On the road again...

Now I have to admit, it was a bit stressful this trip as our kids were getting horrible sleeps and the weather wasn't always the best for just relaxing by the pool.  However it warmed up right at the end which made things feel a lot more chilled out.  Made it a bit hard to go home, but we were also looking forward to no one sharing a room with Henry at home!!

At the airport I bugged everyone by saying things  like "next time we're here we'll be going on the disney cruise!", "There's our disney cruise bus", "the next time we are on this monorail we'll be getting our luggage and going on the cruise!!".

Everyone believes I'm nuts I think.

Universal Studios Day 2.

A basic repeat of day 1, except no Grandma Val :(

We did our favourite rides again and braved the lineup for the minion ride.  It wasn't nearly as crazy as Gringott's, but had a much longer lineup the entire day for some reason.  Henry wasn't tall enough to ride, but could sit in a stationary seat at the front, so I did that with him.  After Henry got to meet the Minion named Kevin, which was super cute.  

To anyone reading this who may contemplate Universal at some point, don't get the interactive wands unless you have a TON of time.  Basically they cost more and are supposed to activate cool things around the wizarding world.  These cool things didn't seem to work super well, and often had lineups of other people waiting to perform the magic.  Now we didn't get these interactive wands, and I'm glad we didn't because it would have been a huge waste.  The girls had and still have fun pretending to be wizards with their regular replica Hermione wands.  I suppose if you planned on spending days and days there it would be ok, but not on our schedule!

Last few (warmer!) days

Ok it does say 12 degrees, but it was early morning and it felt warmer, hence the feet in the water. 

Rose was so happy with her find of a shell in the sand park.  

Brought a few shopkins to play with in the sand.  Of course one went missing for a few tense minutes.  

Rolling down the hill and then needing showers due to itchiness, grass, and rashes

Yes that's right.  Mike even vacuums in hotel rooms.  

smoothie!

A few random days at the hotel (and some shopping!)

Sitting still it let surprisingly much warmer than only 11. 

Crawling on rows of chairs to warm up

Elsa/Anna

Super expensive American Girl store

Even after the other Elsa/Anna from Downtown Disney we had to get him this one too.  The excitement on his face when he found this at the Disney store was priceless.  Rose wanted one too.  

M and M store

Super cold outside.  Crazy swimming Daddy and kids

When in Orlando in the cold, drink red wine while wearing a Jurassic Park shirt

Watching Harry Potter with wands

Universal Studios!

The day we went to Universal Studios was very cold!! Not like winter at home or anything, just cold enough that the girls were very happy to have the toques that Mike bought in one of the Harry Potter shops.  

Again we headed straight for the Harry Potter section, which in this case was Diagon Alley.  It's really quite incredible how they constructed the whole thing.  As in the book, you have to go through an unmarked wall to get there. There aren't even signs as you would expect in a theme park.  Once you pass through the wall (really just around a corner) at King's Cross station, you are there.  The large dragon on top of Gringott's bank breathes fire apparently, but after standing for a long time without seeing any action we gave up.  

There is one ride in Diagon Alley, which is called "The Escape from Gringott's".  Rose was able to go on this one but didn't want to, so Grandma sat with Rose and Henry in the Child swap area while Mike and I rode with Paige.  This ride is really incredible, even the queue with the realistic looking Goblin's as the bank teller's on the main floor.  At the back of the bank you begin to head into the basement of the bank and eventually take an "elevator" deep into the vault.  Even for someone not riding, like Grandma Val, the experience is really something.  The ride itself was so fun, and not too scary.  We begged Rose to go on it.  I can't remember if she did right away or that day, but eventually we convinced her to go on it too and she loved it.  

Because of the success of the lunch at The Three Broomsticks, this time we dined at "The Leaky Cauldron". 

We also had fun at the Simpsons's section, the animal actors show, and the transformers ride.  That ride was totally crazy, and Mike and I felt extremely nauseas after that one.  After that we were done and had to leave, saving a few things for our next park day.