Top Moments from our Trip to Florida

Last time we took the kids to disneyland, I said I'd would never go back. We compromised to say we'd do it every 6 years. This year was 7 years, so it was time. After a bit of researching we actually decided to forego Disneyworld and just do Universal/Harry Potter world.

Countdown

After finding some flight deals and surprising the kids with it at Christmas we had to wait.

Megan does a good job of making the countdown fun and building the hype. She put a countdown on her board to show the remaining weeks, then days.



We were pretty anxious about the airport, but it actually turned out to be really fun to travel as a family. I think helped that the kids were super pumped about flying on a plane.

Harry Potter World

Harry Potter world is quite amazing. From the ambience to the interactive wands to the rides, it was pretty cool. We spent a lot of time there.

Hudson's street

At Universal, we found a street for Hudson.

Finding Sand dollars at the Beach

Ryan, my hiking buddy, met us in Tampa and we spent some time at the Fort De Soto beach (apparently it was recently rated best beach in the US). It did not disapoint. The weather was great and the sand was amazing. Because the water is super shallow, it allowed the kids to search for shells and stuff.

The kids were way excited to find some whole sand dollars.

Castle Building and the Castle Crack Legacy

Any time we're at the beach, we go out of way to make sure Tate has ample sunscreen on his back to avoid castle crack (getting a sunburn between his shirt and swim suit due to being bent over). In an odd turn of events, Hudson ended up with a Castle Crack burn because of her swimsuit.



Also, Tate was pretty thrilled to have Ryan's son as an eager building assistant.

Hanging with Cousins

On Sunday, we visited our Uncle Will/Anna and the Florida cousins. We had fun playing games. Hudson and Heidi took a particular liking and were inseparable the entire day.

Volcano Bay

Volcano Bay was Universal's 3rd park. It is amazing; especially when you go on a day that's not busy, like we did. We got to ride a lot of rides. Yay!

Some of the more advanced/adult rides has a trap door that accelerates you really fast.



One funny moment was when Gideon was riding a tube ride and the attendant asked him to stand on the scale with Reece so he could make sure they weighed enough to ride it by themselves. Gideon wouldn't get on the scale. He would gingerly put one foot on but would stand on it. He finally did it but we couldn't figure out why he was being weird. We finally figured out later that he thought it was a trap door and that if he stood on it, him and Reece would go get jettisoned through a trap door.

Florida Coldstone

Tate was elated to see a coldstone at Universal. He had to stop by and check it out. I think if they'd let him, Tate would have worked a shift.

It's funny because I did the same thing when I saw a Kinko's while on my senior trip.

We did see Alligators

Per my friend's advice, we did go on an airboat ride and did see alligators. But they were pretty dormant due to the cold weather.

Gideon's free shake

One day for lunch we splurged at Toothsom's Chocolate Factory Restaurant. It's a really cool steampunk restaurant that had amazing food. We had a shake and sundae for dessert. Very delicious (even better that it was my sugar day)



A few days later, while exiting the park, Gideon stumbles across an abandoned shake from the same restaurant on the curb. Everyone tells him to throw it away but he saw it as a gift from the almighty and proceeded to finish it off. He hasn't died - yet.

Reece riding luggage

Reece was all of us at the end of the trip. Reece is notorious for bumming shoulder and piggy-back rides off every one. This time he collapsed on our carry on and it was actually easier to wheel him around than try to keep track of him.

Watched ET afterward

There were several rides at Universal that warranted explanation because the kids hadn't seen the movie; King Kong, Jimmy Fallon, ET, etc... After getting back, we watch ET to give some more context. The kids loved it (they did make fun of the special effects a little).