And just like that, we're halfway through February! It's been a busy couple of weeks here, and when I was uploading pictures I had to go WAY back to get to where I last left off. A couple of weekends ago, Asa and I headed out to run some errands (like Trader Joes & Ikea errands). And while those are more fun than the regular grocery store, I still miss when he worked four tens and we have three days a week to squeeze in dates and errands. Now we have to do that, and try and squeeze in some down-time for Asa who has a lot on his plate recently.
Speaking of a lot on a plate, while we were out, I figured we should go somewhere fun, so we headed off to Goody-Goody Burger for their very delicious Banana Foster Pancake. FYI, this one is so big I always cut in half before I put syrup on it, so I can take half of it home easily (and it doesn't reheat too bad either!)
So besides finishing up his Master's Degree, and working a lot (like he IS the help desk these days- so there's really no down time for him between 10:30 and 7:30 everyday), Asa had been working with the boys on math. Calib's class has terrible videos, if they work at all, so Asa has to teach him it (this is way beyond my math paygrade). Since Peyton is working on studying for the SAT and the Pert, Asa has Peyton follow along by putting the whole class on the TV and teaching. It's at least an hour a day.
Calib's grandparents from Ohio were coming through one night and asked if he wanted to go to dinner, so I dropped him off and ran some errands, and then used my expiring coupon to go to Panera. I guess they were headed to Key West for a month or so, so he'll see them on the way back up too.
Of course we had the Super Bowl. I wasn't really feeling having to construct a snackadium this year, but the boys were really disappointed at the prospect of not having one. I tried to make it easy on myself, but I didn't love the way it turned out this year (other years past was much cooler), and the containers were so big I had to fill them with foil before dumping in food. I think all the boys cared about was that it was filled with chicken tenders and publix subs.
Overall, they were pleased with the snackadium, but I probably won't be re-using these containers to do it the same way again.
It was a lackluster stadium for a lackluster Super Bowl. The Patriots won again, which sucks, but at least it wasn't the Saints. But the game was super boring. Peyton was amped for the Halftime show in hopes there would be a Spongebob tribute, and was very disappointed in the tiny little tribute that there was.
Last Tuesday I headed to the airport to pick up my mom who was coming for a week of celebration. We were like two exits from the airport when the car started acting weird and I had to pullover and call AAA (I'm writing this blog nearly two weeks later and we still don't have the car back- but we've been told tomorrow, so there's that at least). My mom didn't mind too much, she was just happy to be out of the super cold weather (it was like -40 windchill in Ohio, her house wasn't even 50 degrees!)
We decided we would rent a car for the week, mom ubered back to the airport while I waited for the tow truck. Two hours later, it arrived and we were headed home. Mom also decided she wanted to rent a giant van for the festivities, so she showed back up to get me in what amounted to a church van.
The next day we were off to Costco for the usual mom trip- this time we required two carts. (I'll get to why we needed such a big car and so much food in a second).
Calib enjoyed sitting in the way back of the van to and from Costco. In fact, that was his seat everywhere we went.
And with grandma here, Asa got a week off math duty.
Grandma dubbed the van the 'Happy Mobile' so Hayden made a sign for it, including the likeness of everyone (he thought) would be riding in the Happy Mobile over our celebration weekend.
It was a really good thing we had that van, because we had a lot to take with us.
So, celebration weekend for Hayden's birthday and Asa's graduation started Thursday (on Hayden's actual birthday). We dropped Etta off at the kennel, and then went out for Hayden's birthday lunch. Blaze Pizza finally opened, so we went there and let Hayden design his very own pizza, while the rest of us shared our usual three.
And then we were off to Disney. Hayden got to sit in the front since it was his birthday, and Asa was happy not to have to drive. He said it was the best trip to Disney ever. He had plenty of room, turned the air on high, and curled up with a good fuzzy blanket.
Hayden's park of choice was the Magic Kingdom, and we were sure to get him a birthday button right away.
My mom kept wanting graduation plates/signs/balloons for Asa, but I was like 'It's February, you aren't going to find them anywhere'. However, we did find graduation Mickey ears.
Asa and I were able to check a couple more items off of our Disney list.
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
Peyton, meanwhile, really wants to be 'that guy' on the laugh floor. If you've never been, they use the audience and show them on the big screen for various jokes. One of them is a re-occurring 'that guy' who they keep putting on the screen through-out the show. He didn't make it this time, but he was sitting behind the guy 'who feels the sudden urge to get up and dance', and started dancing in his seat. It might be the closest he comes to Monstropolis fame, people. (That's him rolling his arms in front of his fact on the screen). Asa was later put on the screen as a professional trout fisherman (since he was wearing his bucket hat).
After that we did some old favorites like Space Ranger Spin. I always like going with mom, because I always score more points than her.
Shockingly enough, Asa and I hadn't been on the
Tomorrowland People Mover, so we checked that off our list.
We hit the carousel, and the Barnstormer among others.
And at Hayden's request we had some of his favorite snacks including a cinnamon roll at Gaston's, a Cheshire cat tail, and some Mac & Cheese Tater Tots.
Then it was off to Philharmagic, another item off our list.
Not pictured- but I've been told it counts because I have witnesses-
we also hit Pirates of the Caribbean on our list.
We're now at 23/66 on our Magic Kingdom list. We're going to have to step it up this spring.
Now, everyone kept bugging me about leaving the Magic Kingdom. Sure, it was fun, but everyone REALLY wanted to go to our hotel. I knew what they all didn't know, though, and I needed to stall them as long as I could (I got wildly frustrated about it, though.)
We left and headed to Disney Springs for dinner at D-Lux Burger where we met up with Aunt and Uncle from Seattle who flew in for Asa's graduation (apparently I didn't take any pictures here- I told you I was frustrated).
So here's the deal- a couple of months ago, probably back by Christmas, Cort and Holly thought they might come for Asa's graduation (they had to work out some details and it wasn't a sure thing for awhile). But, they wanted to come as a surprise. Because Disney makes it nearly impossible to stay in hotel and not realize who you're staying with (fastpasses, magic bands, my Disney Experience-- it's a whole thing), Cort and I had spent the last month jumping through hoops to make sure Asa didn't find out.
Mom wanted to make sure Cort and Holly got to the hotel before us, so they could surprise Asa when he walked in. So, that's why I was stalling at the Magic Kingdom, despite everyone pushing to just go to the room. It was just a whole thing. After dinner, Asa got in Aunt Patti and Uncle Emmetts car, and we got separated. Cort was texting me to make sure Asa came in first, mom was telling me to tell Asa he couldn't get there before us, but I couldn't talk to mom about it all- because Hayden was in the car, and he didn't know either. It was just a whole thing. Eventually we got it all straightened out, Asa walked in, was totally surprised by all four Sattlers, and I was so glad the surprise was over (do you even know how hard it is to keep something like that for over a month? Ugh. Never again.)
Cort meanwhile, had taken care of the Magic Bands and handed them out. He gave us all nicknames for our bands- Asa got 'the grad', while Hayden got 'birthdayboy', and Calib got a pink one that said #3 Nephew. HA! (I got one that said 'Lil Sis'- and Peyton didn't get one at all, since we technically had one more person in our room than was allowed).
For the past several years, Hayden has requested he find his birthday presents by pirate treasure map. This year I went online to find floor plans for our room and crossed my fingers I didn't get the mirror image of what was online. I didn't, so the map was spot on.
So off Hayden went, searching for his presents.
And of course there was cake too. Sadly, I forgot the lighter, and while I felt terrible about it, Hayden didn't seem to mind that much.
Probably because all these people were here for his birthday, and he had lots of people to play Mario Party with- the new game he got for his birthday.
Plus, he got to stay in the Treehouses. Yes, that's right our 'hotel room' is actually a 'TREEHOUSE'! Asa has talked about staying in these for years. You always pass them on the Disney Springs boats when you stay at Port Orleans (which we've done a few times over the year). The boat driver always calls the guests there 'tree people'. Asa always said 'one day, I want to be a tree person', so he was also pretty excited about.
The treehouses sleep 9 and have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. They're a fun octagon shape compete with a deck, a grill, a full kitchen, and large dining table, and a living room with a pull out couch and a pull out chair. They even come with a washer/dryer (which comes in handy- you never have to put on a wet swimsuit!)
They're up on stilts and tucked away with a couple other tree houses in a forest of trees.
Because of the commotion when we first got there- Hayden's birthday, the surprise- 12 people (Corts family, my Aunt and Uncle, my mom, and all five of us), I didn't take any pictures until the last day. But, I figured I'd post them anyway.
Here's the main space for everyone from the doorway. You can see the table, the living area and the kitchen.
It isn't the biggest kitchen, but it worked for us. Plus, I never had to help cook- there's not a lot of room for too many people in there. And besides, mom and Aunt Patti, and even Holly are much better at that sort of thing than me.
The kitchen comes with everything you could need though, you get a full size fridge and oven, microwave, and even a dishwasher.
The kitchen is fully stocked with cups/plates/cooking & grilling utensils- I mean everything. There's even wine glasses!
Down past the kitchen is a small hallway, where you'll find the washer/dryer...
One of the two bathrooms (nothing too special but big enough with cute finishes).
A bedroom with a queen sized bed (complete with closet, dresser, and tv)
And then there's a room with bunk beds. It too has a closet (with a crib in it- in case you need that sort of thing), tv and dresser.
Plus, there's enough space for an air mattress over by the windows if you need that, since we were one over (we had 10 staying there- Corts family, mine, and mom- Aunt Pat & Uncle Emmett stayed at a near by hotel).
On the opposite side of the treehouse you have the livingroom and another Tv. The couch and one chair also pulled out.
And then you have another bedroom.
This was ours- it had a nice view of the river where the boats go by on their way to Disney Springs.
Our bedroom had it's own bathroom. The shower/tub set up was a little weird, but I thought it was kind of cool. You have to walk through the giant shower to get to the jetted tub.
Back outside, everyone has a deck with a table and chairs and a grill.
The treehouses were awesome. Although admittedly, transportation to and from there is not great. Thank goodness for our Happy Mobile or it would have taken forever to get around.
Next Up: Asa's Disney Graduation
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