Cheer Weekend Recap + Covid Disney Tips

It's Wednesday and I think I've finally recovered from my UCA cheer comp girls weekend to Orlando. I had both the girls with me, and with the Covid times still upon us, I decided to drive instead of fly from Atlanta. At several points, on the way down, I regretted this decision. Eight plus hours together in a car, with endless arguments and screeching that even the best of my noise canceling headphones couldn't drown out, will do that to a mom. 

But all hearing loss aside, it was a super fun weekend. I went into this competition season as a cheer mom newbie, and now I can do a winged eyeliner with the best of them (thanks youtube make-up artists), and will forever shed glitter where ever I travel (it's an upgrade from just the dog hair I normally shed). 

| Sometimes God does answer prayers.|

My daughter has loved every. single. second. And seeing her big smile and a passion for a sport she loves (and trust me - it is a sport) has made every extra practice, long drive, and drama over the (direct quote) "worst hair pulling and hair brushing" she experienced each comp weekend - totally worth it. 

I'll take this brief time to shout out to the good people of various Hilton properties for never calling DFACS on the mom with loud screams coming from her child in her hotel room. That bun was always high, tight and right all season. 

UCA weekend was FUN. There's just something about having a comp in the "Happiest Place on Earth". 

We spent our first few days solely focused on the competition and hanging out at the hotel swimming during our free time. 

Our hotel was right across from Disney Springs and hop, skip, and Florida humidity filled jump across a bridge we sweated our way towards Planet Hollywood one day for lunch. The kids loved it. 

And they love their over the top drinkable dessert creations even more. 

The hotel had an amazing set of pools, complete with an oversized hot tub, lazy river, and game area. On the weekends it features a live DJ. Needless to say for a bunch of 5-12 year olds it was heaven. 

There is also a large bar. Needless to say for cheer moms, it was heaven. 

But don't let all the fun and games fool you. These kids work HARD. From top to bottom this season they have overcome every Covid hurdle thrown at them this last year and it shows. Not to brag on them (but I totally will) - they WON! 

But I think what struck me more was the fact they loved doing it with each other. They cried coming off the stage, and not because they were excited to win or upset about something with their performance. They were crying tears because they love each other so much and this was the end of their season. They end of what they accomplished together, and they know they did it with the sweetest group of friends. My seven year old recognized the importance of that. As a parent, what could I not love about that?!

As day two wrapped up, I made a last minute decision to take the girls to the Magic Kingdom. I had tickets to Epcot because that was the only reservation at the time available, but when I saw Disney had Magic Kingdom availability I switched our tickets and hopped quickly on the Monorail before something could happen. 

I'm a planner, but the spontaneity of this moment worked in our favor. Capacity at the park for a Sunday was low. We walked right in. 

| Minnie Mouse Tees |

A mini-parade (because in Covid times parades, character visits, and shows are things of the past) was occurring and the Minniest Magnolia made all her dreams come true - Minnie Mouse waved right at her. 

We rode rides. We didn't wait in any lines! We ate all the yummy food. And we just had a blast together. 

Disney is waaaaay different. Wearing a mask all afternoon in the hot sun wasn't the most pleasant experience, but we did so happily. (And if you happen to forget or pull it down for a second a cast member will pop out of the nearest perfectly landscaped Mickey shaped bush and remind you.)

I was nervous when I saw Fast Passes were no longer a thing, and feared we would be waiting in long lines. My fear was unfounded though because we rode several rides back to back to back due to no one being in line. The girls thought it was the greatest day of their lives. 

And then my winning cheerleader (totally still bragging) decided to ensure it was the most memorable day of her life and lost a tooth. Thank you to the kind strangers who helped locate it on the cobblestone roads in the dark of the evening with the golden lighted power of our cell phones and our Ariel musical bubble makers. 

Tinker Bell. Trophies. And Tooth Fairies. 

I'm not sure about you, but the murderous hair brushing can totally be over looked. 

SOME QUICK DISNEY FACTS & TIPS

I thought I would write these down for you on a quick sheet in case needed. Most info you can find on their website. But I didn't know I would need to use the app as much. Lots of things are hands off, and I wasn't expecting to have to mobile order food. Overall it's an easier Disney experience with some of the traditional fun missing. It didn't slow my kids down one bit, or make them feel like they were missing out on anything. Several of our teammates also felt the same way - it was enjoyable. So if you have an upcoming trip...

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Coronavirus Daily Schedule for Kids

This past week has been a whirlwind.  It is honestly hard to even wrap my head around all that has happened and changed with the new developments about Coronavirus.

Last week I began getting emails from just about everyone regarding their new policies with regards to the virus and what measures they were taking to keep everyone safe and healthy.  Anything from my pediatrician's office to the place my son gets his hair cut to Old Navy.  Yep, even Old Navy sent me an email about it.  Honestly, that one just made me laugh.

On Wednesday I had stocked up on groceries for the Mr. and younger two kids because I was set to head to Orlando on Thursday for a cheer competition at Disney World. With all of the growing concerns about the spread of this virus we were notified on Wednesday that our gym was still going.  Thursday morning we had another email saying the gym had pulled all of the teams from the competition and that was the news I got to wake my daughter up with.

"Good morning, honey...instead of going to Disney with your friends and teammates to compete, you get to go to school."

She was crushed, mad, disappointed, confused, and annoyed about life at the moment, but I knew it was the right decision.  Later that day our schools were cancelled, baseball was cancelled, soccer was cancelled, basically our entire life was put on hold.

The reality started to sink in a little bit and we all tried to make sense of what this was going to mean for us.  "Digital learning" is the new catch phrase as far as their schooling goes and that is one of the biggest unknowns.  They all went to school on Friday to get final assignments, directions, and guidance for how to navigate these next few weeks and I have a feeling the majority of my day is going to be helping each of my 3 with their online work and assignments.  Just the logistics of logging into different programs, who gets to use the laptop, who is going to work where, etc. has me a little nervous, but we are going to make it work!  I've set up a small workstation for each of them in different parts of the house so they can hopefully concentrate and focus during their digital learning times.

I know my kids view this as a "break" from school, but I have a feeling that they are all going to be eager and begging to go back to school as soon as they can. That is the hard part though. We have NO IDEA when they will be heading back.  Just like schools all over the country, we would hope to go back in 2 weeks, but my guess is the likelihood of that actually happening is very slim.  I've read articles and reports with recommendations that could have us out the rest of the year.  I'm praying that isn't the case, but if it is, we better get used to this new normal.

I'm obviously no expert, but thought I would share what I'm going to be doing to try to keep my kids entertained, engaged and off of their phones/ipads all day long.  I think one of the biggest things to help us all get through these next few weeks is to create a schedule.  I have to admit this made me laugh though:

There have been a ton of these ideas floating around.  Some seem great if you could really make them happen:

Others that I'm sure my kids were hoping for:

My guess is ours will end up somewhere in-between those two. I know ours will be flexible and we will probably have to adjust what we do by the end of the week, but at least it gives us a starting point.  My kids are 8, 10 and 12 and my goal is for them to have an idea of what our days at home will look like while still keeping a little structure. This is the one I made and what I'm aiming for:

Sports play a HUGE part of my kids' lives so along with keeping their school going I also hope to keep their sports going.  I figure if I can be their teacher while they are at home I can also be their coach! We will be practicing drills, hitting off the tee, stretching, throwing, juggling, tumbling, conditioning and anything else we can think of. I can't imagine them going back to school having done nothing over these next few weeks and I feel the same about them going back to their sports having done nothing.

I also wanted to share a few ideas that the kids and I came up with for ways to stay entertained while they aren't working on their school work or sports practices. We're going to keep adding to this list as we think of new ideas!

make bead bracelets

science kits

learn calligraphy

learn to sew

clean out their closets

organize playroom

clean out old toys/books

chores to earn money

watch movies

silly string

jump on trampoline

paint

learn to do laundry

baking

family walks

How are you planning to survive these next few weeks (or longer) at home with your kids???

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