I have been meaning to write about this for a while, but unsurprisingly, I’m getting to it about a month later than I planned. Anywho, Al turned 30 last month!! I have almost known him half of his life! I wanted to throw him a big party to celebrate, but he really doesn’t like celebrating his birthday and really doesn’t like parties centered around him. He said he would rather just spend it with me ♡ So instead, I planned a super fun trip to Orlando with just the two of us. Here’s a little recap!
The main focus of our trip was going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and we were going for 2.5 days so I had to plan around that. Initially I wanted to stay onsite, but I was watching the Tiny Home show on Netflix which led me to Google “tiny home communities,” and I found one in Orlando. It was so cute and so much cheaper than staying onsite, and we would finally get to stay in a tiny home! (When we lived in Texas, we were planning on having a tiny home in our backyard for guests or in case one of our parents ever needed to come live with us, but now our backyard will probably be the size of our bathroom. The tiny home dream needed to be fulfilled.) Here are some pictures of the place we stayed:

We got in on a Thursday afternoon, and went to an escape room. It was our first time going to one, and we won! We only had two minutes left, but still. lol. The theme of our room was stopping a fatal virus from spreading all over the world. Super fun.

The next day we planned to sleep in, and I thought we had slept so late because I felt so well-rested and it was extremely bright. I woke Al up and asked what time it was, and he said 6:47. So apparently when you have kids who have been waking you up between 5:30 and 7 everyday for the past 3 years+, sleeping in is a joke. lol. Nevertheless, we slept well, got some donuts and a smoothie and headed off to Universal Studios. (Side note: Uber is crazy cheap in Orlando! We Uber’d to the airport in DC (4 miles, 10 minutes) and paid $19. Uber’d to Uni Studios (21 miles, 35 minutes), and it was $18!! Whaaatttt?!)

When we were there, I said to Al, “Do you know when you’re so happy- well, not you specifically because I’m sure this hasn’t happened to you, but you know how some people are so happy that they cry?” He obviously had no idea what I was talking about lol But I was just so happy when we got there, tears were running down my face. lol. It was so much fun, and I was also just so glad that we were able to have time by ourselves and that we have amazing friends who care for our kids. This was the first time we were alone on vacation for 3.5 years. At any rate, there was only one ride in Harry Potter World that was good- Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. The rest of them were basic, at best, same with the magic from wands and the butterbeer. But still, very beautiful and fun.
We went on some other rides too. I can’t believe I thought the Spiderman ride was good. It hasn’t changed since I was 20, and that was 14 years ago. It’s trash. The Simpsons ride was fun, but the Hulk is still the best. I mildly concussed because I hit my head on the side where I had brain surgery. That was really scary. Everything started to turn black, and I was rolling my eyes. BUT aside from that, we went on the Hulk 3x and it was really fun. lol.
We were going to go dancing after we left, but we had been there 8 hours and were so tired and were both like… wanna go back to the house and watch tv? So that’s what we did. lol.
The next day, we went zip-lining, shooting at the range (first time for me), met up with friends and went to Top Golf, and then went out to a steakhouse. Everything was really fun. I think I want to go zip-lining for my birthday this year- that was my favorite. The shooting range, I thought I would hate but it was actually pretty fun once I got used to the sound of a shooting gun. It was initially quite terrifying. The steakhouse was kind of stuffy, and we were the only black people there. Wasn’t really feeling the atmosphere, but the food was delicious and our waitress was super nice.
The next day, we came back to DC and saw our babies! Alvin turned 5 the day before we left so we had his birthday party that day. The day after that we went out to eat with friend’s for Al’s 30th. It was a busy 5 days, and we were ready for a break but it was really fun and I’m super glad we went. I’m hoping to take the kids to Orlando and go to Disney World next summer or the following. Idk, we’ll see. I want Zoe to be old enough to remember because what’s the point of spending all that money otherwise? lol.
Here are some pictures of my sweet family before I get out of here:
(My friend, Jess, is an incredible photographer. Ask about her if you’re in DC!)
Alvin and Zoe are just as sweet as they can be. They are so funny and both so smart. Zoe has finally started to act like a three year old in the last week. Nothing crazy or anything, but she just ignores people all the time. Yesterday Alvin said, “Sometimes Zoe says she can’t hear me, but I think she just ignores me.” And Zoe yelled, “NO, I DON’T! I HAVE ON HEADPHONES!” And I was like… yeah, but they’re not connected to anything. lol. She’s a trip. Today was Alvin’s first day in afterschool soccer, and Zoe’s first day in a dancing class. I hope they are loving it. It’s actually about to be over soon, so I need to walk to the school and pick them up. It’s been real. Later!