not coming with us is that we can order Fastpasses with their Magic Bands, and use them- even when they aren't there. I'm sure eventually Disney will close this loophole, but until they do- our date days get to have double the fastpasses pre-booked (that means we can cut the line six times). So there we are with our two Magic Bands and our Pokemon Go bracelets. It's kind of a thing. 

We did Pirates and for the first time ever got the front seat, so that was fun- and then we hit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Back across the hub (which was even more packed at this point, we took a spin on the people mover and Buzz Lightyear. 

About 45 minutes until Wishes we realized we'd have to sit down to get any sort of a good spot. We were on the bridge to Tomorrowland, so we had a great view of the Fireworks, it just wasn't right behind on the castle. We also didn't have to stake out our spot three hours earlier. It was really sad though- an end of era. When the announcement came for the '5 minutes until Wishes' the collective sigh of the audience was so depressing. But I was so happy we went. I've seen that show a million times, but it never gets old. I'll miss it, but I'm sure 'Happily Ever After' which started the day after is cool. (I'm avoiding the social media posts about it, I don't want to be spoiled!) 

Anyway, I took two pictures of Wishes. My camera top has popped off, and the button is really hard to press now. It's really just falling apart, the shutter speed is all kinds of screwy, and I'm either going to have to get my cracked cell phone camera fixed or a new camera (or both) before Hawaii. 

After Wishes we had three more Fastpasses to collect: Under the Sea, Peter Pan, and Seven Dwarfs. But, we needed to recharge. Enter the Cinnamon Roll at Gaston's in Fantasyland. Usually we split this 5 ways, and I'm pretty sure the last time we got it, it wasn't this big. We didn't finish it, but we did get to skip the crusty outside for the soft fluffy inside, so that was nice! 

Also on our amusement park circuit was a visit to Busch Gardens. It's no Disney or Universal, but it's much closer and much more affordable (the boys fun cards are $80 for the entire calendar year and include the park and the water park, we bought them back a couple months ago, but this was our first use on them). 

Unfortunately, my camera was not being cooperative on the day we went. So I had to rely on Asa and his phone to take any pictures of our visit. We rode some rides, walked the park and checked out some animals. I love that it's a zoo and an amusement park in one. It gives Hayden and I something to do while everyone goes on big rides. 

My favorite place in the whole park is the Kangaroos. We missed feeding time, but plenty of the kangaroos were up at the fence anyway, so we got lots of pets in. And, I would say at least 6 of them had baby joeys in their pouches. I'm not sure I had ever seen that in real life before. It was awesome. We watched them climb in and out for a good while. 

Another afternoon we went to Adventure Island. I managed to snap one picture on my falling apart camera right before we left. The park was sort of crowded. I'm not sure I love Asa having Fridays off, but the good news is that I won't have to worry about it anymore. He was lucky enough to have his schedule changed closer to what he used to have, so he'll be back to working Fridays. We're excited about that! 

In other news, we've just been plugging away at home school. No theme weeks or anything, just our usual book work and such, plus our countries. We're really trying to load up in May. 

I also have some random pictures of the boys that I don't think I've posted. There was the time Calib wanted to lay with Porkchop on his bed in the kitchen. 

And the time he thought it would be funny to put on Peyton's Broncos footie pajamas. 

Peyton, however, was not amused. (This was like 11 pm and they were all in my room yelling. Life with boys.) 

Then there was the night at around midnight Calib and Asa decided they needed to have chicken nugget Parmesan, an invention that occurred on an Asa-cation and has gained popularity ever since as a late night snack (I can't say I've ever tried it, but the boys go crazy for it). Only there were no chicken nuggets in the freezer. So I kid you not, they went to McDonalds to get the chicken nuggets for it. (There aren't any grocery stores open late near us, so this was their fastest option). 

Asa and food are funny. I don't think you can tell that well in this picture, but for lunch one day I had soup and grapes. Asa was making paninis for the boys and I said I would take a tiny one from the end of the loaf of bread. It was the smallest sandwich ever. 

We've also been dealing with some wildfires here. There's been next to no rain, and a big fire broke out over by our old house. You could see the smoke in the sky and you can't really tell in my picture, but later that night it was a little smokey down the street. (I lifted the one picture off twitter- but I guess they were getting smoke as far away as Lakeland). 

We really, really need rain, and luckily today we finally got some. It rained most of the afternoon, so that should help a bit. Plus it was another day we got to leave the French doors open (I'm dreading the summer when they have to be closed all the time to keep it cool). 

Last up on your Waterstraut update- I got a new case for my phone. My Tigger case had seen better days, and my phone was consistently slipping out of it. 

That's it from here. 

Next Up: Mother's Day and the Pandora Preview!