Friday futsal

Tonight Wllie has another futsal game. She asked not to play goalie and her coach followed her request. She was on the field and played defense and offense. The team ended up losing to the team of boys, but winning isn’t the goal of the futsal league. The goal is to push the kids to develop new skills, think faster, and better their communication and teamwork. I watched all the girls make mistakes, support each other, push themselves, and work together. Their passing and communication was better in this game. Hopefully the skills they work on here will translate to the grass field where it really counts. Calvin and his friend another younger sibling had a blast as well. 

Keeper Training workout

Nick is in Dallas for baseball opening day. Grandma Pam has returned to SB. So that means Calvin came with me when I took Ellie to keeper training. He wanted to do some of the same exercises and drills the big kids were doing. He also ran three laps (averaging just under 3 minutes per lap!). 

Wednesday - Quebec City

On Wednesday I attended one last technical session at the conference and then headed out to do some sightseeing. It was super cold...like in the 20s (Fahrenheit) and there was feet of snow covering everything. Some of the things to see, like the inside of the original city wall, were closed for the season. But I throughly enjoyed walking around and checking stuff out until it got too cold...

Tuesday - Buddys

Jim’s new restaurant did a friends and family night on Tuesday. It officially opens on April 1, but their did a trial run for friends and family on Tuesday. Nick, the kids, and Grandma Pam went downtown to check it out. 

They liked the food and even got a chance to mingle with Uncle Buddy. 

Monday- Grandma is in town

I left Orlando to head directly to a work conference in Quebec City, Quebec, canada. 

Grandma Pam came down to Pasadena to help and get the kids to school. 

And finally Cal and Grandma got to celebrate their birthday together with some belated Hostess cupcakes.

Disney Hollywood Studios

Today was our last day in the parks and we headed to Hollywood Studios. Again, I think we did all the things except for a ride in Toy Story Land that was Exactly the same as Tow Mater in Disneyland...but with green aliens.

We were at the park for the rope drop (as we have been everyday). Actually a little before rope drop (they let you in the park but nothing is running) and we got the kids signed up for Jedi training. Then we headed with everyone else to the new Toy Story Land. But, unlike everyone else we headed to Toy Story Mania and not the Slinky Dog coaster (we had FPs for the afternoon). 

After that it was time for Jedi Training for the kids. They did great and had a blast. Ellie’s acting camp really paid off! Then Star Tours. And then it was the Indiana Jones Stunt spectacular. Ellie absolutely loved everything about this. 

Lunch. Tower of Terror, it’s still the Tower here. Calvin still did not enjoy the ride. Then Ellie and I headed to try single rider on the Rockin’ rollercoaster...but the line was too long. Nick and Cal met Chewbacca and some storm troopers while E and I were doing our thing. We all met up again for the Slinky dog coaster. Which was awesome. Calvin then finally met Chip and Dale on this trip. They three of them together is a silly bunch...the two of them wanted Cal to join them because he was silly like them. Then we did Muloet Vision 3D. 

Then it was back to the Rockin’ coaster for Nick and E who had fast passes. Cal and I watched some Star Wars show thing. Then we all did Star Tours again and headed to dinner at the Sci-fi diner, the eat in your car and watch 1950s horror movie previews. We all had a blast and the kids loved it. 

Ellie and then I headed to Rockin rollercoaster while Nick and Cal got seats for Fantasmic. We met up with them and all ate ice cream and enjoyed Fantasmic! Another long day!

Animal Kingdom

Today was Animal Kingdom. 

We got there at rope drop and had a plan...but that plan quickly went out the window due to everyone else in the park having literally the same idea and Calvin not enjoying the concept of waiting in line for a ride he can’t ride.

So we went to the other new ride on Pandora the river ride. Then we hustled over to Dinoland USA where we all rode the time machine dinosaur ride (similar in concept to Indiana Jones) which Calvin loved. We then did the rest of Dinoland USA including smaller rides and the Boneyard playground. Then we headed to Expediation Everest where good timing, a rider switch, and fast passes meant we (me, nick and Ellie) got rides in on Everest before Calvin realized he was hungry. 

But it was then lunch time so we headed back to Pandora. Then it was time for THE ride of the park, Flight of Passage. The line was 240 minutes...but we had FastPasses and again, rider switch. So Nick and Ellie went first while C and I explored and found that throughout the park there are opportunities to earn Wilderness Explorer “badges” just like Russell from Up!. So we got Calvin a book and he earned his first two while Nick and E rode the ride. Then it was my turn and Nick helped Cal find more “badges” and even meet Russell and Doug (and we saw Kevin). Snack time! 

Then we all met up again and did Bugs Life and stared at the Tree of Life for a while before heading to the safari trek. On the safari we saw probably all the animals that were out: rhinos, hippos (a baby and a pooping hippo made Cs day), giraffes, lions, elephants, lots of antelope like creatures...then we did the walking tour and saw gorillas and meerkats and Calvin talked to another hippo lover and touched hippo poop. 

We went to the Lion King show which was cool. Ellie especially liked the acrobats. Then dinner where we saw Mickey, daisy, Donald, and Goofy. Calvin asked the waited about 10 questions about why Minnie wasn’t there. 

After dinner we headed back for second rides on favorites. Nick and Ellie went single rider in Expediation Everest whole Calvin and I went back to the dinosaur ride. Then we headed to our seats for the parks evening show. The park closed at 8:00 which was fine. 

I think we did everything we could have in Animal Kingdom today and even got second rides in!