Fall Break: Universal Studios

It's Fall Break ya'll and I am so glad I can say the world "break" and not be referring to a bone!

With two schools among three children this years timing was a little skewed.  But, we managed to squeeze in a long weekend to central Florida.  The kids got a visit to Universal Studios and I got a little beach time with family.  Win-win for all!

We arrived in Orlando late afternoon.  We allowed the kids to do a little swimming after we got checked into the hotel. We stayed at Cabana Bay Resort, not my favorite, but when you plan the trip a month out, you get what you get.  

The kids love the pool and the waterslide there and Clay and I loved relaxing pool side.

In hopes of turning in early, we traveled over to City Springs for a quick dinner and dessert.  Tomorrow was the big park day!

We checked out a few shops, ate at Jack's favorite restaurant, Bubba Gump, and had the tastiest donuts for dessert from Voodoo Doughnuts.

The next morning we were up and at 'em pretty early.

After grabbing a quick Starbucks we ran into this guy on the way to Harry Potter's Wizarding World. I was shocked I could still get my kiddos to take a picture with a costumed character.

We spent the majority of the day and into the evening bouncing between Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, which even after a second visit, still fascinate me.

Jack is still a huge Harry Potter fan so when he got "chosen" in Ollivander's Wand Shop it pretty much made the trip for him!  It was a super cool experience.

We checked out a few other areas of the park, ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe {Maggie's Favorite} and then the girls and I headed back to the hotel for some well needed R & R.

The boys on the other hand made a full night of it!  They spent the evening at the park enjoying the spooky Halloween party.  It was legit spooky too...recommended for ages 12 plus.  We heard all about the haunted houses, monsters roaming the streets, and decorated rides the next day.  Ummm...no thank you!

A full day at an amusement park can wear you out, but Jack was ready to go the next morning.  I don't know how he pulled it off.  He did mention his throbbing feet a few times.  Nothing a water park can't cure, right?

So the kids have been begging to visit a water park, and as you may imagine, they generally just aren't my thing.  But since we were here and the weather was nothing short of amazing, I figured we could go for it.

We put on our suits and made the easy walk from our hotel to Volcano Bay.

I was pleasantly surprised by our half day visit.  I even rode a few slides with the littles!  Most of the time I was propped in my lawn chair watching the three of them splash around in the wave pool.  Volcano Bay has a great system where the kids scan their watches at the slides and then it notifies them when its time to ride...no waiting in line! It made for easy management of three kids.

After our wet fun, we packed up our room and hit the road.  We were on our way to my happy place...the beach!  And to make it even better, Uncle Jon, Aunt Bailee, and Brecken would be there to greet us!

JoJo

What do you do when baby girl gets her sling off a week early?...go to the JoJo Siwa concert and dance your tail off, that's what!

Okay, so we aren't totally in the clear quite yet.  But after Lucy's ortho appointment she was given permission to live sling free but with the strict condition of modified activity and still no gymnastics.  It was a small victory...75% healed and reason to celebrate.

So on a Thursday night, a couple of mamas loaded these sassy first graders up and went to see our favorite bow head in concert!  Before the show we enjoyed a festive dinner with some very glittery and excited girls.  {insert a glass of wine here}

As soon as we arrived to the show we stocked up on JoJo goodies...a new tee, a glowing baton, and of course a new bow!

The show was nothing short of energetic and very colorful.

These girls all promised to wear their new tees and bows to school the next day, but only after a late check in.  {Lucy still likes her solid 12 hours of sleep a night.}

Such a fun night!  I feel like a kid in a candy store!

The Baby Has A Break

If I had to guess which of my babies would induct our family into the rite of passage known as a broken bone, I would have hands down guessed my little Lu.  And I would have guessed correctly.

I got a call from Lucy's gymnastics coach during practice this week and I can't lie and say I rushed right over there.  As a matter of fact I pretty much dismissed the whole thing as an over tired 1st grader getting used to her new gymnastics team 2 hour practice. 

When I arrived Lucy was tiny bit teary eyed and told me all about her fall off the balance beam.  Nothing a little Chick-fil-a for dinner wouldn't help...or so I thought.  {insert Bad Mommy moment here}

As I pulled up to the restaurant I spotted an urgent care office in the shopping center.  In a moment of,  'well, just maybe she really is hurt', we popped in.  Sure enough they took kiddos, sure enough they did x-rays, and sure enough there was no line.  I like to think of it as God saying, "come on Paula, this is real, take care of your little one'. 

And so we did.  A few x-rays later the amazing doc decided this girl might actually have a break.  He gave Lucy a generic sling until he could get her x-rays over to a pediatric orthopedist.

There was nothing left to do, except wait and go have that Chick-fil-a for dinner.

The next morning I got a call from the Pediatric Ortho.  I took Lucy in, with a little moral support from her bestie, and after more x-rays, it was confirmed Lucy did indeed break her arm way up by the shoulder.  Which meant they couldn't cast it, but she would be given this lovely immobilizer sling for 6 weeks!  Then 3 weeks of rehab and then she could possibly return to gymnastics.

Baby girl was devastated!

And if I'm being honest, so is mama.  Lucy is loving the attention, but completely struggling with losing her independence.  We are talking about the toddler we nicknamed Lucy "me do it" Cibula.

Wish us luck and quick healing time as I keep my most active child restrained for 9 weeks!

Spa-Licious Seven

There is nothing better than celebrating this DELICIOUS girl's birthday!  It is a simple reminder of the day Lucy completed our family.  Lucy is little bit of everything...sweet & spicy, funny, happy, kind, girly, athletic, friendly, loud, sometimes even shy, and we adore her for it all!

When she said she would like a "spa party" for her big 7 I immediately loved the idea.  But, knowing this could be tough to pull off in August in my backyard, I had to come to terms with relinquishing control and out sourcing.

After a little research we found the perfect location and the sweetest candy covered spa robes which made way for...Lucy's Spa-Licious 7th birthday.  You know I had to have my hand in it somehow.  I love a theme!

I made yummy candy invitations, found every candy themed spa product I could, set up a candy bar, and made sure to have a candy robe and headband for all the girls.

This was going to be a SWEET day!

We started the party with the girls being treated to manicures and pedicures while they sipped on a delish cotton candy and rainbow sprinkles garnished strawberry lemonade.  YUM!

 

 

And although that was nothing but glamorous, the organic face masks really got the girls giggling.  They mixed all the ingredients themselves and then applied it to a fellow guest.  The smiles were absolutely precious!

Now when Lucy initially asked for a "spa party" she threw in one tiny disclaimer.  It was..."I don't want the whole party to be relaxing".  Thats my Lucy for you.  I made sure this request was communicated to the Dazzle Me Spa Hostesses. Thankfully, they did an incredible job of throwing in some wild times for my girl.

We had a run way show and lots of dance parties. These girls were definitely not over relaxed.

As a matter of fact, they were beyond hyped and the candy bar just kept the energy alive.  They had an absolute blast!  And I had a blast watching them!

After all the spa treatments and the dancing, we ate lunch, sang to the darling birthday girl, and then enjoyed all the sugar we could get our hands on!

Love these girls...Lucy has some very sweet friendships!

While we wrapped up the party and waited for the Mommy's to pick up these candy filled cuties, we all jumped in for a little photo booth action.  Too much fun!

Each of the girls left with their candy robe & headband, fuzzy slippers, and this favor bag filled with spa-licious goodies.  You can imagine my excitement when I found a gummy bear mask, candy sprinkles lotion, and a sugar pop bath bomb.  I mean, hello? Amazing!

No doubt about it...it was a SWEET DAY celebrating SEVEN!