Sage turns 10!

March 12, 2015, our first-born turned 10!  

What a blessing he has been in our lives.

Turning double-digits is a really big deal.

It calls for a super special celebration.

Sage wanted to go to Islands of Adventures in Orlando, FL.

Since our campground is only 25 minutes from the amusement park, we had to make it happen!

Wowzer!  It is so expensive, though!

Thankfully, my mom's long-time friend 

knows someone who works there.

He met us at the gate, swiped his employee card, 

and we got in for 30% off the original ticket prices

(which means we only paid $296.00 for 4 tickets 

as opposed to $424.00).

This is what Sage looked like the 

morning he turned 10!

Good morning!!

I bought him his first thing of deodorant 

since he hit double-digits!

He doesn't really need it yet, though.

He's not a smelly boy.

He still loves Minecraft!

Window markers on his side of the truck.

We got the very first parking spot 

in the garage because our truck is so big!

Took a picture to remind us where we parked.

There are several moving walk-ways

to get you to the park from the parking garage.

You REALLY appreciate these when leaving the park.

We waited for the man who got us into the 

park here at Margaritaville.

This is the only picture I got of the 

man who helped us save lots of money!

Entering the world of Harry Potter!

We rode this coaster.

So...I have a confession.  

The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

 ride traumatized me.  

For real.

I am NOT good on 4D rides that have lots of movement that jar you around, that flip you almost upside down, that have awesome affects that seem so real, that have bars that go over your shoulders that lock you in, that prevents you from looking over at your kids so you can not see if they are alright or not.            I HATED this ride.  

I almost had a full blown panic attack as soon as the shoulder bars clicked me in.  And the ride kept going and going and going.  I rode with the boys while Henry waited in the 'Bag Swap' room with our bag (more on that below).  So I sat between the boys, and I just knew that this ride was way too intense for my boys as soon as it started.  It's such a helpless feeling to not be able to do anything to help your boys when you yourself are fighting a panic attack and you are strapped in a ride.  I was scared too death for little Scott because he technically was like a half an inch too short for the ride, but they approved him to ride.  There is a reason you have bars over your shoulders because it dips you forward, dips you backwards, and moves you all over.  The graphics were very scary for little ones.  Needless to say, I kept my eyes shut 95% of the time (not because of the graphics but because of the motion sickness that hit me quickly and hard).  Shockingly, the boys did just fine with it.  Neither one wanted to ride it again, but I was obviously the one who had the toughest time with it.  

NEVER again.

All this is kinda hard for me to accept.

My love for thrill rides started when I was about 9-10.  

I have always loved roller coasters and rides that scare the #*#* out of you.  I am now prone to motion sickness and a fear of heights as well as a severely claustrophobic.  

Getting old stinks sometimes. 

So, in order to ride the Forbidden Journey ride, you have to put all bags including purses into a locker which is a nightmare of a process.  There are tons and tons of people trying to put their bags into the lockers and get their out of the lockers.  The locker area is a really small space - not a great design.  

We had 2 bookbags.  

One of our bags fit into a locker just fine, but the bag that Henry was carrying was too big for a locker.  

SO...they have a 'Bag Swap' option where if you have 2 or more people in your group, then one person can stay with the bag while the others can ride the ride, and then you swap places so that everyone in your group can ride the ride.  

We got super lucky because the guy patrolling the lines let us skip the whole line and go straight to the front just because we had a bag that was too big for the locker!  

We didn't have to wait the hour long wait to ride the ride that I ended up hating.  Ha!  

They also have the 'Child Swap' option where it's the same concept.  If our boys were too little to ride, then I could ride the ride while Henry waiting in the 'Child Swap' room, then we could swap places.  

These were the talking paintings.

Henry rode the ride, and the first thing he said off the ride was to me, "Are you okay?!"  Cause he knew after riding it that it had to have been a rough ride for me.  

He, on the other hand, could have rode it over and over and over.  He loved it.  

In the Dinosaur Discovery Center.

Scott was amazed!

Watching a baby dinosaur hatch.

Scott asked me, 

"Mommy, is that real?"

Captain America!

We didn't stand in any line to get pictures of

any of the characters so instead

I just took side-ways pictures of them.

Daily Bugle Office of Peter Parker

(standing in line to ride the Spiderman ride).

The Spiderman ride TRAUMATIZED Sage 5 years ago.  

He was excited to conquer it this time!

This time, the Spiderman ride challenged me!

It's a 4D ride, and there's a part of the ride where you climb a building so high, and jeez...just the simulation that we are high up in the air freaks me out now.  

It is a really cool ride, though.

I can tolerate it way better than the Harry Potter one.  

We found a safe place to eat lunch for Sage.

Sage has a severe peanut and tree nut allergy.

It requires some planning to be able to eat at a restaurant.

I spoke with a chef before ordering his food.

He let me read the recipes for the food to let me decide if it was safe for him.  He also let me know that they are very aware of the seriousness of allergies, and that they 'do their best to avoid cross-contamination'.  He advised us to stay clear of the desserts which we always do in restaurants.  He told me to ask for the 1st Line Cook or 2nd Line Cook in any restaurant on the property before ordering any food because they will always come out to talk with us to make sure they can prepare something safe.  Wish I would have thought to get the name of the restaurant and of the 1st Line Cook that I spoke to!

Sage enjoyed his spaghetti and meatballs for lunch!

(This restaurant was in the Comic book section of the park close to the Spiderman ride.  They served hot dogs, pizza, and pasta).

Super Heroes on their bikes.

Spiderman!

After lunch, we played in an arcade.

After the arcade, we made a trip to the bathroom.  

One of my favorite things about having boys is that they go to the bathroom with daddy, and I get to go to the bathroom all by myself.  Well, I walked out of the bathroom to see Henry and Sage frantically looking around.  

I hear the dreaded words, "I can't find Scott."  

Within seconds, Scott's whole life flashed before my eyes.

The night before, I wrote out a 'In Case I am Lost' note.

I put Scott's name, age, birthdate, my and Henry's names and cell phone numbers, and our 'address'.  I put it in a plastic sandwich baggy (in case it got wet), and I put it in his pocket.  

That morning, I showed him the note and which pocket I put it in.  I asked him what he should do if he would get lost...if he would get separated from mommy and daddy.  I told him to go find someone that works there....any restaurant, store, ride employee...and give them the note that is in his pocket.  

And here we were in this nightmare.

So I quickly prayed that he would remember what I told him to do and to remember that he had a note in his pocket.  

Losing your child is.the.worse.feeling.

ever.

My legs wanted to give out.  

I was shaking all over.  

My heart was going to quit beating.

And there was Scott running out of the men's restroom.  

I grabbed him, and he goes, "I was lost!"

So what happened was while Henry was in a stall, 

Scott runs out of the men's bathroom, but Sage sees him do this.

Sage tells Henry that Scott ran out so Henry ran out after him, but didn't see him anywhere.  

Then while Henry and Sage were out of the bathroom looking for him, Scott ran back in the bathroom because he didn't see us outside.  That's when I walk out to see Henry and Sage searching for him.  (Remember, there are people EVERYwhere, going in every direction....so so so many people).  

WHEW!!  

Next up, on the list was this spinning ride and my heart could not take anymore stress at the moment.  

Thank goodness for Henry's stomach of steel!

I requested that we go to the Seuss Landing 

area for more calm and quiet rides.  

Cat and the Hat ride

Watched one minute of this show, 

but Thing 1 and Thing 2 freaked Sage out.

He hates clowns, and they are too close to being like clowns.

See...he was not thrilled.

Scott and I rode the carousel.

This is the sweetest thing.

Scott loves me so much he wants to marry me.

Best compliment ever when your son wants to marry you.

He's told me for weeks that he is going to marry me.

I told him that he needs to get me a ring.

When he played some games in the arcade, 

he won tickets that he could pick out a prize with.

He picked out these rings.  

For me. 

Both boys picked out wands from Ollivanders.

$50 wands.

Two boys.

Equals $100 for 2 wands.

WOW!

Here's a wall of the many, many wands to choose from.

The wands that they got were 'interactive' wands

which means they could cast spells where they found gold medallions on the ground.  

We stayed at the park from 8:30 am to 5:15 pm.  We then went to Outback Steakhouse for Sage's birthday dinner.  The manager came out to let us know what Sage could eat safely there.  He wanted the sirloin medallions and french fries.  The manager let us know that they would grill the sirloin on foil to prevent cross contamination from the grill, and that they would not season his meat with anything.  He let us know that they use 'shortening' for frying the french fries, but he advised us not to let him eat them because he's not sure about cross-contamination from the plant it comes from.  So Sage opted for plain broccoli instead, no butter and no seasoning.  Our server advised us not for him to eat the bread because they don't make it there so they couldn't tell us if it was cross-contaminated.  
Lots of 'no's', but Sage was happy with his steak and broccoli (thank goodness he loves broccoli!).  

Overall, Sage had a fabulous 10th birthday!!