Yesterday, after work, we went to Marathon Weekend Expo.
We picked up our bib and information for the half-marathon and we got our volunteer credentials for the marathon.
Today, we had to watch a 12-minute video on how to properly set-up and pass out our water station. At no time are we supposed to say, “Almost there.”
After the expo, we went to Epcot. Dad rode Spaceship Earth a few times. Andrea and I walked right onto Test Track. We saw IllumiNations and left.
So, I am really behind with the blog. Eeek. Sorry.
Currently, I am sitting with Andrea at Pop Century updating it or it would really get out of control in the next week. I am going to do my best, but the pictures on the site are not uploading correctly.
I arrived in Moline on the 19th of December. The state of was in full Rose Bowl frenzy. Dad and I went to see Andrea in Iowa City where we ate sushi. Besides shopping, we went to see the Keokuk Christmas lights and Dad and I drove down to Niota, Illinois one afternoon. The whole Christmas week was relatively warm outside. We even ate the fish we bought on the banks of the Mississippi in Fort Madison.
On Wednesday, Jonathan text me saying he had a surprise. Andrea guessed a puppy first thing. She was right. Jonathan got a Cavachon and named him PIXEL later on.
We started opening presents on Wednesday. I mostly got Dad and Andrea Shutterfly projects, but I also gave them a 3-day pass to Universal. I have a year pass to Universal and I do not want to renew it, so there was no better time to get it for them. Tom and Cindy helped me as they were here in May. They let me borrow a few Harry Potter books and their magic wand, so it was neatly presented as a gift.
Sweet Tomatoes’ stock went up as I received many gift cards this Christmas season, but I think the hit of the day was Pixel. Uncle Michael’s joke book was pretty popular too.
Sweet Tomatoes’ stock continued to rise. A Go Pro, a camera, a
I went up to Andrea’s two days early, but I became slightly sick. It was nice to sleep in and relax. Andrea heard ice hitting her window on Monday morning. It was nice to see some snow before I left.
I did catch the bus into campus and I went to the gym which has been built since I attended.
We had a strange New Years Eve.
We were delayed 6 hours, because the plane from Orlando coming to pick us up had to make an emergency landing in Tennessee. They had to fly a plane from Las Vegas to Tennessee and then, fly those passengers to Cedar Rapids.
Aunt Debbie braved the ice and brought Jack and Lane to eat breakfast at a local restaurant. We then met the rest of the family back at her house. Though I was sad to miss eating a German restaurant in Sanford, playing with the kids was really fun. Julia and I had some great hiding spots in the basement.
We left Cedar Rapids 6 hours later and arrived in Sanford at 6:30 p.m. My friend, Yanbin, drove us back to his house to get my car. We then took 417 directly to the hotel. We decided to go to Epcot for the countdown. It was the best show I have ever seen. Most of the pavilions had already rung in the New Year, so we celebrated with them until it was our turn at Midnight. We were in the German pavilion in the beginning and celebrated with the German Cast Members who stayed to celebrate together. Then, I wanted to run to the United States, but we made it to Italy and the view was very good there too.
Well, the day finally came yesterday. We woke up and had breakfast at Art of Animation across the lagoon from our hotel.
We made it back to the hotel just in time for the Rose Bowl parade. I was a little disappointed as I thought the entire parade would be one dedication to the University of Iowa. It was neat that the parade was a dedication to the National Parks though, but it was different than what I was expecting.
After the parade, we ate lunch at Pollo Tropical and then, we went to Dillards and Publix to get some groceries. We also stopped by my apartment for a little while.
At around 4:30 p.m., we went to the Orlando Iowa Club Rose Bowl watch party. The game was somewhat disappointing, but I still had fun cheering for when they scored. Every small win like a first down seemed like a major victory considering Stanford scored 11 seconds into the game and continued to have some amazing plays. It was still fun to cheer for them one last time in the season. I was more disappointed after the Iowa – Michigan State game.
Today, we went to Islands of Adventure and Universal. We saw Grinchmas, Poseidon’s Fury, and Harry Potter World. We also went to see the Hard Rock Hotel and Loews’ Portifino Hotel.
Harry Potter World is the only worthwhile thing at Universal. We had a traditional English breakfast complete with blood pudding and warm butterbeer. We took the train over to King’s Cross Tube Station and went into Diagon Alley. We had ice cream. I had one scoop of Earl Grey and Lavender and one scoop of clotted cream. We also exchanged some money at Gringott’s Money Exchange. We had a fun time with the wand (Thanks Cindy). I accidentally made some water spray into a woman’s face — like directly. It was in slo-mo. Before Christmas, I hadn’t read the books so the only thing I really appreciated was the London tube station. I watched one movie over break (well, 20 minutes), so I could see today how well the world was done.
(Dad re-created when he lost his camera on the ride the castle.)
We were going to stay for the Macy’s Holiday Parade, but it was at 8 p.m. tonight. We decided to go to Sweet Tomatoes and come back to the hotel. It is almost 8 p.m. We are going to Magic Kingdom soon.
I will try to update later with pictures in each blog, but it is the best I can do now.
Last Sunday night, Bev and I went to Epcot in the afternoon and Ft. Wilderness at night. We saw the Holidays around the World and drove through Ft. Wilderness seeing the campsites decorated.
I have been pretty busy. Last week, I had 3 events I was in charge of and I attended 2 others. This week, I went to a great graduation party for Kelly. She used to work at the NEC. The picture above is where the restaurant overlooked. It was really nice.
By the time most of you will read this, I will be in Iowa/Illinois. My flight leaves in 10 hours. I arrive in Moline at 8:02 a.m. tomorrow morning!!!
The pictures do not seem to be in chronological order, but you get the picture.
About two weeks ago, on a Monday, I met Bev down at Magic Kingdom. We saw Elsa turn the castle to ice. Thinking back, we actually did a lot in about 3 hours. FastPasses are good when you only have three hours. We rode Buzz, saw the castle turn to ice, ate at Pecos Bill’s, rode Big Thunder and also, Space Mountain. Pecos Bill’s experienced a menu change. Dad now would like to cancel any upcoming trips. Ha. It no longer has the grilled onions and mushrooms. It now has a Chipotle-style bar. It has corn, guacamole, sour cream, etc. The restaurant no longer has hamburgers. It is mostly fajitas, tex-mex food, etc.
Magic Kingdom is very annoying. Parents like to put their kids on their shoulders. I saw one dad have a son on one shoulder and a daughter on the other. That creates a 9 to 11 foot wall. I know kids have to be able to see, but it is still annoying.