Anyone else hear Tyrese singing "Lately"? Just me? Ok... time for another photo dump catch up. We celebrated Mother's Day weekend with a trip to a local winery for a tasting and enjoyed the live music and corn hole before heading to Universal for the rest of the day.
This past weekend, Lil' Miss had her gymnastics Olympics where she had a routine on all 4 apparatus - balance beam, vault, floor and uneven bars. Her favorite has always been the bars, and she rocked it!
We also spent the day at our favorite hidden gem in the Orlando area - Wekiva Island. If you're in Central Florida for vacation, this is the perfect spot to take a break from the theme parks and tourist attractions and enjoy a day by the water. They have an on-site bar, food truck, cabana rentals, beach volleyball court and canoe, kayak and stand up paddle board rentals. We always bring our own floats, and before you know it we're jumping in to cool off too. It's only $2 to enter the park and enjoy what the locals call the real part of Florida.
I am in disbelief that Lil' Miss only has 1 week left of Kindergarten and we are celebrating my husband's 40th birthday. We are excited to check out a new-to-us destination in celebration of his milestone birthday, and I can't wait to recap all the fun.
As we are preparing for our next trip and summer in general, I thought I'd round up some of my recent favorites. And can we talk about how I was annoyed that the Bentgo box that I picked up for Lil' Miss to take to school when she's not purchasing a hot lunch did not fit in her lunch box? I had to buy another lunch bag specifically made for those amazing Bentgo boxes (that I so wish we had when I was growing up!) Well she is obsessed with the mermaid print, and I have to admit I kind of love it. She'll be taking it to camp too over the summer. Win win!
I picked up this beach bag for our cruise in March and promised to report back on it being water resistant and won't get as dirty considering it's mostly white. This thing is a beast you guys! Not only did it carry everything when we got off on each island to explore, but it performed really well in the sand, at the pool and everywhere else. There are minimal marks on it and it still looks new!
I had been drooling over these glitter pumps with the cutest pom poms for a while, and finally decided to scoop them up. On sale of course!
With our frequent trips to Universal I needed a fun backpack, and was looking for the PERFECT one. It took a while, and then I saw this Hedwig backpack carrying a letter from Hogwarts and fell in love. She goes with me to each trip to the parks.
*Tap tap* Is this thing on? A LOT has been going on - grab a cup of coffee and let's catch up. Last time I showed up in this space I recapped our amazingSouthern Caribbean Cruiseand then posted my Cruising Tips. Since then, we have visited Universal 4 times (we're annual passholders), celebrated Easter, went car shopping, celebrated birthdays, had a beach day, upgraded Lil' Miss to a bunk bed and celebrated her spirit week at school.
We kicked off April with the perfect day at Volcano Bay and Islands of Adventure. The weather was perfect for the water park and then we ventured over to Islands of Adventure for dinner and rollercoasters. Lil' Miss was ecstatic that she is finally tall enough to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey inside Hogwarts Castle and Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure.
After the evening show at Hogwarts Castle we did child swap for one last ride on Velocicoaster to finish the night. When it was my turn they were closing down, and I got to ride it by myself. The amazing part was being in the front row and riding it at night - the weird part was being by myself and looking around the empty park. It was kind of eerie yet super cool. There is something strange riding a rollercoaster without the energy of other people or hearing everyone scream. I could hear the empty seats rattling and it just wasn't the same. It was an amazing experience, but I would rather ride with other people if that makes sense.
The day before Easter, we met up with friends for a beach day before coming home to dye Easter eggs.
The flagship Barnies Coffee and Tea location recently went through a renovation so we finally went to check it out and of course pick up some cold brew on tap - always delish! A stroll down Park Ave. in the sunshine makes it even better before relaxing over brunch.
Someone also had their big wish come true of getting her bunk bed with a slide. She now has the perfect spot for friends and cousins to sleep over. I always joke with her that I always brought a sleeping bag and slept on the floor at sleepovers.
Speaking of Lil' Miss she had a spirit week at school, and one night we celebrated at the roller rink. I hadn't been to one since I was a kid and they haven't changed a bit! After a wobbly start I got my bearings back, and it was fun seeing her on skates for the first time.
Insta vs. Reality - always have a cutie photo bomber! She was trying to pet a cat that went to hide under the deck.
Another birthday party for our sweet girl to attend. She had fun jumping on the trampolines, riding the zip line, playing laser tag and of course having pizza and cake. Yum!
After the party, I needed a pick-me-up before we met up with friends at Universal for the evening to test out their express passes. Not waiting in lines? Don't mind if I do...
New passholder magnets were picked up in the passholder lounge - these are themed after Jurassic Park or as I would like to say my favorite rollercoaster (Velocicoaster). I still have the Mardi Gras themed magnet on my car and look forward to seeing what they release next.
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