Whew! March was a whirlwind of a month, but also was a great one! We started out the month with lots of busy-ness, including Anna's first school soccer game on Thursday the 3rd. They had a big win on a beautiful day, and it was so much fun! We are very proud of her for trying this more competitive team where she is one of the youngest girls playing.
That weekend was fairly quiet, and the following week was more of the usual, plus book club for me and a day trip to New York for Bob on Wednesday the 9th. Their school lifted the mask requirement on Monday the 7th, and it has been wonderful to be able to see kids' faces, breathe and hear better, and stop washing those masks all of the time! We are so happy!
Saturday the 12th was Erin's first-ever in-person YAA piano competition, which was held at a piano teacher's house in Cary to avoid many people crowded together. She did a wonderful job, and found out the week after that she got very good marks! Anna's soccer game was canceled that day due to weather, but Erin and I then went to the dance school's dance theater performance later that day. Erin decided to do the piano competition this year instead of dance theater since they both happened to be on the same day!
Sunday the 13th was an early day after the time change (boo), and the girls altar served at mass. Monday-Wednesday was the usual routine, and Thursday was the beginning of our Anna-Mom trip to Universal Studios! We left school around 11:15am, stopped at Panera, went to the airport, and got on our1:55pm flight. Arrived at Orlando, took an Uber to our hotel (Aventura Hotel), ate dinner, hit the pool, and got smoothies. Friday was our day at the parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure). We were up and at 'em early and into the parks via bus by 7am, made a beeline for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and, after a lengthy wait, had a blast on it!
From there, we rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, then got a wand at Ollivander's (or maybe in reverse order),
tried butterbeer, then rode Hogwart's Express to Universal Studios and got off in London! We had baked potatoes for lunch, then rode Minions Mayhem, then a snack stop and Anna got a temporary tattoo, then rode the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster
and Race Through New York twice!
The lines were pretty long and we missed our chance at buying express passes for the rides. We then walked back to the hotel, got dinner, and crashed. It was a busy day but so much fun! Universal is great!
Saturday, we got up and had a leisurely breakfast, then took an Uber to the airport for our 10:30am flight. The flight was overbooked and they were offering big rewards to rebook that night or the next day, but Anna had a busy week ahead of her and needed to get back. Plus, what would we do all day?!
We got home just fine! Bob, Erin, and Finley had a good time while we were gone. Erin hung out with friends at Olivia's house on Friday the 18th (teacher work day). They both helped at the fish fry on Friday, which went well. Sunday I had a couple of PSO buddies over for a meeting and we prepared for the week ahead! Monday, Anna and the rest of the 6th graders hit the road for the Sound to Sea field trip in Salter Path. They had wonderful weather and did lots of fun science activities! The place looked really nice - much nicer than what we all expected. She had a blast, though she had been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks before and it turned into a sinus infection on the trip. She is finally now clearing up with the help of our old friend amoxicillin.
She returned on Wednesday afternoon, and the rest of that week was fairly routine. Erin played one of her YAA songs at school mass on Thursday, and it was beautiful! Saturday the 26th was Anna's first soccer game for her Y team after a weather cancellation and our weekend out of town. They did a great job! They played again on Sunday, and Erin also auditioned for the ballet company at her dance school for next year. We have not found out yet if she made it.
Monday the 28th was a busy day with a soccer game at St. Raphael's and then hightailing it back to Apex for Erin's NJHS induction ceremony. Go Erin!
Tuesday the 29th was the long-awaited 7th grade trip to DC. They return this evening and it sounds like everything has gone wonderfully!
In Erin's absence, we have had some soccer and some school and work. Finley had his annual checkup on the 30th and got a clean bill of health as long as he doesn't gain any more weight. Eek! Also, our porch was finally finished on the 30th. We love it and some of us are very excited to get the hot tub reconnected and up and running after a (very) long time away.
So, it was a great month, full of back-to-normal activities which makes us so happy. We are thrilled to finally not have the masks at school any more, happy to be traveling, and so happy for normalcy! We will never take it for granted again!
