NYC 2025!

My oldest nephew, Triston Michael, joined me for a long weekend trip to New York City, my fifth trip and his first NYC experience!! #getexcited

Quick Note:  We both had fun, although you can't tell by some of the pictures.  I resorted to more selfies and solo pics than usual since T didn't quite appreciate my bright-and-fun, excitable tourist vibes and posing for several photos. lol  But in spite of the lack of smiles, he says he had a great time and loved the city and could see himself living there eventually (I could see that for him too), so I'm glad for that!!

After much Cyber Monday searching, I booked our stay at the Tempo Hotel by Hilton in the heart of the Theater District - their staff was helpful, the lounge and breakfast area was fun, our 30th floor room was really nice, and we had a great view of Times Square - highly recommend! ❤

Pics with a story:  (Left) - we flew American Airlines, and they gave us these Biscoff cookies... it immediately reminded me of having the same free snack during my first flight ever (via American Airlines) with Babah, who flew with me to Dallas and back all in one day just so I could get used to being on an airplane before our long Hawaii flight.  I remember her telling me that she'd been on a lot of great trips, but one place she wished she'd gotten to see was New York City... so it made me think of her whilst enjoying the cookies and feel even more blessed and grateful that this was my fifth time visiting the city. ❤
(Right) - Mom was feeling very concerned about our safety and talking about the high crime rates and how we needed to avoid the subway at all costs and be extra cautious in NYC.  I prayed over our trip and intentionally looked for good and kind people, and I found SO MANY OF THEM.  Sincerely, this was the least aggressive NYC has ever felt to me, so my comfort level there has gone up a lot!  I sent Mom this pic on our first night of this guy with a verse on his hoodie, just to jokingly reassure her that there are, in fact, good people around in NYC!  She texted back "He's def a tourist." lol

We arrived around 11:30 on Friday and got to our hotel around 12:30.  We walked a block over to Junior's for lunch then went to Central Park and walked all around there for a couple hours!!  It has long been my favorite place in New York City, so spending some extra time there with no set schedule or agenda was really nice!! ❤

We saw Bow Bridge (above), the Cherry Hill Fountain (claimed to be the fountain from the Friends theme song), the "Arcade" with the cool ceiling where Talhia and Kevin got married, and the lovely Bethesda fountain pictured below, although I didn't have the nerve to step into it this time.

Without planning it, I'm wearing the exact same coat doing the same pose at the same fountain 15 years later!  ...The pictured friendship has changed *just a bit* ...but it makes me happy knowing Chet Lee took the pic on the right.

We grabbed dinner at Chipotle (I know, lame and not unique to NYC, but we were hungry and cold and exhausted from lots of walking, and it was close and sounded good)... then took an Uber to Grand Central Station, which T-man was interested in seeing as the entire second floor is a huge Apple store and Genius Bar.  It was fun being there again, and I quickly realized that the last time I was there was literally 20 years back when JMM and I visited Holly Dei and we took the train from Yale (in New Haven, CT) to NYC to watch Mamma Mia on Broadway!!  NYC really holds a plethora of good and bad memories from very different seasons of my life... the summer 1998 family road trip, 2005 college weekend with Josh and Holly, 2010 Christmas trip with Chet and Malori, summer 2017 with Mom & Dad + Bill & Jill, and now this New Year trip with Triston).

We had an early morning flight and went to bed unusually early on Friday.  We grabbed breakfast at our hotel lounge on Saturday then met our USA Guided Tour group at 9am in Times Square just a couple blocks down from our hotel!  It was a 6-hour tour that hit several of the major NYC highlights.  Our tour guide, Jimmy Hoffman, was entertaining and full of fun facts that brought life and meaning to the things we were driving by in NYC.  "Fuhgeddaboutit!"  We stopped for photos of the Empire State Building and the big tree at Rockefeller Center (so happy that was still up - they took it down yesterday)!!

"That's White Star Line property!!"  ...As we drove by this seemingly random spot on the Hudson River line, Jimmy told us this is the where the Titanic would have docked and where they actually brought the survivors in April of 1912, and that you can see "White Star Line" faintly written on these beams.  AMAZING - I was definitely more excited to hear that factoid than anyone else in our tour group! lol

The group stopped at the Liberty Market food hall where Triston and I split a delicious pizza for lunch, an NYC classic!  We all stopped to see the South Tower Reflecting Pool ❤ then took the Staten Island Ferry to the Statue of Liberty.  Our tour guide was great and led us to a secret spot at the back of the boat where it was less crowded and great for photos.  It was super windy and below freezing outside (felt like 13 degrees), so we came back in after taking a few pictures! 

After the tour, Triston went back to the hotel room to chill and relax for a bit (#letthem) whilst I talked to Mom and Rach about Kyndal's Redland Rendezvous v-ball tournament and FaceTimed Jaceman and galivanted around the nearby souvenir shops, M&M store, Hershey World, etc. (#letme).  This = me keeping our cheesy M&M picture tradition going strong! lol

Jace Michael:  "So did y'all get to see the Home Alone hotel!?"

Me:  "Yeah, it's called The Plaza.  We drove by it and saw it by Central Park, but it's only open to residents and they don't let you just come in to look around the lobby!"

Jace:  "What!?  Go back and tell them you're checking in for McCallister!!" LOL

We had dinner reservations at Serendipity 3 that night, which brought back vivid Vegas memories for me!!  Great atmosphere and fantastic food!  We both got the frozen hot chocolate (something they're known for)... and it was one of many times I wished we'd had a third person there who was willing to eat after people.  T and I both avoid that, and we both had approximately a third or less of our $20 drinks. 

I texted Chettles a pic when I saw the infamous Forbidden Broadway Sundae on their menu!  He mentioned that it has doubled in price since 2010, which is ridiculous but not overly shocking! lol

After Junior's on Day 1, we walked to the Gershwin Theater box office and got what they claimed were the only 2 remaining tickets together for the Saturday night show of Wicked (4th row center).  Crazy expensive, but the musical was great, and I had never seen it on Broadway before.  Also, Mary Kate Morrisey (good friend of Annie F. Downs) played the lead role of Elphaba, so realizing that was fun for me!

Speaking of Junior's, we stopped at the Brooklyn location (equally close to our hotel) and grabbed some of New York's best cheesecake to bring back to our hotel room (#3023).  T-man had literally never tried cheesecake before, so his expectations are now set too high for other restaurants. lol  He got apple crumb and I got the pineapple, and it was delicious!

He was suddenly full of energy around 11pm and talked about staying out till 3am, but alas, NYC is not Vegas, and there's really nothing safe and appropriate that's open for us to do past midnight.  We walked back into Times Square for their Midnight Moment - something he'd learned about on TikTok and I'm happy to know about now - what I'm deeming the NYC version of the midnight fountain show in Vegas.  All the screens of Times Square become a unified digital art exhibition from 11:57 pm to midnight every night.  (A fantastic idea that they could do so many cool things with, but what they actually did was fairly disappointing compared to what I'd expected - hopefully they'll continue to revamp and improve on it!!)  I did love that there was  still colorful confetti on the street from the massive New Year's Eve party four nights before!! ❤

The fun countdown video at the beginning of my slideshow below was from the Midnight Moment in Times Square, then it was 3 minutes of animated birds... lamesauce.

Sunday was our final day there.  Again, we started with breakfast at the Highball Lounge in our hotel, then checked out and stored our luggage with them... then we Uber'd to the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  During our tour on day 2, Jimmy pointed out this globe sculpture that was partially crushed and folded in on top, explaining that it survived in between the two towers on 9/11 - so amazing - I love stuff like that! #resilience  And I was happy to see a photo of it pre-9/11 attack as we entered the museum!!

This whole experience was profound.  I am so grateful we did the guided museum tour and that they were flexible on the schedule as we were later than expected - our tour guide was exceptional and put so much heart into it!  This museum is underground between the foundation of both reflecting pools (wouldn't have known that on my own), so the wall pictured below stretches from one pool to the other, connecting the north and south towers with this display - there is a unique shade of blue on every single sheet of paper, one for each person killed in the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.  The letters in the quote you see are filled in with melted-down metal from the World Trade Center rubble.  And behind this wall is The Repository, where the remains of unidentified victims (40% of all the 9/11 victims were unable to be positively identified) are preserved by the Chief Medical Examiner.  It's a place where their families can come to mourn them, the closest thing many of them will ever have to a tomb... seriously, very sobering and well done.  Probably my favorite thing we saw at the museum, but that is not a short list.

A 9/11 sculpture on the left, and right is "the last column" - still rooted to the original foundation and much bigger than they initially realized when they started trying to dig it out - they put an American flag on top and it was the final thing to be removed from Ground Zero... signed by many of the firemen, rescue workers, and cleanup crew!!! ❤

We watched a short film featuring President GW Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Rudy Giuliani, and more talking about their experience of 9/11.  (Triston obviously didn't live through it as he was born in 2007, but he's watched several documentaries about 9/11 and also appreciated seeing the museum.) 

From there, we took a short walk over to One World Trade Center, aka The Freedom Tower, and went to the observatory at the top... the very best views of NYC!! ❤

We took a short Uber ride to Trinity Church (pictured left)... at long last, it was open and I was able to see the inside and pretend I was in National Treasure!! lol  I had T take a pic of me at the Wall Street and Broadway sign because it immediately brought my mind to that movie:  "Heere at the Wall"  ...I may watch that again this week - truly one of my favorites!!

The beautiful auditorium inside Trinity Church (several stories above the treasure). ;-)

T was excited about Wall Street, so we walked over to the New York Stock Exchange after visiting Alexander Hamilton's grave just outside Trinity Church - the entire epitaph is fantastic: "The Corporation of Trinity Church has erected this monument in testimony of their respect for the Patriot of incorruptible integrity, the Soldier of approved valour, the Statesman of consummate wisdom, whose talents will be admired in grateful posterity long after this marble shall have mouldered into dust. He died July 12th, 1804. Aged 47."  ❤

On Saturday, Jimmy recommended Los Tacos Numero Uno, so we decided to try that for lunch since it was at Chelsea Market near the Starbucks Reserve T was hoping to visit!  Really good food, and reeeeally friendly/aggressive pigeons!  I snapped a pic for JEM and Chet, and I'm so glad it was a live photo. lol  (Reminiscent of the extra-friendly little bird at the Bellagio Pool Cafe).

T looking 100% thrilled to join me for a brisk but lovely outdoor lunch at Chelsea Market and then coffee/hot chocolate across the street at Starbucks Reserve (another new thing I learned about from him, and it was very cool)!

Fun fact:  There are several Starbucks Reserve coffee bars but only six Starbucks Reserve Roasteries in the world... located in Tokyo, Shanghai, Milan, Seattle, Chicago, and NYC!  The atmosphere was fun and vibrant, and the huge building and roasting process was impressive to me - and I would imagine far more so to coffee lovers, for whom they offered samples of various unique blends!

GET IT!  I was so freaking happy when we drove by Peloton Studios NY on our way to the Memorial, and yes, we had just enough time for one final stop there on our way back to the hotel!  Tragically, the actual studio was closed, but the retail store was open, so I got myself a pink Peloton jacket from NYC -- love it!!

So Lord willing, NYC trip #6 will include taking a live Peloton class with one of my fav coaches and seeing Hamilton on Broadway - yes, please.  Driving by the Richard Rodgers Theater on our way to the airport, everything in me wanted to be in there! lol  "History is happening in Manhattan, and we just happen to be in the greatest city in the world - in the GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD!!"  (*Not actually the very greatest in my book, but it's grown on me exponentially, right along with Disney World. lol  And the atmosphere would have to be electric in this theater with the songs about NY - I just know it!)

We had a slightly turbulent but otherwise quiet and timely nonstop flight home, arriving at my house around 10:30.  Triston said he enjoyed it and thanked me for taking him, and I'm grateful it all worked out so smoothly... I spent a stupid amount of money, but Mom and Dad's Christmas gift went a long way there, and I'm full of gratitude for getting to see Trinity Church; the big tree and glittering Christmas decor; the NYE confetti and the Times Square Midnight Moment; the incredible 9/11 Museum; the Freedom Tower view; Peloton Studios NY; 4th row seats to Wicked on Broadway; visiting Grand Central Station again; taking a nice long walk through the heart of Central Park; two fantastic guided tours; and awesomesauce food from Junior's, Starbucks Reserve Roastery, Buon Cibo Pizza, Los Tacos #1, and Serendipity!!

Without further ado, here's my delightful slideshow recap of our 2025 New Year trip to NYC!!  We kept hearing this Alicia Keys song in the background as we walked the streets of NYC, and it made my cheesy-tourist self happy every time!!

That's all for today, friends and fam.  Looking forward to catching up with the fam over pizza tonight!  I love you and believe in you, and I hope you look for beauty and goodness in the world and find it, and that you embrace joy and do something that makes you feel more alive today!!

❤ ❤ ❤

(7) Celebration!!

Disney 2024, Part 7: Trip Finale & Flight Home

On our final day in Florida, Melissa brought me some leftover muffins from our Character Breakfast that I snacked on while packing up my things at our hotel.  The Wilson fam came to pick us up around 9:30, and we all went to see the Cars section of our hotel, then went back to Donetta‘s to hang out as the Wilsons finished packing up.  Side note, but I was very impressed with Karli's packing skills and how much they fit into a small space, including protein powder and creatine and their Disney store purchases, etc.  Another side note, but I learned that Chet sends Donetta flowers every November to acknowledge the anniversary of her first date with Richard, as well as Richard’s death in 2020 - I love his thoughtfulness in things like that, going out of his way to help and care for the people he loves!

Okay, so from Donetta‘s house, we went to the Town Tavern restaurant in Celebration, Florida.  Did I mention that Donetta lives in a town called Celebration on a street named Celebration Avenue?  So fun!  I would let go of the tree-themed street name dream to have an address that joyful.  It's a very cute town, or "creepily perfect" as Chet phrased it. lol

Our lunch with Donetta, Debbie, Ava, Teresa, and our Disney crew was a lot of fun!  Teresa and I split the sliders appetizer, and Chet and Karli were excited about the lobster chowder.

I insisted on getting a few photos of the Wilson fam with Donetta, so we walked across the street to get some pictures by Jeffrey Edward’s favorite lake in celebration!  I’ve heard Chet talk about Donetta a lot as his favorite aunt, but haven’t seen many photos of them together, so I wanted to add a few on this trip.  After lunch, I rode with Donetta and Teresa to the airport, and we picked up Erin, Ava's older sister, on our way. It was good to meet Erin and get to know Donetta more through the course of this trip!

Photo break... Cars pics of the kids with GiGi and Gramps!

Lunch pics at Town Tavern

And lake pics!

Teresa, Donetta, and Debbie 
(Chet's mom, aunt, and cousin)

Lake selfie

Airport pics...

The airport was a bit of a hot mess nightmare, reminiscent of round one.  I told Chet perhaps this is why I tend to love airports and he doesn’t.  I was quickly aware that my usual experience of people watching happy greetings (Love Actually style) while rolling a small suitcase and listening to my music or sitting down for a quick snack is a very different experience than the Wilsons working to get two large suitcases + folding up the double stroller and divvying up all the bags it was holding + a large car seat bag + Teresa's luggage and a wheelchair for her + helping two little kids navigate their way through security... it's a lot, and I applaud their patience!  

I sat between Chet and Teresa on the flight home.  Chet watched Pirates of the Caribbean and talked with us a bit while I edited/narrowed the final two days of my photos (yaaaay - that always takes forever, so having a 2.5 hour stretch to work on it was helpful) and Teresa worried about the grandkids and offered comforting snacks. lol

We had a smooth nonstop Allegiant flight home, and after a lengthy wait on our luggage at baggage claim, we went back to our cars where I was parked across from the Wilson van.  I knew I would see all of them again on the very next day when I came back to Tulsa for Mrs. Doubtfire.  What a gift their friendship is to me!!  In the same way that the NYC tour with Tom Orzo forever changed my perspective on New York City, this trip gradually changed my view of Disney World, and I'm thankful for that!  It's still a lot of work and way too much walking and hotter than it should be in November, and NYC still feels aggressive and semi-claustrophobic to me... but I'm able to appreciate more of the beauty and notice details I was missing before, and there's a lot to be said for that!

Karli and I both have childhood memories of family vacations featuring long drives to Disney with a combo TV/VCR plugged into the cigarette lighter. lol  Chet Lee's first Disney trip was as a married adult with the Weatherford fam, and he's been a Disney fan ever since!  He particularly appreciates the fireworks and the "song about dreams coming true," inspired by Walt Disney's pursuit of big dreams that brought people together!  I am thankful to understand more of the heart behind his love of Disney and the desire to create great memories for his kids, and I'm thankful for the perspective shift on my end and that I didn't give away my Park-Hopper passes! lol

2017 pic at Chet's office with his famous Disney fireworks painting!

Okay, I'm legitimately tired, and I still have homework I must focus on later today, but I wanted to write these posts while this is all fresh on my heart...

Fair thee well, Disney World. ❤

Hope to see you again soon!

In closing, here's an 8-minute slideshow of our trip to an instrumental Disney medley!  It's decidedly one of the cheesiest things I've ever made with the Disney gif at the beginning and them waving goodbye at the end, which means it's also one of my favorite things ever!! lol

 

❤ ❤ ❤

(6) Disney Magic!!

Disney 2024, Part 6: "Better by the Day!"

Photo by Chet Lee while we waited in line for the Skyliner Thursday morning... pretty sunrise, new rose gold backpack, new Disney Christmas shirt, collapsible Amazon stool for the long lines, and leopard print Minnie ears... ready for an epic four-park final day at Disney!! ❤

Scroll way down if you just want the pics and captions.

While driving home from a fun night seeing Mrs. Doubtfire at the Tulsa PAC with Chet, Karli, and Teresa (thanks again, Wilsons!), I'm reflecting on the past week and using the verbal transcription feature to record some thoughts for the blog.

From Disney Madness to Disney Magic...

Lots of thoughts about Disney and my week in Florida with the wonderful Wilson fam and the Weatherfords.  To say that it got better by the day is an understatement.  Day one, I was fairly miserable... drained, dehydrated, not eating enough food, feeling my usual trip anxiety, and remembering the exhaustion and blisters from our 2015 trip - wondering how I ever talked myself into coming back.  I actually Googled whether I could transfer my Park-Hopper tickets to someone else (yes), venting to Mom about how Disney is just not my scene -- the weekend crowds, long lines, exhaustion, Florida heat, moody kids, etc. all felt like madness to my overstimulated introvert self. lol  On any given day, I would rather be with the Wilsons than the great majority of people in all the world, so that's how I knew it was bad.  I felt frazzled and braced myself for a very long trip through the first couple days.  On the first drive back from Donetta's, I had a candid talk with Chet about how it all seemed like a ton of work for him and Karli, and how he (very understandably) didn't seem thrilled with it all.  He vowed to have a better attitude the next day, which was sooo not my intent there, so we had a follow-up convo later where I clarified that I fully understood and wasn't questioning his attitude, but rather, I was questioning what drives them to keep coming back! lol  I couldn't see it at all yet.

By day three, I was finding my footing and adjusting to the daily rhythms.   Karli and I shared our locations, which made the planning and timing of things easier.  The crowds were progressively calming down, we were hitting some fun rides, and I was feeling more like myself.  We had a great lunch at Prime Time Cafe, then on our way out, Chet said he probably won't be going back there. lol  While waiting in line for a popcorn refill for the kids and a bottled water for me, he asked me how my Disney experience was going so far.  I told him the way he felt about Prime Time Cafe was the way I felt about all of Disney - like there are a few fun things, but it wasn't really worth the money and effort, and I wouldn't likely be coming back.

I'm not positive when things shifted, but possibly during our Wednesday break when I realized I actually wanted to visit all four parks on my last day, blistered feet and all, and I didn't feel any anxiety about navigating that on my own at night.  At Disney Springs, I talked to Chet and Karli about how things typically don't become fun for me until they feel familiar...  I've thought more about that since then, and it feels true across the board for my life experience.  Since we did 5 days of Parkhopper passes, this final park day was my 3rd visit for that week to Magic Kingdom, 3rd trip to Epcot, 2nd time in Hollywood Studios, and my 1st time ever in Animal Kingdom!  The park entry system felt less chaotic, the Skyliner and bus system felt more familiar, I was noticing more fun Christmas decor and details, enjoying more foods I love, and feeling happier and more willing to try new things!!

Being lighter on my feet is undoubtedly helpful.  I'm approximately 70lbs below where I was in 2015 (basically the weight of two Parker Elizabeths - a visual that helps me understand how adding that everywhere I walk would make me tired and cause my feet to hurt more, and how losing even more will continue to help).  Although my feet currently have several blisters that are still healing, I was able to walk all four parks and enjoy the day without feeling too drained or giving up partway through!  And I believe all the time outside did good things for my soul, and the extra walking will be helpful for my Half Marathon next weekend (crazy!)  I was initially worried about a few things that became easier to navigate as the trip went on.  Between the MagicBand room key and the Disney app, they make it as simple as possible to find what you need and get help if needed.

My final Disney day was everything I hoped for, full of "the magic of Disney" from start to finish.  Y'all know I love a good breakfast, and our day began bright and early with a 7:50 Character Breakfast at the Riviera Resort (a deluxe Disney hotel).  It was super cute and fun to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy, all dancing and taking photos with the kids and families.  In addition to the fun atmosphere with lots of great photo opportunities, the breakfast was legit!  We all loved our food.  They started off with a bread basket that included croissants, chocolate chip muffins, and apple cinnamon muffins.  I ordered the ham and cheese quiche with breakfast potatoes, and it did not disappoint!  Karli‘s waffle was also great (she shared a bit with me after Chet carefully got a clean fork and chose the portion she hadn't eaten at all yet. lol  I appreciate people who know me well!)  Chet and Bill loved the steak and eggs, Melissa loved the waffle and the POG juice (passionfruit, orange and guava), and the kids enjoyed their Mickey and Minnie waffles with multiple dipping sauces!

We took some great photos on the balcony at the Riviera, then headed to the Skyliner to take our leftovers back to the hotel, which made for a nice breakfast on our final day there. We took the bus to Magic Kingdom for the final time, starting our day by repeating a few of the kids' favorite rides.  Tate was excited to show me his favorite places on Tom Sawyer Island!  We visited The Confectionery, where I got a Snickers rice crispy treat as a makeshift "lunch!"  Chet stayed on track and did well with nutrition goals - go Chet!  I mostly ate what sounded good and shared far more of it than I would have pre-surgery. lol  On the next trip, I'll plan ahead better when it comes to food and clothing and such.  But all in all, we walked an average of 20,000 steps and 8 miles a day, so #noragrets!

We took one final bus over to Animal Kingdom - a long ride, but everyone in our group got a seat this time!  It was my first time visiting that particular park, and I was excited to see it!  We saw what they call "The Tree of Life" as you walk into the park - the animal carvings all over it are pretty cool.  We did a Safari tour, which was fun to do with the kids.  They played at a little playground called Dino-Rama in Dino-Land.  Tate loves that area as well as Tom Sawyer‘s Island (both less crowded and good for introverts), and both are being torn down to make room for new rides coming soon - sad.  I rode Everest for the first time with Chet and Karli - glad I didn't talk myself out of that one!  Animal Kingdom closes at 6pm every day, but if you are in line for a ride by then, you can ride it.  The Wilsons went back to Donetta's and the Weatherfords went back to the hotel, and I got in line for the Avatar ride at 5:54.  Frustratingly, my phone was at 4% power at the time, so I made myself not look at it through the 45-minute line for Avatar.  That was a really fun ride, and I’m glad I stayed back and did it!  I found my way out of Animal Kingdom, asking directions while grabbing a Mickey ice cream bar, then ordered a Lyft to take me to Hollywood Studios. The regular Lyft drivers are 3x faster and 3x less expensive than the Minnie-vans, so that's good to know.   (Chettles suggested that, and it was a solid call as I was able to charge my phone back up to 25% during that relaxing $12 drive!)

At Hollywood Studios, I went straight to the Tower of Terror ride (after asking directions, of course, because my directional instincts are wrong 90% of the time).  My Disney app told me it was a 30-minute wait, but I got to cut a few people in the line because I was a single rider - yay!  That ride was actually more fun and less intense than what I had built up in my mind.  A lot of drops, but the biggest one did not feel that much different to me than the others.  I’m guessing that’s the motion sickness meds kicking in for me.  I was happy to have the photo and be able to text Rach that I finally did it!  Next time, I will open my eyes and have my hands in the air as it drops. lol  From there, I took the Skyliner over to Epcot, where I promptly found the French bakery and grabbed a chocolate croissant and quiche to go.  I found a good spot by the lake to watch the stunning Epcot fireworks show (called Luminous). The Ratatouille ride was closed after the fireworks, so that’s one ride to plan on for my next trip!  I was very happy to end my final night with fireworks, and I love that they incorporated all the countries and added a colorful fountains element to it!!

I took a few photos and short videos during the show, then I followed the crowd a long way in the wrong direction.  By the time I realized my mistake and made it back, the line for the Skyliner had grown insanely long... I could see that it would be two hours minimum to get through that, so I used my 5% battery to order another Lyft ride.  She picked me up at the Beach Club Hotel - a shorter walk than going through all of Epcot to their rideshare location.  That was the hotel where we stayed for Dad's State Farm trip in 2009, so it was fun to see it again!  My phone was at 1% battery when I walked into my hotel room (9830), and my feet were also at 1% power. lol  I walked over 27,000 steps and 10.5 miles that day, all on feet that had several blisters before the day started.  But I'm happy I went for it and already thinking ahead for a trip with the Parrishes down the road!  Toward the end of the trip, Melissa asked how my Disney experience had been.  Chet laughed and said, "Getting better by the day, right, Linz?"  He could not have been more right! ❤

Okay, on to photos...

Our bread basket at the Character Breakfast at Topolino's Terrace!  (You can book these reservations 60 days out from your trip - this one was $52 per adult and $33 per child, but that's super worth it to me for the fun pics, delish food, and great memories!)

Group pic with "Artist Mickey!"

It made me very happy that they both folded their hands when Minnie did! =)

Elbow bump with Donald!

Better balloon pic for Magic Kingdom round 3... get excited!!

Parker meeting her fav Princess Rapunzel was the very cutest!  She was a little shy at first, but proud and confident when her parents joined her! ❤

Meeting Princess Tiana!

Disney train ride!

Tate sailing to Tom Sawyer Island for one final visit before they tear it down!

"If you don't believe in the magic of Disney, just look at this photo!"  ~Chet Lee 

It is pretty precious!!

Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom!

Riding Everest for the first time - I was nervous based on how tall it was and hearing that it goes backwards, but it was super fun! lol

Tower of Terror (with fake snow + Christmas music + fun projections on it at night!

Eyes closed and gripping my seatbelt expecting something much worse! lol But I DID IT, and now I know!

Luminous Epcot fireworks selfie!  The fireworks being reflected in the lake was fantastic to me!

Good to see you again, Yacht and Beach Club Hotel!!

Back at the hotel by 10pm, and my feet were very done!

Every hotel on the Disney grounds has an in-room virtual assistant where you say, "Hey, Disney..." and you can order room service or linens or towels, or play Disney trivia or have it read you a story.  So this was me listening to Aladdin while getting ready for bed! lol

All things considered, I’m proud of myself for being determined to finish what I had started (with the Tower of Terror line and wishing I could stay for the Epcot fireworks on the day I had the school meeting).  In our final 2-3 days, I was really feeling "the magic of Disney," which is a big internal shift from where I was last weekend!  I feel very grateful that the Wilsons and Weatherfords allowed me to join them for this family trip!!  I am thankful that Karli took care of the details and planning, and I simply paid for my portion and enjoyed the ride.  I’m thankful that they knew and understood how to navigate the parks, and it was a pleasant surprise to see how trusting people are in that atmosphere, leaving their strollers and bags unattended while riding rides -  my court reporter self is genuinely impressed that there is not more theft. You can take your purse/backpack with you on every ride that I rode, which is really helpful. Anyway, I’m thankful to have new memories with the Wilsons, to learn some of their family stories, to have a deeper appreciation for their role as parents.  Thankful for Chet's friendship and sense of humor, Karli‘s friendship and attention to detail, for Melissa‘s kindness and fun stories, getting to know Trent and Bill a bit better, for Tate being excited to show me Tom Sawyer Island, and for Parker being the cutest person at any Disney park! lol  

I adore her (and her Disney shoes and unicorn sunglasses)! lol

Also thankful to spend a bit more time with Donetta and Teresa on this trip, which I will cover in my next and final trip recap post!

(To be continued...)

❤ ❤ ❤