Vacation – Page 2 – Pellegrini Page

The most magical of weeks

On Saturday night, after about 18 hours of travel, our family returned home to Washington State after spending a week in Orlando, Florida at the Walt Disney World resort. It’s a trip that Jessica and I have been planning for two years, which was originally supposed to take place in April 2020 for our tenth anniversary, but ended up being rescheduled three times due to the pandemic. As expected, it was an amazing week that I’m very excited to talk about, but first I need to give the utmost credit to Jessica for making this happen. She spent so many hours planning things out, getting up at 5:00am to call Disney customer service to make reservations, and making sure every last detail was covered. Above all that, she had to do everything multiple times due to all the rescheduling that went on. She really went above and beyond to make this special trip happen for our family, and we’ll never forget it.

Our trip started on Saturday, May 8. I dropped off Peach and Spencer with my sister Dana and nephew Kallan to spend the week at their house in Bellevue, then late that night we headed to the airport. We had an overnight flight which didn’t leave until 11:00pm and arrived in Miami at 7:30am. The kids were able to sleep a little bit on the flight but no luck for Jessica and me. Overall the flight was fine, but poor Enzo started getting sick to his stomach and ended up throwing up in the bathroom on the plane. It got worse for him once we touched down in Miami, and he started throwing up all over himself in his seat while we were waiting to get off the plane. Luckily there were several moms nearby who started handing us wet wipes and baggies to get things cleaned up.

We had an hour layover in Miami and our primary focus was to get Enzo changed into new clothes and nurse him back to health. Luckily we were able to do that, and our flight from Miami to Orlando was uneventful, but it was a crazy way to start the trip.

Any Disney trip is going to involve waiting in lines, and for us the lines began at the airport. The line to get onto the bus to our hotel was pretty insane, but they moved it along pretty well and we were on our way in no time. We learned on the bus that Disney World is 44 square miles, which is the same size as San Francisco! It was a hot muggy day when we arrived and I think Enzo put it best when he said “the air feels different here”.

After arriving at the Art of Animation hotel and getting settled into our room, which was themed after the movie Cars, we went down to the pool for a swim. We were all tired and hungry, but the pool was calling and the kids would have nothing else. We spent an hour in the water, but I think everyone started hitting their breaking point, so we ended up going back to the room and taking a 3 hour nap.

We spent the rest of that evening exploring different properties via the Skyliner, then had dinner at our hotel. It wasn’t our usual way of celebrating Mother’s Day, but it was special and memorable nonetheless. We were also immediately impressed by how gracious and friendly the staff, I mean “Cast Members”, was to our whole family. They would take time out of their day to talk to us extensively and tell us how much they appreciated us coming. There’s something so special about the experience you get from Disney properties and we felt that from day one.

Monday was when the trip kicked into high gear, as that was our first day visiting one of the parks. We spent the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is one of their newer parks, and it ended up being one of the best days of the trip. Several of our favorite attractions were there, including Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad, the Tower of Terror, and Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. The Star Wars attraction was a special one that not everyone can get into. They only release so many passes per day and you have to be on the app at exactly 7:00am to make your reservation. The spots all fill up within 15 seconds and you have to use an atomic clock to request it at exactly 7:00am. The clock on your phone is liable to be off by a few seconds, which can be the difference in not getting a pass, but we did everything right and ended up getting passes for that afternoon. I’m so glad we did too because Rise of the Resistance was Jessica’s favorite attraction of the week, and mine as well. It was such a cool combination of traditional ride, human interaction with actors, and a huge set to walk through.

We had a really fun lunch at Hollywood Studios that was themed after an old drive in theater. Each table was designed like a car from the 1950’s and the movie screen was showing all kinds of old sci-fi movie clips. The food was great and the kids had never seen anything like it before. They couldn’t believe people used to get in their cars to go watch movies, which was funny, but when you grow up in the on-demand tablet era it makes sense.

That night we were all exhausted and everyone slept really well. It was a very hot and humid day, and we walked 8 miles throughout the day, so we crashed pretty hard. Hollywood Studios ended up being Jessica and Elise’s favorite park of the trip, so it was a great way to kick things off. Luckily we were able to sleep in the next morning because Epcot Center, our next park, didn’t open until 11:00am.

We arrived at Epcot Center a few minutes before opening and ended up spending about 10 hours there. It was an all-day thing, and for Enzo and I, it was our favorite day of the trip. It’s more old school compared to Hollywood Studios, but it had some awesome rides, and I really loved visiting all the countries. The ‘Soarin’ over the World’ attraction was our first one of the day, and it was definitely my favorite thing we did that day, but Mission Space and the Chevrolet Test Track were family favorites as well.

We had our only character meal of the week at the Garden Grill at Epcot Center and it was really fun. Mickey, two of the chipmunks, and Goofy all made multiple appearances at our table, which everyone got a big kick out of. The dining room sits on a slowly rotating surface, so you’re constantly moving around in a big circle. By the time we finished our meal we were exactly back to the point where we had begun.

By the time we left Epcot Center that night it was nearly closing time and we had walked 10 miles. We visited every country, the kids got stickers from each one, and did basically everything the park had to offer. It’s a bit more of an educational experience compared to the other parks, but it still had some really fun rides and attractions. Overall it was a hit for everyone, but Enzo and I loved it the most.

Wednesday was our rest day, so we slept in and spent the rest of the morning at the pool. Later that afternoon we took a bus to Disney Springs, aka Downtown Disney, for shopping and dinner. We ended up getting caught in a crazy rainstorm unlike anything you’d ever see in Seattle. It came down incredibly hard for about 30 minutes, then cleared up and the sun came out. We walked around shopping for a while, then had dinner at an Irish restaurant called Raglan Road. It was fun because there were dancers doing all kinds of traditional Irish dancing, plus they had traditional live music being played. It was a fun experience and the kids got a huge kick out of watching the dancers.

Thursday we spent the day at Magic Kingdom and started the day off with Space Mountain, which has always been one of my favorites. We ended up doing all the famous attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, the teacups, the Swiss Family treehouse, and Big Thunder Mountain. It was a nostalgic day for Jessica and me because it reminded us of our childhood, and the kids had a great time as well, but oddly enough it wasn’t anyone’s favorite park. Compared to the other parks, Magic Kingdom is more old school, but still has all the Disney charm. We were there for 8 or 9 hours and once again everyone was exhausted by the end of the day.

Friday was our final day of the trip and we spent it at Animal Kingdom. We weren’t really sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised. It turned out to be Ava’s favorite day of the trip, but we all loved it. There were a variety of fun rides and attractions, but definitely ‘Flight of Passage’, which is an immersive experience based on the movie Avatar, was my favorite. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of the movie or not, if you’re at that park it’s something you have to do. The other thing that we really loved doing was the Safari, which was by far the closest thing to a real Safari any of us had ever experienced. They have so much open land for the animals to live on that you could fit all of Magic Kingdom just within the Safari area. We saw hippos, rhinos, giraffes, ostrich, elephants, and many others. Unfortunately the lions were sleeping but it was still an awesome experience.

By the end of the day everyone was exhausted once again. The days are really long and you’re on your feet all day, but we were very proud of the kids. There were times when everyone had a bit of a breakdown, but overall they did great and it was a trip we’ll never forget. The only thing I would change would be Disney’s mask rule, which was as strict as I’ve seen anywhere. You literally had to have a mask on at all times unless you were stationary eating or drinking.

I had an experience where I was drinking a cup of coffee while in line for a ride, which was fine because I wasn’t moving, but as soon as I started walking forward without my mask on I got called out by some kid working in the park about having to be masked up if you’re moving. We also had experiences where we would walk into a store in a Disney park wearing our masks and would be reminded by people not to remove them. It just felt a bit overboard at times, and we’re saying this as residents of Washington State, which is pretty strict already when it comes to Covid protocol.

The most ironic part of the whole mask thing was that right after we got on the bus to head back to the airport, Jessica pulled up a news article on her phone saying that as of that day, Disney was no longer requiring guests to wear masks while outdoors. The new rule was literally being instituted as we were leaving, and it was like the old mask rule was rolling out of town on the bus with us. You couldn’t script this stuff! The masks were especially rough outside too because of how hot and humid it was, but there’s nothing we could do but comply. We knew what we were getting ourselves into and weren’t going to let it ruin our trip.

Saturday ended up being an incredibly long travel day for us. We were up at 6:30am and on the bus at 7:45, but our flight wasn’t until 11:20. You had no choice on when to board the bus, so it was an earlier than necessary start, but it was beyond our control. We flew from Orlando to Los Angeles, which is a 5 hour flight, and I had the pleasure of sitting with Enzo and taking him to the bathroom every 20 minutes. He kept thinking he was going to throw up, even though he never did. He’s never had motion sickness before but perhaps this is something for us to be aware of when flying with him.

We got to Los Angeles and then had a 5 hour layover until our flight home. This was especially annoying because we didn’t book our flights this way, but the airline shuffled our flights around and that’s how it all ended up. It was a bit eerie at LAX airport; even on a Saturday afternoon it felt like a ghost town and practically everything was closed. The flight from L.A. to Seattle that night was nice and easy but everyone was exhausted. By the time we landed around 9:00pm, we had all been up since 3:30am Pacific time, so all we wanted to do was get to our van and go straight to Auntie Dana’s house. We were very excited to see Peach and Spencer, then we crashed hard. Unfortunately we were all still on East Coast time, so the kids and I were up at 5:30am on Sunday.

We couldn’t go home Saturday night because our house went on the market on Thursday and they were going to be showing it all weekend. We had an agreement with our realtor that we wouldn’t come home until 6:00pm on Sunday, so we spent the whole day hanging out with Dana, Kallan, and Anna at their house. It was a beautiful day so we spent a couple hours at a park that morning, then hung out for the rest of the afternoon at the house while the kids played soccer in the yard with Anna.

That evening was when a new type of excitement set in, as we were finally able to go home and talk with our realtor to evaluate offers on our house. It took basically all night to settle on an offer, but his strategy of listing low to get a lot of eyes on the property and encourage a bidding war worked out like a charm. In the end there were two families trying to outbid each other and I’ll just say that we could have never imagined things working out the way they did. We feel beyond fortunate with the way things worked out and owe all the credit to our realtor Bunsong Pumma.

The only downside to our home selling experience is that we were hoping to be able to stay in our house until the end of June, but instead we’re going to need to be out by June 16. This means that the next four weeks are going to be pretty crazy for us but we’ll be fine. We’re just trying to get everything wrapped up, scheduled, and figured out. We still have family and friends we want to see but we’ll make it all work.

Having the trip behind us was a major checkpoint on this whole journey and now that we’ve accepted an offer on our house I feel like these next few weeks are going to fly by. We’ll be on the road heading to Las Vegas before we know it, and it’s crazy that we’ll be there before Father’s Day. My mom is already going well out of our way to help us in any way she can and she can’t wait for us to arrive.

We took a ton of photos on our trip, and I’m so glad we got the Disney photo package, so here are a bunch of our favorites.

Elise exploring the Art of Animation hotel grounds

Checking out the Star Wars exhibit at Hollywood Studios

Enzo showing what ‘Disney Tired’ means after day one

Getting started at Epcot Center. Each of those characters behind us is made entirely of flowers.

Someday Jessica and I will go to Italy together. For now Epcot Italy will do.

Visiting Mickey at our character meal. Elise couldn’t be bothered to remove the bread from her mouth.

We weren’t allowed to remove our masks at the photo studio. Oh well…

We found Enzo’s Hideaway at Disney Springs

The kids enjoyed this rollercoaster so much we did it twice

Silverwood

All about our family trip to the Silverwood theme park in Northern Idaho, August 2020.

Yesterday we returned home after spending a few days in Northern Idaho visiting the Silverwood theme park. Although the kids had already been there a couple times on previous Summer road trips with Grandma and Grandpa, this was our first time going as a family, and it was the first time Jessica and I got to go.

We left on Sunday morning and basically just drove east on I-90 all the way to Coeur d’Alene. That day ended up being the hottest day in Seattle in 11 years, so it was the perfect day to be in our nice air conditioned van. Even though we stopped a couple times we still made really good time and ended up arriving in Coeur d’Alene too early to check into our hotel, which was about 10 minutes north of the lake.
We had heard good things about the public park at the lake, and since we had time to kill, we decided to go hang out there for a bit. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, but honestly it was a bit shocking because not only was it packed with thousands of people, but literally no one besides our family was wearing a mask, even though there were signs everywhere telling you to do so. It was culture shock for us because we’re coming from Western Washington, where everyone in public is wearing a mask, and now suddenly it’s the exact opposite.

While I certainly understand the concept of distancing while outdoors, and not needing to wear a mask when doing so, trust me when I say this definitely was not happening. Not only were people all packed together around and in the water, but there was a country music concert going on in the park with hundreds of people gathered around to watch. Being literally the only people wearing masks meant we were receiving a lot of stares. I’m normally not that aware of people around me in public but this was blatant, and I’ve never felt like such a minority in my life.

In addition to the lack of masks, there was an entire family (kids included) selling Trump t-shirts in the park, and the singer of the country band kept making remarks about “free country” and “honky tonk”. I’m certainly not passing judgement on anyone and was just there to relax for a bit after driving all day, but it was so drastically different from what we’re used to that it was hard to believe. It wouldn’t have been bad if it weren’t for all the blatant stares we were receiving, but whatever. As it turned out this would end up being the most uncomfortable portion of the trip.

After an hour or so at the park we made our way to the hotel, the Triple Play Resort, and were instantly impressed with all the attractions. There was a Go Kart track, bumper boats, mini golf, an indoor water park, a ropes climbing course, laser tag, laser maze, a bowling alley, video arcade, and more! We already had a free day planned for the middle of our stay and we instantly decided that we would be spending that entire day at the hotel taking part in all these activities. Also, since we had nothing to do that first evening, we decided to spend it at our hotel’s water park. For that entire evening we were going down water slides and swimming in the wave pool. Definitely a fun way to start things off.

It was 100 degrees on Monday, which was the hottest day of the trip, so we decided it would be the perfect day to spend at Silverwood’s water park. We got there right when they opened at 11:00, found a nice shady spot under a tree to spread out our stuff, and proceeded to spend the next 7 hours going down slides, floating in the lazy river, and swimming in the wave pool.

The girls made a friend that ended up hanging around with us off and on throughout the day and everyone had a blast. We were diligent all day with the sunscreen and consequently no one got burned, even though we were out in the intense heat all day long. It was the perfect Summer day, and overall probably my favorite day of the trip. I grew up going to water parks every Summer so they will always hold a special place for me.

Tuesday was our day to chill at the hotel, but there was so much to do we certainly never felt bored. I loved taking the kids out in the Go Karts, and was so impressed with how well they all did on the ropes course. There was an interactive 3D video game that we ended up playing 4 or 5 times throughout the day, and we even made it back to the hotel’s water park that evening. Other than getting lunch and dinner, we never left the hotel that day, but it was still a super fun day and everyone was exhausted by bedtime.

Wednesday we were back at Silverwood, this time at the theme park for a day full of rides and roller coasters. It was a bit cooler that day, although it still reached a high of 92 later in the afternoon. Once again we found a shady spot under a tree to spread out a blanket and leave our stuff. That way we had a home base for snacking and relaxing throughout the day.

We started things off by letting the kids go on some little rides, then we made our way over to the roller coaster park for the big stuff. Ava, Elise and I did a ride called the Panic Plunge where you get strapped into a seat and taken straight up about 300-400 feet. As soon as you reach the top you hear a click and immediately you start falling down so incredibly fast. Ava says she screamed the whole way down but honestly I have no recollection; I was too scared to scream. Jessica says the look on my face once we came to a stop was priceless. All I know is everyone in line looked at me and busted out laughing, then after the laughter subsided this teenage kid who was waiting in line said “I’m not going”.

We spent the rest of the day doing all the rides, sometimes multiple times each. Once again we were there for nearly 7 hours, so it was a very full day. As promised, we took the kids shopping at the gift shop and they were each thrilled with what they picked out. Elise got a stuffed goat whom she named Toby, Enzo got a Silverwood hoodie sweatshirt, and Ava got two little things: a mood ring and a pair of BFF necklaces – one for her and one for Elise.

That night we had dinner at this great little Italian restaurant near the hotel called Radici Italian Bistro. They put us in a private room and we ate like kings. Calamari, caprese salad, pizza and chicken for the kids, eggplant parmesan for Jessica and I. Each of the kids loved the calamari and Enzo discovered a new love for fresh mozzarella cheese and balsamic vinegar. It was the best restaurant meal we’ve had this entire year and was the perfect way to finish things off.

Yesterday morning we got packed up fairly early and hit the road. It was an easy drive home, and even with more stops than we made on the way there, we were still home within 6 hours. The best stop was at the scenic view looking over the Columbia River. Overall I was very impressed with how well everyone handled the road trip. Certainly there were some “Are we there yet?” moments, but overall it was great and I expect us to be doing more of these in the future. We have the perfect van for it because the kids can relax in the back watching movies while Jessica and I talk up front. Getting our new cartop carrier was a game changer as well because we now have so much space for our stuff.

The only part of the trip that was a little off putting was the initial experience at the park in Coeur d’Alene. In looking back at it my feelings are torn; on one hand it felt a lot like our overall national attitude towards the pandemic, which is if you just ignore it then it won’t exist and there’s nothing to worry about. On the other hand, the whole point of this trip was for us to get away and have a little fun. We’ve been playing by the rules for 6 months, have barely left our house, and deserved a getaway like this, especially considering our Disney trip is on hold until at least Spring 2021. Ultimately I’m glad we went, and nothing could make Jessica and I happier than seeing the kids having so much fun. We felt like we needed this, and that we deserved it, so it was great to finally come through for once this year.

Now that the trip is over, for all intents and purposes, our Summer is done as well. Monday Jessica will be resuming home school with the kids, but we’re going to ease our way into it over the first couple weeks. We’re now very much looking forward to our kittens coming home, which should be in the next 3-4 weeks. We took a lot of photos on the trip, so here are our favorites.

Ava enjoying some Dippin’ Dots at the water park

Elise did so good on the ropes course. She was pretty scared but the guy behind her was so helpful. We were very proud of her.

Visiting the Columbia River lookout on our way home

Happy 7th Birthday Elise!

Today our sweet Elise turns 7 years old! I remember her birth like it was yesterday and couldn’t be more proud of the young lady she has already grown into. She’s such a great kid with so many amazing qualities; not only are Jessica and I beyond lucky to have her as a daughter, but Ava and Enzo are also extremely lucky to have such a loving and caring sister. Although the circumstances these days throughout the world make it difficult for us to throw a proper birthday celebration, we still wanted it to be a special day for her and show her just how much she is loved.

For a while now Elise and I have had a deal that I would take her shopping on her birthday, but she has been going back and forth on whether she would prefer a longboard or a scooter. She’s been thinking about it a lot because Ava and our good friend Avery love riding their longboards up and down our street, but she always enjoys riding scooters as well. I told her we would go to the store to look at both, and most likely she will find ‘the one’ when she sees it.

I was able to wrap up all my meetings by lunchtime, then the two of us headed out to the sporting goods store to have a look. We looked at the longboards first and there were a few she was interested in, then we took a look at the scooters. After a few seconds she said “Daddy, I’ve made up my mind. I’m getting a longboard.” I loved how serious she was about her decision and was happy to go along. She ended up picking out a really cool Stella longboard with orange wheels and an orange design on the bottom. It was fitting considering orange is her favorite color.

Earlier that morning she opened some of her presents, which included walkie-talkies from Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, an mp3 player from Nana, and a bluetooth speaker with microphones from Grandma and Grandpa Martin. After returning home with her new longboard she had lunch and then got out on the street to break it in, but took a cake and ice cream break in the afternoon. Later on we all went to our regular Tuesday evening Jiu-Jitsu class and she was greeted with a ‘surprise’, which was a pig pile from the other kids in class. In this case the only other kids in class were Ava and Enzo, so it wasn’t bad. I gave her the option of skipping class because it was her birthday but she wanted none of it. She really loves Jiu-Jitsu so it was a fun way to spend her birthday evening.

In addition to everything today, we’ve got some fun stuff to look forward to this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Martin are on their way up from Colorado in the bus, along with their grandson Cole from Texas, and will be here tomorrow. This weekend we’re having a few friends over to skateboard and ride bikes outside, enjoy some treats, and watch an outdoor movie once it starts getting dark. Then on Sunday or Monday the kids will head out on a road trip with G&G for about a week. They won’t be going too far away but there’s so much to see without leaving Washington so I’m looking forward to hearing about it.

Speaking of road trips, when I wrote my last post I focused on our change of plans around Disney World and how we had decided on doing a 3 week road trip to and from Florida. At that time the Covid-19 situation seemed to be trending in the right direction and Summer felt like the safest time for us to go on our long-awaited vacation. Unfortunately things with Covid have taken a significant turn for the worse and Florida has become arguably the most dangerous place in the world, so even though Disney World has reopened, we have made the tough decision to once again postpone our trip.

I knew there was a decent chance of this happening but it’s still disappointing because we hate to keep letting the kids down. However we have to be smart and can’t allow ourselves to be so dogmatic about the trip that we’re willing to risk our health and safety in order to make this vacation happen. At this point the plan is to reschedule the trip for May 2021, right between Spring Break and Summer. Hopefully by then things will be in a better state and we’ll be able to have the vacation we’ve been hoping for, but at this point nothing will surprise me.

For a while there we had a plan B, which involved a road trip to San Diego, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas, but unfortunately that’s not going to work out either. Just this week California had to shut everything down again due to spikes in Covid outbreaks, and Arizona + Nevada aren’t doing a whole lot better, so there’s no point in us going there either. Again it’s all very disappointing, but there’s nothing we can do besides be smart and keep our family safe.

At this point we’re onto plan C, which will most likely involve a very small road trip somewhere east of the mountains. We’re still working out details but are considering a couple days in Couer d’Alene Idaho so we can take our kids to Silverwood, which is a big theme park and water park. The kids have actually been there before with Grandma and Grandpa but Jessica and I have never been, and we really want to do something fun this Summer. I’m not worried about our ability to keep our distance and stay safe, and only crossing one state line seems most preferable at this point. We haven’t finalized anything yet but that’s what we’re thinking about at the moment. Considering what a strange year it’s been we just want to do something special to remember this Summer by, so hopefully this works out.

In the spirit of doing something special for the family, we also have some exciting news in the sense that we have adopted two purebred Siberian kittens! It’s been about 4 years since Bella passed away and we haven’t had a family pet since then. For a while now we felt like a cat would be the ideal family pet for us, but due to Jessica’s allergy we never thought it would be feasible.

After doing some research we learned that when a person is allergic to cats, it’s based on a protein secreted in their saliva called “Fel d”, which dries on their fur when they clean themselves and causes an allergic reaction for some people who come near them. Luckily not all cats secrete this protein though, and the Siberian breed is known as one of the most hypoallergenic breeds of house cats available. We were able to expose Jessica to them one afternoon and everything was totally fine, so we felt comfortable in moving forward.

We ended up finding a breeder in North Seattle and were able to reserve two sibling kittens who were born on the 4th of July. They need to stay with their mother for the first ten weeks, meaning they won’t be coming to live with us until mid-September. While we wish they could be with us now, after seeing how much work newborn kittens can be we’re happy to wait a couple months before bringing them home. We have never worked with a breeder before and would normally be inclined to rescue an animal from a shelter, but due to the allergy limitation we felt like this was our only option. Getting two was really in the best interest of the cats because everything we’ve read says they do so much better when they’re not alone.

At this point in our lives we definitely feel ready to commit to pets again, and cats just feel like the right fit for us. They’re a low maintenance pet but still show a lot of affection. While all three of the kids were excited, there’s no question Elise was the most excited at the prospect of getting a cat. She has always been obsessed with cats and was over the moon when we broke the news. Considering all the let downs we’ve had this year, it felt so nice for Jessica and I to give them some exciting good news. They certainly deserve it.

In other family news, we recently spent the 4th of July at our house with Kristy, Beto, and Madi. This was literally the first time we had seen any family since January, so it was really nice to get together. We had dinner, then hung out in the cul-de-sac with the neighbors and let off a ton of fireworks. Rumor has it that this was the last year we would be allowed to do our own fireworks, so it was fun to be able to share that with them. Hopefully we can set up another get-together sometime soon.

That’s about all for now, but before I go I just want to again wish Elise a very happy 7th birthday! We love you more than you can imagine and hope you enjoyed your special day. Noi ti amiamo così tanto!

Enzo is now attending Jiu-Jitsu classes with us and loving it!

Summer fun with our good friends Avery and Nathan

Our little furballs on the day of their birth

Someone is ready to open their presents!

Taking a family photo in the driveway on the 4th of July has become a tradition for us

Making Plans

If you’re reading this post around the time it was written, then you surely know these are crazy and often scary times we’re living in. Just as it appeared that we were transitioning out of the Covid-19 quarantine, the biggest racial protest in a generation broke out, sending the entire world into such a frenzy that even the pandemic barely made the evening news. It’s an unprecedented time that none of us will ever forget, so Jessica and I are more focused than ever on staying out of harm’s way and placing our entire focus on that which we can control.

As far as the racial protests go, I think it was long overdue, but I also feel the lockdown from the pandemic, and all the tensions surrounding that experience, helped it reach a boiling point. People were getting fed up on so many different levels that it was easier than normal for things to implode. I agree wholeheartedly with the peaceful protesters and want their message to be heard, which is why I hate seeing their message overshadowed by violence, destruction, and theft. In some ways I feel like we’re in the middle of the perfect human storm, and that we should all be afraid to a certain extent.

Speaking of storms, let us not forget that every year we set new records in Summer and Fall for natural disasters, and it’s not like those things are going to disappear or take a year off just because we’re dealing with all these other problems. The uncontrollable wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods will be here soon enough, and I’m worried about our ability to deal with them based on everything else going on. We seem to be in a bit of a downward spiral, so again I feel it’s more important than ever to do your part and find your own ways to make an impact.

For our family, there’s no question that making an impact starts at home. We have 3 little people that need to be brought up the right way. Simply not being racist is no longer good enough, so last week we started getting books that explain racism and race relations to children. We’ve watched videos on the Civil Rights movement, watched specialized programming explaining these topics to children, and engaged in conversations once thought of as ‘uncomfortable’. Who is it really uncomfortable for though? Certainly not the kids…

Beyond the children, I’m finding dialogs opening up everywhere. Certainly they are at work, but the same can be said for our Jiu-Jitsu school, which just reopened a few days ago. I’m one of the only adults in the school who isn’t involved in law enforcement or the military, and the conversations we’ve had there have been really interesting. One guy is ex Secret Service, two more guys are Seattle PD, there’s Marines, Army & Navy vets, and then you have someone like me from the tech industry. Everyone is super respectful of each other’s opinions, and hearing things from their perspective has been very interesting to me. Overall I feel like dialog via face-to-face communication is so much more powerful and constructive than anything you’re going to get from social media, but it’s difficult when you’re still supposed to be social distancing yourselves due to the pandemic. The resounding theme for me these days is to do my part, on all levels, and I find that everyone I associate myself with is doing the same.

Although the world seems to have recently drifted into unchartered waters, we still don’t see any harm in making plans for the future. Our Disney World trip, which was originally supposed to occur in early April in celebration of our 10 year anniversary, had to be pushed back to late May, then pushed back again. At this point we’re scheduled to go the last week in August, and as long as Disney follows through with their plan to reopen in mid-July, we should be in good shape.

In some ways it may even work out to our advantage because only people with existing reservations will be allowed to go this Summer, and that includes us. This means there’s a good chance that it will be much less busy than normal, but we’ll see. At this point we have learned to expect the unexpected and won’t be surprised if we have to change our plans again, but that’s fine. Every time we reschedule the trip Disney sweetens the deal even more for us, so soon enough they may be paying us to come.

While we’re confident in Disney’s ability to provide a safe environment, our biggest safety concern for the trip centered around air travel. Being in various airports and airplanes means a lot of exposure to people from all around the world, so we started kicking around the idea of extending the trip from one week to three, and turning it into a cross-country roadtrip. I have plenty of unused vacation time, and we don’t have any other school or work schedules to worry about. Plus we have a very comfortable van that is meant for long-distance trips, so we decided to go for it.

The biggest blocker to our roadtrip plans would be getting a refund on our airfare. We purchased the tickets last year through Orbitz, and they were non-refundable. I decided to take on the challenge of getting our money back, and started by calling Orbitz customer service. I went into this whole ordeal with two requirements: accept nothing other than a refund, and treat everyone I speak to professionally and respectfully. I assume getting screamed at is a common occurrence for these customer service representatives, but I’m simply not willing to go there. It doesn’t make me feel better about myself to yell at someone, and I feel like that type of behavior would only be detrimental to my cause.

As expected, no one was very eager to give me my money back, but each time I spoke to someone I would make some type of progress, setting things up for the next step. Again, I feel that being calm and respectful was crucial because eventually someone would level with me and tell me exactly what they could and could not do, as well as help me get one step closer to my ultimate goal of a refund.

After speaking with a couple people from Orbitz, I was led to United Airlines customer service, which is who we were flying with. Eventually this led me to filing a reimbursement claim with them online. I decided to use my work email address so they would know who I was employed by, and I explained the entire circumstances as eloquently as possible.

At the end of my explanation, I said that my employer provided me with legal assistance, and although it would not be my preference to utilize those services, I was prepared to if my refund request was denied. I’m not sure if that ended up being a factor or not, but two days later I had an email confirming our full refund for all five tickets, and the day after that the refund was received. So, it took a fair amount of effort and perseverance, but kudos to United Airlines for doing the right thing.

With that out of the way, we were free to start planning “The Great American Roadtrip”. There are so many places and cities we’re excited to see, and while I’m sure there will be times where Jessica and I are cursing ourselves for making such a crazy decision, I’m equally certain that this will be something we remember forever.

The plan is to take a week getting to Florida so we can see Mount Rushmore, visit family in Cedar Rapids for a couple days, spend a day in Nashville, and see some other attractions in the Southeast before arriving in Orlando. We will then spend a week as planned at Disney World, then take another week to get home. We haven’t finalized our plans regarding which route we will take home, but we know we want to see the Grand Canyon, and spend a couple days visiting family and friends in Las Vegas. It’s going to be an epic trip, and we feel like that timeframe from mid-August through the first week of September is ideal on multiple levels.

So that’s the plan for now. We won’t feel like anything is set in stone until Disney World officially reopens next month, but again there’s nothing wrong with having a plan, and we’re willing to adjust as needed. I feel confident that it’s going to work out, so we just need to be patient and see.

In other family news, Elise recently lost her first tooth, which was exciting. She wanted me to pull it, so I was happy to oblige. She got a little freaked out and started screaming at one point, but to her credit she pulled herself together and we got it done without much discomfort. She was so cute carrying around her “Toothy” pillow the rest of the night, and of course the Tooth Fairy was kind to her.

Ava and Enzo are also both doing really well. All 3 of the kids are thriving under Mom’s home schooling, and their test results are now proving it. Ava has become quite the little skateboarder these days, and Enzo is constantly out there tearing it up on his bike and scooter. Also, Jessica is becoming a master at jigsaw puzzles.

In terms of activity, last month Jessica and I took up jumping rope as our preferred method of cardio exercise. I find it to be a really efficient way to get your heart rate up, and although I’m now able to go to Jiu-Jitsu again, I’m going to continue jumping rope because you get into such a zone when doing it.

It was humbling at first because you can’t get into the right rhythm, and you’re gassed in the first minute or two, but just like anything else if you stick with it you start improving rapidly. These days I go out there and do 600-700 reps without breaking a sweat. Jessica used to be a member of the “Iowa Skippers” and is definitely better at it than I am, but it’s all good. We were joking that we should start a neighborhood rope jumping club because it’s an activity that enforces social distancing – if you get too close to each other you get stung by the rope.

I think all this time at home caused me to start getting a little stir crazy because I recently decided on a whim to shave my beard. Last time I did this was at my Mom’s house for Christmas about 2.5 years ago, and all I remember is Ava crying and refusing to look at me. Due to that traumatic experience, I grew it right back and didn’t really think about shaving again, until now. This time around I decided to have the kids help me shave the beard, and it seemed to help, but they’re still asking me when will it be back.

One thing I’ve been enjoying since then is shaving with a straight edge razor. I’d never done it before, but I definitely understand why people get so into it. It’s much more of an experience than normal shaving, and if you do it right, you can’t possibly get a closer shave. This is because the number one rule when shaving with a straight razor is that you have to stretch the skin super tight. The combination of stretching the skin and shaving against the grain results in the closest shave possible.

Every time I tell someone I’m shaving with a straight razor I get some type of warning about being careful, and it’s true you have to go slow and be careful, but what that really means is taking the time to learn the technique behind it all. It’s not like normal shaving with a safety razor, so I had to watch a few videos on YouTube to understand it. Things like stretching the skin, maintaining a 30 degree blade angle, and using different parts of the blade for different areas of your face are crucial. I think the reason I like it so much is because it is very technical (like most other things I enjoy doing), so I usually just put on some music and take my time with it.

I guess the common theme these days is finding ways to stay engaged and happy when your normal routine no longer exists, and for our family it hasn’t been too much of a problem. We’re finding ways to stay informed, do our part, and make a positive impact however we can while always placing top priority on staying safe. As usual, we have a lot to look forward to, but not just about the big things like vacation. Simply getting together with family or friends for a Saturday afternoon will be such a treat once the time finally comes. I just hope it comes sooner than later.