tons of sudden issues, alternator?

[upallnight]

Turning on the AC and the dash light up so it must be the Alternator. Reminds of the story of the deaf frog. A man taught a frog to jump when he said jump. The man remove one of the frog's front leg and yelled jump. The frog jump, but not very far. The man remove the frog's other front leg and yelled jump. The frog was still able to jump. The man removed the frog rear leg and yelled jump. With great effort the frog was able to hop on one leg. The man remove the last rear leg and yelled jump. The frog just sat there. The man continues to yell jump but the frog continues to sit there. The man's conclusion was that after removing all the frog's legs, the frog turns deaf.

Maybe the AC compressor is putting such a load on the engine that it is not able to spin fast enough to generate the needed voltage. Normally when the AC is turned on the idle speed is increased to compensate for the additional load. Could be the compressor is loading up the engine, but that just a guess on my part. This guess is base on the daughter's explanation/observation "that when it comes on you lose a lot of power".