Hey guys! I'm back with a few odds and ends from our last couple weeks. Nothing too amazing, because it's July in Florida, which is rough you guys. I mean, I know, I know, I live in Florida. But man, especially since covid, the summers have just been brutal. We don't want to do too many indoor things, because those require masks these days, espcially for us unicorns who have by some miracle never caught covid (trust me, I know my days are numbered- I can just FEEL it). We're trying to be careful without completely abandoning plans. Basically masking indoors, avoiding any big crowds for any period of time, and going on with our life.
Case and point, yesterday, Calib headed off to Ohio for a long weekend to see his other side of the family. I was a little nervous about the idea of him flying and coming back to all of us, but it is what it is. We upgraded our kn-95 to n-95s for airplane rides and crossing our fingers. Asa and I dropped him off at the airport yesterday morning. (I tried to convince him to just park his car there since it's only a few days, but he declined.)
After we dropped him off, we headed to Disney. That meant taking I-4, which obviously took forever. We've foind this new backway to Disney from our house, and the base time of how much it takes to get to Disney is slightly longer- but that's assuming you don't get stuck in barely moving traffic on I-4, but of course, that almost never happens. So, the back way is our go-to. But, it doesn't work if you're already in Tampa.
We made it though! Our park pass reservation was for Epcot, mostly because we wanted to try some of the Food and Wine Festival Food. It's a little weird that the festival is starting in July, but it still runs through November, so we'll have plenty of time to visit and try everything.
We decided instead of walking the world (did I mention it's unbearably hot?) we'd pick a couple of booths that we wanted to try everything from at the front of the park. Luckily, the Fry Basket and Flavors from Fire are both over by Test Track, so we headed over there.
The Fry basket has two food dishes: the fry flight and yuca fries. We had watched the Disney Food Blog video the night before, and they recommended the yuca fries, so I went over to grab those, while Asa headed over to the Fire booth. But, when I got there, my head said yuca fries, and my heart said fry flight. While waiting in line, I texted Asa that, and he replied with "why not both?" This guy knows me.
Meanwhile, over at Flavors of Fire, Asa grabbed one of everything: The DFB recommended Smoked Corned Beef (on top of house-made potato chips), a Banh Mi Bao, and for dessert the Rocky Road Chocolate Cake.
The fries are a me thing for sure. I LOVED the Sweet potato ones. But it is a lot of fries, even for two people. I'd get this one again if everyone came, because they were yummy (we're still trying to figure out how they got the vinegar flavor in the first kind without drenching the fries and making them soggy), and a decent amount for the price. But otherwise, I'd save my tummy room for more dishes. The yuca fries were also very good, but the sauce drizzed over top is what real made them (yuca is so starchy, I feel like it needs something to help with that). The problem is the yuca fries on the bottom missed out on the sauce. Lucky for us there was a ton of corned beef topping on our potato chips, so we used that as a topping to finish off the yuca fries.
Speaking of Flavors from Fire, Asa was most excited about the Bao Bun. He loves those. But, it was just ok. Nothing too special or exciting. I feel like our trip to King Bao in downtown Orlando ruined Bao Buns for us. Nothing- and I mean NOTHING- is better than those. But, it's a trek from our house. It's way past Disney- and worse-past Disney on I-4, so who knows when we'll go again. The surprise of this booth was that we actually liked the other two items more than the bao bun. And we're not huge corned beef fans. But, it was just the right amount of salty and deliciousness. And then there was the cake, which even Asa liked and he's not a big dessert fan.
After not too long in the park, though, the heat had gotten to us. I had already downed most of my water and we decided to head out and over to Typhoon Lagoon, our next intended stop of the day. But when we got over there, it was PACKED. Like, the overflow parking lot was full. That was alarming enough, but then just beyond the hill, there's an overflow parking from the first overflow parking and THAT was full. We hadn't been to Typhoon Lagoon since May, and I knew it would be busy- but cars were circling the parking lot, because there was literally no available parking. My mind immediately went to a jam packed lazy river, and I thought, this is not going to work.
So, we quickly decided to come up with a Plan B. And we wanted our plan b to involve some sort of water and swimming. Now, Disney resort pools used to be real easy to crash. But, over the years, they've made it harder. Still, there are loop holes that can be exploited if you know what you're doing. I won't tell you all my secrets to most of the pools. But, I will say to get past a gate, you'll need a dining reservation. So, we quickly did a search for what was available right now, and a reservation for about half an hour away popped up at Olivia's Cafe over at Old Key West Resort, which has outdoor seating and is just around the way from Typhoon Lagoon, so I grabbed it.
Now, here's the thing. You can usually modify a reservation at any point in time- schedule it for days out, then cancel it. I know this. But, for some reason I was trying to cancel it in the app and it wouldn't let me. Asa said it was no big deal, we'd just go get an appetizer. But then I realized Olivia's Bread Pudding has been on my list of must eats at Disney for awhile, so I suggested an app and a dessert.
So, we easily got past the gaurd booth with our reservation (Old Key West doesn't care at all. Polynesian. Grand Floridian. Beach Club. Boardwalk. Even Wilderness Lodge, and you're going to get more push back from the gaurds at the booths), and then headed to Olivias and got ourselves a seat outside. We were litterally the only ones on the patio though (I told you it was hot).
For our app we ordered the crab cake, which was delicious. Even Asa enjoyed it with the pinapple, and he's not always a pineapple guy.
And the bread pudding was also delicious. It's not top tier Disney Bread pudding. It's missing a wow factor. Ohana has the vanilla sauce it pours over theres. House of Blues has that wiskey butter that melts in your mouth. Sebastians adds the coconut and pineapple to give it the Carribbean twist. (I am now realizing I know way too much about Disney Bread Puddings). Still, this is a solid option. It has the crisp and the soggy, and there's some kind of caramelized shell that comes over the top of the ice cream that almost reminds me of creme brule. Not to the mention that Olivia's is an easy to get reservation. And it has outdoor seating. Olivia's has a lot going for it.
Including the service. Meet Ally, she was our server, and was awesome. In a new "post"-covid world, not every cast member is amazing. And, I get it. Service industry jobs were always tough. I can't imagine them in today's climate. But Ally reminded me of the old days. She told us about her friend Josh over at Geyser Point, her solo trip to Aulani, a cruise she has booked for the fall, and a couple of terrible customers she'd had lately, which all somehow ended up with her taking a seat to scroll though Lifetime Movies to suggest some murder-mystery thing (this picture is from that conversation). You guys, Asa makes friends everywhere he goes. Life sure would be different without him.
It's worth noting, we weren't just at Disney for any old reason. In fact, we were celebrating 18 years together. Our relationship is a full grown-adult. Since we got engaged four years after we got together- it's also our engagement anniversary (14 years!) I really can't imagine my life without him. Look, we all know 18 years ago was a really shitty time for all of us. And it's been a journey to get here. But, it was so worth it, and I feel like it turned out the way it was supposed to for everyone. After all this time together, we're still not sick of each other. We're better than ever at communicating, and working together. And I know people always say their spouse is their best friend, but he doesn't even have competition for second place. Sure, we're on the side of co-dependent. But neither of us mind, in fact, we both kind of thrive on it, so it works for us. Love you, babe!
After our meal, we headed over to crash the pool. Because fun fact: the Old Key West pool is the only feature pool at the entire Walt Disney World Resort that I have never swam in (or Asa has- he's been in all the ones I have). But, to say I swam in all the pools has been on my bucket list forever. By my count that's approximately 20, depending on what you count as "feature pools"
I've had all the "Value Resorts" for years now: All Stars Sports, Movies and Music, Pop Century and Art of Animation. I just finished up the Moderate Resorts last trip: Both Port Orleans (Riverside and French Quarter), Fort Wilderness, Carribbean Beach, and Coronado Springs. The Deluxe Resorts are mostly thanks to my mom and the trips she's taken us on, or visiting Cort on his DVC vacations: Both Animal Kingdom Lodges (Kidani and Jambo House), the Boardwalk, Beach Club, The Grand Floridian, Contemporary (and Bay Lake), Wilderness Lodge (you can count as two if you want, though the Boulder Ridge Pool doesn't have a slide, so I'm not sure that counts as a 'feature' pool), the Riviera, and Saratoga Springs. If you want to count the Swan and Dolphin (on Disney property, but not Disney owned, so I don't really counts)- I've also been in that pool plenty of times.
The only hotel we haven't stayed in, or visited a guest in is the Polynesian. But, of course, that pool we sawm in all the time before they built fences around the pools and cracked down on pool crashing.
And of course, we've never sawm in Old Key West's pool. We've never stayed here. We've never visited Cort while he stayed there. In fact, I had never set foot on Old Key West property. It wasn't just the last pool- it was the last resort visited- so it just never got checked off our list.
But now it's off the list!
The pool isn't super impressive. It's kind of small (and it wasn't just warm- the pool temperature was downright HOT yesterday, there was ZERO refreshment to it). But it does have a cute little sandcastle slide that we went down (and totally burnt our feet doing it).
In other news, we celebrated fake Father's Day last weekend (we couldn't celebrate on Father's Day, because we were gone on our anniversary). Mostly we just watched movies and ate food, and played some games. But, Asa was also gifted something pretty awesome. Now, we talked last blog about Calib's famous frugality. That's not NOT true. But, when Calib does spend his money, he goes big. And he usually totally surprises us with it. We had NO idea when a box showed up and Calib asked Asa to open it what we were in for.
You remember that VR thing we did at Disney on our anniversary? Well, Asa has been talking about it ever since. And Calib just went right out and secretly got it for Asa for fake Father's Day.
And Asa just freaked out about it. I would have taken a video had I any idea what he was opening, but Calib didn't speak a word of it to anyone. In fact, three days later, Peyton still has no idea the thing is here.
But, it was really awesome, and super thoughtful of Calib. He may not spend his money often, but he does make it worth it when he does.
So everyone's been playing the Star Wars game ever since. We had a couple of coupon codes for $25 off from when we went to play the game, but there was a hang up on the code. Fortunatly, Oculus has since fixed it for us, and now we have money for more games!
You can even cast what's going on in the VR headset to the tv, so other people can watch!
One night this week, we had some food trucks down at the lodge. It's a pretty common occurance these days, but we like when drink or dessert trucks come down, so we don't have to buy a whole meal. This week was Boba Tea, so Asa, Calib and I walked down to get some. Peyton was asleep or he would have been all about it. It was my first Boba Tea experience, but once you get past the weird texture of the Boba Balls, it's pretty good.
While we were down there, we noticed a whole family of armadillos hanging out by the garden around the pool. There were three of them just running around.
I tried to get a little closer to get a picture, so I walked to the sidewalk and squatted down to their level.
And I was just chilling there- until one of them came charging right at me.
This is the picture I took as he was coming at me. I must admit, I was started, let out a high pitched noise and went running for cover. So, I was basically attacked by a pack of armadillos people. Asa says I was in no danger, and I was one the one that scared them back into the bushes with my screaming, but I felt terrorized. (But man, I got a good armadillo picture for my troubles, am I right?)
In other wildlife news, I spotted four deer on my way out of the subdivision- and then another six on my way back in. So, even though I feel like I don't see them as much, they are still around here.
Where was I going? I was on my way to Taco Bell to pick some up, because Peyton passed his Physical Science class in just about two weeks flat. He's had some health issues since he got back from the UK, but with his glasses and some vitamins and a clean bill of health from his PCP seems to be doing better. Still, that hung him up from tackling his last class. He still had time to spare though, since his term isn't up until the end of July. It's another class down and another on time progress term for him, so it's Taco Bell for everyone.
Hayden, meanwhile, has been busy working on some fair projects. This week we did lots of sewing projects. (And you guys, he's growing out his hair, which has resulted in Asa hair! It looks just like Asa's did when I met him. We've come full circle).
Last weekend, I was a little ancy to get out of the house, so Asa and I decided to make the trip to Lakeland to finally try out the bakery everyone raves about: Born and Bread.
This Lakeland Bakery is kind of famous (it's all over Pinterest), but it is only open two days a week: Wednesday and Saturday. The menu is always changing and rotating though, so you might not see your favorite all the time.
You can place your order online up until the day before hand, which I highly recommend. If you show up toward lunch time, they'll be out of most things unless you ordered online. (That front counter has only the kinds of pastries remaining left).
We of, course, ordered online. We checked in at the counter, and in no time had our bag full of carbs, Asa got an iced coffee to go along with it.
First of all, we both got some breakfast sandwiches. Asa got a bagel sandwich, which he said was literally the best one he's had in his whole life (and that's saying something, Asa is a bagel sandwich type of guy for sure). I got some sort of egg/blt sammy and it was amazing. The bread really made it, but the whole thing was crispy and soft in all the right places.
But, we were also there for some pastries. The two at the front of the picture are the savory ones, a bacon and cheese roll on the left, and a blueberry goat cheese one on the right. Both were fine. But, the bacon and cheese roll was actually our least favorite. I probably wouldn't get it again (although if you did a breakfast sammy on it, I'd re-think my postion). And the goat cheese one was good, but nothing super special.
It might have been because the sweet pastries were something special. The passionfruit curd bostock (front right) was my favorite, while Asa enjoyed the dark chocolate bobka (front left). But really the cruffin in the background was the stuff dreams are made of. As far as I know, cruffins are a Born and Bread creation. It's as if a crossiant and a muffin had a baby. It's flakey and soft, and sweet and delicious. There are like ten different kinds of cruffins, but I settled on an apple cinnamon one. Now, I want to try them all.
It's a real struggle. Me, all week: "Stop suggesting pasta for dinner, I'm trying to eat less carbs", Me, at Born and Bread that weekend: "I'd like one of everything, please".
After we were sufficiently stuffed, we packed up the rest of the pastries to bring home (you didn't think I was going to eat all of those on my own, did you? No, the boys loved them a few hours later just as much as I did). And then we headed over to Hollis Garden, a few blocks away, to nose around the lake and the gardens.
Lakeland is a lovely- low key place. We almost lived here for a hot minute when we moved down here (I even worked in Lakeland), though I am happy we landed in Land O Lakes instead. But Lakeland still makes an excellent day to just wander around.
As the name suggests, there are a lot of Lakes. We walked over from Lake Mirror to another tiny little lake, because they had stuff to feed the birds like over in Lake Eola.
Asa tried to get some spoonbills and some sawns interested, but they were having none of it.
So he moved over to the ducks. If you have Asa on Instagram, you can see the video I took- he was so proud of himself he got the ducks to eat out of his hand.
By now it was getting warm, so we decided we had nosed around long enough, and we headed home. Another cute little morning out and about though.
We're also back to hitting our pool. We hadn't been to the big pool since before our anniversary. When we got back, we were pool sitting for the neighbors, and then on the 4th of July a lightning strike took out the pool equipment at the lodge. It's still struggling with the card reader at the gate- so you have to go through the gym right now to use the pool, but at least it's back to usable!
Speaking of neighbors, we're on plant watering duty for awhile for another neighbor on vacation. We were rewarded with this beauty for our troubles.
And now, of course Calib is in Ohio for the weekend, so we'll miss him. There will nobody to eat my burnt garlic bread with Asa...
..nobody to easily give Ellie her allergy medicine because he feeds her so much anyway, she's so unspecting of some cheese with some pills in it...
...nobody to suggest new taco places and the offer to get us some if we go get it (heads up, Alverez Authentic Latin Food is legit, and priced well)...
...plus 1/3 of "Dad and the Noise" will be missing...
..but at least there is nobody to block my view for Mario Kart in the blanket fort (Can we get some new maps already?!?)
I think this weekend we'll probably just spend some time in the blanket fort playing cards and drinking drinks. Because, have I mentioned, it's flippin hot out there?
One evening Hayden and Asa put together the charcuterie, and they didn't do terrible. Decent job guys!
And finally, Mine and Asa's Passports finally arrived! We're going international! (eventually).
As always, I leave you with Waterstraut pet pictures.
