Happy Wednesday Everyone! It’s time for our weekly check in, and it’s a busy one! Let’s jump right to it, shall we?
As most of you know, this past weekend was a HUGE deal for the Orlando area, with the popular event, Star Wars Celebration. The convention began last Thursday, and opened to enormous crowds. TMSM was given a media pass, so of course we were determined to get coverage. Day one was on Scott to cover, the boys had school and I had Easter baskets to make, so I dropped him off at the Orange County Convention Center. Being a life long Star Wars fan, he was overwhelmed and thrilled of course. He kept me up to date throughout the day, letting me know what was happening there. One of his first messages to me wasn’t even Star Wars related, he ran into Jesse Watters from Fox News, so he was excited about that too. All in all he had a good day, but the crowds were pretty big, so I knew the next day we’d need to be prepared.
Friday morning, I threw on my most fashionable Star Wars shirt (you wouldn’t expect anything less from me, right?) and got the kids ready to go. When we arrived at the convention center, I was shocked at the amount of people there. My shock went up even further once we got inside and saw the lines to get in. Oh. My. Gosh. And the costumes…… oh the costumes! My friend Lorraine was texting me, trying to tell me where she was so I could find her in the sea of people. Eventually I did (see pic above). The convention didn’t start on time, so the crowds were getting bigger and bigger. Eventually they let people in and the fun and frantic day began. The kids were excited, but truthfully we were all overwhelmed. They had a stage towards the back with interviews that were being live broadcasted online. There were many merchandise booths, Star Wars props, interactive stations and more. It was a long, tiring day, but we had a good time. Our other friends Marc and Cheryl were there too so that made it even better. All in all, a successful day!
On Saturday, we were exhausted. It’s weird because I can walk around a Disney Park all day long and hang in there just fine. These conventions though, my goodness, they really take a lot out of you for some reason. The kids were tired too, so just Scott went back to SWCO on Saturday. He was invited to a Star Wars Rebels press conference and didn’t want to miss out. The plan was to go to the Magic Kingdom that evening, but we were all too tired. We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner instead, and just had a low key evening. Sunday was Easter, so we didn’t go back to the convention. We wanted a family day instead, so we stayed home. Actually I take that back, we went to WalMart to get supplies to have a nice dinner, then came home. Truth be told…. Easter was hard. If you’ve read my book, then you know why part of the reason is that I say that. I should have had three Easter baskets to pass out this year, and that broke me. Add in that I knew my parents were having Easter dinner at their house with my extended family back home, and I was feeling pretty blue. I talked to my mom in the morning, then my dad called at night. Sometimes a good cry is all you need, and hearing from family and friends also helps. We had a nice dinner with the boys though, but I was glad when the day was over. After being here almost three years, you’d think being away from home would get easier, and usually it is, but sometimes it’s still hard. I’m glad we get to go home for Christmas, I can’t imagine being away for the major holidays!
Let’s see, what else is going on? Well this morning, we had a press event over at Gatorland Orlando! They were breaking ground on a new attraction in the back of their park, and we were on hand to check it out. Gatorland is a fun place to visit. Actually, my dad wants to go there when they come to town in two weeks, it will be a good time. On Monday we went to the Magic Kingdom to get some YouTube video footage, and that was a good day too. The park wasn’t nearly as crowded as it has been, so we were able to get quite a bit of content. Plus, there was a bonus Festival of Fantasy Parade being that Spring Break is still going on, so I was excited to be able to catch the parade. Magic Kingdom is my favorite park, and we don’t go nearly enough because of how long it takes to get to and from the entrance, it’s hard on school days. But when we get the opportunity to go and wander, it’s still the best day ever if you ask me. It never gets old.
Well that’s it for this week’s update! I have something new in the works that I’ll hopefully be announcing tomorrow or Friday, so stay tuned! Thanks for watching my video blog last week too, it’s appreciated! Until next time, sending you lots of love, blessings and pixie dust…. See ya real soon! ~M
A special Happy Birthday goes out to my Mom, Sharon today. We love and miss you so much, and are looking forward to your visit! xoxox
Check out details on my new book at www.movingtomainstreetusa.com!
This weeks videos ~
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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