The Grand Concert

Sam performed in the Jr High Grand Concert, which is a fundraiser concert put on by all the advanced music groups in the school and I look forward to it every year. Unfortunately I was sick and wasn't able to attend this one in person, but Mike did a great job taking pictures and videos for me so I could still experience it. I think they did an amazing job!

Arabian Dreams

Argent Edge

Fingal's Rock

The grand finale - God Bless America, with all the music groups performing together

Rat Introductions

Charlie finally got to a place health-wise where the vet gave the ok for Charlie and Coco to be introduced and start living together

First we tried out the "neutral space" method of introduction. The neutral space in this case was the bathtub with a towel in it. They did ok with this, but were still squabbling quite a bit trying to figure out which of them was going to be the dominant rat (rats live in a social hierarchy, so this is important for them to get figured out)

Next we tried the "carrier method" where you start them out together in a very small carrier and as they show they can get along, you move them to gradually bigger spaces. This helps them work out their hierarchy and other issues more quickly.

As you can see from this photo, Coco established herself as the dominant rat. Once they got that out of the way, things went really smoothly.

Sleeping in the little carrier together

Next we moved them to a cat carrier, and they did fine in there

Sleepy lil rat donuts

The last step was to move them to their normal cage and slowly add their hammocks, toys, etc. to make sure they don't fight over them. They did great with this step, and now have been living in the same cage for about a week and a half.

Whenever I go check on them during the day (their sleeping time), they are cuddled together in one of their hammocks or in a box. I had a hard time getting a picture of this because as soon as Coco would hear me, she would pop out to see who was there, but I was finally sneaky enough to get a picture. 

They also have fun playing and exploring together during playtime out of their cage. I am so glad they both have a rat buddy now 💗

Valentines

 We had a fun family Valentine's Day

I couldn't find the O for the LOVE candy dish set, so we had to improvise lol

I baked the heart cake, and Mike decorated it

We had loaded baked potato soup, green salad, and fruit

Dorie loves cuddling with Sam's new stuffed bear he got for Christmas, but he understandably doesn't want it to smell like dog, so I decided to get Dorie her own plushy that she could cuddle with. I was trying to find something that was about the same size as the bear, and ordered a plush dog online. It came in a fairly small box and was vacuum packed into a bag. After fluffing it up, it was apparent I had misjudged the size - it is huge. Oops. Happy Valentine's Day, Dorie! 😆

Valentine kid pictures

We also played some games together. We played "Off Topic" and some Jackbox games

This is Dorie waiting for us to open her little mailbox. We put treats in there for her

Trying out some Valentine photo filters with Dorie

FL Trip Day 4 - Universal Parks

 For our second day, we spent the morning in Universal Studios. The front part of the park has now been transformed into Minion Land. The Minion Mayhem ride has been there for a while, but they added the new Villain Con ride, and have themed the surrounding buildings and shops.

The Minions gift shop

There is a new sweets shop called "Bake My Day" which is pretty hilarious

Some of the cute Minion treats they have for sale

More Mardi Gras decor

The Tribute Store was themed like a haunted river cruise from the 1920's on the Mississippi River - so Mardi Gras/New Orleans/the Bayou but spooky!

Sam and I rode Transformers

    

Walking through New York

Sam and I tried out Men in Black

Next up was Springfield, USA and the Simpsons Ride

Sam's main memory of Universal Studios from out 2018 trip was getting a giant Lard Lad donut, and he was keen to repeat that experience, lol

We also stopped by the Canada food booth to get a couple servings of candied bacon poutine to try for lunch

The E.T. ride is so weird, but I love it

Sam and I rode Rip Ride Rocket again

Heading over to London

Creature peeking out of the window at 12 Grimmauld Place

Sam in the Knight Bus

Diagon Alley

I love all the little signs around Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes - Shenanigans for All

Mayhem this Way!

Inside the shop

Checking out the candy shop

The Magical Creatures Shop

Sam picked out the souvenir that he really wanted for the trip

Riding in the model motorbike

Riding Gringotts

Going through King's Cross Station to ride the Hogwarts Express

Back in Islands of Adventure, we rode a few more rides 

Skull Island Reign of Kong

Taking our chances with the Jurassic Park River Adventure again - we didn't get TOO wet

Going through Hogsmeade station to ride the Hogwarts Express the other direction

Having a hydration/rest break at the Leaky Cauldron

We went to the Universal Horror Make Up Show - the last time we went to this, it was pretty scary to Ev and Sam

In the lobby area of the theater, they have interesting exhibits about Universal Studios horror movies, and how they were made

Sam enjoyed it much more this time!

We tried out a few more food items from the food stands - 

A bananas foster creme brulee crepe from the France stand

A Colombian burger from the Colombia stand

For our last ride of the trip, we rode Revenge of the Mummy one more time

The next day we checked out of the hotel and flew back to Utah. It was so fun to spend some quality time with Sam, and enjoy some amazing sunny weather!