may we go back to may? part 3 (didn't realize it was a trilogy?)

like i said, may was a busy month!

shortly after the mock training, i was summoned to help support in ms, which was a good experience as well. i was able to help plan and then be available for additional support onsite. we had a good time, and it was great getting to know ann better!

the uber to the hotel was informative, it was like tourist-guide-ish. then we met that night to go over the presentation, and i didn't realize until after she'd dropped me back off, that my purse was nowhere...i couldn't get back into my room (but worse than that, my license was in there, and i couldn't help but think about my flight home!)...so i called a lyft to return me to the starbucks we'd been at...the hotel clerk offered her car, but i felt a little weird about that, so i waited and prayed! unfortunately the lyft driver had to go down several exits to turn around to get to me (20 minutes later) because there was construction along the freeway! fortunately the area where the starbucks was is in a great part of town and all the other shops in the little area had been closed before we finally left, and my purse, being black and sleek, was still hanging there, patiently waiting for me on the back of the chair out on the outside seating area.

our ticket out of the training!

the training went well, and i was off to the airport again, a good 6 hour wait for the next flight. ew.

then the following day one of my great friends from kamp came to visit! the great thing was that she has a job that allows her to work from home, so we were both able to work on friday, monday and tuesday before i took wednesday and thursday off! and since shea was also working, we played in the afternoons, and it worked out well!

fields of gold

old tree photo shoot

wembley photo shoot

lido beach waiting for...

hammocks on the beach, sunset pics, myakka park- we did see alligators, and the 'sea of gold' flowers were in bloom, which is seasonal, not more than two weeks later the entire meadow was under water... we got over to st. armands, lido beach, obviously we had to introduce her to the farmhouse donuts (the biscuit and gravy twist), fish tacos, nascrab races at a local favorite...then wednesday was our early morning and off to animal kingdom!

i decided at shea's suggestion to go ahead and get annual passes for the parks, and when we decided to parkhop to magic kingdom, i determined real quickly that it was so worth it! for parking, hopping, the pics, etc, it will pay itself off quickly enough! and to be only 2 hours away, it's an easy day trip. plus a great excuse (not that i need one) to go hang out in orlando with brandy, and not feel rushed at the parks! so yes, we went we conquered! we stopped to meet and greet pocahontas, walked through to see all sorts of animals, we caught the safari ride, everest, etc, then we wandered around a bit, we wanted to do the avatar ride, but the line...ohhhhh....the line! (although, in hindsight, i understand it may have been worth it, note to self, will have to return! even if only for this ride!) we ate in this land and loved it-such interesting burger pods and hot-dog bites and very unique drinks! it was almost a given we'd eat there, as we had prepped by watching a couple nights earlier with homemade ceviche!

at some point we decided that we would spend the second half of the day at the magic kingdom. we arrived as they were recognizing a veteran, followed by a small parade, which shea almost interrupted (oh the scolding)...

anyhoo, we took advantage of every photo op available! we did some of the smaller fun rides, as the lines weren't too ridiculous...probably the longest line was our meet and greet with ariel! yikes! but she did pull out the dinglehopper and combed shea's hair, so that was worth it! as was the fast pass on splash mountain!

celebrating our mentor, TRISH HELSEL's bday (who knew she'd just gotten proposed to!?!)

these are the pictures we love!

we caught the light show from one of the small diners, then tried to get to space mountain, but the line was ridiculous! we did end up doing the winnie the pooh ride, which i believe was our last of the night, and we took the ferry back. #productiveday

the following day, which i also took off, we did a little siesta key factory tour, and beach, then when shea was off, it was a little rainy, so we went down to the tiki-hut (we'd been wanting to try the food there to mark it off the list). it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't terrible, either. i'm pretty sure bmayes got the best option- hard to go wrong with coconut shrimp! eventually the little downpour passed by, and we made our way to a little ledge where you could sit and watch the sunset-which was pretty much set-still beautiful. and the lights were turned down because: turtle nesting season.

the following day, we got some more work done before taking bmayes to the airport for the late flight back. the issue on that 7:00 pm flight is always either traffic, or weather! fortunately we made it in a timely fashion, and despite all the other cancellations due to wx, hers went well!

and after that, i slept!