Disney Soccer Showcase

I know we were in Orlando 2 weeks ago, but Sadie & I went back this past weekend for a soccer tournament:

When we booked this back in the fall, the plan was for all 4 of us to go, but Sophie decided she didn't want to go anymore because she had plans at home. And Bryan has felt overwhelmed coming back from the holidays, so he stayed behind with her. I picked up Sadie early from school on Thursday & we had lunch at one of our favorite gf breweries by the airport in Dallas:

Can you tell she was a little bit excited about her sparkling pink lemonade?! And everything there is gf - fish & chips, chicken tenders, fried okra, fries, etc. Sadie loved every bite of her buttermilk fried chicken, but I had to go with the grilled chicken tenders instead:

We finally made it to the airport & she was even more excited to meet up with one of her closest friends on the team:

We made it to Orlando, picked up our rental car & arrived at our hotel late Thursday night. We were excited to stay at Disney Springs, so we were close to everything, but I was even more excited when we walked into the marketplace at the hotel & saw their gf section:

I will warn you now. Most of this blog will be about soccer & food. Ha! That's what did - we flew to Orlando to eat & I loved every bite! I forget how allergy friendly Disney is, so we had so many options everywhere we went. 

Friday morning, we woke up early & had a day planned at Universal Studios:

We had SO much fun but of course I took a ton of pictures so I will do a separate post about that. 

After a fun day, we had our car packed for soccer & we headed straight to the park for their first game of the weekend Friday night. Did I mention they played at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex? Thankfully it was just a few miles down the road from our hotel, on Disney's property:

I mean not a bad place to play soccer:

There's just something about palm trees on the side of the pitch. The weather was unpredictable - freezing Friday night, up to 70 on Saturday & we were all overdressed & hot. What I didn't get pictures of was how crowded it was. They were having the UCA/UDA collegiate championship & every college you could think of was there - bands, dance team, cheer teams - it was CRAZY! Sophie would have loved it! Their first game was evenly matched & we ended the game tied 0-0 but towards the end of the game, Sadie was taken out by the other team when another girl fouled her. Unfortunately, it was a bad hit & the other girl got a yellow card while Sadie got hurt. I thought it was her tailbone because she was slow to get up & was holding her back. She played a few more minutes & I didn't realize until I watched the film later that she was crying & when she started running, she was holding her left arm. Then I noticed she went to the medical tent & stayed there until the end of the game. Turns out the medic had been trying to call me, but I thought it was spam & didn't answer. He suggested we take her to an urgent care facility so that's where we headed at 11:00 that night:

They took an x-ray but the doc on call said he didn't see anything & that a radiologist would call us back. But they did wrap her arm & help make it stable to help her get through the weekend. She slept with it elevated, took a lot of pain medicine & somehow powered through:

Unfortunately, she didn't play again the rest of the weekend, but she dressed out & sat on the bench with her team:

By the end of the weekend, we had several girls down! Poor Gracie in the back got hit hard in the face & had a horrible bloody nose & Kori hurt her hip & had to be wheeled out in a chair:

Saturday was a hard loss to a team they should have beat and Sunday was the best they played but they just fell short & lost 3-2. On Saturday & Sunday when they weren't playing, we spent a lot of time at Disney Springs since it was within walking distance. We had fun walking around, shopping & most importantly, eating! Ha! This is where we came for New Year's & as much as we wanted to go back to that restaurant, we wanted to try new places this time. 

Friday night even though Sadie was hurt, she was starving so we went & got burgers with incredible fries before we headed to the clinic:

On Saturday I was excited to try this pub that I read had really good fish & chips, along with fried chicken & onion rings. Yes, onion rings. I can't remember the last time I had one:

Then we met up with friends for dessert:

I remember last time we were at Disneyland they had a dairy free ice cream sundae, so I got that again & it was AMAZING! Even worth the $25 I paid for it! 

On Sunday, we knew the girls were already out of the championship game & would not be playing on Monday so Sadie & I packed up early to catch the latest flight out. It was a nice morning but after lunch a cold front blew in with high winds, rain & much cooler weather. We braved the elements for one last stop at Disney Springs before we headed home:

We ate at this bakery in New York & it is 100% gluten free & vegan. We had stopped earlier this trip & I bought a cinnamon churro cupcake top with caramel in the middle & it was delicious:

This time we picked up a sampler box for breakfast with cinnamon cake, cinnamon roll, donut & banana bread:

We only ate half for breakfast & had the rest on the plane. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed that night but thankfully we made it home around midnight. The rest of her team stayed until Monday, but I was glad to get her back because they didn't have school on Monday & I wanted to take her first thing to the fracture clinic at Scottish Rite. Thank goodness we did because as of today, I still have not heard back from the radiologist in Florida. But they confirmed that she fractured her scaphoid in her left wrist so she did get a cast that she will wear for the next 3-4 weeks until she has follow up x-rays:

Besides her injury, we had a great weekend! So much fun just the 2 of us & bonding with her team. Ironically, 2 years ago she went to a soccer tournament in California with her old team & fractured her wrist in the exact same scenario, except for it was her right wrist. This time it is much harder since her left hand is her dominant hand. Thankfully she had a good attitude through it all & is already planning her next soccer adventure since they let you play in casts.

New Year's in Orlando

The day after we got back from Christmas in Conroe, we had a quick turnaround before we flew out on Tuesday for Orlando. The girls were extra excited because they got kindles for Christmas & this was their first trip to take them:

We didn't have any trips planned over the winter break, so this one was last minute - any guesses why?

You know it! We ended the year on New Year's Eve at the Cheez It Bowl watching the Texas Longhorns defeat Michigan! It was an afternoon game & beautiful weather:

We sat on the 35-yard line, 3rd row, right behind the Texas bench. Bryan doesn't like sitting this close, but the girls love it! We even had an up-close view of Arch the entire game. When he wasn't on the field, he was literally sitting right in front of us:

It was a pretty evenly matched game until the 4th quarter and then the Horns turned it on & they finished strong:

Surprisingly, it was cold in Florida! Literally colder there than it was at home! After the game, I made reservations at Disney Springs to celebrate New Year's Eve:

I read an article about a journalist who lived in Orlando about all of his favorite gf restaurants & he recommended this one right here:

Thank goodness I made reservations about a month ago as soon as we heard where Texas would be playing. The entire area was packed & there were crowds everywhere. But at least everything was still decorated & everyone was festive for the holiday. Sadie was SO excited they had a make your own shirley temple on the kids' menu - that is her absolute favorite thing:

I loved the ambiance & vibe of the restaurant plus they were super allergen friendly. They are known for their cookie bar & they even have a GF, Vegan chocolate chip that was amazing! I ordered it warm & Bryan even got his with a scoop of ice cream on top:

We had hoped to go to Universal on New Year's Day, and we had been on the waitlist, but we never got it so the next 2 days were kind of chill. We slept in, found a few good restaurants, went to the movies & just enjoyed being together for the holiday. We found an awesome food hall where we had our first meal of the new year together. They had a tavern/sports bar where we set up to watch football all afternoon, played card games & any of the food trucks would send their meal to you once you ordered it. It was the best start to 2026:

And you know what - that's really all I have! We didn't do much & I didn't take many pictures. We mostly ate some great food! New Year's night we went to this awesome taco & tequila bar that I would totally go back to again. They even had a mariachi band come around & serenade us:

Finally, my last picture is food, again. Ha! You can tell what my favorite thing to do is when we travel?! This restaurant was ok & I would maybe go back there again, but this dish was fantastic - fruity pebble pancakes with whip cream & a strawberry glaze. This is what Sadie ordered & I had to sneak a bite. Did you know Fruity Pebbles are gluten free? That's one of the fun cereals I always keep at home because Sadie loves it & I think I can totally recreate this dish here:

And that was winter break! Our first week we were at home & with Bryan's family, then we went to Conroe & celebrated with my family & then we ended with a few days in Orlando. We loved watching the Longhorns end the year with a win & I loved kicking off the new year with a few days just the 4 of us. Now today everyone is back at work & school so 2026 is off & running. I think I am refreshed & ready for the year to come & all of the busyness that comes with it!