Universal Studios

  

So Friday afternoon I picked up Gavin from school & took him & Liam to my friend Jen's house. She is one of the other moms at Gavin's school & has two little boys the same age as mine. The boys all play really well together & have been dying to have a play date. She was so sweet to watch them for 4.5 hours that afternoon until Doug could come pick them up. Why was she babysitting? Because Laura & I were hitting the road for Orlando. That's right, we were off for a little overnight getaway for her birthday & my mothers day. :)

I'll tell ya the 3 hour drive is nothing when you don't have your kids to entertain. Haha! We got up there & checked into our room at the Hyatt Place right around dinner time. Our room was sooooo nice & big! It was too bad we were only spending one night there. I'm officially a fan of Hyatt Place.

 We decided to forgo a restaurant & hit up the movies & have tasty, bad for you popcorn for dinner. :)

We got a good nights sleep & woke up early to get ready for the park. We wanted to get there right when it opened at 8:00AM so we could hopefully miss some of the crowds.

{ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE}

 Our first & most important point of interest was Harry Potter World. We were both pretty darn giddy about it & neither of us are really 'die hard' fans. Haha!

 We were so excited to try the Butter Beer & even more excited when we realized you can order it frozen. It was like a slurpee, but sooo much better! Yum. 

 Our favorite rides were Harry Potter World (simulation ride) & then the Dueling Dragons roller coaster. We really enjoyed the Ollivanders Wand Shop demonstration. It would have been pretty freaking cool to be an eight year old & having a wand choose you. :)

There really wasn't a TON to do in Harry Potter World unless you bought tickets to both Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure. Because of course they split it up to make more money off you. Grr! So frustrating how big attractions like this rob you.

 I never knew what I was going to get from this girl when I asked to take her picture. Haha! Love her.

We were told the River Adventure was a great attraction so we were pumped about it. Uh.....BORING! It was pretty lame. Except the last drop was the only thrilling part & that was mostly because you realize you about to get soaked.

 And we did. We were DRENCHED! After the drop the girl behind me in the poncho was like, "Who's the losers now?!" to all her friends that had been making fun of her for covering up. Haha!

I really liked walking around Toon Lagoon. It was fun seeing all the comic cartoons from back in the day.

 Ya, pretty sure I did not nail the 'try to be sessy' look for this one. Haha! Oh well.

 I had to snap a picture of the giant Wolverine for the boys. The Marvel Superhero Island was really fun too. We really liked the Hulk roller coaster & the Spiderman ride.

 We walked around the Lost Continent which was really pretty. But we barely missed the Sinbad Stunt Show. :(

While we were sitting there eating our ice cream, Laura spotted our Dad across the way. I busted up over how much this guys outfit resembled something our father would wear. Everything from the hat down to the shoes. And to prove my point, here is the stranger in the top picture. 

And our dear dad (Disney World 2012)  in the picture below. :)  I sent him a pic text of above picture (stranger) & said, "Dad, I didn't know you were here too!" He replied, "Am I having any fun?" Haha! Love my Dad.

As we were getting ready to leave we passed a character drawing stand. Laura has always wanted to get one done. Well who hasn't really? So she decided it was a must to complete our fun day. :) Let me tell you, I felt so awkward & vulnerable just sitting there having this guy stare at me straight for like 30 minutes. Haha! We were laughing a lot & pretty skeptical of how it would turn out. Cuz we were not looking our best by this point after a long hot day in the sun. Haha! 

  But we ended up loving it. We were laughing pretty hard about it actually. Laura looks adorable. I look very similar to a witch with that pointy chin in my opinion, but that's the fun in these drawings. Seeing yourself as a cartoon.

Laura & I hit the road to head back home. It was just what we both needed. Some good quality sister time. I just love her to pieces & am so happy that I've gotten to have her so close these last two years.