DOCTOR APPOINTMENT:
Thursday we went to the pediatrician to see what’s going on
with Ethan’s arm. He had his pneumonia shot 2 days ago and it has been terribly
painful, swollen, and discolored. He has such a huge pain tolerance I was so
surprised that this hurt him so bad. The doctor looked at it and said he had a
severe allergic reaction to this shot. Poor guy! It’s starting to improve a
bit, but she said it’ll take a few more days before he’s back to normal. We’ll
just keep trying to convince him to move it around a bit, switch around with
warm and cold on it, and continue with the Tylenol for pain.
As of yesterday his arm was feeling a lot better. So much better he was able to go to school! The poor boy hasn't made it through a whole week of school since before Christmas! I believe he'll be repeating preschool next year instead of moving ahead to Kindergarten. :( We'll find out that soon at conferences!
As of yesterday his arm was feeling a lot better. So much better he was able to go to school! The poor boy hasn't made it through a whole week of school since before Christmas! I believe he'll be repeating preschool next year instead of moving ahead to Kindergarten. :( We'll find out that soon at conferences!
DAY 4 - UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Today was probably the best day of the trip!
We woke up in the morning to the kids snuggling together
reading Harry Potter. Needless to say Callie was excited to go see Hogwarts!
Kids in bed reading Harry Potter
We decided to just pick up breakfast this morning so we went
to Burger King on the way to the park. Then we were off to Universal! Today the
weather was gorgeous - sunny and 80s!
John and the kids at Universal
The sun was apparently in Ethan's eyes :)
When we got to the park we were able to get a great parking
spot since the parking attendants saw our Village Parking pass. They let us
park with the VIP parking so that was pretty great! Everyone at Universal did
an amazing job spotting our buttons and having us avoid any lines or waits!
They were all so helpful and kind it was awesome!
We headed to the Islands of Adventure first (mainly because
I couldn’t wait much longer for Harry Potter lol!) First we went to Suess
Landing. The kids loved it there! The first ride we went on was One Fish Two
Fish. You ride in these fish in a circle and they squirt water at you. They do
have a little instruction “If you want to stay dry listen to me. Red fish up
blue fish down.” Ethan and I were in blue so we went down...and lo and behold
got SOAKED! Easily tricked I guess! Good thing Ethan loved getting wet! Haha!
Callie and Ethan
After that ride we headed over to hit a little roller
coaster that Ethan was tall enough for. It was his very first roller coaster
and he loved it! After the coaster was done we went for a ride on the carousel.
Getting ready for the roller coaster (that's his thumb's up sign lol)
Next we headed to Hogsmeade - Harry Potter’s area! We were
all so excited to see it! We checked out the Hogwarts Express for a minute then
went in search of the rides. Callie and John tried out the little roller
coaster there - Flight of the Hippogriff. Callie loved it but thought it might
be a little quick for Ethan, so we decided to hold him off of that one. It was
pretty hot at that point so we went and bought a frozen Butterbeer to drink. I
wasn’t sure how it would taste, but we were very happy to learn that we all
LOVED it!
The Butterbeer cart
By this point Ethan was getting cranky. I think we just
weren’t quite used to the heat yet! We decided to leave Hogwarts for a while.
We walked over to sit near a fountain that talked to people and squirted water
at them. It was pretty funny to see the interaction between this thing and all
the people around it. After checking it out a little (from a safe distance) I
saw that any donations for it go to Give Kids the World Village! :) We had some
drinks and snacks while we rested there.
Ethan resting by the gardens at Universal
Once Ethan was snacking and playing in the garden there I
snuck back over to Hogwarts to ride the Harry Potter ride! I know I’m a nerd!
:) I walked right on and loved the ride! Unfortunately Callie chickened out so
I had to ride alone, but it was still great!
The talking sorting hat in line for Harry Potter ride
After that I met back up with John and the kids and we
headed back to Suess Landing. The kids wanted to ride the Cat in the Hat ride
that we skipped earlier. Everyone thought that was a great ride too so Ethan
was happy again. :)
After that we headed over to Toon Lagoon. There the kids
played on Popeye’s ship and squirted waterguns down at the people on the water
ride below. They had fun on the slides and ship toys too.
Over by the Popeye ship
Kids at the squirtguns
The kids and I in front of the Universal globe
Once we got in there we saw the big Shrek 4D line. We found
out we were just in time for the next show, so that was perfect! Of course we
didn’t have to wait in the long line, so we went right in to see the show. That
was a great show! You watched a 3D movie along with the seats moving, water squirting
at you, and you can feel the wind blowing at you! We all loved that show.
Of course we had to get pictures with Shrek and his friends after the show! We were given a pass for one free picture at Universal.
The kids with Shrek and friends :)
After Shrek we went over to the Kidzone. We hit a little
pizza eatery first then went to play.
There was a playground that the kids absolutely had a blast
on. There were climbing ropes, slides, tunnels, and best of all a waterslide! I
took the kids up to the top (there were a ton of stairs) and planned on sending
them down together. Well apparently I needed to go down the slide too once I
was up there. Nice. At least we were in a raft! Callie went first and then
Ethan and I went down. It was pretty fun and I was surprised at how much Ethan
loved it! He kept wanting to do it again and again, so from then on they let us
use the elevator and the kids just rode together! Much better plan. :)
Ethan and mom on the waterslide - he loved it!
Callie on the dinosaur skeleton slide
We were able to see Spongebob in the area so we went to
stand in line to get a picture. He spotted us standing there and ran over to us
to get pictures! I doubt the other people in line were thrilled, but the kids
loved it! Lol.
The kids with Spongebob
After our pictures we headed to ride Woody’s Express roller
coaster. This was the fastest one Ethan would have ridden so we were a little
leery about it. Apparently that worry was for nothing. He loved it! In fact he
loved it so much he threw a giant temper tantrum when it was over and we got
off!
We decided to try out the ET ride since we were right next
to it. It was a pretty cool ride. Ethan was a little spooked because of all the
aliens and smoke everywhere, but he still said it was fun.
After that the park was almost closed so we headed out and
went back to the village. At the village we picked up some free passes to try
out Pirate Adventure Mini Golf. It’s this amazing putt-putt course right around
the corner from the village. Definitely worth a trip if you’re even in the
area! We all had a great time and Callie even got a hole in one on the 18th
hole! That gave her a token for another free game sometime!
(bad pic) night fun at Pirate Island Adventure Golf
We were pretty hungry by this point so we headed to a Waffle
House for dinner. After that it was back to the villa for baths and bed. When
we got back home we saw that the “Gift Patrol” had left Gator Golf and Simon
Flash games for the kids! The loved it - especially Gator Golf -- and played it
all week!
(please don't mind the fact that Ethan doesn't feel the need to wear pants. ever.)
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