the quest - day one

after a fairly decent night's sleep, the bean and i were up early for the first day of the quest competition.  she was due at the all star movies resort to have her coach do her hair and makeup at 8:30, so we'd blown out her hair the night before to save time.  all she had to do was throw her uniform on and then we headed out to grab an uber that took us to the other hotel.  we actually got there a little early, so we had time to walk around a little and check out the fun decor.

hair and makeup was quick and easy, and we were done with plenty of time to spare.  

and then we found out that the bus that we'd been counting on for the team to take from the hotel to the espn center wasn't going to be available to us after all.  seemed like a major organization fail, but there was nothing we could do but figure out our own transportation.  the original plan was to leave the bean with the team to take the bus when it was time to line up for their warmup time while i headed back to the polynesian to meet up with the hub and go together to espn when it was closer to competition time.  instead, we grabbed an uber that got us to espn center about an hour early and texted the hub to let him know of the change of plans.  i figured it was better to get there early and wait rather than kill time elsewhere and potentially stress over getting there on time.

i was so glad that i'd gone ahead and gotten myself dressed for the day instead of relying on being able to return to the hotel after taking the bean to meet the team.  this meant i had all of my good luck charms already in place.

once the rest of the team arrived, we all made our way towards the practice field - stopping for a quick photo along the way.

the girls finished warming up and headed into the venue to check in while the rest of us waited for instructions on when to line up at the entrance to watch them perform.  the hub got there just in time, wearing his own good luck charms...shoes in the team colors.

and then it was time to go inside.

transportation issues aside, i had to give the organizers credit because the actual competition itself was streamlined and ran smoothly and on time.  the team took the stage almost exactly at the time that they were assigned.  and the routine went off pretty flawlessly, while we all cheered them on from our socially distanced viewing spots.

when it was over, we headed back out of the venue and over to the reunion zone, where we cheered the team on as they emerged, triumphant from their awesome performance.  the bean was relieved, but still nervous because she knew that they had one more performance the next day to get through.  day one's performance counted for just 25% of their overall score, which meant that they really had to kill it for the second day.

their look for this competition had included use of the fake lashes that had been sitting in the bean's makeup bag, which she'd been dreading for weeks.  hair and makeup for her is one thing, but the fake lashes damn near pushed her over the edge.  she could not rip those things off fast enough.

this was the only family photo i managed to get that day.

the hub had booked himself a round of golf at one of several courses on property, which left the bean and me to head to disney springs for some snacking and shopping.  after she had a chance to wash her face and change into comfy clothes, we hopped into yet another uber for the drive over.

disney springs is so much better than downtown disney.  we hadn't had the chance to explore it in depth together last year, so we were excited to be back with more time to spend.

she'd waited an entire year for this - a visit to the daily poutine for some cheesy deliciousness.

after we were done, we took a leisurely stroll around.  we were really amused at the sight of one of these vintage amphicars, which can drive on land and float on water.  so cool...and $125 for a 20-minute ride.  

as we walked past this wall, a lady asked us to take her picture in front of it and then offered to do the same for us.  and we all know i don't turn down a good photo op.

in the disney style store, we eyed the display of ears on the wall:

and while the bean hasn't been a huge photo op girl in recent years, she didn't hesitate to hop into this teacup for a fun picture.

we peeked in at the cigar lounge to scope it out for the hub and find out what their hours were.  it's a small space, but i knew he would enjoy hanging out there for an hour or two at some point.

at amorette's patisserie, we checked out the cute novelty bakery items.

i picked up a wine slushie and a mini mickey cake to enjoy while the bean opted for a simple nutella-filled crepe.

the bean totally rolled her eyes when i found the new lululemon store and dragged her inside for a quick look around.  i was hoping to find a disney/lulu exclusive piece, but came up empty.  bummer.

with just a few hours left before we had to meet up with the team again for one last practice before day two of competition, we decided to go back to the polynesian and take a quick dip in the pool.

and then it was back to the all star movies resort.

in the meantime, the hub had finished his golf game and headed over to disney springs to enjoy a cigar.  we headed back over there so that we could grab dinner together at the wolfgang puck cafe and snuck this photo of him before he realized we were there.

it had a really fun day, during which we'd squeezed in about as much fun as we possibly could without actually going into any of the parks.  the biggest bummer for me was learning the hard way that my apple watch, which i'd just gotten for valentines day, wasn't as waterproof as it seemed.  even though swimming is on the list of workouts that it tracks and i'd turned on the water lock function when we got in the pool, it started acting really weird.  it would go into emergency mode, attempting to dial 911, with the alarm going off before shutting off and restarting.  and then it would shut off and restart again, and again and again until it finally just shut off completely and didn't do anything else.  i ended up not having a watch for the rest of the trip, which kind of sucked because walking around disney world always logs a shitton of steps.  

i'm beginning to think the apple watch and i really aren't friends.  it hates me.  ugh.