Month: August 2022

At the very end of summer, right before school started, I ran away to California for another K-pop concert! I’m a “multi-stan” of at least a dozen groups. My top two favorites are Ateez and Seventeen (SVT). Having had an amazing time seeing Ateez, I knew I had to see SVT when they came to North America. After a long wait, being tempted by several other groups touring the US this summer as well, they finally announced the world tour and I immediately invited Miranda to come with me. She said she knows nothing about K-pop, but loves to have adventures and to learn about other people’s passions. We booked a quick trip to Oakland for the third tour stop, squeezing it in between other summer events and work/school commitments.

I love Miranda so much. Seeing her again and spending so much time catching up was just as great as the concert. Even though we haven’t talked in months (years?) it always feels natural and easy to be with her.

I flew in Friday night and secured our hotel room, where she joined me early Saturday morning. We excitedly talked, rested from travel, then went out in search of food and scenery. We got vegan burgers and shakes at Malibu Burgers (not as good as Monty’s in K-town) and got caffeinated at a cute cafe on Piedmont Avenue. Then we took a car to Berkeley to admire the foliage and get some more treats. There was a beautiful shady park with eucalyptus and redwood trees. We took a quick gander at the Berkeley public library for restrooms and architecture. Cinnaholic was gooey delicious for supper, and we got Thai food to eat back at the hotel.

Sunday was concert day! We took it easy by sleeping in – or I tried anyway. I was on East coast time in Florida the weekend before, on Pacific time now, with sleepless nights in Colorado with Nimbus’ emergency in between. By this point my body had no idea what time it should be sleeping or feel hungry! I enjoyed my leftover mango sticky rice and spring rolls without knowing if it was breakfast or lunch.

I waffled about trying to figure out where to go for the day. I learned that Oakland is spread out and sort of suburban, so getting Uber or Lyft took longer than in LA NYC, or Orlando. Miranda advised me to just pick what I was most excited to eat and go there, which is how we ended up at Urban Kare House near Alameda Beach. I got to try their Katsu Sando on shokupan and it was sooo good. We also got bubble tea at Yi Fang next door, where I finally got to try a wintermelon drink (with lemonade and mochi cake jellies).

We strolled through the shops, including Daiso and an artist collective store with lots of cute craft items. Then we walked to the beach to dip our toes. It was so warm and pleasant! There were lots of families having a joyous Sunday afternoon.

After a very long wait for a Lyft back to the hotel, it was time to get ready for the show! Earlier in the day we ran into some other concert fans at the hotel who were dressed to the nines, already going to the VIP soundcheck. We didn’t get nearly so fancy, but I did pack some temporary tattoos for fun.

We got a VERY fast car to the arena and then I spent a magical night with Seventeen. I’ll tell you all about it in part 2.

Shortly after arriving home from Florida, I discovered Nimbus in distress. I called our neighbor, who is a vet, for an ER recommendation. He hurried over to give her a look before calling us in to his clinic.

After many hours it was determined that she had a foreign body in her gut. They kept her overnight to see if it was in the colon and would move, but there was no change in the morning. She had emergency surgery to remove the object on Wednesday afternoon. We visited her over the next few days and I pushed to have her discharged on Friday morning. I could tell that she was being stubborn at that point and wouldn’t eat until she came home.

The object was a piece of foam – no surprise to me. She loves to chew on foam: pool noodles, toy parts, styrofoam, etc, and she loves to eat popcorn. Something about that texture. We do our best to keep it out of the house, but she must have found this stray piece somewhere. I had the boys spend 10 minutes searching for foam every day while she was in the hospital.

Once home she visibly relaxed. She used her litter box and ate some food like normal! I was so relieved. This was an incredibly stressful time for me. Not only had we just come home off a big trip, I had another trip planned that weekend. What was supposed to be a 4 day rest period became a sleepless, horrible week with anxiety clawing at me from every side.

Andy came through like an angel. He offered to help with Nimbus while I was away. At first I declined, thinking it would be no big deal once she got home. But as we left the ER clinic with a long list of instructions and medication schedule, Ben and I knew we needed help. Andy immediately started packing and arrived right before I had to leave for the airport. I’m so grateful that he came to be Nimbus’ nurse. He was super attentive and careful with her and gave me reassuring updates. I heard that the boys all had a great time together too, which was also soothing to my nerves.

Nimbus is pretty much back to normal now. She has been making up for lost time on the couch with me, especially after the boys returned to school. Her stitches are mostly gone and her appetite is ravenous. We have a follow-up appointment this week but I’m sure she will be fine now.

Monday, our last full day in the park, was the rainiest of days. Each day they shut down the outdoor rides for storms in the area, but Monday had it the most. Luckily, we had accomplished most every ride we wanted to hit, so this last day could be slower and more exploring. We slept in a bit, then took the water taxi to USO. The lighting was lovely while waiting for the boat, so I took a lot of pictures.

We returned to Transformers, then shared a cubano sandwich and fruit cups while watching the Transformers characters perform.

We went to the Horror Make-up and Special Effects show. I think Jack was the perfect age for the comedy, he was laughing a lot and was truly interested in all the gimmicks they showed us.

The kids hate character interactions and were annoyed that I forced these pictures with the Despicable Me parade.

What a surprise, we’re back at Diagon Alley! More dragon viewing, another ride on Gringotts, and some sweet treats.

They each got a Cauldron Cake, I got a pumpkin cake, Sam got a caramel apple, and Jack got a chocolate frog. The sky had opened and the rain poured down. We hoped it would let up so they could perform The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which wasn’t listed as canceled. Alas, we gave up when it was 10 minutes. We took the Hogwarts Express to IOA.

We wanted to do more rides, but everything was either closed or a very long wait (all the traffic gets pushed to indoor rides when it rains). We found burgers in Jurassic World and the kids played in the science center.

Sam found this outdoor playland that was open despite the rain. It was very cool! A good break for him, I think.

Back towards the park entrance, hoping the rain would stop (no luck) we went to Spider-Man again. This time masks off for the picture!

For some reason the Storm Force ride was open when nothing else was operational. It was basically a walk-on because it’s a tea-cups type ride. I happily took pics from the side-lines.

Sam picked out a couple comics from the comic book store.

We bid adieu to Ben, who was tuckered out for the day. I took the boys over to Hogsmeade to ride Forbidden Journey for the third time. The rain finally stopped so the lines were shorter, as people migrated to those outdoor queues.

The picture line was having trouble. After impatiently waiting for me, I told them they could ride Hippogriff by themselves. Delighted, they scurried across the grounds to the coaster. I finished up in time to see them ride and take some pics. They are in the very back car of this train:

Here they are, so proud of their ride without grown-ups.

We agreed there was only one way to close out the night – another ride on Hagrid. The sunset was beautiful as we made our way there. There was even a rainbow!

When I got home to download all the photo package photos, I found there were two mp4 files of Hagrid. I was excited to see video, and then totally bummed about the outcome. What good is taking video of an outdoor ride if you don’t illuminate it at night?? Both files looked like this:

Jack wanted a picture with the train engine parked in Hogsmeade, and then we walked back to the hotel for our last night.

Tuesday we flew back to Colorado, but not until the afternoon! We spent the morning in Diagon Alley one final time for a little more shopping, more spells, and to watch the Tales of the Beedle the Bard.

One last blow of the dragon, and we took our butterbeers out of the wizarding world and back to the normal world.

We had lunch in the City Walk shopping center, took a car to the airport, and had a rather unpleasant flight home. But let’s not think on that. I’ll try to remember this as our farewell to Florida instead:

Sunday morning I declared it “Get Wet!” day. We dressed to get splashed a lot, with the plan to come change and rest midday.

Walking to the parks seemed faster than the water taxis, and you get to see the lizards along the way.

Arriving at IOA:

First stop was the Spider-Man ride. We raced through the express queue, hence the blurry photos of Peter Parker’s office.

I didn’t know this ride has a photo spot, so we hadn’t taken our masks off:

Oh, not pictured on our first day was a ride on the King Kong. It was right after the Jurassic River ride and Jack was very stressed about riding it. It was scary themed and I didn’t know much about it to describe the ride. We kinda forced him on. Afterward, with some reflection, everyone agreed it was a great ride and we were so very brave. So we snapped this pic as we passed by the queue on the second day.

Walking through more Jurassic photo-ops

Back to Jurassic River Adventure. The line was super short, even without our Express Passes, so I asked them to seat us in the front row. While we waited for the next empty boat the kids were confused why I would request that. “It’s a better view!” I said with a wild glint in my eye.

Bwaa ha ha ha, completely soaked! It’s Get Wet day!

Now that we were totally wet, it was over to Toon Lagoon for Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges and Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls.

Poor Sam. He protested this ride, remembering that he skipped Splash Mountain last time at Disneyland. We tried to reassure him that the drop was similar to the Jurassic ride, and that he could sit between me and Dad. When we got to the loading dock they made him sit in front because he was the smallest. I tried to protest and bargain with no luck. I gripped his shoulders for comfort and talked him through the whole ride. He was very brave to go through with it, but I’m afraid he will always be anti-flume ride after this experience. The rest of us loved it 🙂

To make amends we let Sam pick lunch, choosing a pizza place in Jurassic land. I also let him eat my garlic bread. Then we took the water taxi back to the hotel.

The kids dried off and watched cartoons while we laid back for an hour or so. Refreshed a bit, we walked back to UOS, stopping for butterflies along the way.

The Minions ride wasn’t anyone’s favorite, but it was ok. Long line for a very short 4D movie.

Great Scott!

Next we did the ET ride. It was very weird for the kids. I loved the queue in the woods, but the ride itself is very dated and not well kept compared to the similar Peter Pan ride at Disney.

We were near the kiddie coaster for Woody Woodpecker. This was by far the hottest and worst queue of the trip. The express line was so slow despite a short posted wait, and there was no shade or fans while on the hot pavement. We were melting. The coaster was fine but short and not worth it.

We cooled off in the nearby misting area and refilled water bottles. The kids were done with the non-wizard stuff.

We walked through the Simpsons land for a quick pic, and skipped MIB for another visit to Diagon Alley. The boys promised me they were ready for Gringotts, yipee! Jack forgot to switch his sunglasses before putting packs in the locker. Whoops! It was a great ride!

More spells, and then another trip on the Hogwarts Express.

Passing through the wall to Platform 9 3/4, you can see them disappear from this angle.

Time for more spells and rides in Hogsmeade:

Me and the boys had another round on The Forbidden Journey, and this time the photos were working:

It was near the end of the park hours. Ben went took a rest, while the boys and I went on the wildest ride yet – Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motor Bike Adventure. This is the most popular ride in the park (tied with Velocicoaster) and there is no express queue. My research said that going at the end of the day is the best time to ensure a shorter wait. Indeed, we were only in the line for about 60 minutes. The queue was lovely and the ride was amazing. Totally worth it, the boys said.

Ben met us with dinner on the Three Broomsticks patio. We cheered with butterbeer to our exhilarating end to the day while the Hogwarts fireworks crackled.

Wands ready, we hit the parks. This time we started at Islands of Adventure to see Hogsmeade in the daylight. It was hotter and more crowded, I def prefer Diagon Alley. But there were three rides here, so they balance out.

Oh, by the way I purchased the Universal Photo Pass. Overall not great (compared to Disney): only one photographer at the front of each park and although ride photos are included, several times they weren’t working. Also, again, Sam pouted through all the group shots. Oh well. Here’s the set from arriving at IOA:

Time for RIDES! I convinced a very nervous Jack to start on Flight of the Hippogriff. It’s a “kiddie coaster” but packs a punch. The line is decorated with Hagrid’s Hut and there’s an animatronic Buckbeak at the start of the ride. They loved it and were primed for more thrills.

Next was Forbidden Journey. The queue was very cool, even with our shortened express pass line. The ride was amazing (and nauseating). The kids loved it. We rode it three times during the trip. Ride photos were broken this first time.

I wrenched the kids away from the wizarding world to explore other parts of the park. One of my favorites is the Jurassic Park River Adventure. I loved it when we went to the California park years ago and I told the kids not to worry, that’s it was pretty chill and then had a “little” drop. They were nervous again, but I won them over.

Mwah ha ha! They have no idea what’s coming!

Yisssssss!

I love this ride photo. Ben is trying to keep his glasses from flying off. Sam’s face is so precious! Contrary to his expression, he loved this ride and was ready for more.

We had lunch at Blondie’s in Toon Lagoon, then rode some mild rides in Seuss Landing.

It was hot, so I guided us to Poseidon’s Fury, and indoor walk-through show. I had low expectations but it actually turned out pretty cool (in a corny way) and we all enjoyed it.

Enough of this non-wizard stuff! With Florian Fortescue Ice Cream in mind, we boarded the Hogwarts Express in Hogsmeade to return to Universal Studios (USO). I rested in Knockturn Alley with a frozen butterbeer (less dairy than ice cream) and the kids cast more spells. They joined me on the bench and we watched the Dragon blow while we cooled off.

We left Diagon Alley to help Optimus Prime on the Transformers ride.

We were pretty tired after all that, so we walked back to the hotel for dinner by the pool. The kids swam a bit and then we called it a night.

After months (years!) of no travel, and a canceled anniversary trip to Japan, we indulged in a family vacation to the Universal Studios Orlando Resort in Florida. We decided to travel in August close to our anniversary, knowing full well that the crowds and weather would be peak uncomfortable. So we went all out for the trip – a five days vacation, three full days in the parks, staying in a premier resort close to the park, and with Unlimited Express passes. I did my best with planning the trip to be comfortable and fun with minimal standing in the hot sun.

I’ve been wanting to visit Universal since our Disneyland trip in 2020. Now that we are all vaccinated and boosted, it seemed safe enough to travel so long as we only ate outdoors and masked indoors still. It worked! We all stayed healthy during and after the trip. The masks were mildly annoying, but we are all experts at wearing them.

So Friday morning we said goodbye to the kitties and headed to the east coast! The flight was delayed, but we still got to our hotel with plenty of time to explore. We stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific resort. The hotel was beautiful, with crazy jungle foliage surrounding and Polynesian style art throughout. Our room looked out over the moat with lily pads and other exotic flora.

When I purchased the trip the ongoing ticket deal was buy a 3 day pass, get 2 extra days free. This was perfect for us, because it gave us the option to pop in the parks on our days traveling into and out of Orlando. After gearing up with hats, sunscreen, and fanny packs we took the water taxi to Universal Studios.

Our goal was to immediately soak up some Harry Potter vibes. The kids wanted to buy wands at Ollivanders and wander Diagon Alley. This land really was incredible. They did an amazing job bringing the movie world to life. Even with the crowds, the boys were able to do all the spell locations they wanted over and over. The dragon on Gringotts was truly impressive. And the best part? Diagon Alley is AIR CONDITIONED! No joke, you can feel the breeze pushing out from the London area, and inside it feels at least 10 degrees cooler. Want to be even cooler? Sit in Knockturn Alley. That dark corridor was my favorite place, it was almost chilly. Anyway, lots of pictures incoming:

We found our way to the wand shop. It was confusing to find the wands, we sure felt like muggles! Eventually the boys found their perfect match. I’m so glad that I sewed wand holsters before our trip. It was very handy to have a safe keeping place!

Spells galore! There’s a learning curve. By the end of the trip they could reliably conduct the spells. This first day was a bit tricky.

We sampled all the fancy drinks to see what was best: Pumpkin Juice, Butterbeer, Frozen Butterbeer, and Fishy Green Ale. Butterbeer in both forms was the winner. I loved the Pumpkin Juice (pure October flavor) but it’s too sweet to finish a whole glass of it.

The boys were strangely nervous about doing any rides that nice. I was dying to try Gringotts, but they were adamant that it was too much for the first day. The only ride I could convince them to do was the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade. It’s a cable car train that takes you to the Islands of Adventure park, with a movie in the car. I thought the effects on the doorway were very well done.

It was nearly closing time, so we ordered dinner at the Three Broomsticks and watched the Hogwarts castle light show from the back patio.

Then we walked back to the hotel and dropped asleep, ready to really explore tomorrow. Wow, I can’t believe we did so much our first night! I was gonna post the whole trip in one go, but I think I have to break it up here. Stay tuned for more!

Here’s a collection of things that happened this summer.

Along with my previous posts, I think that catches up my journal of our summer to August. Hoo boy, August has been a doozy. And it’s not over! Luckily the drama is milder this week – Sam and Ben have had colds (testing negative for Covid) and Jack’s school had an evacuation for a bad smell the suspected was a gas leak. It turned out to be “water evaporation in pipes that had been sitting unused throughout the summer in science classrooms.”

After school carpool I whisk the kids to the dentist, and then high tail it up to Boulder for dance class. I’m trying to get as much dance as I can. I missed two weeks for traveling, and I have to stop when I have surgery next month. Yes, I might as well mention it now. I’m having a hysterectomy in three weeks for adenomyosis. It’s been tolerable/manageable, but it will get worse and worse the longer I have it. It HAS been getting worse for years now. So I’m evicting my uterus! I’m pretty happy to be having it removed. But it’s still major surgery and I’m nervous and dreading the recovery time. It will be worth it though.

August was a crazy month for us! And it’s not over yet! We have so many pictures to post, that it’s becoming a daunting task. I won’t worry about chronology, just post what and when I feel like it. For now – the kids returned to school!

Sam is in fourth grade this year. We were confused to see the name of his second grade teacher on his assigned class. It turned out that her daughter is actually Sam’s teacher! He’s excited about that, and he had some good friends in his class too.

Sam is having a phase where he refuses to smile or pose for pictures. I had to steal this pic at pick-up on his first day, when he had a genuine smile:

Jack is back at middle school as a seventh grader. He has widened the height gap even farther over the summer, towering over his classmates and being low key teased for voice changes. He’s in good spirits though, and says his teachers and classes are all great so far. He’s doing orchestra with the violin again this year.

The bus service is back after being canceled last spring. Fingers crossed that we can keep it for the full year! The route is less convenient for Jack, but he doesn’t seem to mind the commute. I’m thrilled that it drops off near the elementary school. I can take them both home from one place. And eventually, they can walk home by themselves.

Jack leaves to early for me to take a picture, but here’s one of him unpacking after the first day:

Twenty years ago today we were married. Life has been very full during our two decades together.

We are celebrating with the kids later this weekend. So today was a small and quiet day for the two of us.

Between work hours we exchanged small gifts, had lunch together on the patio, and went to Kokoro for dinner. Inevitably, we ended up at Target and brought home ice cream bars for the boys.

Still in love. Still happy we can share our lives every day. Especially the mundane days.