Summer Fun

We returned from our trip refreshed and ready to take on summer break. I have a love/hate relationship with summer break. On one hand I love not being tied down to a schedule, but on the other hand, I miss our routine. I thrive on routine. I am an all-around happier person when I have a set routine in place. During the summer, that routine is thrown right out the window.  

To kick off the summer, we went to Holiday World. Ella and Autumn are now old enough to ride all the roller coasters by themselves which is crazy to me. I feel like it was just yesterday I was taking Ella and watching her ride all the little kid rides. 

I sat by the exit of all the rides and let them ride by themselves. 

Autumn and I rode the Thunderbird twice. Ella was not feeling great after riding the wooden coasters so she missed out. :( 

Paige had a fun time riding all of the little kid rides. It was just yesterday I was watching Ella on these same rides and now she is on all the big rides. 

One last ride on the Raven before we left...

Paige started swim lessons at the beginning of the summer. She started out with arm floats and a ring (in our pool) and now she is swimming in the deep end like a big girl! She caught on so quickly. I think it's a combination of watching Ella and determination. I don't even really think she needs swim lessons, but it's good for her to learn the correct techniques when swimming.

We have gone on a bunch of golf cart rides this summer before bed. I love watching the sunset on the golf course!

I can not tell you how many pool days we have had. We love our pool so much and get so much use out of it. It took awhile for the water to warm up this year due to lots of rain and cooler temps. It didn't stop Paige from getting in though. 

The water finally warmed up at the end of June, and we had plenty of weekend pool days. It's always fun to swim on weekend afternoons. 

Ella finally learned to dive this summer. She had been trying for awhile but just couldn't get it right. It finally clicked this summer!

I had fun with my underwater camera. I love watching their tricks underwater. 

It wouldn't be summer without a trip to Burdette. My mom won passes on facebook so we put them to good use one day. This was Paige's first trip there, and she loved the little slides. 

The big girls rode all the big slides. 

Trying to get a picture with Paige...

We packed a lot of fun in this summer, and we are just a few days away from it being over. I hate to see our easy, slow days come to an end, but it's definitely time! Stay tuned for a recap of Fourth of July, Michigan, and our last hurrah at the Gaylord. 

Universal Studios 2019

 May 27th, 2019, the day we had been waiting for almost a full year. It was finally here!

Last fourth of July, we decided the nine of us would go to Universal Studios for a family vacation. After a year of planning and waiting the day finally came! 

We met at the airport BRIGHT and EARLY to head out on our 6am flight. Everything went smoothly and we all made it on along with all of our luggage (if you remember the fiasco we had at the Owensboro airport for our Disney trip you know why I'm mentioning this). :) 

After a quick flight, we made it to the Atlanta airport for a three-hour layover. While sitting down at our gate I realized I was missing a backpack. That backpack had my camera, lenses, airpods, charges, and other miscellaneous items I needed. At first, I thought it was stolen, but quickly realized I left it sitting on the train that takes you from gate to gate. I seriously wanted to cry but set off to find what felt like a needle in a haystack. 

I talked to countless security workers and mistakenly went down to baggage claim without thinking. Once I was there I could not get back in the airport without going through security again. I got a call from Adam about 45 minutes into this fiasco that they called over the loudspeaker that my backpack was found (only after it had been sniffed out by dogs) and was in the international terminal. Adam had to go get it while I was going through security again. 

Long story short, my backpack was found and everything was still in it! Someone had to be looking out for me that day. 

Relaxing after the backpack fiasco!

Another quick flight and we landed in Orlando! 

We were all so tired, hungry, and ready to relax after a long morning.

We stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort inside of Universal Studios. It was so nice! 

Welcome to vacation, girls!!

This duck family lived on the grounds by the pool. Whenever they needed to cool down they took a dip in the pool just like us humans. They were SO cute. 

We were all living our best life that week. 

After a good night's rest we headed over for day one at the parks. First up, Universal Studios. 

We could either walk from our hotel to Universal or take a boat over. The first morning we walked but took the boat the rest of the week. 

We made our way to Diagon Alley which I now know why it's called an alley. It's very jam packed and tight. It's not good for people who are claustrophobic. It's definitely something to see, but we had to make a quick exit. Paige was TERRIFIED of the fire shooting dragon. 

It may be terrifying for little ones, but it is something to see. 

The girls loved it and got their wands and robes which is what this trip was all about!

We found this guy walking around, and he was scary. I was running from him. Paige wasn't terrified of him, but I thought he was much worse than that dragon. 

My mom was not freaked at all...

We found an area that was more Paige's speed. The Simpsons were out so she had to meet them and get her picture with them. 

She was happy to meet them but wouldn't crack a smile!

We rode this little roller coaster multiple times. Paige loved it. 

Universal is SO nice and clean. I didn't think I would love it quite as much as I did. I think about it daily and want to go back someday. 

After a small break at the hotel, we went back to ride some of the bigger rides while Paige stayed back. 

Heading into Islands of Adventure...

We rode "the Hulk" roller coaster a couple of times. In the words of Ella it was "epic". Ella wanted to do the dinosaur encounter after that. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was an encounter with "Blue" from Jurassic Park. I know it's a mechanical dinosaur, but I hated every minute of it. They tell you to face forward and you know that thing is going to come at you at any given time. I'm not one for surprises. I was about ready to choke Ella to death I was so scared. 

We sent this to my mom and dad....

They sent this back to us..

My brother and I should have gotten a picture taken in front of this sign. I lost my backpack at the airport, and he lost his phone on the first ride he went on. They were both found, but my parents will probaly never want to vacation with us again. You can't take us anywhere!

We headed over to Hogsmeade which is at Islands of Adventure to ride the Harry Potter coaster and then headed out for dinner! It was a great first day at Universal. 

These boats were the best form of transportation...

Paige was exhausted every night, but she was such a trooper on this trip. 

Day 2 we headed over to Islands of Adventure...

While the big girls were riding some of the bigger rides we took Paige to Seuss Landing. It was a great area for kids her age, and it wasn't crowded at all. 

She loved it! We rode all the rides in Seuss Landing and met some of the characters which she had no interest in meeting. 

The view of "The Hulk" roller coaster from a Seuss ride. This roller coaster was the best ride in the park. I was made to go on it multiple times... lol! 

After lunch, my parents took Paige back to the hotel so Adam, Ella, and I could ride some rides. We rode King Kong, Hogwarts Express, and went back to Diagon Alley. 

I had to see the dragon one last time without a screaming child. Lol!

We were literally roasting. It was SO HOT! 

Our last day was a pool day, and it was a nice, relaxing day. We headed out early to claim our chairs. We hung out there most of the day and took full advantage of pool side drinks and food. 

I haven't seen my mom relax like this in years... 

The splash park at the pool was so much fun! 

We had the best time! 

We headed back over to Universal Citywalk for a family picture on our last afternoon. I'd say we nailed it. It looks like we are the only people there even though there were people everywhere. 

We seriously made memories that week that will last a lifetime. It was a great trip that I think about daily. 

All good things must come to an end though... 

And just like that, the trip we had been waiting for, was over. I'm pretty sure we all felt like Paige once we were back. I'm so thankful for the time spent with family. You can't put a price on the amount of fun we all had.  Thanks for the memories guys, I'll never forget it!