Spring Break Trip 2025, Day 3 & 4: St. Patrick's Day at Sea

Sunday, March 16, 2025 

We slept in since we didn’t have to be out of the room until 11am. We packed up our things and went down to the lobby to eat breakfast at the grab and go cafeteria of the hotel. I ordered the regular breakfast, Erik ordered eggs Benedict, and I had Ian share with me.

A filling and yummy breakfast

After we ate, we shoved all the suitcases into the expedition and drove for about 90 minutes to Port Canaveral. Erik dropped us off at the cruise terminal, then dropped off the Rental car, and took a shuttle back to the terminal. We got on the ship pretty quickly and went straight to our staterooms. The Ship was almost exactly the same as the Symphony of the Seas from last year’s Spring Break cruise.

It was fun to watch the other ships sail away and wave to all those people! 

The kids went straight to the abyss slide. We ate dinner in the dining room at 5 PM. I ordered the shrimp cocktail and chicken saag. Ian, Erik, and I skipped dessert since nothing was that great the first night. 

Ian wasn't too pleased with skipping dessert.

Gabe ordered the key lime pie for dessert

 

While watching the cruise line channel, we couldn't decide what that figure was sitting on the benches that was so big and still, so Erik, Elisa, and Ian decided to check it out. I took this picture of them on the TV screen. The figure turned out to be a statue of an astronaut. 

We were going to see the show in the aqua theater, but the rain and wind caused them to cancel the show. Erik took the kids to play laser tag, but they complained that the other team had a bunch of little kids who would follow them around even after they were shot. Erik and I wandered around the shops and tried out some perfumes and colognes. They gave us some raffle tickets for a couple of tote bags, but we didn’t win. Next, Erik and I wandered around the buffet for some light snacks, and, of course, we ran into Gabe who was probably on his second dinner. We went back to the state room and enforced lights out at 10 PM for the kids.

The Laser Tag line had this inflatable Sasquatch.

Unlike our cruise to Cabo, this ship had a nice car on the promenade: a classic Mustang convertible.

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March 17, Monday--St. Patrick's Day

We slept in until after 8 AM. I went to the buffet breakfast. Surprisingly, Ian didn’t have a doughnut, but he did fill up his plate with scrambled eggs and bacon. Next, Erik went to play trivia at the schooner bar, but he didn’t win Irish riddles or general trivia. I went to get some ice cream with Gabe and found Ian on the way up. The ice cream place wasn’t opened yet, so Ian and I waited. Gabe wandered off before it opened. Ian and I got our ice cream and went back to our stateroom where we found Elisa waiting for us. Elisa and I wandered around for a bit before deciding to go on the abyss slide. The line was about 20 minutes long. Erik waited for us by eating at the dog house, although he was gone by the time we got off the slide. Elisa and I ate pizza at Sorrento’s. Erik met us there and then we went up to the windjammer for more food with Grandpa and Ian.

Ian's favorite thing about cruising is the free ice cream. We try to limit his daily ice cream intake, but I'm sure he snuck a few extras in...

The pizza isn't too bad

I spotted this on the way out of the buffet. The kids had just scampered out maybe two minutes before they started serving this cake. I'm sure it looks better than it tastes anwyay.

After a second lunch, Erik and Grandpa went to TV Theme Song trivia where they failed miserably. Next, Erik went to the gym to exercise while I stayed in the cabin to read and take a nap. Next, we all met up in the attic lounge for Irish trivia, but we didn’t win that either.

I took pictures of Ian and Elisa in the weird giant shiny cowboy hat. Elisa refused to hold still and pose, so I have this awkward picture of her.

For dinner, we went to the mason jar restaurant. Erik and I had the fried green tomatoes, Ian and Elisa had the smoky, deviled eggs, and Gabe had the spicy crab beignets. For the main course, I ordered the ribs, Erik had shrimp and grits, Elisa had chicken pot pie, and the boys had hamburgers. For dessert, Gabe and I had peach ice cream, Elisa and Ian had cherry pie, and Erik had chocolate pecan pie. We were stuffed.

Gabe took a bite or two out of his hamburger and left the rest to be thrown in the garbage. 

Erik ordered the shrimp and grits. I don't think he liked to too much.

My ribs were so, so yummy!

Dessert! I was too stuffed to eat much of my peach ice cream. Besides, it wasn't that great.

After dinner, Erik made the kids go down The Abyss slide one more time. Then Erik, Elisa, and Ian rode on the carousel. 

 

We went to the Royal Theatre for the evening show called Voices, which was an all a cappella performance. As we left the theater, we looked one more time at some of the things they were selling, but we didn’t buy anything. We had to force the kids to shower and go to bed, since they were up watching toddler shows on TV.

Spring Break Trip 2025, Days 1 & 2: Universal Studios

Friday, March 14, 2025

Erik and I got our blood drawn in the morning. It didn’t hurt, and it was really quick. After that we went out for brunch a few stores down to First Watch. I ordered avocado toast. The rest of the day was spent packing and cleaning and packing some more. We loaded up and picked up Elisa and Ian at the school at 1:30. Elisa found her missing lunchbox in the lost and found on the way out. Nothing too eventful at the airport; Erik and I got some food at 4 Peaks Brewery. Erik got the fish n chips, and I got the chicken strips. I shared with Ian. The fries were really yummy. The plane ride wasn’t anything to write about. I was super tired the first half, and I ended up with a crick in my neck from trying to sleep with no head support. The rest of the flight I goofed off with Ian, listened to some music, and didn’t read a single word in my library book. We got to Orlando pretty late, thanks to the 3-hour time change. By the time we got to our hotel (Surfside Inn) and ready for bed, it was past 12:30 am.

Ian entertained himself on the plane by blowing lots of bubbles with his gum.

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Our Universal Studios day! We all woke up early, despite going to bed so late. Erik, the kids, Grandma, and Grandpa ate some donuts and chocolate croissants at the breakfast place. We were hoping to get in a big ride like the Velocicoaster or Hagrid’s Motorbike ride in. When we go there, Hagrid's was closed down, and the Velocicoaster had over an hour wait time. So much for waking up early. Most of the day was spent waiting in lines, of course, but we managed to cut out a significant amount of time by going in the single rider lane. Even though we were seated by strangers, we were still able to ride in the same car most of the time.

The kids ate their grab-and-go breakfast in the hotel lobby.

Our first stop--Hogsmeade in Harry Potter World

On the Hogwarts Express!

I could see Elisa while riding Escape From Gringotts

The Simpsons ride was fun!

For lunch we ate at The Simpsons Food Court. Gabe and Ian had the Krusty Burger, Elisa had a huge pink donut, Erik had the chicken and waffle sandwich and clam chowder, and I had the black bean burger. Erik also ordered a Flaming Moe, an orange drink with dry ice, and the cup is for keeps. All in all it was good/ok food, but definitely not great food.

Eating at the Krusty Burger. It was fun, the food was ok. The kids liked watching the Simpsons cartoons they played on a loop while they ate.

More and more rides in the afternoon. I think Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike ride was the best ride in the park. My least favorite was the Transformers ride/Spider-Man ride—I don’t like things flying at my face nor to I like being jerked around. Plus I don’t care for Transformers or Spider-Man to begin with.

The DeLorean from Back to the Future! Erik really likes that movie. I'm not sure about Gabe.

I was bored in line, so I took some pictures of Gabe and Ian. They both chose, independent of each other, to wear their Mario Kart shirts.

I saw Ian and Gabe on the big screen walking out of the Minions ride. I'm the dork with the pale legs and nerdy shorts.

For dinner, we ate at Three Broomsticks. Elisa, Erik, and I all shared a plate. Elisa ate most of the meat off the plate despite telling us she wasn’t hungry. Erik ordered every type of butterbeer item of the menu, plus some pumpkin juice. I liked all of it, but the warm butterbeer was my favorite and my least favorite was the pumpkin juice. Even though we all shared, it was still a lot of sugar!

 

That's a lot of butterbeer items!

We decided we were done with the park after we had finished dinner. We had ridden all the rides we could, our feet hurt, and we were tired. We went back to the hotel; it was past 7pm anyway. On our way out, we stopped in a shop with a bunch of Super Mario stuff, as per Ian and Gabe’s request. Grandma gave Gabe some (early) birthday money, so he bought himself a Yoshi stuffie. He wanted an orange Yoshi shirt, so Erik said he would buy it for him for his birthday. Ian always has plenty of money saved up from his piano stickers, so he chose a Super Mario blanket. We all went to sleep pretty much right away after getting to our hotel room—theme parks are tiring!

 

I spotted this display on the way out of the park. I looked for the Hoey magnet (for my mom--her great grandma's maiden name was Hoey, from Ireland) but unfortunately, I couldn't find it, so we'll have to settle for this picture.

Ian trying on a silly toad hat at the Mario store. He bought himself a blanket instead. Gabe picked out a very orange Yoshi shirt. Since he didn't have enough money and his birthday was coming up, Erik said he'd buy it for him as a birthday gift. Elisa wasn't sure if she wanted the velociraptor mask or not.

Getting ready for bed. But first, silly time with Ian!

Random March Happenings

Here are some random fun things that happened in the month of March, before and in between our Spring Break trip and Lisa's visit:

March 3

We got new windows. Not for the entire house, but about half. They were "on sale" but still quite pricey. We went with Performance Windows because some guy came around, and Erik answered the door. The scheduled a demonstration and showed us their fancy window. They promised to give us "50% off" if we agreed to buy their windows immediately and let them put up a sign in our front yard advertising their company. 

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March 8

This optical illusion hurt my head and my eyes. It claims that the skin is the same color in both the images. I didn't believe the claim, so I took clips of both of them and then put them side by side...yep, the same color.

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We set up an evaluation for Gabe at the Laura Winger's Center for Psychology. Gabe had been having a really hard time getting his schoolwork done, so much so that it was very concerning to us. The evaluation is a two-day span of tests and getting to know Gabe and I'm not sure what else--Gabe wouldn't say. It was way out in Scottsdale. Gabe had to miss two days of school for his appointment. The place was too far away from home for me to go home, so I just shopped around in some shops down the road while I waited for Gabe to be let out for lunch. The first day I took him to a nearby Wendy's, and the second day I took him to The Cheesecake Factory. He didn't have much to say to me at either restaurant. After lunch I did some more shopping before picking him up to go home.

First day: Wendy's

Second day: Cheesecake Factory

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March 12

Erik got the pool swim-ready. Elisa and Ian actually swam in the freezing cold water!

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March 13

I made some frozen banana-yogurt drops with caramel topping and a chocolate heart.  They were pretty yummy. I might make them again.

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March 23

I made some homemade baked soft pretzels. They turned out pretty good but were slightly overdone on the bottom. Maybe a lower oven temp next time?

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March 24

I'm not sure why I took this picture. Another orthodontist visit for Gabe (and Ian).

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March 26

Ian's hair is way too long and its always sticking up funny! He won't let me cut it.

National Federation of Music Clubs

Around the first week of January, my organ teacher, who is apparently in charge of everything organ in the phoenix area, finally got around to informing me of the music festival that's held every February. She had told me about it a few years back and I told her I was interested. Its nationwide event and I'm sure there's a few locations in AZ but ours was held in Mesa. Its adjudicated event, and every student has the opportunity to earn a trophy after earning 15 points. With a few exceptions, a max of 5 points may be earned every year. So, it takes at least 3 years to earn a trophy. I had one piano student (Eliza) that had entered the music festival with another teacher for two years and had received superiors, so this was her year to earn her trophy--and she did! The festival has many, many instrument categories, but piano and organ was what I focused on. Since it was last minute getting all the songs chosen and getting myself set up as a member, I was only able to get a few students to participate this year. Ian and Lydia did both piano and organ and Eliza just did piano.  So, Ian and Lydia are eligible for not one, but two trophies over the time span of three years.

The piano students were required to memorize their music. I don't require my students to memorize their music for recitals, so I was a little worried that it would be a challenge for them, but it really wasn't. It was just the time factor more than anything since we had to rush to choose songs and then get them not only learned but memorized within 6 weeks. But we got everything done in time and the kids played great! Not perfect, but I'm proud of all of them. And all of them received superiors! The judges were perhaps a bit too lenient for this event, but I'm not complaining. The organ date was scheduled for Sunday February 16 at the First United Methodist church in MEsa. Students who also were participating in the piano event were invited to perform their pieces that same day, for convenience.  Here are the videos of all my students playing:

Piano:

https://youtube.com/shorts/RTZteY9Lq0c?si=kMKVRyQUWcW9Lznw

Eliza playing Distant Bells

https://youtube.com/shorts/SzKggiL4_Lo?si=Had1rRMcXm-jmcIF

Eliza playing Summer Breeze--She really liked this song!

https://youtube.com/shorts/uDyaCTKog00?si=1MwwGyjIwXumeHco

Lydia playing Prelude #1 by T. Brown.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Z1mCT3RSBIQ

Ian playing Prelude #3 by T. Brown

https://youtube.com/shorts/R8cgvMMcjhM?feature=share

Ian playing Allegro Grazioso by Albert Biehl

Organ:

https://youtube.com/shorts/IhF0Xw_H5VM?si=zGkgvnH10aJMugyN

Lydia playing Sweet Hour of Prayer

https://youtube.com/shorts/IUiccIqOhOs?si=ZTEbbVOPl-t9W5fD

Lydia playing the Iron Rod

 https://youtube.com/shorts/VeaPKCi5BQ4?feature=share

Ian playing I'll Seek the Lord Early

https://youtube.com/shorts/lNSfn1awxtI

Ian playing Love One Another

I had to stay well after my students played and left (Ian caught a ride home with Lydia and Eliza) to help out with the rest of the evening. There were several other organ students play (my teacher's students) and a few random piano students (from other teachers) that weren't able to make it to the piano festival that was held that following Saturday. I mostly helped get the music to the judges, announce the songs the kids were playing, take the score sheets from them and organize/group the papers. One score sheet accidentally got put in with other kids (whoops), so who knows if I'll be asked to help out again next year haha. Fine with me if I don't. I was there for hours and my feet hurt by the end. 

I also helped out with the piano event that following Saturday for half the day. I drove way out to Chandler/Mesa area and worked as a room monitor. I wore my piano dress and people seemed to appreciate it! My job was to make sure the student's performances flowed from one to the next in a timely manner. I also had to get up to the microphone and introduce the NFMC--I had a script that I followed thankfully. I also had to get the music and score sheets to and from the judges and then add up the score sheets. The performers were placed into groups placed in time slots of about 45 mins to an hour I can't remember exactly. Some students played better than others! There were some really cringy performances, and others were practically professional. One of the judges was really harsh and only gave out a few superiors. Thank goodness there were two judges otherwise most of the performers would have been crushed. Hopefully, she will not be invited back to judge next year. I kept the room going the best I could, but some performances were really long and that group would go overtime. For some reason, someone thought my room was 45 minutes behind--I don't know how that rumor got started but I was in fact a maximum of 10 minutes behind (probably more like 5) and mine wasn't even the last one to get out before lunch. Lunch was catered cafe rio. I chatted for a bit with my teacher and some other piano teacher that was about my age that went to BYU, and then I got to go home! I'm not sure I really want to do this again next year, but I probably will end up having to.

Valentine's Day Celebrations 2025

Valentine's Day was pretty laid-back but we still had lots of fun. I completely forgot to send out Valentine's this year--before I knew it, Valentine's Day had already arrived. Here are the pictures of the fun we had:

Erik and I went out to First Watch for brunch

We all went to the Bryan Regan show Valentine's Day. We all enjoyed it.

Elisa bought her friend Jayde a basket full of gifts for Valentine's Day. Jayde got Elisa stuff too, but I don't remember what. 

My mom sent the kids some valentines 

Random February Happenings

February was such a busy month. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures though. I had to prepare and give a talk in church and that pretty much ruined the first week of the month for me. It was terrible. The entire thing. Before, during, and even after. I was also asked to help out on the piano with the Lamb of God (thankfully they used an orchestra), lots of running, lots of Young Women stuff, and of course the NFMC stuff, which I'll put in a separate post. So yes, I was so busy. Erik was also busy with being in three choirs--Millennial choir, ward choir, and The Lamb of God multi-stake choir. Plus his work.  Anyway, here are the pictures I took---I probably should have taken more.

Feb. 3

A lot of sickness this school year and a lot of school days missed. Here is Ian sleeping off one of his sicknesses on the couch. Elisa also missed a lot of school days.

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Ready to go!

Almost to the finish line...

Goofing around just before we left

Feb. 8

Ian, Erik, and I all participated in the Ryan's Race. I believe this is the last one they will be having. They must not have advertised as hard as the previous years because there wasn't as big of a turnout as there has been in previous years and not nearly as many booths. Erik ran the 5K with me, and Ian ran the 1 mile race with his friend James. The 5K ended up being a little longer than the 3.1 miles more like 3.3 miles so actually that was the longest I've ever run haha. I ran my average slow speed (11--something minutes per mile) so I didn't place of course. Erik ran at my pace the whole time. I may have set a slow pace for him, but I also kept him from stopping to catch his breath. After the race itself, we chatted with a few people and grabbed a few snacks before heading home.

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February 16

While I was busy helping out with the organ federation event, Erik made the kids some chicken parmesan for dinner.

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Feb 17

The latest set of songs printed out, waiting for me to stuff them in the binders. I left them sitting for an entire month until I got around to putting them in the binders. 

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Feb. 19

Ian with his first batch of tumbled gems. I couldn't for the life of me get them to polish properly. 

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https://youtube.com/shorts/XtmfgX-8JhI

Erik's skit

https://youtube.com/shorts/E7cwi1-3rnc?feature=share

Ian's Allegro Grazioso performance

Feb. 22

We had our ward talent show, the first one we've ever had. I didn't sign up to do anything. I brought my patriotic quilt to show, but I changed my mind at the last minute. Erik had signed up to do a skit, and Ian decided to play his piano, which I was happy about! The skits were mostly silly. We had popcorn and water while we watched.