Why Not Make It Three??? Or maybe FOUR?!?!? Or just MAYBE FIVE!!!!!

[tyandskyesmom]

America was next...

We needed another cookie here so we stopped at the American Holiday Table...

It was a Gingerbread Cookie. It was a bit chewy, which we prefer to hard and crumbly. It had a medium gingerbread flavor so it was not over overpoweringly ginger...which we prefer. We all had a bit and it was good...but we are not huge gingerbread people.

We also grabbed a Hand Carved Smoked Ham with Green Beans and Sweet Potato Casserole.

And a Slow Roasted Turkey with Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, and Cranberry Sauce.

Ok, so, I had been looking forward to these...they looked so good in pictures...they look so good in my pictures...but they were bad. This is the only place we did not clean our plates. First off, they were cold. Not cool like they had been sitting a while waiting...COLD. The gravy on the ham was yucky. The ham on it's own was ok. The sweet potatoes would probably have been ok if they weren't so cold. The green beans were ok, but cold. The cranberry sauce helped the gravy a little but not much and the Turkey was really dry...like bad flashbacks of grandma's house when the turkey cooked ALL day dry. So while these all looked good, we left part of them in the garbage can.

We were able to find a picnic table to sit at but we had to clean it off...good thing we carry a pack of butt wipes with us. We had a couple of extremely friendly birds hanging around while we ate so I had to keep telling the other three that they could not feed them!

We were here at 5:20pm and we paid $14.25 here.

While Skyler was getting the food from the American Holiday Kitchen, Cary and Tyler ran to the Joffrey's Cart nearby. He got a Hot Coffee with Baileys.

This was a "to do" in something Tyler was going through...I forget exactly what it was but I think it was something in the Festival of the Holidays booklet. I thought it was really strong...but I am not generally a drinker. Cary drank it but could take it or leave it.

They also got a Big Pink Donut.

And that was really soft and fresh tasting even at 5:33pm! We all enjoined it. They brought this all back to the picnic table in America to eat.

The cost here was 14.47 after a $3.40 annual pass discount).

We explored America a little more.

Panama had a mini photo shoot around the water...

There was quite a line to get into the Candlelight Processional.

For all the times we have been at the end of the year, we have never sat for the Candlelight Processional. We have seen them walking in, we have seen them coming out, and we have caught bits and pieces passing by but we have never waited to actually see it...some day we will!

And on we moved...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We arrived in Italy, the country the kids were waiting for!

Tyler still misses when there used to be masked human statues all around Italy when he was little.

The Holiday Kitchen booth was between Italy and Germany.

So we stopped at Tuscany Holiday Kitchen. We ordered a La Genovese - rustic flatbread, vidalia onions, white wine braised beef tenderloin tips and mozzarella.

And the Blanca Neve - Italian flatbread, mozzarella and parmesan.

We all loved our flatbreads...the kids, cheese...Cary and I loved the other one. They all seemed just served, not like they had been sitting, waiting to be ordered. The cheese was just good cheese pizza but the other one was different, at least different than what we would normally order. I mean, Cary and I are always up to try something new but we are always worried that if we do we will be sorry for it so we usually end up ordering the usual at places. These were an awesome way to try something new with out investing too much just in case we didn't like it...but we had nothing to worry about here because it was all good!

We were able to find a bench near the little train city between Italy and Germany to sit and eat on. It was 6:48pm and it cost $13.00.

When we were done eating, we moved on to Germany. This pavilion is really pretty at night!

And we had a cookie to eat here...so we stopped at the Bavaria Holiday Kitchen. We were starting to feel full and the kids cannot handle leaving without one more thing in particular so all we got here was the Linzer Cookie.

I think this was collectively our favorite cookie we have had so far. It was like flaky butter cookie with jeppy in the middle and powdered sugar...really good!

We were here at 6:52pm and the total was $2.50.

After eating it, we moved on...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We by-passed The Outpost to get to China but we did not eat here today.

I think China would be my favorite pavilion if i had to choose a favorite! After checking out China we made our way to Norway.

We found Chip and Dale and then moved on.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So we headed into Mexico which is what the kids were waiting for. We headed to La Cantina de San Angel. We gve Cary and Tyler our orders and Skye and I went to find a table...sometimes in the evening the seating here is non-existent!

They ordered and then waited a long time for it to be done...they were not sure why but it was about 10 minutes after ordering to get the food.

The kids ordered the Kid's Empanadas con Queso - served with Tortilla Chips, Nacho Cheese and choice of Lowfat Milk, Nestlé Nesquik® Chocolate Milk, Soda or Small DASANI® Bottled Water ... with a kids sprite and a coke...and they came with sliced apples.

They absolutely love these...and it is really a lot of food for a kid's meal!

Cary and I got a Tacos de Barbacoa - Seasoned Beef, Homemade Corn Tortillas, Mexican Rice, Refried Black Beans and Red Salsa.

And Tyler got the same but PLAIN...

These are really good...I'm not sure how Tyler eats everything so plain but he likes it that was so whatever. He does not eat beans and rarely this kind of rice so Cary and I had plenty with his beans and rice and three tacos between us. The beef is little spicy but not "hot" and the beans and rice are a good compliment.

We love the Cantina and we are there at least once per trip. It does get crowded over there so we always like to find a table before ordering. They have packaged sauces and red and green salsa available. I am sure we will continue to eat here every trip.

We were here at 7:26pm and our total was $47.93.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After eating, we had another cookie we needed to east. We stopped at Feast of the Three Kings Holiday Kitchen for a Chocolate Crinkle Cookie.

Which was really good but very chocolate-y...it would have been great with some cold milk. We all liked it. It was 7:58pm and it was $2.50.

We headed towards Future World.

On the way we had to stop at one of the stands close to the bridge into Future World to get our prize forgetting all the cookies on the Cookie Stroll.

A milk and a Santa Mickey Sugar Cookie...YUM...my favorite!

Then we needed to stop at Port of Entry to get our prize from finding all the Chip and Dale characters.

It is a cute little ornament....it is like a super thick cardboard. We added it to our tree when we got home.

So we headed up front. Skyler had decided THIS MORNING that we were doing a Secret Santa today. She said we were to spend about $40.00 on our person. We picked names from a hat this morning and it was secret...although I had figured out who everyone picked pretty early on. SO we were headed to shop for our gifts. We were questioning how she thought this was going to work and told her she should have planned this when we first arrived so that we all would have had a chance to shop over a few days. SO we headed into Mouse Gears ... Me with Tyler and Skyler with Cary (because Skye had Tyler, I had Skye, Cary had me, and Tyler had Cary). We were told to try to stay at opposite sides of the store. It wasn't easy to not see each other. But we accomplished what we needed to, some of better than others, and then we regrouped and headed out.

We were at the bus stop at 9:15pm and on a bus at 9:30pm. We back home at 9:38pm.

Beauty wrapping, hu?

So we all "wrapped" our gifts and put them under the tree and headed off to bed!

Oh, and here's some pics that we played with the camera on my phone with...not sure why they show up at the end but they do, so here you go...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

December 25, 2019 ( Wednesday) dawned really early at 5am. We all got up and ready (Cary then Skye then me then Tyler) and we opened our presents. Skye for a Fantasyland Wind Breaker, Tyler got tie dyed Mickey socks and a Dumbo Stuffed Animal and a Donald mini foam key chain, Cary got a Grumpy t-shirt and something else I cannot remember, and I got park leggins, a mini foam castle key chain and I think something else I cannot remember. I am not sure why I don't have picture of any of this but I don't. If the gifts show up in pics I will try to point them out!

We had big plans for today! We were out at the bus stop at 7:13am as a bus pulled up...Merry Christmas to us! We arrived at Hollywood Studios at 7:33am...the park opened at 8am.

We were allowed right in and I pulled a Boarding Group 97 for Rise of the Resistance. I don't remember the process at that time, it has changed so many times but I have that in my notes before we walked down Hollywood Boulevard.

Our first thing on our list of things to do was Rock 'n' Roller Coaster so we headed down Sunset Boulevard.

We got in line at 7:43am and stand-by was listed as 20 minutes. We were off 19 minutes later at 8:02am...adding to my confusion about when i got our Boarding Group???

From here we headed over towards Launch Bay.

Are these decorations from something? They just starting using them a few years ago. Or are they just supposed to be reminiscent of the time period? Some of them are kinda creepy and I'd prefer decorations that were more movie related or Disney related but no one asked me!

Kinda boring sign, hu?

We got in line to see Darth Vader at 8:32am, stand-by listed as 15 minutes.

Tyler was pushing his luck! Cary geeked out...Vader is his favorite. Other pics are on the PhotoPass pics and I have not done anything with them yet.

Then we jumped over to see Chewbacca at 8:27am, stand-by was at 10 minutes. We were in with Chewy for about 11 minutes. He thought Skyler brought him a snack (Porgita - her sholder Porg). It was a super funny interaction. We were out at 8:38am.

Then we stopped by to see Tyler's favorite droid, BB8 at 8:41am. Those are all on PhotoPass too. We have found that the lines are shorter in the morning to see characters here since everyone is running to the big rides that gather longer lines later in the day. We were able to see thre cool characters really quickly!

We headed back into Toy Story Land and there was only one family taking ics in front of Woody so we took pics again (Photopass) and headed on.

We decided to mobile order at Woody's Lunchbox at 9:06am. It was ready at 9:10am. We were able to find a seat but it was a little crowded but we did have to ask people if they were using the chairs that "looked" empty. I think it would have been a good idea for Disney to have tried to figure out better seating for this area. I think there are too many people who grab tables to sit and wait for people who are riding rides making seating for diners a bit difficult.

Cary and I decided to share the Breakfast Bowl - Hearty portion of Potato Barrels smothered in Smoked Brisket Country Gravy, Scrambled Eggs and a sprinkling of Green Onions minus the gravy.

We really liked this. Without the gravy it was kind of plan but Cary does not do gravy so we did not get it...plus I am not crazy about gravy on eggs so it as all good. Ketchup is the only "gravy" that belongs on eggs to me!

Skyler ordered the Kid's S'more French Toast Sandwich - Sandwich Half with Marshmallow and Chocolate Ganache stuffed in Grilled Custard soaked Brioche encrusted with Graham Cracker Crumbs served with a Cuties® Mandarin and Potato Barrels with your choice of Beverage...but with two sides of potato barrels and a water.

This sandwich was real sweet so half of one was plenty! But it was good so she was pleased...sometimes something as unusual as this is better looking than tasting but not in this case. And who can be disappointed with potatoe barrels?

Tyler ordered the Smoked Turkey Breakfast Sandwich - Thick-sliced Smoked Turkey Breast, Melted Swiss Cheese, and Scrambled Eggs on Grilled Sourdough with no cheese. It came with potato barrels too!

I was surprised he ordered this and then surprised he ate it. I figured he'd pull the turkey off...he eats turkey but not with eggs! LOL. But he said is was good and ate all of it except the bite he gave me. Without the cheese, to me, it was too dry but otherwise, it was a good combination on a sandwich.

All in all, we were all pleased with our first meal at Woody's! Our total was $31.50.

It took us twenty-one minutes to see Bo Peep at 9:30am and three minutes to see Jessie at 9:52am. Tise pics are PhotoPass too.

And then we moved on out of Toy Story Land.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We walked through Galaxy's Edge.

And over towards The Muppets.

So in real life, today we had a major storm blow through and we have a huge tree branch on the roof of our back porch that looks like it is leaning on some power lines and then another big branch leaning on the pole where the lines meet. So, needless to say we have no power and haven't for a whole...tree are down all over the place, np street lights or anything. SO hopefully we will have some by the morning...and my cell stays charged all night.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So we hopped into a Muppet Vision 3D showing at 10:13am.

The show got out at 10:35am.

And at this point I was feeling rough. See the last few trips I have needed to get a wheel chair part way through because of immense pain from the hips down. I have struggled with weight and bulged discs and torn meniscus in the past few years and it all seems to be getting to me. So at this point, we went to get one. I hate using it because I have read all the complaint here and other places about people who like they don't need it, and obviously I don't look like I need it. But I was not going to go much more without it. I don't use it in line or on buses...it's just that not struggling to get from place to place helps. And i am really embarrassed by it. hit anyway, we got one...and I made an exception at our next stop in that the line to wait in really kills me! We waited outside the Frozen Show for Cary to get back with the chair since that was where we were heading anyway.

We got into the wheelchair line and were heading in for the 12pm show just about right away. They had us wheel across the back of the theater and since I was able to transfer we were lead down the left side of the theater and to the third row...so ya, we did take advantage of the seating here but I did not actually think that was going to happen. I guess I never paid any attention to where they sat the wheel chair people before!

This was the closest we have ever been, we usually just wander in and sit where ever. One thing wrong with these seats is that there is not much snoap in that area...LOL.

After the show we had to wait until everyone else was out before we were allowed to wheel out. We headed towards Galaxy's Edge again. We needed munchies so we mobile ordered at Ronto Roasters.

We got an Endorian Chicken Wrap - fresh pita bread with a scoop of marinated chicken, cucumber relish, and herb feta yogurt sauce.

And a Ronto Wrap - Roasted Pork, Grilled Pork Sausage, Peppercorn Sauce, and Tangy Slaw wrapped in Pita Bread

The Ronto Wrap was a bit spicier than the Endorian Chicken Wrap. Cary liked the chicken better, I liked the pork better, the kids liked both but scraped all the "stuff" off of the parts they ate. Over all, this was just something to eat. Not bad at all but nothing really special, ya know? like if Docking Bay 7 was not right next door basically, it would probably be great but if we're in Galaxy's Edge again, we will be opting for Docking Bay not Ronto Roasters.

We were able to find seats pretty easily for it being 12:15pm and there seems to be something going on in Galaxy's Edge all the time. Our total was $27.15.

And then we moved on...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Back into Galaxy's Edge we went,,,

We stopped at the Milk Stand and got Blue Milk - Plant-based blend of Coconut and Rice Milk with alluring fruity characteristics and Green Milk - Plant-based blend of Coconut and Rice Milk with zippy citrus and tropical characteristics.

These are refreshing yet odd. It is different flavors than you would normally not be expecting in a milk. Cary did not really like either. Tyler liked the blue one the best. Skye and I liked the green better. We were here at about 12:45pm and it cost $17.02.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We hung around Galaxy's Edge hoping our boarding group would be called soon.

At 1:18pm our boarding group was called and timing fell into place from there (other than having to give up out fast passes for Slinky Dog Dash at 1:30pm - 2:30pm)!

This ride has a really long line queue but it is interesting and fun but could get boring of you had to spend too long in there too often.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We had a great ride through and we all thought it was a great ride. We were walking off at 2:02pm. So a total of 44 minutes from the time we were called. A lot if it is the pre-show ad the ride so it wasn't like we waited for 42 minutes for a 2 minute thrill. Anyway, we were off just in time! The guys had an important appointment at 2:06pm to make Light Sabers!!! SO we headed over to Savi's Workshop. Skyler was Cary's plus one and I was Tyler's. We had heard nothing about how this all worked so it was all a surprize. They chorale all the appointments into an area just before the door to wait on the whole group. then you are given a pin based upon what you told them at the counter when you paid.

Tyler's...

Cary's...

So they gather everyone and bring you in to a dim room and situate you around at work stations in an oval shape with a space in the center. There is a whole show done with a bit of story telling and oath and such. The process is explained and then you pick certain parts of your saber and the color crystal you want. They explain what each color means/stands for. Then they show how to assemble it and offer help if needed. You are not to light it until told and it is a moment of awe when everyone lights up for the first time. It was a really neat experience and for the cost, I was glad it was more than "Here, put this together, bye!"...I guess I should have known Disney wouldn't do that, huh???

The whole show/process took 39 minutes.

As you can see Tyler got a purple crystal and Cary got a red one. They were given their cases that would strap over their shoulder. They were thrilled. They actually make sounds and clash if you tap them together. It is pretty cool!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We had a little time to hang out again before our next appointment.

We went into Dok-Ondans Den and both of them got a saber belt clip and Tyler bought another Kyber Crystal. Cary's total was $15.33 after the AP discount and Tyler's was $28.10.

And finally it was time for Tyler and Skyler's appointment.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Tyler and Skyler had an appointment at 3:30pm to build Droids! So we headed to Droid Depot and found it to be less, um...dramatic maybe than building light sabers. So you check in with a cast member and are sent to a line. It did seem like they were taking walk ups but there was a line. I am guessing that since this is a self guided activity some people finish quickly.

So they send you to sections (I think they were numbered?).. I went with Skyler and Cary went with Tyler. And all the parts come out on a conveyor belt. You can pick up and try out different pieces but there is two different types of droid you can build.

Once you have picked all of your parts you take them over to the center where there are work stations with some cast members to help you assemble your droid.

Skyler bought some color change options for hers and they both bought sound chips. There is no AP discount on the actual droids but there is on the accessories. The droids get placed into a carrying case that looks like a cage. They continue to "talk" as you walk. We were done at about 4pm. Since we had light sabers and droids we decided to head back to the room for a bit so out we went.

We were on a bus heading back home at 4:29pm.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We arrived back home and had to play with our new toys and take a nap.

Tyler had gotten a kyber crystal so now had to see what color it was.

His crystal was yellow and it's odd that I don't have a picture of the actual crystal?!?!?!

Tyler's droid was BB8 style...

Skyler's was R2D2 style...

This is him with all of his yellow accessories. I forget what they names them...I guess I really needed that nap!

At 8:30pm we headed back out. After watching three Magic Kingdom buses, two Animal Kingodm buses, and an Epcot bus go through one finally came for us at 8:39pm...I know, thats less than 10 minutes but it is just frustrating watching multiple buses for other places come through and not the bus to where you were headed.

We stopped as Stance at 9:17pm for Cary to get socks...the guys love their socks! He got a Deadpool pair and a Darkside pair. After the 10% discount they offered for AP members the total was $36.42...normally that is three multi packs of socks but these seem well made and they have great styles.

We then stopped at Ron Jon Surf Shop. Skyler got three bracelets and a long sleve t-shirt...after the 10% AP discount the total was $41.20.

We decided to stop at The Polite Pig. Like I said before, we are not huge BBQ fans but we do like it and I had heard great things about the Pig. It also smelled good every time we were through there. It was the only time we had been by that there wsn't a huge line. So we went in. We decided to share a Butcher Board (For 2) - Pork Shoulder, Smoked Chicken, Brisket and BBQ Cheddar Sausage with Slaw, House Pickles, two Cornbreads and a choice of two Market Sides. Add Ribs $6 or Smoked Turkey $5. We got the Mac & Cheese side and Waffle Fries.

We also got a bottle of water and a soft drink (refillable fountain drinks). This was a great way to sample a lot of their offerings. We all picked off of this plate and had plenty to fill us up. The chicken and the sausage were favorites and the mac & cheese and cornbread were really good. We enjoyed our meal here and we might return. There are so many good eats in Disney Springs, I'm not sure when that will be but it was something we would do again. They were getting ready to close as we were finishing up our food so there were not many people in there so it was quiet but we did kind of feel like they were watching and waiting for us to leave. It was 9:44pm when we cashed out and it was $43.61 after the AP discount.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We stopped at World of Disney and spent money there and then Basin. At about 11:10pm we were in line for a bus.

We were able to get on a Daisy bus at 11:16pm.

When we got back to the room we found these guys...

We all got ready for bed and crashed for the night.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Thursday, December 26, 2019 started at 9am when we all got up and got ready to go. We were at the bus stop at 10:59am where there was a bus waiting but it was full.

We arrived at Epcot at 11:06am. Skyler and I went to pick up the wheel chair while the guys went through bag check.

We all met up under Spaceship Earth at 11:21am and headed back to lunch.

We had an ADR at 11:50am at Le Cellier.

We were seated in the Saskatchewan section at 11:36am. They have really cool menus here...

I, somehow, do not have a receipt for this meal so I am going to be at the mercy of the info on-line now but I'll try to be accurate.

Our waitress brought the bread and butter...one of the best parts of LeCellier as far as the kids are concerned.

We asked for more pretzel bread and received it pretty quickly.

Those are the best rolls! We ordered a few things. Skyler ordered the side of the Five Cheese Macaroni & Cheese - provolone, fontina, asiago, parmesan, Laura Chanel goat cheese.

She really enjoyed this. She did remove the dollop on the top but otherwise she was good!

I ordered the Lobster Macaroni & Cheese - provolone, fontina, asiago, parmesan, Laura Chanel goat cheese with chunks of Lobsters. It is not on the menu at this time but I think it was basically the same as the plain mac & cheese but it was a more liquidy cheese. So not sure for sure it was the same other than the lobster. But it was really good with a lot of lobster.

Tyler got the USDA Prime New York Strip Steak,Truffled Fingerling Potatoes, Chimichurri, Crispy Onions ... but he got fries instead of potatoes.

He really enjoys this meal and prefers it to the other steaks here. He shared a bit with Skyler and me and it was really a very good medium rare steak. He got a lot of fries and the tomatoes were warm so I was the only one who would eat them. The chimichuri had good flavor but he would not use it. I did though, on my little bit of steak.

Cary ordered the Le Cellier Filet Mignon - AAA Canadian Tenderloin, Mushroom Risotto, Asparagus-Tomato Relish, Truffle-Butter Sauce... with mashed potatoes instead of risotto.

He loved this. The filet was a perfect cook for him. He asked for medium well, it looked more medium to me but that works for me so all was good! He also gave a couple of bites to me and Skye. We all liked this one too! We are always amazed at how different the two steaks taste.

We had a great lunch here. We were there for just about an hour (leaving at pm) after paying a bill of $157.20 (with a 10% AP discount). We love Le Cellier. I do think they are on the expensive end but the food is always really good and service is too. The venue is beautiful and you cannot beat pretzel rolls. We will be back I am sure!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

When we headed out of Le Cellier we headed towards the UK stopping for a few minutes at The Mill Stage but the band was just finishing up as we got there.

We stopped to see Alice outside the flower garden in the UK.

She actually talked a long time and was really fun. Then we headed into the UK.

Then we went on to France...

And through Morocco to Japan...

Around to the American Pavilion...

And into Italy...

On to Germany...

Through the Outpost to China...

...continued in next post...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Real Life...We were out of power and cable/internet most of last week...you never know how reliant you are on things until they are not there!\!

Tyler started online classes yesterday. He always starts out ready to go, work hard, do well and then...not. He really needs to get on the ball and make some decisions soon...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he does this time! He is taking History 104 (1865 - present) and Life in the Universe...both things he h as attempted before and either dropped or did not fare well in. He has been getting a bit more hours at Game Stop...the virus slowed them down immensely!

Skyler finished up Summer Camp on Friday but has been coming back to help set up for pre-school and clean up some storage areas at the park district. She interviewed for a job teaching littles dance one day a week at the place she has been dancing for 13 years. They knew she was applying for a while now and had told her that when she turned 16 they would hire her. Well, they gave the spot to someone else...who is 7 days older than her, has been dancing the same amount of time but Skye advanced quicker, has competed longer, has danced higher longer, has cut down classes to three last year (Skyler normally takes at least nine), misses class just to hang out with her friends (Skyler has NEVER in 13 years missed dance for hanging out!), and doesn't even take two of the styles of dance she will be teaching!!! The only thing we can see that she has that is "better" than Skye is that she lives less than 10 minutes away...and we don't. She was heartbroken! She is still working at Jewel and will be teaching/coaching dance for our local Park DIstrict (same place she worked summer camp) which is a competing studio for part of our season becasue they love her just based on her competition performance and attitude, etc...she did not even have to interview...she filled out an application and within a couple of days her boss called her during Spanish class and the first thing she asked was if this was "THE Skyler ******?" but she had to interview witht he people who have known her for 13 years!!! But their season doesn't start yet so she is not quite sure what she will be teaching...she wants to give her control of their competition teams!!! She registered for dance classes yesterday...Advanced Technique, Advanced Ballet, Advanced Pointe, Advanced Jazz, Advanced Tap, Advanced Lyrical, Performance Jazz, and Performance Lyrical. She normally takes hip hop but that class is on Monday nights...if she had been teaching Mondays she would have taken it but it is not worth taking to drive all the way out there for 45 minutes the way it has been taught for the past few years. She will miss it though...maybe we can find her a local hip hop class to take. She has also been Zooming with her dance coach and they are down to two choices for her solo this year. She did not actually get to compete her last year solo much due to Covid so she is going to compete both. Last year was a Joss Stone rendition of "It's a Man's World"...frankly, it is a mature jazz performance and she actually has two costumes because her park district will not allow the two piece one for their competitions but they have nothing to do with real competitions so she was going to wear the other one for those...she never got a chance...it is super cool though (but she will not allow me to post pictures until she unveils it). She also got her schedule yesterday for school that starts remotely tomorrow. We had to have her counselor change one class but she ended up with Honors Pre-Calc/Trig, AP English 3, AP Chemistry (that we had to have added because she took Honors Physics over the summer after freshman year just so she could get to AP Chem and the college level Biology class by her senior year), APT (Athletic Performance Training), Spanish 3, and AP US History...it's a big year! She once again made the Varsity Poms team just before they declared football to not be allowed now...so that is not a thing now.

Other than ALL of that, Cary and I are just trucking along...but I feel like we are missing something and I am sure it is all the fan fare of back to school that usually exists.

Good luck to all those trying to have a normal life in all this mess!

 

[Stasieki]

Caught up on your TR. So fun being at Disney at Christmas. Our daughter just started freshman year two weeks ago - in person wearing a mask. She had her first AP quiz today and she was so nervous. It was AP Human Geography. What is Poms? Just curious. Abby is on varsity cheer and the school has a dance team at the games too. Is it more cheerleading or dance? I am assuming dance with how talented she is in dance. Maybe they just call it differently here.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Caught up on your TR. So fun being at Disney at Christmas. Our daughter just started freshman year two weeks ago - in person wearing a mask. She had her first AP quiz today and she was so nervous. It was AP Human Geography. What is Poms? Just curious. Abby is on varsity cheer and the school has a dance team at the games too. Is it more cheerleading or dance? I am assuming dance with how talented she is in dance. Maybe they just call it differently here.

Poms is the dance team here. Some schools have both but we only have a Poms Team. They perform halftime at Football and Basketball games and compete during competition season. For Skye her coach has said she will only ever do a true Poms routine whereas most other schools either don't do a true Poms routine or the do one but also do lyrical, jazz, or hip hop too. We are usually only one of a small handful of schools with a true Pom routine at competitions. Skye was a cheerleader freshman year. She never wanted to be on a poms team because she always said she had been doing more difficult dance since she was six than most of them do in high school. But when it came to competition season for cheer, the coach was very difficult to work with about just finding out when things were going to happen so that Skyler knew what she could obligate herself to since she knew Nutcracker was her priority. So she decided rather than not be involved at all, she'd do Poms. Then her sophomore year she was the Captain of the Varsity Poms team for football and comp season...and was the center of the team and had a huge pull out (solo basically) in their competition routine...yet, she did not get the All Conference award (we had three available that season) so that really left a bod taste in her mouth. She wasn't sure if she was going to even try out this year because of it. She ended up doing it for football season with no intention of doing basketball/comp season since she would have less liability to the team that way and she'd be in the middle of dance comp season (and she is going to be coaching another comp team of younger girls too) but now since football was cancelled (until spring we think???) she is considering doing comp season. She's not sure yet. She wants to be involved but she's not sure if she wants the hassle for little or no return on her contribution. SO we'll see! She did consider going back to Cheer but that is a lot more time consuming...and at this point, she would rather work!

We hated AP Human Geography...seems like a really odd Social Studies to throw freshmen into...Good luck to Abby! Skye has three AP classes this year and an honor's class...so far, I'm not entirely thrilled with the way our school is remote learning...seems pretty up in the air to me so far. I'm just hoping the kids don't suffer in the future for it all!