To celebrate our first free weekend in over a month, we got up this morning and headed out to the Typhoon Lagoon waterpark at Disney. Apparently it wasn’t a unique idea. When we got there, all the ticket lines were at least 30 to 40 deep. Bad time for our annual passes to expire.

But, at last, it was time to pretend we were stranded in the tropics … well, you know, with informative signs around.

One of these days soon, I’m going to get around to doing a full Typhoon Lagoon post. I feel a little bad because it’s one of the top search terms that brings people to my site, but those poor suckers only find a lame reference I made to the Typhoon Lagoon Shark Reef in an older post. Sorry to disappoint you intrepid Googlers once again. But I’m still hungover from my mega Wizarding World of Harry Potter review, so I think I need a few days away from attractions write-ups.

But, speaking of that blog, check this out. I’m an As Featured On!

My head is swelling with the implications of this already. Will my reviews start appearing in movie trailers? Press kits? Do I get an aisle at Wal-Mart with the other As Seen On items? My stock is SOARING my friends, I tell you.

But in all seriousness, thanks to Orlando Informer for the link love. The post was a monster. I hope that it’s helpful for other would-be wizards, but, like most posts, it’s more for me. So what if it took me entirely too long to write (or for anyone else to read). Someday I’ll be glad to have all those memories in writing.

Anyway, back to Typhoon Lagoon. It was actually a pretty chill day. Our new favorite spot is the shallow (about 3 feet deep) pool at the bottom of Crush ‘n’ Gusher. It’s a calm spot for our new swimmer to keep honing her skills. And we had a new moment for us. These three kids came up to us and asked if we could teach them how to swim. At first, DadJovi thought they were messing with us (the oldest kid was about 12 and could have just been being a smart aleck). But then I realized they were serious.

They were really sweet. They were siblings and I really think it might have been their first time in a pool. I taught them a couple basic things (mostly that I picked up from E’s swim teacher) and they were really into it. E. kept piping up with tips too, which I felt a little bad about since she was so much younger. But she was excited to help teach them and the youngest kid (who looked to be about 5) definitely took tips from her better than me.

And then I saw their sister. She was missing both of her arms from about the elbow down and her mom was sitting in the water with her and helping her float a bit. And the mom had a grin from ear to ear. It was one of the sweetest, most heart-breaking things I’d ever seen. I’m sure they forgot about my lessons the moment I walked away from them, but I certainly won’t forget that special family anytime soon. I hope they had a magical, memorable family day. Their dad was snapping photo after photo, but even without a picture, I’ll still remember them for a long time.

As we walked away, I gave E an extra big hug, once again incredibly thankful and grateful to have a healthy, happy child. It’s too easy to take that miracle for granted.

And then our lucky child got a little extra spoiling at the end of the day. We hit her favorite spot …

DadJovi and I have started a bet about when we think E will get her first real tattoo. I say she has one by 16. I think he’s delusional optimistic she’ll wait longer. That girl loves herself some ink.

And just to show she does live a charmed life, she got two for the price of one today because the Slinkydog one didn’t go on right.

DadJovi says it looks like she was just sprung from Pixar Prison.

On the way home, we made a quick stop at Whole Paycheck since it’s the only place where I can get cases of plain milk boxes for E’s lunch. Seriously, Publix — I’m not going to send my 3-year-old to school with chocolate or vanilla milk. Uh uh. Not happening.

Way too much money later, we had the fixings for a new dinner tonight, inspired by recipes in the new Food Network magazine (best magazine ever, by the way).

All of this fresh goodness …

…. led to me using my fingers to lick every last bit out of the blender. Don’t believe me? Check those finger marks.

Can someone please explain to me why I’ve never made Green Goddess dressing before? Why???? Oh, I know why. Because I have no self control. Hmmm, reminds me of someone else I know and their little problem with goddesses.

Know what is winning? This right here — Green Goddess Potato Salad.

Here are the ingredients — 1/4 cup of fresh parsley and basil (that’s combined, not each); 1 chopped shallot; juice from 1 lemon (I started with half and added a bit more); 1 tsp Stevia; 1 cup of mayo; and salt and pepper. Toss all in the blender and mix to awesomeness and combine with cooked potatoes. I also topped it with a few slices of avocado but I figure a Green Goddess can never be too green.

We paired it with skirt steak gyros with grilled yellow peppers, onions, chopped tomatoes and watercress and a Greek yogurt sauce. But the main dish definitely paled in comparison to the potato salad. It was so good I think we’re making it for my friend’s Fourth of July party on Monday.

Speaking of the Fourth, it’s time to start celebrating!

E. was loving the sparklers. She was spelling her name with them (don’t you remember doing that as a kid?) and pretending it was her magic wand …

All was going well until the sparkler went out. And then she did exactly what we had just told her not to do — touched the hot end. Her finger was fine, but I think she may be emotionally scarred for life (or at least this year).

Happy Birthday USA!