The Waterstraut Waterspout: You're A Wizard, Harry!

Hey guys! I am back again with your Waterstraut update! We spent last weekend at Universal with my brother, Cort and his family, along with my mom. Asa sure is having to use some vacation time this month, but he took Friday off and we packed up and headed out. We stayed at one of the 'Premier' resorts so we could get the Express Passes. They're basically Fastpasses, but better. It's for every ride, and you don't even have to keep a schedule. Just show up when you show up, and skip the line! Usually these things are like $80+ a person, so when you can get them with your hotel stay, it's totally worth it. Our room wasn't ready yet when we got there, but we checked in to get our Express Passes and then we headed over to the park.

Cort's family drove through the night from Cincinnati and they had already been at Island's of Adventure for a few hours by the time we met up with them. But, they hadn't done much in Hogsmeade, so we headed there.

After some rides (I even did some new ones- including a water ride!), we headed out to Citiwalk for dinner at one of our favorites: Cowfish! Of course, Asa had to send a picture of his ice sphere to Ray.

We got some yummy appetizers, including the crab wontons and the bacon parmesan truffle fries (bacon on the side of course, for our vegetarian family members).

And despite dodging the rain all day, it was even nice enough to sit outside and eat. Some of us had just gotten off a water ride, too, so sitting in the air conditioning and freezing didn't have all that much appeal.

I got the best shake ever- the PB,B & J (it's peanut butter, banana and jelly!), and mostly split it with Peyton. I also got the bento box with a california roll and grilled veggies. All so good!

Unfortunatly, I sat between Asa and Peyton and they ordered their fish still swimming. Asa's nigiri was bad enough.

But Peyton got sashimi with his, and I was officially grossed out. Calib was like 'You won't touch mayonnaise, but you'll eat that?!?" Blah. And for real, he ate 99% of that plate of raw fish.

After dinner we went over to Universal so the Sattler's could get their first look at Diagon Alley.

We all rode Gringotts (even mom!) and then wandered around a mostly empty Diagon Alley.

Even Olivanders was totally empty about 15 minutes before the park closed.

Cort's kids were looking for wands, but they wanted to sleep on it and try the wand chooses the wizard ceremony the next day.

For real, we were the only people in Olivanders. That has never happened before, usually it is wall to wall people.

Plus, I don't think I'd ever seen Diagon Alley at night! Look how pretty!

We took the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade at the very end of the night to try and catch the night time show on the castle, but we just missed it.

We headed back to our room, since we still had to grab all our luggage from the car. The rooms aren't anything too special- but they do let 5 people stay in a room together, and that's nice. (I hate when the limit is four, what about the families of five, people?!) Anyway, you can pay for a rollaway, but we usually just bring our air mattress. I knew one of our two had sprung a leak last time we were overnight with it, so I had Hayden test them out previous to going to Universal to make sure we were taking the good one.

I also didn't do the best job packing. To be fair, I'm kind of taking a newer approach. Most of my kids (and certainly my husband) are old enough now to remember their own stuff. If I forgot it, I wasn't going to feel guilty about it. But, I did forget the fan in our room and Asa and I need the white noise to sleep. To be honest though, our fan is at the end of it's lifespan (you have to hit it a few times a night to get it to stop making weird noises), so I told Asa just to go out and buy a new one. But, that did mean he was putting together a fan in the hotel room, which was pretty funny. (Don't mind Calib here- him and Hayden had just gotten back from a late night trip to the pool).

Peyton and Hayden, meanwhile, borrowed grandmas computer to watch their anime. It was Jo-Jo Friday after all. They couldn't miss that.

When you stay at the hotel you also get into the park an hour before everyone else. Cort and Holly's family are 'rope drop' people, and everyone with the exception of Peyton, was on board to get up early and head to the park with them. But when it came time to leave I still hadn't had my coffee or my turn in the bathroom, so I sent everyone ahead and said I would catch up. I had a nice leisurely morning stroll over to meet back up with them where we left off the night before, in Diagon Alley.

Everyone else was waiting at Oliverander's for the wand choosing the wizard, and Garrett even got picked. I was disappointed he didn't end up getting the wand that chose him (he picked a different one), but everyone said the wand that chose him was pretty plain and boring.

After Gwen and Garrett had picked out their wands, they spent a little time learning the ins and outs of how to use them.

We hadn't spent much time in Universal Studios besides Diagon Alley, but the rain was having an effect on some of the rides (like Rip Ride Rocket being closed half the day).

For the most part, mom went on most every ride. There are some I've been on before, but that I didn't fair so well afterwards, so I skipped those. Usually I had mom to wait with me though.

And in the case of Minion Mayhem, I had someone to sit in stationary seating with me.

By the time we had gone on a few other things, Rip Ride Rocket was back open, so some of us waited (Hayden, Gwen, mom and me) while everyone else rode. Also, Garrett kept trying to perform the killing curse on me. What's that about?

We've already established the Sattler's are 'rope drop' people. But, they're also open to close people. And that's just not us. We headed back to the hotel mid-day, but we did stop at package pickup to get mom's scarf she had bought earlier in the morning (Ravenclaw, naturally).

When we got back to the room we had some lunch and then headed down to the pool. The Royal Pacific has a nice pool, but it does lack a waterslide. I actually really wanted to 'pool hop' to other resorts- something you're totally allowed to do at Universal (Disney does not allow you to do this), but it never really worked out.

Hayden made the unwise decision to stay in the park with his cousins. I mean, he had a great time, but he also had wet shoes and ended up with all kinds of blisters and shriveled up toes by the time the night was over.

When we headed back to the park after our break, Peyton came back with us.

I tried to offer Peyton money to go dance with Boots and Dora, he claimed there wasn't enough money in the world.

While everyone went on some more intense rides, a couple of us headed over to Diagon Alley to try out some Butterbeer ice cream. It's not that I'm not a fan of Butterbeer (I love the hot version!) but, it's not my favorite. I actually prefer Pumpkin Juice. But, the butterbeer ice cream is pretty tasty!

We also went in and out of shops, which is really part of the fun in Diagon Alley, and played around with the wands.

For dinner that night we ate at the Leaky Cauldron. We were pretty strategic with dinner times, so we never really had to wait and it was easy to find a table for 10.

I had the Bangers and Mash, which was pretty good. But we also got the Ploughman's Platter to share. This thing was massive and had all kinds of fun things to try. I liked the scotch egg and then beet salad, surprisingly. The blue cheese was even good! Whatever the chutney was that went with the bread was also delicious.

We had been to the Three Broomsticks a couple of times, but never the Leaky Cauldron, so it was a fun pick for sure!

After dinner we took the Hogwarts Express back over to the Island's of Adventure.

Unfortunately, only 8 people can ride in a train car on the Hogwarts Express, so we always had to split up. Asa took all the kids in a car and was trying to teach Garrett how to take a proper angry selfie. Hayden was used as an example.

And I think by the time we arrived, Garrett had gotten the hang of it.

Not long after we arrived in Hogsmeade, it started down pouring. It rained a lot on this trip, and I wasn't even upset about it. We needed the rain so bad. It basically didn't rain in May, and we just got the water bill from having to water the garden so much. (just, yikes!) So, I just embraced it instead of being upset about it. Plus, I have recently acquired a rain jacket and a new hat, so I was dressed for the weather. I wanted to stay to see the light show on the castle we missed the night before, but we would have had to wait about an hour, and I decided we could be back in the hotel room all cozy in an hour. Corts family stayed and he told me later we made the right decision. Apparently it isn't all that impressive.

We did stop on the walk back at the Caro-Suess-el. You get to ride Dr. Suess characters! It's so fun! (I think I like this more than anyone else, but they usually humor me and go on it).

The next morning none of my kids were feeling going into the parks. But, I wanted to see if my motion sickness would let me go on the Forbidden Journey, so I headed there with Asa. Corts family were also in the parks, and we were hoping to meet up, but the timing didn't work out. It is super cool that you get Express Passes for every day of your stay, including check in and check out day, so we could just go in, do a couple things and head right back out.

So, Asa and I headed into Islands of Adventure.

Turns out I can't really do Forbidden Journey. Like, I can, but I can't. I have to close my eyes during all the screens because otherwise I'd be tossing my breakfast everywhere. And the screens are like over half the ride.

We did stop by Voodoo Donuts on our way back to the room. Asa called and reported back to the boys what donuts they had, and they put in their orders.

From the Royal Pacific, you can take the boats and it's a quick ride (no stopping at other resorts or anything!), but there's also a walking path from CityWalk to the resort which we took more often than not. If the boat wasn't right there, it was just quicker. And we had donuts to deliver!

I got the pink with sprinkles, Asa got the iconic voodoo doll donut, Calib got the maple bacon donut..

And Peyton and Hayden both got dirt.

We packed up and headed down to the pool. Etta was staying at the kennel past the noon checkout, so we didn't have to rush right home. There was talk of going to Gatorland, but between Hayden's blisters and everyone being tired from the weekend, we opted out.

Instead we relaxed by the pool and had the biggest plate of nachoes ever for lunch.

Nachoes those ducks kept trying to take. Seriously, those ducks acted like they owned the pool. When I refused them my nachoes, they went off and came back with half a slice of pizzas in their mouths, scoffed at me, and then swam in the pool. Jerks.

The Sattler's stopped by on their way out to say goodbye, and we headed home a little after one-ish.

Etta was most excited to see us, and even Ellie wanted some snuggles when we got home. Although, the neighbors took great care of Ellie, Porkchop and Phenom for us while we were gone.

The kennel takes a lot out of Etta, and while we're still working towards her being able to stay home with her doggie siblings, we just aren't there yet. She doesn't go in her crate when we leave for a couple hours anymore, and she does spend the night with Ellie and Porkchop in Calib's room every night, so we are getting there. She mostly napped the rest of the day once she came home though.

Ellie was glad to have her napping buddy back, and her walking buddy (that's me! It was even cool enough the other morning, thanks to some cloud cover, to take her on the whole loop!)

Calib finally spent some of his paycheck money, all of it actually. He got himself a laptop. It's pretty cool, too. It even folds over table style and has a touch screen. I'm totally jealous, as I sit here typing from my aging laptop that's slow as dirt and must remain plugged in AT.ALL.TIMES. But, good for him for saving up!

Mom left this morning to make the long trip home (she drove this time), but there was time after Universal to get in a few more math lessons for Peyton. (Note the sidewalk chalk she resorted to using and the wine in her hand. She knows how to teach!)

We also had one last dinner out.

And one more trip to Costco, where Calib got not one, but TWO fruit smoothies, and I finally got to try out the street tacos (two thumbs up- this actually fed us all for dinner, and me and Asa for lunch today).

Although part of the reason we could stretch it so far is because there's a sickness which has taken over the house. Asa and Hayden had it first, and then it spread to Calib and Peyton (Calib even had to call out of work last night). I haven't gotten it, yet. So basically I carry lysol with me wherever I go and wash my hands fifty times a day. I also have been taking airborn three times a day. I have been looking forward to anniversary weekend at Disney with Asa for months, I cannot get sick now!!! Asa is feeling much better today, so hopefully the boys aren't too far behind- and hopefully I don't get it at all.

Yesterday was mom's last day here, so we went out to vacuum her car out for her and to get all you can swirl one more time. I'm actually not sure when mom is coming back. She may or may not be here for my birthday depending on the location of some meeting she has. But, it looks like at least some of us are going to Ohio the end of August, so if nothing else, we'll see her then.

So, yea, anniversary weekend is coming up. But also, Monday was 16 years since I met Asa. Thank goodness for Cedar Point contract dates or we probably wouldn't know the day we met. We were both such unassuming kids.

Speaking about unassuming kids, here's a picture from healthier times. These boys always end up in my room at like 11 pm eating food, talking loudly and being overall obnoxious. And my softy heart can't send them away because I'm like 'someday they won't even live here to bug me!'