A Daughter's Heart

For several years Julia and I have been going to the Daddy Daughter Dance at our community center. Since 2020 the event hasn't been held, so this year we looked for an alternative. I wish we would have found this option a long time ago! Compared to our little community center, this was the real deal. Coat check, gourmet hotel dinner, prized, balloons, and an amazing 12 person band that played 1970s funk dance music.

Unfortunately, this might be the 25th and last year that they event is held unless someone else decides to pick it up and run with it. We had a great time together, especially during the dance and with each other. At one point a conga line was formed and we jumped on the train. When it fell apart we stopped for a minute and then decided to walk back to our spot (and Julia's shoes). After we picked our way through people I looked over my shoulder and realized that I had unintentionally started and was leading a new conga line. So, we did a few more laps with my at the front of the line with my daughter and a bunch of balloons.

I know Julia really enjoyed the event and our time together. I hope that we are able to do it again next year. Time is running short...

Disney World - Day Four

Our final day at Disney World started off similar to yesterday. We had made an advanced reservation first thing in the morning for another workshop for Jonathan, this time, a custom dried build. Stacey was able to join Jonathan this time while Julia and I went and checked out Toy Story Land.

The droid would interact with things at the park, although it was sometimes hard to hear in the backpack and with a bunch of people around. We're fairly certain that it let out a sad sound when we left Galaxy's Edge to get coffee, and made a happy sound when we walked back into the park afterwards. Jonathan and I discovered the "secret code" book and with this picture we were able to translate a lot of writings, including on his lightsaber case. 

After walking around a little bit more, and seeing a great performance/appearance by Kylo Res, we finally bit the bullet and hopped in the line for the ride, Rise of the Resistance. Oh man, words can't describe this ride. It's the best one I've ever been on. It takes something like 30 minutes to get all the way through, but that's because it's part walking experience, part people mover, and part ride. It just epic. After having our ship captured by The First Order, we boarded and walked through the enemy's shop to our holding cells. Oh, but this was after a real hologram  message from Rey. Anyways, the escape from the ship was the ride part that included life sized ATATs and Kylo Res trying to cut through our escape pod with his red lightsaber. Anyways, I could go on and on, but the point was it was a pretty epic production and a high point to end our trip.

Disney World - Day Three (Galaxy's Edge)

Galaxy's Edge, the park, was very impressive. The landscape and characters milling about really made you feel like you had landed on a planet in a galaxy far, far away. But there was the Millennium Falcon to fly (ride) and souvenirs to buy before the day was done!

So that's what we did the rest of the afternoon. We walked around the entire Galaxy's Edge park, taking in all the sights and sounds, and going in every shop looking for what Jonathan wanted to get with the rest of his money. His room was already partly Star Wars, so after this trip, his room is now entirely themed Star Wars. Let me put it to you this way: we had to buy a duffel bag at Target to bring home all of our purchases.

Unfortunately for us, the weather wasn't great the entire trip. We were all pretty cold, and had to wear every warm thing we brought with us. Jonathan wasn't fazed. He had waited too long for this trip...

Disney World - Day Three (Custom Lightsaber)

The big day finally arrived. Jonathan had been talking about building a custom lightsaber for months, and it's one of the main reasons we ended up going down to Disneyland. He saved all his money for custom build workshop, as well as all of the different kinds/colors of kyber crystals that give the lightsaber it's color and special powers.

Reservations for the custom lightsaber build open up about 6 weeks prior to each day, and they fill up fast. We made reservations for first thing this morning, because Jonathan wanted to build it as soon as possible. Children can be accompanied by one adult, and I was the one that got to go inside and experience the build and production with him.

He got to choose his hilt, accessories, and one kyber crystal. He choose purple, but he had the whole build and all crystals pre-planned thanks to YouTube. They were out of protective cases, and rumor had it the other shops were running low, so Stacey and Julia went shopping while we built the lightsaber. 

The construction and actual lightsaber actually exceeded my expectations, let alone Jonathan's. It is fully metal, heavy, and is about as close to what a real one would be like. I carried it around at times the rest of the day, and even I felt pretty cool having it over my shoulder. Each crystal determine's the color, sounds, and special effects that it makes when in use. For me, I can now understand why Jonathan was really hyped about it.

Disney World - Day Two

Today we made our way up to Universal Studios to visit the two Harry Potter parks. We confirmed that most of us don't like the actual rides at amusement parks, but rather the fun is going to the different worlds they've created and feeling like we've been transported inside the movie. These places pay attention to every little detail. I can only imagine how much more fun it is for the people that are REALLY into Harry Potter.

This park was for Julia, since she has read a few of the books and seen a few of the earlier movies. In my opinion, the movies get a little too dark towards the end, so we haven't seen them yet. We first stopped off at Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley for wizard wands. Throughout the park there are interactive attractions that you can play with if you have a wand. Julia ended up with the same wand as Hermione, and Jonathan ended up with the same wand as Dumbledore. From there we wandered around and saw a fire-breathing dragon on top of Gringotts Bank and stopped off for some real butter beer.

For the next leg of out adventure we hopped on the Hogwarts Express and took a ride over to the other Harry Potter Park, which is essentially Hogsmeade and an amazing replica of Hogwarts itself. We wandered around the park for awhile and ending up staying later than planned, since we eventually were able to find some food. The castle at night was pretty impressive and there was even a light show against the castle walls towards the end of the evening.