Wands ready, we hit the parks. This time we started at Islands of Adventure to see Hogsmeade in the daylight. It was hotter and more crowded, I def prefer Diagon Alley. But there were three rides here, so they balance out.

Oh, by the way I purchased the Universal Photo Pass. Overall not great (compared to Disney): only one photographer at the front of each park and although ride photos are included, several times they weren't working. Also, again, Sam pouted through all the group shots. Oh well. Here's the set from arriving at IOA:

Time for RIDES! I convinced a very nervous Jack to start on Flight of the Hippogriff. It's a "kiddie coaster" but packs a punch. The line is decorated with Hagrid's Hut and there's an animatronic Buckbeak at the start of the ride. They loved it and were primed for more thrills.

Next was Forbidden Journey. The queue was very cool, even with our shortened express pass line. The ride was amazing (and nauseating). The kids loved it. We rode it three times during the trip. Ride photos were broken this first time.

I wrenched the kids away from the wizarding world to explore other parts of the park. One of my favorites is the Jurassic Park River Adventure. I loved it when we went to the California park years ago and I told the kids not to worry, that's it was pretty chill and then had a "little" drop. They were nervous again, but I won them over.

Mwah ha ha! They have no idea what's coming!

Yisssssss!

I love this ride photo. Ben is trying to keep his glasses from flying off. Sam's face is so precious! Contrary to his expression, he loved this ride and was ready for more.

We had lunch at Blondie's in Toon Lagoon, then rode some mild rides in Seuss Landing.

It was hot, so I guided us to Poseidon's Fury, and indoor walk-through show. I had low expectations but it actually turned out pretty cool (in a corny way) and we all enjoyed it.

Enough of this non-wizard stuff! With Florian Fortescue Ice Cream in mind, we boarded the Hogwarts Express in Hogsmeade to return to Universal Studios (USO). I rested in Knockturn Alley with a frozen butterbeer (less dairy than ice cream) and the kids cast more spells. They joined me on the bench and we watched the Dragon blow while we cooled off.

We left Diagon Alley to help Optimus Prime on the Transformers ride.

We were pretty tired after all that, so we walked back to the hotel for dinner by the pool. The kids swam a bit and then we called it a night.

After months (years!) of no travel, and a canceled anniversary trip to Japan, we indulged in a family vacation to the Universal Studios Orlando Resort in Florida. We decided to travel in August close to our anniversary, knowing full well that the crowds and weather would be peak uncomfortable. So we went all out for the trip - a five days vacation, three full days in the parks, staying in a premier resort close to the park, and with Unlimited Express passes. I did my best with planning the trip to be comfortable and fun with minimal standing in the hot sun.

I've been wanting to visit Universal since our Disneyland trip in 2020. Now that we are all vaccinated and boosted, it seemed safe enough to travel so long as we only ate outdoors and masked indoors still. It worked! We all stayed healthy during and after the trip. The masks were mildly annoying, but we are all experts at wearing them.

So Friday morning we said goodbye to the kitties and headed to the east coast! The flight was delayed, but we still got to our hotel with plenty of time to explore. We stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific resort. The hotel was beautiful, with crazy jungle foliage surrounding and Polynesian style art throughout. Our room looked out over the moat with lily pads and other exotic flora.

When I purchased the trip the ongoing ticket deal was buy a 3 day pass, get 2 extra days free. This was perfect for us, because it gave us the option to pop in the parks on our days traveling into and out of Orlando. After gearing up with hats, sunscreen, and fanny packs we took the water taxi to Universal Studios.

Our goal was to immediately soak up some Harry Potter vibes. The kids wanted to buy wands at Ollivanders and wander Diagon Alley. This land really was incredible. They did an amazing job bringing the movie world to life. Even with the crowds, the boys were able to do all the spell locations they wanted over and over. The dragon on Gringotts was truly impressive. And the best part? Diagon Alley is AIR CONDITIONED! No joke, you can feel the breeze pushing out from the London area, and inside it feels at least 10 degrees cooler. Want to be even cooler? Sit in Knockturn Alley. That dark corridor was my favorite place, it was almost chilly. Anyway, lots of pictures incoming:

We found our way to the wand shop. It was confusing to find the wands, we sure felt like muggles! Eventually the boys found their perfect match. I'm so glad that I sewed wand holsters before our trip. It was very handy to have a safe keeping place!

Spells galore! There's a learning curve. By the end of the trip they could reliably conduct the spells. This first day was a bit tricky.

We sampled all the fancy drinks to see what was best: Pumpkin Juice, Butterbeer, Frozen Butterbeer, and Fishy Green Ale. Butterbeer in both forms was the winner. I loved the Pumpkin Juice (pure October flavor) but it's too sweet to finish a whole glass of it.

The boys were strangely nervous about doing any rides that nice. I was dying to try Gringotts, but they were adamant that it was too much for the first day. The only ride I could convince them to do was the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade. It's a cable car train that takes you to the Islands of Adventure park, with a movie in the car. I thought the effects on the doorway were very well done.

It was nearly closing time, so we ordered dinner at the Three Broomsticks and watched the Hogwarts castle light show from the back patio.

Then we walked back to the hotel and dropped asleep, ready to really explore tomorrow. Wow, I can't believe we did so much our first night! I was gonna post the whole trip in one go, but I think I have to break it up here. Stay tuned for more!

Here's a collection of things that happened this summer.

Along with my previous posts, I think that catches up my journal of our summer to August. Hoo boy, August has been a doozy. And it's not over! Luckily the drama is milder this week - Sam and Ben have had colds (testing negative for Covid) and Jack's school had an evacuation for a bad smell the suspected was a gas leak. It turned out to be "water evaporation in pipes that had been sitting unused throughout the summer in science classrooms."

After school carpool I whisk the kids to the dentist, and then high tail it up to Boulder for dance class. I'm trying to get as much dance as I can. I missed two weeks for traveling, and I have to stop when I have surgery next month. Yes, I might as well mention it now. I'm having a hysterectomy in three weeks for adenomyosis. It's been tolerable/manageable, but it will get worse and worse the longer I have it. It HAS been getting worse for years now. So I'm evicting my uterus! I'm pretty happy to be having it removed. But it's still major surgery and I'm nervous and dreading the recovery time. It will be worth it though.

August was a crazy month for us! And it’s not over yet! We have so many pictures to post, that it’s becoming a daunting task. I won’t worry about chronology, just post what and when I feel like it. For now - the kids returned to school!

Sam is in fourth grade this year. We were confused to see the name of his second grade teacher on his assigned class. It turned out that her daughter is actually Sam’s teacher! He’s excited about that, and he had some good friends in his class too.

Sam is having a phase where he refuses to smile or pose for pictures. I had to steal this pic at pick-up on his first day, when he had a genuine smile:

Jack is back at middle school as a seventh grader. He has widened the height gap even farther over the summer, towering over his classmates and being low key teased for voice changes. He’s in good spirits though, and says his teachers and classes are all great so far. He’s doing orchestra with the violin again this year.

The bus service is back after being canceled last spring. Fingers crossed that we can keep it for the full year! The route is less convenient for Jack, but he doesn’t seem to mind the commute. I’m thrilled that it drops off near the elementary school. I can take them both home from one place. And eventually, they can walk home by themselves.

Jack leaves to early for me to take a picture, but here’s one of him unpacking after the first day:

Twenty years ago today we were married. Life has been very full during our two decades together.

We are celebrating with the kids later this weekend. So today was a small and quiet day for the two of us.

Between work hours we exchanged small gifts, had lunch together on the patio, and went to Kokoro for dinner. Inevitably, we ended up at Target and brought home ice cream bars for the boys.

Still in love. Still happy we can share our lives every day. Especially the mundane days.

I've taken up a new hobby. Gotta Catch 'Em All!

Ben and I were watching an anime and eating Cupbop, a Friday night tradition we started during the pandemic. This night it was 5 Centimeters per Second. Though the movie wasn't great (it was an early film by one of our favorite writer/directors, Makoto Shinkai), I was struck by inspiration. The protagonist practiced archery and I remembered again how cool it looks and that I would love to add it to my arsenal of skills. Plus it would be great to have an outdoor sport to enjoy with Ben.

Ben has dabbled in archery for several years. He even has a membership to the Golden High Country Archers range. So that weekend he took me to his range and let me try out his bow. Yup. Very fun. I wanted in.

We had to wait an interminable three days for the local archery store to open after the holiday weekend. ;-) The salesman was very helpful and even gave me an impromptu lesson. I got a Samick recurve bow with a 20 lb. draw weight, a half dozen arrows, and an armguard (I had quickly whipped up a mighty bruise on my forearm with Ben's bow).

I'm a total beginner. Tonight I got all 6 arrows on the target board, huzzah! Usually 2-3 go over/under. It's great fun and I hope to make it a regular weekly activity for us. Ben also seems to be renewing his fondness for the sport. We might take the kids with us tomorrow. Sam has been using the child bow at home, and Jack can share my lightweight bow.

Here's our first trip:

And here's today with my full kit (quiver and glove came midweek via Amazon). This is my 4th time shooting.

We celebrated a chill holiday. Not a lot of patriotic joy, but we enjoyed the nice weather and traditional cultural activities.

We picked up sandwiches and took some boardgames to the park.

They boys have both taken up whittling. Jack is working on a Wizarding World wand. Sam is learning on soap bars, which he shapes into "bones."

We had dinner of hot dogs, corn, watermelon, and potato salad. We make s'mores in the backyard. I took some gooey pics to share with my penpal overseas.

Later we walked down to the elementary school field to watch the local fireworks display. There were many bats swooping overhead that were fun to watch too. It felt like a bigger crowd than the past several years. I wonder if the neighborhood is de-aging. Many seniors have sold their houses to younger families during this real estate spike. Or maybe more people are ditching the official, more crowded, field for our unofficial viewing spot. It was certainly a festive atmosphere. The boys were aghast and impressed by all the illegal aerial fireworks that folks were setting off around us in the park. At least we've had enough rain that we aren't on high wildfire risk status.

I dyed my hair for fun. I was aiming for an indigo-black. Sometime more subtle than the candy-colors everyone is wearing. I think it worked? The blue changes a lot depending on the lighting. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I don't like it.

I think the blue is already fading after just a couple washes. I'll have to add some color back in. It's been years since I had bright hair. For fun I went digging through my blog.