Well, we all survived a whirlwind of three days at Universal Resorts last week. Exhaustion hit us all like a brick wall upon our return to Wanda the RV every night, but what a blast we all had! Our adventure days were Tuesday through Thursday in an attempt to avoid high population traffic at the theme parks. However, Tuesday through Thursday still came with massive vehicle traffic. Something Jason HATED but battled like a champ. Our 18 miles home took over an hour to cover each day. After spending 8-plus hours walking through all the rides, that final hour home in the car was brutal. Once we got home, we mustered enough energy to set up everyone’s beds and microwave something to eat before we all crashed out. Then, early morning came again, and we were back at it, in another Park, making memories and blowing our kids’ minds. Each Park we visited had something completely different and amazing to experience as a family. We were the recipients of very generous complimentary tickets to three Parks: Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay, and Universal Studios.
Islands of Adventure was our first day of theme parks. Jason did the research and made a list of must-dos for rides. We went bold with our first ride, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. The ride is a “fast-action roller coaster” that certainly lived up to its description. Jason and I also found out our boys’ limits with that ride. For the rest of the day, every ride was compared to Hagrid’s. Intensity level, speed, scare factor were all determined based on our first ride. Or whether we rode it at all. Everything was toned down after that. Surprisingly, the scariest ride for our kids was Kong: Skull Island. Tears… So. Many. Tears. I think that was the solidifying moment where Jason and I decided we needed to let the boys run the list and let our personal requests fall by the wayside. Everyone would have more fun if we weren’t pulling our kids through rides crying.
Our second day was at Universal’s new waterpark, Volcano Bay. Jason and I splurged and rented a cabana. We had a personal attendant assigned to us! We just sent her a text and she made the magic happen. We send her our food orders and they came straight to us, pool side. There were fresh towels waiting for us every time we came back for more sunscreen. Not to mention the big welcome basket of food and a stocked refrigerator full of water bottles. What we thought would be the greatest benefit of the cabana was being able to check-in for all the rides right there, instead of having to walk to each ride to check in for a wait time. Turns out, not many folks are vacationing at a waterpark in
November, the week before Thanksgiving. Apparently, temperatures in the high 70’s isn’t enough for most tourists, or locals for that matter. But for us, who never think twice about jumping the freezing waves of Oregon’s coastline, we thought the weather was quite dreamy. And so were the wait times. Non-existent! Every ride was a “ride now” wait time. We were able to ride everything we wanted to, as many times as we wanted to. Volcano Bay was the boys’ favorite park. Which makes sense because these boys love a simple swimming pool. Throw in some water thrill rides and lazy rivers with rapids and our boys were over the moon. Also, Jason and I noticed the boys’ courage built up as the day went on. We would look up a ride to get its description, and the boys (namely Cord, our youngest and smallest) would quickly dismiss it as “too intense”. But then something flipped inside of him – maybe it was after he went through the rapids and was thrown around like a ragdoll, or after he went on the water rollercoaster and finished with a fist pump and a giant smile instead of trembling and saying, “Never again.” Whatever the trigger was, it skyrocketed his confidence, and Cord started leading the charge to the bigger rides. And there were some doozies! There were a couple where even I wasn’t sure we would stay in the innertube, or inside the slides’ walls.
Universal Studios was our third and final hoorah for theme parks. It was my favorite Park out of the
three if I had to choose. After seeing other families the previous two days with witty, matching shirts, we decided to jump on that bandwagon and picked us up some sweet swag. The shirts were actually pretty convenient and helpful as we maneuvered around the park. Easy to spot my family with the bright red Dr. Seuss ‘Thing” shirts on! I went to Universal back in high school with my best friend’s family and remember how awesome it was to “ride the movies”. Over the past 20 years since that visit, this park is even more phenomenal with its rides and attention to detail. The Park had already re-designed itself for the Christmas season. Back in Islands of Adventure, we saw the stage show “Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular”, but other than that show, the Christmas theme wasn’t noticeable. Not so much with Universal Studios. That place was dripping with decorations. Not to mention the
live action toys, elves, and Christmas characters that continuously roamed the streets or randomly popped out and performed a song or two. As we walked from ride to ride, Ryan kept nudging me saying, “I can’t believe it. Every little detail. They thought of every single detail here.” Another perk of going mid-week while school is also in session? Zero wait times. NONE! It took us 20 minutes to get to the front of the line for ONE of the rides, and that was only because it takes that long to walk with the crowd to the front of the line! It was totally insane! Any theme park I’ve ever been to, there were always lines. It’s just part of the deal. If I wanted to go on the ride, then I knew I’d be waiting over an hour to ride, and usually longer. I warned the boys about the long lines ahead of time, and reassured them that the wait isn’t so bad because they have set up the lines with so much detailed decorations, that you’re distracted by it all. But there was no need for that little pep-talk because there was no waiting! We went on every single ride we wanted to, and if we all really liked it, we got out and got right back on to ride again. I just couldn’t believe it. I have thoroughly been spoiled by this trip to all of Universal’s theme parks.
The next couple days after our exhilarating, but utterly exhausting, Universal experiences were uneventful and totally lazy. We all slept long (mostly me), read books, or played video games. The RV Park we stayed at last week was really great and had some awesome amenities, but in reality, we were hardly there to take advantage of them. Our Wanda was parked right across the street from the
playground, pickle ball court, and an inflatable jump pad. The boys played with their Star Wars lightsabers and had race challenges across the jump pad. There were a whole grip of kids around us, too, that the boys had a quick chance to play with. It has been a while since the boys have been able to meet up with other kids and play. But I’m not grumbling. We were gifted an incredible once-in-a-lifetime package to Universal Resort, and I still can’t get over that act of kindness by a stranger on the internet.
The adventures we had were a welcomed distraction to the deep pull in my heart to want to head home. Living in this RV is a luxury in the sense that we get to travel any where we’d like. We are chasing the sunshine and beautiful beaches – how can I possibly complain? Yet I find myself drawing inwards and away from my family that sit only a few feet from me. There is no “down time” that I’ve
been able to realize. If I’m not wearing the Mom hat with the boys while we’re completing school, or fixing meals, or play cards, or taking them somewhere around the campsites, then I need to wear the Wife hat. Jason deserves my time and attention as well. Then there’s the RV chores. Those can’t be left undone when the living quarters are so small. I’ve always loved this life. I love being a stay-at-home mom for our boys. I love that I’m their teacher and watching them learn and grasp new ideas or concepts. I love taking care of the home. I love putting on some music and vacuuming, dusting, sanitizing, then sitting back and reveling in the cleanliness of it all. And I truly adore my husband. Jason is the strongest rock I’ve ever leaned on. He loves me endlessly and is always looking out for my happiness. So why do I feel so trapped? Why do I just want to “turn off” and be left alone? It’s a ridiculous mentality considering the abundant blessings around me but I just couldn’t shake it. I looked up supplements and vitamins to help with moods or hormone balancing, I read self-help books and memorized the mantras to tell myself in the mirror, I made a conscious effort to exercise more, but still, every step I took felt like I was trudging through quicksand that all I wanted to do was sink down into. Then, Jason urged me to call my sister.
My sister, Kristi, and I had been trying to chat for a few days, but with the 3-hour time difference, work schedules, and my lack of motivation for anything, we just couldn’t connect. Jason again, asked if I had talked with my sister yet. Again, I had not. I made excuses, I wanted to go to bed and hope tomorrow would magically be better. But Jason insisted. So, I called. No answer, I left a message. Then Kristi called back a few minutes later. As a video call. Ughh… I wasn’t in the mood to be seen. I took my phone outside and answered. Immediately I felt lifted. My voice strengthened, my heart softened, and I felt home again. We talked about our mom and how her dialysis is going, about Thanksgiving coming up, about our pets, and then I took the phone inside and my family was able to see and chat with her family. It was casual and natural. I didn’t say anything about how I felt, but it’s like she knew I needed her. Also, my husband knew I needed her. I needed the connection, the familiar voice, the sarcasm, and stories that make me laugh. That video call gave me a positive leap forward on this journey and the renewed strength in pressing forward.
In another moment of forward motion, we had the opportunity to walk on a boat yesterday! Jason found the boat, and our broker was able to set us up an appointment. We moved RV parks on Sunday from Orlando down to Naples, FL. We woke up early yesterday morning to drive across the Everglades through Alligator Alley (we saw quite a few on our way back!!) to meet at the boat. The
boat is a 1999 Privilege 465. The boat was old, but well maintained overall. My little make-over heart was beside itself looking at the potential for painting and overhauling some cosmetic fixes around the boat. But the layout wasn’t right for our family, and would be even more difficult when our family and friends came to visit or sail with us. The boat also had a recent survey done, and there were some serious structural issues that we didn’t want to tackle as new boat owners with minimal experience. Having the chance to get on a boat again was encouraging. Although we were fairly sure the boat wasn’t for us before we even walked on it, there was a surge of motivation that the walk-on brought with it. Plus, the added time we had with our broker, face-to-face, clearly expressing our availability and desire to buy a boat. I think our broker has a better understanding of our stance. He also encouraged us to keep bugging him. He
said he has a lot of buyers, but not many sellers. Basically, if we’re in his face, then he won’t be able to shift us down the list and we’ll stay in the forefront. There is another boat that Terry, our broker, said the seller has us at the top of the list to look at. The boat is currently being sailed down the east coast of the U.S. and is scheduled to arrive in the next week. The owner won’t entertain any offers unless the buyer has walked on it. Sounds promising, but I’m trying to be realistic and not get my hopes up. It will simply be nice to just get on another boat that we haven’t seen yet with another layout that may fit our family and future lifestyle.
So, here’s to Universal Studios' power to amaze and exhaust, never underestimating the power of connecting with family, and the fresh potential in a liveaboard sailboat.
Comentarios