Stupefy!

What an amazing experience we had in Orlando! We went down for a family trip. First we hit Universal Studios so I could visit Hogwarts!! An absolute dream come true,,,I'm ready for my next trip! Universal Studios was amazing, definitely easier than Magic Kingdom with a little one. We drove through the night on Wednesday night and arrived in the parking lot of the Royal Pacific Resort at 5am. While the men who drove the whole way slept, Ashley 2, mom and I went to the hotel lobby bathroom and freshened up. My I add that driving through the night was awesome. Gracie slept the whole way and there was no traffic. We cut serious time off the drive! The breakfast and coffee shop opened at 6am where I bought $5 cups of coffee and a $2 banana for Gracie....it was worth it to see her smile and say,"Nana!" These prices set the pace for the rest of our purchases at the happiest place on earth.

Since we stayed at the resort, we got to go into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter before anyone else! This was lucky because there was a two hour wait to just get into that section of the park......crazy! We sampled butterbeer, visited Professor Sprouts greenhouse, had a family style lunch of English proportions at the Three Broomsticks, visited Ollivander's wand shop where I got a wand that resembled a Death Stick..I hope I'm not a dark wizard. We saw the frog choir, bowed to Buckbeak, ate chocolate frogs, waved to the Hogwarts Express conductor, and visited with Dumbledore in his office. If you understood all of this, you deserve a magical trip too! If you don't, READ THE BOOKS!

Gracie was an amazing travel buddy! She slept in her pimped out stroller whenever she needed a nap, and slept well in her crib provided by the hotel. All of this with a terrible head cold! She was so sick those first days that I had her doctor call in a RX. Her stroller was the mack daddy of strollers....people stopped and stared and other children slapped their mommas when they saw it. It fully reclines, had an umbrella that clipped on so that she was always in the shade, and a fan that clipped on for a constant breeze. Amazing!
After two days at Universal and living out my wizarding fantasies, we headed an hour and half to the coast of Vero Beach to visit with Mimi and Grandpop. It was Gracie's first time to meet her great-grandparents and she was a doll. Although, I was afraid that she was going to break something at their house with every move she made. She first went after ceramic keepsakes. While I am moving those, she hits up the silk flowers, as I pull those away she is crawling around with the remote control in her mouth. Poor Mimi was not happy about the remote one bit. It is very stressful to try and control a one year old who is desperate to get down and explore after being strapped in a car seat or stroller for days, but at the same time improvise with what is appropriate to touch. In this particular situation....not much.

We had a great visit though and stayed in an amazing resort on the beach where we had a few hours of beach time before we headed BACK to Orlando!

We made it to Disney where we stayed at the Swan and Dolphin resort so we could have one day at Magic Kingdom before my meetings started. Magic Kingdom was great because Gracie was able to ride a lot of rides. She love Winnie the Pooh's ride the best. And then she met him at lunch! God was with us, because we had our character lunch during the only thunderstorm we encountered. It never rained on us! Praise Him! However, it was very very crowded! Too crowded. and the express pass system was useless. No point! The next two days of our trip, Dad and I were at a Regional Growth Summit where we really learned alot. Blake and Gracie enjoyed time at the hotel, pool and Disney Boardwalk. He was tired of themeparks and she was happy to hang with daddy! Mom, Jason, Ashley and Sydney spent one day at Animal Kingdom. I have never been there and hate I missed out. All in all, it was a trip of a lifetime that I can't wait to do again and again and again!

Gracie even made a friend in the playground at Toon Town while Sydney rode a fast roller coaster!

If you want to see more pictures of the fabulous trip you can view my facebook page.