Florida Vacation!

We booked a trip to Florida last April and spent the next five months saving, planning, and building our excitement! Universal Studios houses Harry Potter world, and since Hope and Grant have been slightly obsessed, it seemed like a great choice. They've never cared about any of the Disney stuff, so we never thought going there would be worthwhile. But we were all excited for Universal! We spent half the week at the park, and half at Cocoa Beach in a cute little bungalow we rented just steps from the ocean. We chose to go in September, even though that meant the kids had to miss a week of school, because the park was so much less crowded, the weather was better, and the beach house was more affordable. We went ahead and booked our trip over Grant's birthday, to make it extra festive, and we invited both sets of grandparents to join us for the second half of the week.

View from our hotel

We loved the pool

We ate dinner poolside the first two nights. Nachos for DAYS!

Soaking each other up was just what we wanted.

Harry Potter World did not disappoint. Since Hope finished the entire series, she (and we) were eager to see how everything stacked up. They did an incredible job of making all the scenery look exactly right - you really felt like you were in the movies while you walked through the streets. We got a big dorky kick out of all the little details. Of course we had to try butterbeer, lunch at The Three Broomsticks, and the Hogwarts Express. The rides were a little intense for the kids, but awesome, and we had fun with the special wands we borrowed from some friends that cast "spells" all over the park - making fountains squirt water, levitating window displays, etc.

Escape from Gringott's was a crazy ride, and very cool

Hagrid's "motorbike"

Butterbeer - it's SUPER sweet

Incredible scenery, just like the movie

On Platform 9 3/4

Riding from one park to the other on the Hogwarts Express

Not your average theme park fare at Harry Potter World

We took a water taxi to/from the hotel

I can only imagine the crowds mid-summer. So glad we waited til September!

We took this pic to send to Grant's buddy, Seamus, who lent him the wand.

Casting spells. Hope loved that all the park workers kept remarking that she "must be a Weasley."

This was her reaction when I said, "If we were home you'd be in math class right now."

Hogwarts in the distance

Two LONG days at the park meant lots of rest and snack breaks.

We were waiting for Hope and Daddy to come back from a ride that seemed to take forever. It sprinkled rain for about 1 minute and Grant freaked out (this is when he was having all that anxiety about weather) but we ducked into a souvenir shop and he got too distracted to worry anymore!

All these overpriced meals were to be expected. We began to laugh about it. But after two days of all the exhausting fun, Daddy deemed this overpriced wine "necessary."

One last dip after breakfast before leaving Universal

Our arrival at Cocoa Beach. It was so quiet and clean and lovely!

After dinner stroll

Daddy doing what Daddy does!

Grant's only "homework" was to keep a vacation journal. Every day he wrote one sentence about what he did that day.

The grandparents arrived on our second day at the beach. It was fun to be all together! And such a blessing that both sets of our parents enjoy each other.

Grant turned 7! Happy birthday, big guy!

Our little house was perfect for us - comfortable and clean, and close to the beach.

One of the best parts was the private pool!

Vacation mode feels good!

A whole week of fun and relaxing and adventures!

We had fun watching the ocean birds, looking for dolphins (we saw some!), collecting shells, and boogie boarding.

The boogie boards were a big hit!

Beach beauty with Grandad in the background.

A bunch of times you could see hundreds of fish inside the waves when they were cresting. We had fun squealing about it and saying "Feesh wave!" (I'd been explaining how Grandpa's mom, my grandmother, used to pronounce 'fish' like 'feesh.')

Replenishing our energy.

These guys were basically in the water from breakfast til dinner.

They loved horsing around in the pool with all four grandparents

This mama enjoyed a break from the normal routine! This place had the best fish tacos I've ever had, EVER.

Grandpa was a good sport and took some walks on the beach with me.

Grandma, being silly with the kids.

It was hard to end our vacation because it was SUCH a good one. It went just about as smoothly as you could ask for, and we'll cherish the memories for a long time!