Wicked

Today was the day that Brett had been waiting for for quite some time.  He had always wanted to see a Broadway musical and tonight we were able to make his dream come true by taking him to a performance of Wicked.  Brett and I had wanted to see it for years, but hadn't been able to.  We talked about going to it in Chicago over Christmas break, but the prices were outrageous - $129 a ticket for the last row in the balcony.  I did some investigating and found that it was going to be in Grand Rapids this weekend for quite a bit less.  The timing was perfect because it coordinated perfectly with Brett's trip to Chicago.  All we had to do was make sure that Brett caught the noon train back to South Bend.  I was worried at first as his conference got over 11 a.m. and that didn't give him a lot of time to get to Millennium Station.  Thankfully, it was not a problem as the event ended early and Brett was there before Burger King even started selling lunch.

I had bought four tickets for tonight's performance thinking that Meg would be able to go.  The Bethany Fish fry was tonight, however, and it was mandatory that all students work.  She didn't mind missing the musical with us as she had a chance to hang out with her classmates.  Doug was glad to step into her spot.  He was even more happy when he realized that we had enough time after we picked Brett up to stop by his favorite restaurant in Grand Rapids - Founder's Brewery.

Even stopping for dinner we were still at the musical plenty early.  We were glad as there was a long line to get into the parking garage.  Our seats were in the balcony but everyone could see the stage very well.  All four of us really enjoyed the performance.  The storyline was fantastic and coincided with the plot of Wizard of Oz perfectly.  We each had a different favorite character and song and we talked about the musical most of the way home.  I was so happy that we finally were able to make Brett's dream come true.

More Progress

I took the afternoon off today to go to physical therapy and the rheumatologist.  Both went very well. I do not have to go back to the rheumatologist anytime soon which I was happy to hear.  He was a great doctor to visit, but the clinic was in South Bend.  He released me to my family doctor for now.  

I picked Cam up from practice after the doctor's.  Doug had to go to Decatur for work, so he was home later than usual.  His workload has really picked up this fall.  Meg had practice again this evening and so far feels good about it all.  She has been practicing with the JV and sometimes with the Varsity.  Brett texted several times from Chicago.  He made it on the 6 a.m. train without incident.  He stayed at the same hotel as the conference which was convenient.  Today they met with employers and also went to a dinner put on by IU SPEA alumni.  He felt it was extremely beneficial.  That was awesome to hear.

Brett's Home

As soon as I got home today I finished putting away of the rest of Cam and Meg's laundry.  There was quite a bit of it, but I watched The Chase to keep me company.  It felt good to finally have everything from our trip back in place.  Brett made it home just as I was finishing.  He had a SPEA conference in Chicago on Thursday and Friday.  Doug decided to take all of us out to dinner once he got here.  Brett hadn't been to Sleepy Owl in quite some time, so we thought we would try it tonight.  The food was delicious.  Doug and I had pizza as it was half price night.  Brett tried the shrimp scampi while Cam had the spaghetti and meatballs.  Meg couldn't join us as she had too much homework, but she did enjoy the spaghetti we brought back.  We enjoyed catching up with Brett.  He has had a busy couple of weeks at school.  Since Brett and Doug had to make it to the South Shore for the first train tomorrow and Cam had bell ringers everyone went to bed early tonight.

Basketball Parent Meetings

Tonight both Meg and Cam had parent basketball meetings.  Cam's was first starting at 5:30.  Doug was able to attend that one.  Cam was pretty upset by the time Doug got there.  Someone had taken his phone and he couldn't find it.  After the meeting Cam went back to the locker room and they finally figured out where it was.  Cam had left it in his pants and someone had picked up his pants off of the locker room floor.  Cam was relieved to be reunited with it.  Other than the phone incident the meeting went well.  The boys have new shooting shirts this season and Doug was able to sign up for snacks.

Doug had a church meeting to go to after the basketball one, so he dropped Cam off at my parents before he left.  I passed them on the way to Meg's basketball parent meeting.  A lot of information was given out and there was a dinner sign up for her team as well.  I was so impressed with her coach.  KP talked a lot about building a stronger team this year, not only in basketball, but also in life.    She even had a book study planned for the girls about overcoming adversity.  It should be a wonderful learning experience for Meg with a lot of team and coach support.

Laundry, Shopping and More

Cam and Meg headed back to school this morning.  They said that they weren't as tired as they thought that they would be.  They were glad to see their friends and enjoyed basketball practice.  Doug went back to work as well although he did sleep in until 6:30.  I still had a day left on my Fall Break and I put it to good use.  I made laundry my first priority.  Once that started I read through the mail taking care of any bills that arrived while we were gone.  I had a doctor's appointment with  Goshen Orthopedics.  He said that my ankle and knee were progressing well.  He schedule 6 to 8 more physical therapy appointments.  After those I do not have to go back to Dr. Cutteback unless I want to.

I went to physical therapy after the doctor's.  It went well as always.  Even though my ankle still had some swelling I no longer have to wear the tape.  I have been amazed at how much the swelling has gone done over the past month.  From therapy I went to Wal-Mart.  As Doug would say, "We were down to our last can of Whoo Hash," so it was time to stock up.  It took quite awhile to put everything away, but by the time I was done we were ready for the week.

One Last Day

We slept until 7:30 this morning and it felt like noon.  Meg said that she woke up at five and took her shoes off and went back to bed.  She enjoyed her pizza for breakfast.  Doug and I spent time packing.  I am always sad to go home but it was nice knowing that we still had a day at the park left on this trip.  We dropped our luggage off at the airline check-in at the Boardwalk.  The valet kept our carry-ons.  We had to catch the Magical Express at 2:30 p.m. so we we had time to spend at Hollywood Studios.

Hollywood Studios had been under construction the last few times that we had visited it and today was no exception.  We did get to see the new layout for the new Toy Story Land set to open next summer.  It will add a great deal to the park and when Star Wars Land opens in 2019 the park will be fantastic.  Our hope is to bring everyone back then.

While there we were able to ride Toy Story Mania and Star Tours.  We walked through Walt Disney One Man, One Dream and enjoyed the history lesson once again.  Cam and I had fast passes for Twilight Tower of Terror, so we headed there around 10 a.m.  The ride was listed as closed, but they did still have two elevators running for fast pass holders.  It took a half hour, but we were able to get on.  It was scary as always, but a lot of fun.  We felt thankful for making it on as the ride closed completely later in the day.  Doug and Meg watched the Beauty and the Beast live show while we were in line.  Meg said it wasn't very good, but it gave them something to do while they were waiting for us.  We all met at The Muppet Show 3-D.  It was a great way to end our time at the park as we all really enjoyed the show.

We ate at EPCOT for lunch before making our way back to the Boardwalk to catch our bus.  I was sad to leave, but we had had a wonderful time.  Our trip to the airport and our flight home were quick.  There was a lot of turbulence on the plane but nothing we couldn't handle.  Meg and I both watched the live Beauty and the Beast movie and Cam enjoyed The Lego Movie.  Our luggage was some of the first off of the flight and we were ready for Doug before he got to the car.  The trip home was an easy one and it was nice to head to our own beds tonight.

Pandora

We were up early again this morning ready for a day at Animal Kingdom.  In May a new area of the park had opened called Pandora.  It was several years in the making and was based on the movie Avatar.  Since its opening it had received a lot of praise from those who have visited it, especially the ride called Flight of Avatar.  We had tried as soon as we were allowed (sixty days from our hotel reservation) to get fast passes for it, but there were none available for the week.  We knew the only chance we had of riding it was to get there when the park opened for Extra Magic hours.  We decided to ensure that we beat most of the other Disney resort guests there by renting a Minnie van for our early morning trip.  The van arrived at the Boardwalk within three minutes of our request.  Our driver was pleasant and we arrived at the park in no time without all of the extra stops that a normal trip to Animal Kingdom takes.  

We definitely beat the majority of the crowd to the park entrance.  They walked us all to the land of Pandora at 7:30 and by 7:45 a.m. they had started letting guests onto the ride.  We waited only 15 minutes in line before we were strapped onto the Banshee.  The ride was different from any other that I had ever been on.  We flew through the land of Pandora over the trees and mountains enjoying all of the beautiful sights.  As much as we loved the ride and were thrilled to get through the queue so quickly, there was one drawback.  The ride made Doug extremely sick.  He made a beeline for the bathroom as soon as we got off the ride.  It was a good thing he did as Meg never would have let him forget it if he didn't "make it to a trash can or a toilet," especially after all of the lectures he had given her over the years about the correct way to vomit.  Even with Doug's motion sickness kicking in, we all really enjoyed the ride.  We were flabbergasted that the line was already 185 minutes long by the time we were done.  From there we headed to several other of our favorites - Dinosaur, Na'vi River Ride, The Lion King Show, Kilimanjaro Safari and It's Tough to Be a Bug.  Cam and I really enjoyed the safari after our time with the elephants on Wednesday.  

After our time at Animal Kingdom we decided to eat lunch on the Boardwalk at The Big River Brewing Company.  The food was delicious and the view was beautiful.  From lunch we walked to Fantasia Mini-golf.  It was a lot of fun even though Doug won once again.  We decided to try the new ice cream parlor on the Boardwalk when we got back.  We tried last night, but it was packed.  We got in with no problem today and really enjoyed the treat.  

We ate dinner in the lounge before heading to Magic Kingdom for the night.  It was crowded as usual, but we were all able to ride some of our favorites once again.  We even did some shopping on Mainstreet USA before heading back to our hotel.  The bus ride took longer than usual, but we still made it to the hotel just before midnight.  Everyone was starving, so Doug ran down there when he got off the bus to order before the pizza window closed.  The three of us headed to the room to wait.  Meg stretched out on her bed was sound asleep fully dressed immediately.  Cam and I waited for Doug.  He had a story to tell once he got in as there was a fight outside the pizza window and security had to be called.  Luckily, he stayed out of the mix and arrived unharmed with pizza for everyone.  Meg never woke up so we put hers in the fridge for breakfast.  It was a late night, but a fun filled day.