Universal Studios

One last family trip before we send off Daddy for a year on June 1... We headed to Florida for 5 days and hit Universal Studios for all things Harry Potter!

On the metro headed to the airport, Tate is all geared up! (Thx Auntie Kristen)



Macy's hip outfit (Thx for the hat Mrs. Sara)

Breakfast in the airport lounge-

Our plane was a little delayed, so the kids rocked some old school Silly Putty to pass the time- 

Off we go!

Checking in at the hotel was even fun!

Our first day we spent playing in the pool... It sure was tempting to just stay in bed our first morning there with this view out the window- 

But, NOPE! We got to the park ridiculously early on day 1 of 4 in the park, and literally got front row parking! And yes, kids have their Harry Potter robes on... The temps were low the first day... 

These pictures are in no particular order....

Ollivander's Wand Shop, where Macy would eventually get her Hermione wand. Tate already had his- thx Grandmommy!

The Dr. Seuss area was so so cool! Macy cracked me up every time she sat on this bike and tried to do the policeman's pose-

Goose juice AND Moose juice!

Hagrid's Hut-

So thankful for the mister fans while we waited in line!

Seeing Hogwarts took our breath away! It was so so fabulous

You walked through a snowy Diagon Alley to get to Hogwarts-

And the Hogwarts express that took you from London (in one park) to Diagon Alley (in another park)

Now in London!

We ate lunch at the Leaky Cauldron-

Weasley's Wizard Wheeze's in Diagon Alley--

Gringott's-

I have a very similar photo of me in high school surfing!

Waiting for the Jimmy Fallon ride, which was one of our favorites. A 4D race through New York City with Jimmy

The Butterbeer was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Worth the line, worth the money. Cold and frothy, non-alcoholic heaven in a cup

A few food highlights-

Of course, the obligatory amusement park turkey leg

And the best Sushi of Tate's life thus far, at CowFish

Meeting the raptor-

King Cong-

Hatching dinosaur eggs-

Marvel Superhero Island was a big hit... just walking around the streets made you feel like you were in a comic book

This is Louis Lane's desk-

And even I got excited seeing Captain America-

But Spiderman was the best...

He spent so much time with Tate, and signed his hat-

Funny thing about the hat.... I'd picked it up at the thrift store for a couple bucks before our trip. They were selling it at the gift stores in Universal for $24!

Jurassic Park water ride. Macy hated it, and I must admit I was every a bit scared.

On our way into the Poseidon show-

Watching a very cool Marionette puppet show-

Simpson's anyone?

Animal actors show-

Fear Factor Live show-

A cart full of snakes and spiders...

The obligatory amusement park giant lollipop-

The sorting hat-

This girl will climb on anything-

The perfect shirt for Macy-

And makes friends with little kids everywhere we go-

I was so sad to have run into Optimus Prime when Tate was off in another part of the park with Brian-

I loved ET as a kid, and in fact I still love ET! I found it surprising that in 2017, Universal Studios STILL has an ET ride. Unfortunately it was under construction the week we were there, so this is the closest I got to ET. I had this size ET doll as a kid!

We did get lots of time in the pool at the hotel! Even I got in a couple of times to play. Shocker.

This trip sure did fill us up with fun family time together. Will it be enough? Doubtful. But we have 3 more days at home until we have to say good-bye...