Thanksgiving break

Todd did not have the week off, but the kids and I did.  So....we took a few days and headed to Florida to visit dad and Charlie.  (It has been since September 2021 since we saw them - and it was only for an afternoon lunch / playing games in an outdoor pavilion when we rented a little house north of Tampa off of the west the coast of Florida.)  

Before we went, however, Todd (and I as helper) installed a light fixture at our dining room - we had been without light for a year +/- ??!!  Mercer went to a baseball camp.  Isabella played on the computer and on her violin.

This time for our trip to Florida, we stayed closer to their house - still a ways away but we were inland / closer to Orlando.  We went to them for a few visits this time.  My step sister Michelle moved in with them as she had a job change / relocation. That's a good thing as it helps her to live there, but it also helps them too as they are needing a bit more help these days.

There's not the space for us to stay with them in their house like we've done in the past but that's OK. The kids want to do other things when we visit, so this gave us the opportunity to do a few other things while in Florida.

We drove down and stopped on our way into town.  We checked into the hotel really late, but were confused at first when they gave us 2 separate keys... as it was TWO whole units that were connected by a vestibule. We thought we had a "two bedroom" unit - where we shared a living room and kitchen... but... nope.  

There were 2 living rooms and 2 kitchens.  2 washer / dryers.  2 bathrooms.  It was like Mercer had his own apartment!  (since Isabella and I were already slated to share 1 of the bedrooms)  He was pretty stoked about that!  

Our hotel was 10 stories tall.  We were on level 6.  We were in building 16.  There were 21 buildings in the complex.... they said they had about 1000 of these suites in this complex!

And... there were DOZENS and DOZENS of these complexes just along the major road we were on!   We also noticed that for miles and miles out away from the place we were staying ... there were GIANT complexes that were being built everywhere. (we were on a major toll-road out of town back-and-forth each day to get to dad's.)  One that we noticed over and over again looked like apartment buildings (5-6 stories tall) and we counted 21 elevator towers that were under construction in that complex!  (the concrete elevator towers / stair towers went in first then the apartment buildings were constructed of wood as infill between all of the towers.... as we saw in another complex.

Here's a picture of the office park at "Celebration" which was across the major road from where we stayed.  (designed by a famous architect - known for using geometry.  This complex isn't that interesting, though.) 

We looked it up while we were on our trip: there are average 57,000 visitors a day at just ONE park (Disney World)!  Epcot - average of 34,000 visitors a day.  Hollywood Studios (31,000 / day).  Animal Kingdon (38,000/day) Plus there's Universal - a competitor.  There's Sea World and LEGO Land.  It is absolutely crazy how many people visit this area.  Everything there is BIG.  It's insane!  

I ran an errand:  dropped off 2 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas child. Have done this in years past, but the place that I dropped off was interesting!  

At dad and Charlie's house, Mercer helped pressure-wash a driveway, I picked up sticks and Isabella caught lizards.

She played her violin and we all had dinner together.  We waited on Michelle to come home from work, but she works late pretty much every day and we didn't see her.  We didn't get back to the hotel 'til close to 10 and Isabella / I went for a night swim for about an hour before the pool closed.

The next day, we went shoe shopping (doesn't sound major, but for M... with a size 14 kick... he had LOTS of options at the Nike factory store that was next to our hotel.) 

Then we met dad at the "Museum of Illusions" at Icon Park.  It was pretty cool.... a lot of it was science and tricks to the eye with mirrors.  Lots and lots of mirrors!

  

This exhibit -- I had to go look behind the wall.  There was a ladder that you could climb / hold onto and put 1 leg / 1 arm out.  Isabella was imitating the photo at the front of the exhibit here.

Most people did what she's doing below... looks like you have 2 heads!  

The infinity room was really cool! 

There was also an exhibit that was slats of mirrors and slats of openings.  The idea is that one person stands on one side and another on the other  side / their faces "morph." 

This was one of my least favorite.  We'd been in something like this before:  it's a video of lights flashing and spiraling around you... so... it looks like and feels like you are spinning. Isabella fell down in this one!

This was one of my favorites:  a long tube that is a triangle shape... it created a "human kaleidoscope"  -- in this case -- Isabella being the focus of the changing view.  (One person shoots a video or photo at one end while the other person moves around at the other end.)  It was sooo awesome!  I wish I could have gotten Mercer in it too!  I'd love to see him as a snowflake.  ha!

And - a famous trick-of-the-eye exhibit:  tall vs small.  (slanted floor)  Here Isabella is bigger than grandpa!

We played putt-putt (which is Mercer's jam) - they had some good water hazards which the kids hit all of! :)

Water hazard 1 that got the best of him.... multiple times

Water hazard 2 that got the best of her.  (thankfully this one had a metal grate, but she couldn't figure out how to get the ball out!)

Icon park is in the background.  There is a CRAZY high swing, a slingshot and a Ferris wheel.  (none of which we tried, but Isabella said she wanted to do the swing?!) 

Um.  NOPE!

Afterwards, we went to dad and Charlie's again for dinner / one last visit with Michelle (she came home "early" that next night).  We got back to the hotel too late for a night swim, though.

I'd say we crammed in a bunch of stuff in our few days there!

On the way home - we drove towards some unusual clouds - which helped occupy the drive.  (In looking them up later, found out they're called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds named after 2 scientists who studied velocity of fluids and disturbances caused by the disturbance caused by these fluids in the water (waves) and in the sky (billow clouds).  Never seen them before, but cool!

According to a ThoughtCo article about the clouds:  

Your best chance for observing billow clouds is on a windy day because they form where two horizontal winds meet. This is also when temperature inversions -- warmer air on top of cooler air -- occur because the two layers have different densities.

The upper layers of air move at very high speeds while the lower layers are rather slow. The faster air picks up the top layer of the cloud it's passing through and forms these wave-like rolls. The upper layer is typically drier because of its velocity and warmth, which causes evaporation and explains why the clouds disappear so quickly.

The day after we got home was Thanksgiving.  I went to the top of the street with Mercer to hang out with neighbors / cheer on the Gobble Jog (well, I had a bloody mary and didn't do as much cheering this year)...  while Todd was prepping a turkey for smoking.  Something happened this year with the smoker and we had to "finish" the bird in the oven to make sure it was cooked all the way through. It was delicious though - when done!

We bought many of the side dishes, but made pie + a neighbor brought us pie... so we had MORE dessert than we needed.  (The day after Thanksgiving, we went to a movie / out to lunch with baseball friends.  Later, we invited Mercer's friend + his mom over for pie.  Problem is... she brought a giant tub of banana pudding to our house... when we were trying to get RID of desserts!)  eek.  :)

At Thanksgiving, we went around the table and said what we were thankful for:  Isabella named just about every dog she could remember the name of + dad, mom, the lizard Lizzy and her brother (even though he annoys her sometimes).  Todd was thankful for family, the food on our table and health.  Mercer was thankful for food - specifically popcorn and applesauce (since that's what he seems to live off of.)  I was thankful for safe travels, health and family.

We still have a couple of days of break.  I need to get back to reality of grading.  We'll also do some errands and set up some Christmas decorations.   It was way too short, but glad we had some down time this week!

November happenings + What a WEEK it's been for our girl~~

I will start with something sad - our neighbor Mike (who had been not doing well through much of Covid) died of a terminal brain illness.  We have been communicating with his sister since before last Christmas about coming to check on him / something was going on. This spring his family moved him back up to Michigan and we were told he had dementia and frontal lobe loss / degeneration. It progressed quickly and we received word that he was being moved to hospice... then less than a week later... he passed on Nov 2.  

He was an architect and neighbor - neither Todd nor I worked with him, but knew a lot of the same people in the industry. He attended many soup nights and we went to each other's bonfires over the years as well as concerts on the square (this photo of our friend Cecilia and him on the square), spend many new year's together, etc.  In looking back, wondering if some of the brain degradation had been going on prior to Covid / he was sometimes hard to be around but he will be missed. 

One of our former neighbors arranged to have a Catholic Mass said at his church here in Marietta (January was the earliest time), and we will host a bonfire for anyone who wants to raise a toast after the mass.

Todd's mom also ended up back in the hospital again.... she fell again and broke her arm.  (problem is... she's been using a walker, but cannot use the walker with only 1 arm... so her recovery on walking / getting around / getting back home is going to be set back a bit.)

Later in the week, we had Mercer's pancake breakfast for his baseball fundraiser.  This time, Isabella and I stopped by for breakfast and Todd worked the event all day - helping with the making of pancakes. 

He was frustrated.... he thought his job would be making pancakes on his own, but he had to manage teenagers.  ha ha.  One of the moms there takes photographs / I found a couple of Mercer in her reel.  

Isabella and I had a big day planned after pancakes:  we were going to the hair salon to "give" Isabella her birthday present!  All she asked for was to have her hair colored. So... we went for it.

Here's a photo - the LAST ONE of her beautiful brown curls! (sniff sniff!)

The process took FOR.EVER. I have never had my hair dyed or colored... I had no idea what to expect.  Whew - were we both in for an education!  It took FOR-EVER.  We were there close to 5 hours!!

Josh painted her hair with bleach.  (ugh)

Rinsing.

Drying a bit.

Then, came the color. 

And cutting (different person - Chelsea) 

who THEN blew it dry and straightened it! 

She was SOOOO excited by it all - how it came together in the end.  

Isabella earned the "Student of the Month" for her class this month - November!  Todd and I were both so shocked and surprised by this... but super proud!

Then... during the same week at school - we went to a reception for the entrants for the Reflections art competition.  Isabella made up a new song and we recorded it / entered into the competition.  She got 2nd place and her music entry will be in the school-system wide (across elementary schools) "regional" competition.

The guy (volunteer dad) who was running the competition said that he and the judges liked the fact that she made a song out of something that was initially a mistake: she was practicing piano one day and played wrong keys, but liked it.  (Actually, it did sound better!)  So she had to write a little bit about how "her voice" is being used to share with the world that it's OK to make mistakes - sometimes really great things come out of it.  The organizer played it on the TV in the room as well as the others' visual arts performances. 

We had the Cherokee Heights art festival.  None of us exhibited. Mercer and I went at 6:45 to help unload cars and set up tents with vendors.  (He needs some community service hours that - if he submits - he can help earn a special certificate at school.)  

But... he really enjoyed it.  He was working with other boys from the neighborhood and literally hung out there ALL DAY - even after his shift was over! 

Isabella was not at the art festival very long.  She went up late with Todd but also had a birthday party to go to in the middle of the afternoon... making pizza.

And, today she had a party of her own -- and ate pizza there too!  She invited some friends from school - who we don't know / didn't hear from unfortunately - and a couple of other friends we do know their families and who came.  Mercer invited a friend.

Although small, she had a good time at the trampoline park. 

They added a new slide which the kids stood in line for a long time for.  She said it was fast and fun.

At home, we had a small thing too - since her hair coloring was the main gift!

Overall - although a little smaller.... a little more low-key, she had a good day.    

Whew - what a week it's been for our girl!  

This is 10!