Monday, July 12, 2010

I'm baaack!!

Hey everyone! I made it back home, but I kind of wish I wasn't. This was one of those trips that you wish could have just kept going. We had a total blast in Florida. I hope you enjoyed the guest posts while I was away.
Celebrating the 4th of July at Disney World was truly magical.
Our family at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. Aren't my boys handsome?


Now... remember that picture I posted last Saturday of "this is where I am, down in that crowd?" I pulled that off the web before I left... and it ended up not being quite as accurate as I thought it would.


This is what we ended up looking like for at least half of the trip (at Disney World anyway) -- it kept raining! I think the drowned rat look is good on me though, right? No? Oh well. The upside of the rain was that it wasn't too hot at all, and the crowds weren't that bad at all. Also, it made for some great memories - getting soaked, walking barefoot through the rivers that were once sidewalks, and many more fun things. My sisters, my mom, and I (and the boys) all wore a lot of hats. Ha ha. The sun came out and stayed when we left Disney World and went to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. Yes, that is Hogwarts in the background and a frozen butterbeer in my hand. I know it is cliche, but my hero is J.K. Rowling and I really, really love the Harry Potter series. Being here at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was like being in a dream. The ride was incredible (totally worth the 2.5 hour wait, plus I got to go twice because of child swap! woot!) - and the town of Hogsmeade was amazing. I didn't ever want to leave.

We ended our trip at Cocoa Beach (which I love - my DH and I spent a day here last year for our anniversary). The water is warm and shallow (which is good since my boys are little fishies with no fear of the ocean - Son A got a body board and surfed the waves with us for hours). This is me and my sister body boarding.

What a wonderful trip!
Now, back to reality. After going to the WWofHP and seeing the trailer for the 7th movies (almost made me cry just watching the trailer... I know, I'm a baby), I am seriously considering putting off the 100+ books on my TBR list to reread the HP series before the movies end. We'll see...
So that is what I've been doing for the last ten days. I took over 200 pictures, but I figured you wouldn't want to see ALL of them, ha ha.
Stay tuned for my next post in which I try to make an analogy of how vacation is kind of like writing that first draft of a novel and how coming home and getting back to "real life" is sort of like the revision process. Intrigued?

12 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG YOU WENT TO HARRY POTTER WORLD?????? CAN I TELL YOU I'M SO SUPER JEALOUS AND WISH THAT I COULD HAVE GONE!!!! I go next year in November, so I have a while, but I'm glad that you had fun...

Butterbeer is good then? J.K. Rowling rocks!

Sara B. Larson said...

I KNOW!! I still can't believe I was there myself. ;-) Butterbeer was really good! It tasted like a delicious cold butterscotch drink of goodness. I hope you have fun when you get to go! At least it won't be as busy by then probably... we waited over an hour just to get in to WW of HP, let alone the rides and stuff.

Lia Victoria said...

...
*dies*

Going to Hogwarts - ahem, The Magical World of Harry Potter - is my dream! I hope every second was worth it! :]

Jemi Fraser said...

Lucky you! Rowling did such a great job creating such a real world!

You have a great looking family - and it looks like you had a ton of fun - even with the rain :)

Angie said...

Looks like a fabulous vacation! Love the pictures. I know how you feel about Harry Potter. ;)

Elana Johnson said...

What fun! Next time can I pack myself in your suitcase?

Melissa said...

OMG!!! I'm going to Disneyworld/HP world in 6 weeks. Seriously. Six weeks. Oh god...I'm dying of excitement already. Hogwarts is gorgeous. FREAKING GORGEOUS!

Carolyn V. said...

Woo hoo! Sounds like fun! I'm with Elana. I'm sneaking in the baggage next time. =)

Janiel Miller said...

Gorgeous pictures. Love Coco Beach! What a great place for kids. :) Good luck with the continuing process.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

What lovely pictures of you and your family. Your boys are very handsome, indeed. I have two girls myself, so I always marvel at families with only boys. It's like another world to me.

I think we were in Florida about the same time. We arrived in the Orlando area that weekend of intense rain! We only just got back from our holiday last night. We didn't visit Disney this year, though. We were just there last summer (My grandparents live near there, so we go mainly to visit them). But I wish we could have gone to Harry Potter world! My youngest is 4, though, and frightens easily, so we're saving it for another time. Thanks for sharing your photos! It looks like you had an enjoyable time.

Sara B. Larson said...

Lia Victoria - It was absolutely amazing! I hope you make it there soon. :-)

Jemi - Thank you! We did have fun, the rain actually kept the heat at bay, so it was kind of nice.

Angie - Thank you! HP is the best!

Elana and Carolyn - you bet! It'll be a party. ;)

Melissa- yay! I hope you have a blast!

Janiel - I love Cocoa Beach, too. Thank you!

Carolina - thank you so much! I have all sisters, so all these boys are kind of crazy for me as well. Maybe I'll get a daughter someday, but I doubt it. That's funny we were there at the same time. Didn't you just love all those downpours? Sheesh! ;)

Unknown said...

Looks like you had a blast! And what a gorgeous family!