Harry Potter World/Universal Studios - Florida!! (Day 2)

I like to have two days at the amusement parks so the first day you can do everything and then the second day you can do those rides/things that you really want to do again as well as enjoy what that park as to offer as far as shows and stuff goes.

Well, to be honest, I think we were all pretty disappointed in Harry Potter World. We thought there was going to be so much more. It really is just an experience, which is kind of fun, but I didn't want to spend even more money. These tickets cost me more than any other amusement park. Now granted we did have to buy for IA so we could get all of it but still, it was WAY too much in my mind and I don't really think that it was worth it.

With that being said, we still had another day and we needed to make the most of it. Sadly, the day kind of drug on and on. It felt like it was never going to end. We did all the rides we wanted to do and watched shows like Fear Factor (blah). I did see in the forecast that it was suppose to rain so I did bring ponchos for us in my backpack. I was glad I did. We went on the Men in Black ride and when we came out it was POURING!!! I was so glad we were at that ride because it had a lot of room for people to just be everywhere and also it was a solid concrete building. There was actually a tornado watch while we were in there. We took that opportunity to rest of feet, eat some lunch/snacks that I had in my backpack and just wait out the storm. We waited it out and then continued making our rounds around US. After a few hours another storm came through and it poured some more. At that point it pretty much cleared the park out. We waited it out and then we pretty much went on whatever ride we wanted to when we wanted to, so that was a HUGE bonus of waiting it out.

The kids went on this one ride and as I was waiting for them. There was a lady that had thrown up so they had to stop the ride and clean it up, only about 2 minutes worth but I just knew my kids were going to be freaking out. When they finally got off they sprinted to me and hugged me SOOO tightly. Allison was SUPER scared and Matthew was trying to be an awesome big brother and tried to comfort her.

We had a good time, though I can't say I was sad when it came 9pm and the park closed. We got in our car, got some dinner and went back to our hotel. We ate quickly and then went to sleep. We were all pretty tired.

The next day as we headed back to VA we were able to stop by my brother Spencer's work and say hi for a few minutes. He lives in Utah most the time but often goes to FL to work and he happen to be there that day, though he was training some people so we only had about 10 minutes with him but it was still great to see him and give him a hug.

The kids were going to be out of school, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and we were to get home Wednesday night. However, it snowed in Virginia on Tuesday so they in true Virginia fashion, close school so my kids only missed 2 days of school instead of 3.

I am glad we got to go. It is fun doing things with just the older kids, though it was weird when we left to be going on a trip and NOT having Michelle. We missed her but we were also all grateful that we didn't have to worry about her.

I am glad we have been there, but unless you can get some big discounted tickets, I don't really think it was worth the money to go....but then again, I am not a huge HP fan. We won't be going back anytime soon though.

Harry Potter World/Universal Studios - Florida!! (Day 1)

When our kids turn a big age (in the church) like 8 or 12, maybe 16, we try to do something big for them. When Matthew turned 8, I took the kids to Legoland in Florida. When Allison turned 8 we went to Walt Disney World - Florida, and luckily my brother Spence and sister-in-law Joni were living only an hour away so we got visit them, and then Joni graciously kept little Michelle for us while I took the older kids and we had a BLAST!!
Matthew turns 12 this year and he has wanted to go to Harry Potter World for a few years now so while Chris had spring break with his school, he stayed home with Michelle and I took the older kids to Florida.
We drove all day Saturday and stayed with my other brother Mike (his wife was at a conference the day we were there), and his 5 kids. We got to enjoy all day Sunday with Mike and the kids. My kids cried when they went to bed that night because they didn't want to leave their cousins' house.
We left around 6am Monday morning to drive back up to Orlando and go to Harry Potter World. We thought that HARRY POTTER WORLD was an amusement park all by itself like Disney World. We were surprised when we found out it was just a part of Universal Studios.
We arrived and headed straight to Harry Potty World but actually missed it. We walked right past it. Sounds ridiculous, I know, how can we miss HARRY POTTER WORLD (HPW)? I wondered the same thing. Literally, it is huge, how did we pass it? It is actually really cool because you just walk past this "brick building" that has and opening but not an opening that you can see straight through. It is an opening that you go in one way, then turn to go another way, then turn again to enter HPW. So when you walk past it just looks like a brick wall that leads to nowhere. It was SO cool though to walk "through" that brick wall and then BAM you are in HPW! It is it's own place. It was really cool.
We discovered that you HAVE to use lockers before going to get in line for the rides. You put your bags/stuff in a locker and then it is basically free for the amount of time it takes you to stand in line and ride the ride and come right out and get it out. If you doddle around though, then it would cost you. We never had to pay for a locker all day which was nice. The time that you have free adjusts to how long the wait is and if the ride stops for any reason and it takes longer, it is all programmed together. If you linger in the shops ride after the ride it might cost you.
Our cousins told us that you can go in the single rider line and it goes a lot faster. So our very first ride, we got in the single rider and that was a dumb idea because I didn't know how the ride would be or couldn't even tell where you got off, and I was just going to let my 9 year old ride by herself. With luck, Allison and I were able to ride together, and then Matthew was on the next one so we could just wait for him. Though it is scary when I didn't know exactly where he was other than, on the next ride.
There was only one ride in HPW at Universal Studios (US). We were pretty disappointed about that. We learned that HPW is more of an experience place rather than a ride amusement park. We kind of looked around and then decided to ride the train over to the other amusement park, Islands of Adventure to go to the other part of HPW. I am sure they put it in two different parts to make people pay for two different parks and get people to go to that one. We wouldn't have gone there if HPW wasn't there. Anyways, going to get on the train was pretty cool to "walk" through platform 9 3/4. When you walk through that wall it makes a whoosh sound.
It was fun to ride the train and listen to the story or sounds they have on it.
Then we went to Hogsmeade. It had more rides!!  One ride was really cool going through because the pictures kind of moved and you got to see a lot of things from the movie. We found some butterbear but a friend said to only buy one. I was glad we did because yes it is a HP thing but we didn't really like it.
After we did the HPW stuff we went around the rest of the park and rode all the other rides and checked things out. One ride that was crazy but actually really fun was called The Hulk. Allison did not enjoy it. It was funny, before the ride Matthew was the one, kind of wanting to cry thinking why is he doing this. After the ride, Allison was the one crying, saying why did I do that:)
We pretty much stayed the whole day at Islands of Adventure (IA) just doing everything there that they kids wanted to do.
Then we rode the train back to US and decided it was late, we were hungry and ready to leave. As soon as we made it to our car it started pouring. We went to our hotel, it was a nice hotel for a cheap price. We were on the 10th floor overlooking a lake and could see a lot of different amusement parks. We were 1 mile from US. We ate dinner, relaxed a bit, then went to sleep.
It was a good first day.

Michelle's 3 Year old Measurements

While I was down in Florida gallivanting with the older kids, Chris took Michelle to her 3 year old check-up. Not the first time he has taken her to a check-up. 

He is such a good husband and father and taking care of whatever needs to be taken care of whether it is house chores or outside chores.

I found this piece of paper laying around and I need to get it recorded and then taken care of.

A couple weeks after Michelle turned 3 we had her check-up.

Weight: 36.4lbs (90%)

Height: 38.5" (81%)

Blood Pressure: 90/42  ( :) )

Michelle's 3 Year Old Pictures

It is hard to believe that we have been able to be with this little girl for 3 whole years! She is such a joy to be around.

She isn't perfect, but close....however that doesn't mean she gets away with stuff. If she cries Allison usually wants to give her whatever she wants, she HATES to see her sister cry, but that doesn't work on me. Of course I don't like her crying, but that also doesn't mean she gets whatever she wants.

I love holding her little hand. I love when she wants me. She is just SOO cute and I can't give her enough hugs or kisses.

I still thank her for coming to our family.

She has made our house more loving, probably making me realize just how quickly these years go by.

I try to relish in the time I have with her being little but can never keep those memories for long. 

I love the big squeezes she gives me and love hearing all the things that she says. I love listening to her sing and match pitches.

I am thankful that I get to stay home with her and watch her grow.

Here are the rest of her photoshoot: