I told the family we were going to bed at 7pm the night before our flight- yeah, right. We were all so excited, when the alarm clock went off at 3:15am on January 6th it wasn't too hard to get everyone up and going! We were out the door about an hour later. It was fun driving to the airport in the dark. How fun to be driving to the airport with the whole family!!! We parked in long term and unloaded the van where my suitcase handle immediately broke and I could not get it to push back down. Oh brother. We hopped on the shuttle.
Shortly after we arrived we spotted the Goulding's and all went through the slowest security line ever, together. The security guy apologized, they were testing out new equipment that had a lot of bugs. He could tell we were all related because we are all so good-lookin'.
We chuckled when the Goulding's told us that when they left Cade and Ashley's, Ivy was sitting at the table sleepily eating cereal fresh out of bed. They hadn't spotted anyone else in the quiet house. No worries, we saw Cash down the line going through the quickest line. We joked with the security guy that was our baby brother who lives a charmed life. Happy Birthday, Sadie!!!
SLC Airport is freshly remodeled and quite the trek to the gates! It was just all so fun to experience flying with the kids. All of it! The kids were so excited to fly, and I was hoping to fly us somewhere before Adren leaves on his mission. I didn't want that to be his first airport experience. We boarded the quick flight to Denver, and I have to say, looking down the row on my right and left and seeing all my family excitedly looking out the windows just made me want to burst with joy.
Our layover was long enough to have some brunch and walk around a little bit, hang with cousins, and chat with Leslie and Randy, Ashely's parents. They are so great, so easy-peasy. When it was time to board again, the kids traded seats for the next flight to Tampa. I suppose it is because all the kids were with us, but I have never felt so relaxed on a flight! My ears sure were popping and clogged when we landed. This would last for weeks, unfortunately.
We landed and picked up our bags. We managed to get Jon and Zeke in one large backpack, Adren and Eli in a duffle, and Paisley shared my broken suitcase. We all grabbed our rental cars and hit the road to Orlando! We marveled at the palm tree's! The warm temps in January! (A local told us they were going through a cold spell~ it felt fine to us!) We all picked up dinner on our own and headed to the Air B&B. The kids hit the pool and hot tub immediately, of course. We were anxiously awaiting Alivia to open her Mission Call! We all gathered around as she read she will be serving in the Paraguay Asuncion Mission, leaving on May 25th! So very exciting, and so special to all be together. We then sang to Sadie and cut two birthday cakes and served ice cream. Then Romney announced she and Austin are expecting! I screamed, jumped up and gave her a teary hug. It's just all soooo goooood!!!
With the loss of two hours, and being up since 3am, it sure felt exactly like we had spent the entire day traveling. We all were ready for bed. The house was plenty big, everyone was able to spread out in groups in their own rooms. I had to chuckle that it was Adren and Eli that ended up in the coveted Harry Potter room. It just worked out best that way with the number of beds. It really was a great house, and so nice to have the pool and hot tub right in the backyard. The listing had said to bring our own laundry detergent, but we had to shake our heads at the lack of toilet paper, paper towels, bath towels, hand soap, dish tabs, garbage sacks, basic cleaning supplies, even batteries in the remotes and light bulbs. Who wants to spend time shopping for this? Is the housekeeper stealing? We continued to scratch our heads. Luckily there was a nearby grocery store we needed to frequent a few times to grab breakfast and snacks- and bath matts...
Thursday we headed out to Clearwater Beach, a gorgeous white sand beach with clear water. We were comfortable in hoodies, but soon everyone was getting in. You just could not resist! The water was cold, but we quickly acclimated. The kids spent hours playing in that perfect sand. It made me feel nostalgic seeing the kids hunched over shaping it like they've spent all their years in our backyard. They appreciate good sand. We walked out on the boardwalk and enjoyed the large birds sitting in the sun. It was a fun area to stroll the shops and the kids picked up some small trinkets. We spent quite a bit of time at a store selling hermit crabs, watching them crawl around in their little arena.
Soon enough we headed out. Adren was really interested in NASA, and we discovered there was a rocket launch that had been rescheduled for that very night! What are the odds? It was going to be almost a three hour drive, but only about an hour or so past the Air B&B direction we would be driving anyway. We all agreed it would be worth it to see! As Jon drove I googled best places to watch a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center. It was scheduled to launch at 9:15pm. As we got closer and hungrier, I googled a pizza place to pick up some dinner. The gals at the restaurant told me we were in the right place, there is nothing like watching a live rocket launch. How exciting! Just a quick drive down the road we found a great spot right by the beach, overlooking NASA. (It was neat to drive the width of Florida, beach to beach.) We parked next to some locals that told us we were indeed in the best spot. It was a pitch-black night, the stars were so pretty! We ate delicious pizza in the dark while we waited. I learned there was a FOUR HOUR window and prayed this would work out and we wouldn't need to abandon! They had already announced about a 30 minute delay, but the live countdown looked good. Then- a bright light that lit up the entire sky that got bigger and bigger and started to slowly rise. It looked like twilight around us, it was so bright! It was the neatest thing to watch! As it got higher and higher, the light dimmed as the satellite was launched and the rocket brought back to earth. I was so grateful we got to watch it and it all worked out! I am so glad Adren was so insistent on seeing that, otherwise I may have passed. It was truly amazing!
The next morning we headed out bright and early for UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!! It really wasn't hard at all to get the kids up and at it, even though it was about 5am Utah time. I tried to get everyone's bellies full and we had our pockets and bags stuffed with snacks. We were sad to say good-bye to Cade, who had class all day. Bummer. Universal is an amazing place! And during a pandemic, the lines were perfectly short. I can't imagine the chaos on a regular, full-capacity day! Our first ride was Transformers, which is awesome. Like, Whoa, this ride is way awesome! I was trying to get the layout down, we were all super excited to see Harry Potter world. We came upon the Night Bus and peeked in the windows to see the beds and chandelier exactly as expected. The shrunken head was razzing us, which was pretty funny~ Then we sort of stumbled upon Diagon Alley. Just as the book, it is not signed, you could easily pass by the entrance. It is as amazing as you imagine. I walked in and just had to wait for Paisely's reaction. I think we spent most of our day there! Jon, Adren and Eli were chuckling at all the grown adult people dressed up in full Harry Potter robes and scarves. We had to try the Butter Beer- then the frozen Butter Beer. We just had to look at every nook and cranny and aaaaallll the amazing detail everywhere! Nocturn Alley! There is so much exact detail. The shops are amazing, you really have to browse everything. Taking Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade was so fun, more attention to detail! Walking up and then seeing Hogwarts Castle pop up is amazing. That ride! But we all had to agree, Hagrid's ride is the best ever! We had to finally leave just to make our way through the rest of the park. I kept thinking, If this was the only day we were here, I'd be stressed, there's too much to see and do! But we have five days to come back! Whahoo!
We left when we were finally too tired to keep walking. I texted our group they could find us devouring endless fries at Red Robbin. Cash did find us, but we were finishing up. Back to the house for more swimming! And then crash hard, it was a long day!
Saturday was nice to sleep in and I spent my whole morning relaxing in the hot tub while Solly told me about all the things. There is a lot to tell, guys. The Goulding's hit Universal again, and when they told us the crowds were significantly bigger and wait times longer, we decided it would be a lazy day at the house. Cade still had class, and the kids were perfectly content to take it easy in the pool. That evening when Cade was done they joined us miniature golfing nearby. My kids really don't remember miniature golfing- it really does not exist near us anymore. We found a really great place and we all loved it! Zeke especially really impressed himself at how good he is at golfing. He got a couple Holes in One!
Afterwards we dined at Buffalo Wild Wings.
Cash decided to do Disney on Sunday, we kept debating over that Star Wars land, Adren was dying to build himself a light saber. We ultimately decided to just stick with Universal. There was still so much we hadn't seen! The Goulding's had their own agenda around the area that day, and we all headed out. The kids had been really eyeballing those wands in Harry Potter Land. Jon decided he would treat everyone to their own wand. We wanted to check out the whole wand experience and Jon and I got in line while the kids continued to explore Diagon Alley. It was finally our turn, and they brought us all into a charming room with wand boxes stacked all wonky on shelves. The wizard picked Zeke to come forward. He was so good at asking him certain questions about himself, then had him try a wand that made the lights flicker and shelves shake. No, no... that is not the right wand... try this one. More sparks, louder shaking.... no, that will not do. Then, as he hands him a wand, music starts to softly play, the room dims, a spotlight shines down on him, a gust of wind whips through the room- This is the wand that chooses you! It was really neat, and we all got swept up in it, chills and all. We then spent a lot of time in the shop, where a wizard helped each kid pick a wand based on either birthday, or personality. They really cater to you for that sale! Finally, all four kids were very satisfied with their wands. Now, they can do spells all over Harry Potter Land! Look at us all caught up in the magic! I had to chuckle when Adren commented to me as a grown man waked by in a robe and wand- "I mean, those robes do look really comfortable... and they even have a pocket for your wand...." Jon was looking forward to the free wand he was going to get to pick out in the Universal Gift Shop on the way out. Ha! Look at us...
Monday was even less crowds. The kids enjoyed doing spells with their wands- and really, we all just wanted to ride Hagrid's ride over and over. At one point it was just me and Ivy on Spider Man together. We looked at each other grinning from ear to ear in our glasses and held on!
We spent some more time in the shops and Paisley finally decided to shell out the big bucks and get a Hufflepuff sweatshirt and Hogwarts mug. She decided she would regret not getting them more than spending her money. (Look at us...)
As we all met up together to exit the park, Eli asked me where his wand was. Uh-Oh. I had told him I'd hold it for him, and it had been poking out of my purse, and now it was gone. Probably from fishing out rain ponchos. I felt sick! I had Jon run back to where we had been sitting, but no luck. I filed a report with Lost and Found, hoping it would get turned in, being the end of the day. It was a bummer and I felt so bad! I could tell Eli was trying to be a good sport about it, but it clearly was a big downer! We grabbed some Chic Filet on the way home, then more swimming at the house.
Tuesday we needed to head to the airport around 1 or so. We had debated checking out some springs where manatees swim- but all the kids just wanted UNIVERSAL! And Happy Birthday to Sophie!!! We all packed up, cleaned up the house and headed out. I told Jon I was going to replace Eli's wand with the cash I brought. It was my main purpose that day. How do we head home with only 3 wands??? I checked with Lost and Found, no luck, and we walked in the same way we had walked out so I could watch for it. As we made our way into Hogsmeade, I grabbed Eli and we ducked into Ollivanders Wand Shop. I told the nice wizard kid we were there to replace a lost wand. He was so, so great. He called his manager in, and they just handed us a new replacement. So nice. I mean, I'm sure the markup on those is 500%, but what a relief that Eli is leaving with his wand! He was clearly giddy as can be to have his wand back!
It was fun riding Hogwarts Express back the opposite way, we had wanted to experience that. We hopped on a few more rides, then left for the last time. Universal, you were good to us! We loved every detailed square inch of that place!
We grabbed some quick McD's, filled the rental with gas and arrived to the airport just as everyone else was. The flight was great, if not a bit long. We had a several hour layover in Denver again, but we all ate dinner together and chatted and stretched our legs and soon enough it was time to board the quick flight back to SLC. We're going to miss chatting with Solly all day. My poor suitcase at baggage claim! That pop-up handle was busted off with just wires coming out. That's the end of that. We all piled in the shuttle, so tired of wearing a mask all day. It was after midnight when we pulled onto the freeway. No one will be going to school (or work) in the morning after all.
It was the best trip! I was filled with joy and gratitude every moment. You know when you have to catch your breath because you are so happy? And now Eli is reading all of the Harry Potter books, which is fantastic because he has never been a reader. (He was on to book 4 within the month!) I will forever remember how fun this was! What a neat experience, especially because all the kids were with us to experience together. Hooray for Florida and the best family!!!