Showing posts with label sisterhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sisterhood. Show all posts
I thought it would be fun to re-share a post I posted a couple of years ago on her 30th birthday of 30 of my favorite things about her. (These are in no particular order and there are a ton more I could have mentioned. It was hard to narrow it down to just thirty!)
1. That you still thinks code names are "cool".
2. That no matter how many years we take the twenty hour car trip to New York you still think it is fun to sneak "just one more thing" in.
3. The Rescue. Need I say more?
4. Our Memories.
5. The Spring that we lived together before I got sick.
6. How BIG your heart is.
7. That you get dressed up for dinner just because I think it is fun.
8. The laughter that you bring to our family.
9. That we still laugh about Mary Kate and Ashley movies and that you still encourage me that we will be on the Amazing Race. "Let's run up the hill... duck... okay get in the car... this game is all about minutes."
10. Our conversations.
11. That you think I am a good singer (hahaha) and that it is always a good time to start "air-singing" ... don't worry I will call and sing to you today!
12. ALL of your prayers for me!
13. Our Thanksgiving Starbucks tradition
14. Our late night talks- even in freezing hotel rooms.
15. Our sister days. (and trips!)
16. That you love being in charge of the lights at Christmas
17. Your lovely understanding of the need for compassion in the world.
18. your love for our pajama tradition!
19. Your ability to bring a smile to everyone's heart that encounters you.
20. Your loyalty.
21. Your love for Disney World (just like me!)
22. Your agreement that there is only so much of the "it's a small world song" before one goes crazy.
23. that you love toasting with Starbucks water just because I think it is fun
24. your love for scamper and my future hubby and my future children
25. your love for road trips (and for singing in the car to all of the songs we know by heart!)
26. your love for talking and planning over EVERY DETAIL for future trips to give me a distraction through treatment
27. Our silly inside jokes.
28. Your Hugs
29. Our Tubing Adventures... Just jump Emily you can do it one more time...
30. YOU
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY 32nd BIRTHDAY Hoopster! I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you this coming year! I LOVE YOU sooo much!! This is going to be the best year ever!!
"Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart."
-Philippians 1:3-
Back in September, before my sister and I went on our Disney Cruise we spent a day at Disneyworld but we also were able to spend a couple of hours at Aquatica - SeaWorld's Waterpark. Ever since a trip to Florida in 2009 my sister and I have taled about going to Aquatica - SeaWorld's Waterpark and so it was so fun to surprise my sister with tickets to the park as a belated birthday present.
My sister and I love waterparks and always have. We laugh that we want to visit all of the major water parks and have been able to visit several and it has been so fun. I shared about how we visited Atlantis Aquaventure on the Disney cruise and it was incredibly fun, and we really enjoyed our time at Aquatica. 
Aquatica is a fun and family friendly water park that features lots of different slides (including some "tamer ones" and ones that are not for the faint of heart- hello the one that releases the ground below you!) and a fun "lazy" river (Roa's Rapids) that was really one of our favorite things.
We started with "Roa's Rapids" which is a twist on the lazy river concept. Honestly we did this several times, because it was just a lot of fun.
This is a fun family friendly ride and it had some surprises that made the ride a bit different and really enjoyable. It was a favorite and if the weather hadn't closed down the park, we probably would have ridden it again!
After riding Roa's Rapids, we headed over to Loggerhead Lane to ride the lazy river on the tubes. It was fun and so relaxing and one of the things that we loved the most was that you could ride the tubes to different rides on this lazy river.
We were even able to see some of the animals as we floated along!
So after we had rode the Loggerhead Lane for a bit we took our tubes up to ride some of the rides.
One of the first rides that we did was Tassie's Twisters which is a really fun and different waterpark ride.
Basically you ride in a tube and you go through a dark part of the tunnel until you are shot out into this giant bowl where you spin and spin and spin until finally you drop through a hole which shoots you back into the lazy river.
We did this ride several times because it was hilarious and kept making us laugh! After this ride we headed to the dolphin plunge and honestly I don't even know how to describe it because it went by so fast that we definitely didn't see any dolphins but we definitely got a good laugh out of it!
After this we headed over to Hoo Roo Run and this ride also made us giggle a lot. Basically you soar down a 6-story, 250-foot, triple drop water ride on a huge tube. Emily and I went by ourselves and our tube got turned around and so Emily ended up going backwards with me landing on top of her at the end of the ride. *hahaha* We couldn't stop laughing and we definitely loved this ride.
Unfortunately due to weather Aquatica closed down a bit early, but we definitely had a blast and we said that we would definitely return to do this waterpark again!
Here are a couple of tips and thoughts about Aquatica if you are interested in visiting this when you are in Orlando:
1. One of the things that my sister and I enjoyed about Aquatica the most was the fact that there were a lot of rides that could be done together or as a family. We love experiencing the rides together so this was a really neat thing about Aquatica specifically that is not always available at different waterparks.
2. Another thing that we thought was neat was that there were kids areas by some of the more adventuresome rides. This area in the picture above, the walkabout waters was right in front of the Hoo Roo Run and it was fun to see families waving to each other and all having fun as different family members experienced different parts of the park.
3. Traveling in September like we did was an excellent time to enjoy Aquatica . The park was not that crowded and we never waited more than 5 minutes to go on a ride. It was truly a wonderful time to go visit if you can!
4. The most cost-effective way to enjoy Aquatica is by purchasing the tickets online which you can do at the Aquatica website by clicking HERE. They constantly have different sales going on and it is by far the cheapest way to visit instead of purchasing them elsewhere.
If you are interested in combining the tickets to also visit SeaWorld there is a great deal going on right now which you can click the picture above to receive.
5. Aquatica definitely was set up to be as disability friendly as possible. If you are interested in finding out more, Aquatica has a disability guide which you can read HERE.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review of Aquatica! We had such a delightful time and as I write and remember all of the fun and laughter I want to go back and do it all over again! Please let me know if you have any questions!
As I shared this past weekend on instagram, we headed out on Sunday morning from my favorite place on earth to embark on several different adventures of my precious sisters wedding, seeing dear friends, a fun writing job, speaking engagements, an intensive treatment schedule, a mandatory meeting with my main medical team, a new book release, and an amazing opportunity to visit the set of my favorite TV show.
I have tears because despite the difficult treatment days, sickness, and pain I still experience in this journey of healing I realize how far how I have come. Truly I feel overwhelmed by the goodness of the Lord for so many things. Thank you for all of your prayers for my continued treatment, our safety in travels, and for wisdom and grace to meet us each and every step in the days to come.
On Monday evening we safely arrived to the south and our home after 18 months away. We encountered several issues but also our sweet neighbors welcoming us home, the kindness of strangers helping us, and this beautiful sunset over the mechanic's office when our car battery was dead.
As we waited for the car battery to be worked on Monday evening, I walked the parking lot with my mom admiring the beauty of the sunset. All at once I had a memory from two years ago in the same parking lot. At that point I was so sick that it was hard to ride in the car for any length of time so my mom brought me to the parking lot to see the beautiful fall colors in the trees that surrounded it. We sat in the car, cried deep tears, and begged once again to the Lord for healing.
To be at this point two years later, able to walk that same parking lot, and see the healing progress that is taking place is a beautiful encouragement gift to my heart.
(The above three photos were taken by Katie at Always, Katie)
And then yesterday was absolutely perfect in every single way! Having the opportunity to meet in person one of my best friends was such a God-thing. It was absolutely lovely. I can't wait to share more about this exciting and amazing time with y'all very soon!
I hope y'all have a wonderful Wednesday!!
After arriving at the Port of Nassau, Emily and I joined the group on the Disney Cruise that had signed up for the Atlantis Aquaventure. As background Emily and I had talked about doing the Aquaventure pretty much since we had seen Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson's movie, Holiday in the Sun decades ago. *smiles* So we saved up our pennies and chose this as our "major" thing to do on the cruise when we arrived in Nassau.
I have to say first that the way that Disney does Port Excursions was absolutely lovely. (But if you aren't on a cruise and just looking to experience Atlantis and the Aquaventure park this review will give you lots of helpful information too!!) Having been on other Port Excursions on other ships, this was really a dream. When we arrived on the ship we had our tickets waiting for us in our stateroom along with clear instructions on where and when to meet - on the ship. For this particular excursion we gathered in the Walt Disney Theater (which was cool and air-conditioned and allowed everyone to comfortably sit while the group gathered) where we watched the spectacular shows every evening. They had maps for us and also a map up on the screen and clearly and easily explained how the day would work.
After everyone gathered they led us off the ship and connected us with the Atlantis Aquaventure leaders who gave us our meal vouchers, further information, and walked us to waiting taxis for us to go to the resort. Once at the resort we were all shown where the water park started and given towels and given clear instructions on how and when we needed to meet the taxis to get back to the ship. It really was simple yet like everything else we experienced on the Disney Dream, brilliantly done.
As we walked to the Aquaventure we saw several parts of the Atlantis Resort. It was lovely to be back (the last time that I was there was in 2014 on a different cruise) and see the beautiful property and get to explore the area with my sister.
The Atlantis grounds and aquaventure area is absolutely beautiful. You have not just stepped into a water park but have stepped into a Caribbean dream when you pick this shore excursion.
The beautiful tall palm trees that surround the property are absolutely stunning.
The aquaventure is a unique and fun water park that features lots of different slides (including some "tamer ones" and ones that are not for the faint of heart- hello the one that drops straight down!) and a unique twist on a lazy river that has some fun surprises.
The Aquaventure park is divided into four different parts- the Lazy River and the Current, the Mayan Temple, The Power Tower, and the Swimming Pools area.
We started with the Lazy River and Current as our first part of the Aquaventure. It was really fun! The Lazy River is a 1/4 mile loop through the tropical landscape.
There are different places where you can get off and on the Lazy River to go to the other three areas of the park or you can ride the entire thing, including the Current.
The current continues to take you along beautiful lush and gorgeous landscape while at the same time propelling you through a mile-long river via water escalators, rolling waves and extreme rapids. We really enjoyed the Lazy River and it was definitely one of the highlights of the day!
After enjoying the Lazy River and the Current we headed next to the Power Tower.
The Power Tower was so much fun! We spent a lot of time in this area because of the fun different rides that were offered. The Power Tower is a 120-foot tower with four different slides. It has The Abyss- which is a 50 foot vertical drop with a 200-foot-long body slide, The Drop- which is a single or double inner tube ride that starts with a "drop" into darkness, The Falls- where you are propelled through a water roller coaster ride, and finally, The Surge- which is an inner tube ride with a drop into a cavern followed by being "dumped" into the white water rapids of the Current.
It's hard to pick our favorite water slide rides, but definitely the Drop and the Falls were some of our favorites! Both my sister and I love the opportunity to be able to do rides together and these were two of our favorites! One of my favorite memories of the day and I am giggling as I write this, was my sister who would scream things like, "drop" every time a drop was coming to help warn me. I am laughing out loud remembering this as it really did give me a warning but it made me laugh really hard all at the same time so I definitely was swallowing a ton of water!
After spending a fun morning doing the above rides we decided to take some time to eat by one of the pools, and rest for a few minutes. As mentioned above you will receive a meal voucher with this port excursion to use. You will have the option of choosing from a few different quick service places that basically all serve the same thing: (Salad, Caesar Salad, Hamburger, Veggie Burger, Chicken Sandwich). My sister chose the Hamburger which she said was really good and I chose the Caesar Salad which I really enjoyed. The last time I was in Atlantis and had the meal voucher I chose the Veggie Burger which was also really nice.
All of these places are by the different pools that Atlantis has. For a bit of reference there are more than 20 different swimming areas and 11 different pools in Atlantis - all with different offerings including an adults only pool, a children's pool, etc.
The views that surround the Atlantis Resort and Aquaventure are absolutely stunning. At different parts you could clearly see the ocean and it was just breath-taking.
After lunch we headed to the Mayan Temple section of Aquaventure. The Mayan Temple features five different slides in its tower: The Serpent Slide-a five story corkscrew slide which ends with a slow ride through a clear submerged tunnel through a shark-filled lagoon, The Jungle Slide- where kiddos can take a safari like slide through different caves and jungles and two different Challenger slides- where you can challenge friends for a splashdown race and finally there is the Leap of Faith Slide- which is the tallest water slide drop the park offers - at almost 60 feet straight down which is followed by a high speed ride through a clear tunnel submerged in a shark-filled lagoon. (Let us be honest- if you are a girl and saw the Olsen twins and Holiday in the Sun you know that this ride was shown approximately 3000 times. *hahaha*)
We spent time doing the Serpent Slide and my sister who loves all things shark related loved the ending to the ride. You really do go extremely slow at the end of the ride and there is plenty of time to see different sharks, including one who was sleeping above us on the tunnel we were in! After riding the Lazy River one more time we were ready to head back to the ship. We were so surprised that we ended up spending about 7 hours on this port excursion. It was a fun and delightful filled day!
Here are a couple of tips and thoughts about the Aquaventure Port Excursion if you are interested in choosing this on your Disney Dream Cruise:
1. If you are like us and were wondering which water slide (with innertubes) is the "highest" in the park - then the answer is definitely "the Drop" ride. We were so grateful when a staff member explained this to us as I couldn't do huge drops due to health reasons and this helped us easily enjoy our time at the park without worrying about future rides.
2. A word of caution though for those who are traveling in the "hotter seasons"... the Lazy River and the Current Water was hot. At one point in the day - near the end of our time there we were hoping to be a little refreshed but instead started to feel a bit sick due to the fact it was so hot outside and the water felt even hotter. Just a word of caution about this part of the aquaventure!
3. Traveling in September like we did was an excellent time to enjoy this port excursion. The park was not that crowded and we never waited more than 3 or 4 minutes to go on a ride. It was truly a wonderful time to go visit if you can!
4. The cost of this port excursion is $185 for those who are 10 years old and up. For those who are 3 to 9 years old the cost is $135 and for those who are infants through 2 years old the cost is free. Like I said it was definitely the most expensive thing that we chose to do, but at the same time as I mentioned in my Disney Dream Cruise Ship Review Post you can save up and pay once you are on the cruise. It is not like other cruise lines where you have to pay before. This allows you lots of time to save for an expensive port excursion like this and you do get lunch and many hours at the excursion. Once I decided to do the cruise I had approximately 9 months to save for this excursion and so I put aside about $18-20 each month to save. On the flip side it is definitely expensive so it might be something to think about for a future cruise if you are strapped for money.
5. Wheelchairs are allowed to be in the pool and beach area but they are not allowed in the water slide area just to give you a heads up. Also wheelchairs must be collapsible as no electric wheelchairs are permitted.
6. Each guest that is participating in the water slide rides must be 48 inches tall where rides require it. There are different things that children who are less than this can participate on, but for the majority of the rides this is the height limit and they are very firm on this. We saw several different sets of parents who were trying to convince staff members that their children had done the rides already, that they really were that tall, etc. and the staff was kind but firm on this rule. There is also a height limit ruler and they will make you measure so keep that in consideration when purchasing this shore excursion.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review of the Aquaventure Port Excursion. It was such a delightful day that I want to go back and do it all over again! Please let me know if you have any questions!
Interested in reading more about Disney Cruising? Click HERE!
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