Months ago when I found out this wonderful girl I used to babysit was getting married in the Orlando Temple on Dan's birthday, we bought airplane tickets for the two of us to be there. I am so grateful we got to go! It was pure joy to meet her outside the temple, carry the wedding dress in for her, and be in the bridal room with her and her mother-in-law. It was fun to talk to her m-i-l and grandmother and hear them tell of how Nicole & Joshua met and their courtship that led them to this day. It was so easy to see these two wise women already loved and adored their new member of the family and were so grateful for her. It was good to see. As we were waiting I also got to chat with the groom's best friend and Nicole's aunt who drove 21 hours to get there with her mom and 3 of her children. She was so happy to make that sacrifice for her niece that had made such an impression on her teenage daughter that she too wants to serve a mission now. Of course being there in the sealing room was the best part. Dan and Robbie (the best man) were the 2 witnesses and I got to sit in the front row next to Nicole's aunt. Nicole was so happy to see her aunt there -- Tanya had managed to keep her attendance a complete surprise! Although Nicole thanked me for being there, I felt like really I was the lucky one. She makes me feel like I did something right in high school.
Then & Now
Knowing someone I used to babysit is now off and married made me feel old until I remembered it was Dan's birthday. After watching lots of lovely pictures be taken we headed the 15 minutes back to our hotel, changed clothes, and headed to Islands of Adventure to eat lunch and spend the rest of the day there. Neither one of us had ever been to Universal Studios and we figured it would be the best place to spend a day and a half while we didn't have our beloved little ones with us. We had a blast! I was amazed that we were able to do everything we wanted to. Well, except we had to eat at the Fantastic 4 cafe instead of the Captain America Cafe because the latter was closed, but no biggie. At Islands of Adventure we rode rides till we wanted to puke and the weather was nice enough to finish off the day with the water rides so we could head back to our hotel soaking wet wherever our rain jackets didn't cover. There we had a great dinner of sushi for the birthday boy. I'm glad we took advantage of Toon Lagoon when we did because the next day I was so cold Dan bought me my Gryffindor sweatshirt. After that I fit right in with all the other Harry Potter fans. It was so cute to see everyone so excited to be at the Wizzarding World of Harry Potter. I am super glad that after we bought the airplane tickets we decided to watch all the movies since we had only seen the first one. After visiting this place I want to read all the books as well. If we have Harry Potter fans the next time we are in Florida we will definitely buy a one day park to park pass and take them there. Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are by far the best parts of Universal Studios Orlando.
Saturday we spent the entire day at the Universal Studios Florida park. Diagon Alley was amazing and we were blown away by the Escape from Gringotts. By all the crowds that were there it was obvious this was the place everyone wanted to be. There were other fun things in the park -- if you liked reliving old movies that you loved in the '90s. Revenge of the Mummy and Twister and Terminator and Men in Black and the Simpsons Ride gave us some good chuckles but the Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue was the most horrible things we have ever seen. I honestly don't think anyone who wasn't alive 20 years ago could enjoy this place other than the new Harry Potter stuff. Our kids would have been clueless to everything and scared out of their wits if they had been with us (except for meeting super heroes and riding Minion Mayhem). It was even hard for us to find them a souvenir to bring home. We did find a Minion keychain with D's name on it & a Hogwarts one with M's name on because we thought it could pass for a castle. For K, we bought a gag gift at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and ended up buying N something at the Disney Store at the Orlando Airport on our way home. Of course, that's why we went to this place when we knew the children wouldn't be along!
The specialty drinks were super fun to try. Of course butter beer was our favorite but the tongue twisting lemon squash and pear juice was good too. We were super huge fans of the pumpkin juice or the green frog egg stuff I can't remember the name of. We discovered the hard way that eating in the park was cheaper than eating at the hotel, so our last day there we waited only 15 minutes to ride H.P. and the Forbidden Journey a second time, ate breakfast at 3 Broomsticks, and rode the Hulk coaster. Craziest ride ever! Even more so than the Dragon Challenge I barely survived the day before. Made the long flight home seem like a breeze. Being able to go into Hogsmeade one hour early via water taxi was the only real benefit of staying at Loew's Royal Pacific Resort. It was so loud we couldn't sleep. Noise until 2am, the staff cleaning up until who knows when, and then other people waking up at 7am to head to the parks. Live and learn, I say! Overall, it was a fantastic weekend away. Dan and I are already planning our next one for a couple years from now. Congrats again to Nicole & Joshua! So glad we were able to join you for your special day!
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