Weekend Recap

On Friday, Clay turned six. We celebrated with a trip to Dinosaur World in Glen Rose. Nana met us there, and we enjoyed the beautiful morning amongst the dinos and fossils and then paused for Chick-fil-A, birthday cake, and presents, before getting in some awesome playground time. In the afternoon, Nana and I took Ruth to her riding lesson via Starbucks, while Jeff and the boys returned to the house. After the lesson, I drove my Mom over to Plano to visit a family friend in the hospital. Traffic was all there, and we took the same wrong turn twice, but we enjoyed the time together and eventually made it to where we were going and back again. We ended the day with a very small Cinco de Mayo party, which included several bags of tacos and sides from Taco Ocho. Our evening entertainment was trying on all our fancy cruise clothes for Nana. When the kids found out there were a couple of "gala nights" aboard the boat, they all agreed (which is a miracle!) that we should definitely get formals and go all in. They have been giddy with excitement in the picking out of their clothes and shoes and are eager to try them on every chance they get!

Birthday Morning

Party at Dinosaur World

We're so fancy!

Saturday, Weston and Clay had their last games of the spring season, but the times overlapped, so we had to divide and conquer. Mom stayed with Weston and got to watch his championship game, while I took Clay to his baseball game. Weston's team made FloMo youth football history by not only coming away with the victory but also ending their season without ever being scored on. Weston absolutely loved playing on the Rebel team and will miss the fantastic coaches and amazing team he was a part of this year. Max also had a baseball game, and Ruth had a make-up riding lesson, so it was a busy day but lots of fun. Mom left shortly after all the sports were finished up, and Jeff and I snuck in our last date before the summer road trip, which promises to be full of epicness but will not offer much in the way of privacy!

Undefeated and never score on! Way to go Rebels!
(Picture borrowed from my friend Tracey, who is the team mom and always takes amazing photos of our team.)

Trophies and cupcakes to end the season

Yesterday, we spent the entire day packing and checking and double-checking our various lists, in preparation for our departure later this week. Everyone's suitcase is now at least 90% packed, and our little RV is stuffed to the gills and ready to go. We will either leave on Wednesday or Saturday, depending on how Max's game goes tomorrow.

Ready to Road Trip!

Universal Studios: Day Three

On our third and final day at Universal, we revisited some of the places we loved, like Harry Potter World, Woody Woodpecker Kidzone, the Curious George ball room, and the bigger roller coasters. But, we also worked in some new sights, a few shows, and a very late dinner at CityWalk. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Universal and would definitely recommend it, especially if you have Harry Potter fans in your midst.

Scooby Doo, where are you?

The ball room was Clay's favorite

Getting ready for the hilarious horror make-up show
by posing with (and like) a dinosaur

The Sponge Bob Parade

Clay made some new friends

The Despicable Me Parade

Sinbad's EighthVoyage

Rival houses, but truly friends

Clay had so much fun talking with the interactive fountain

Last hurrah at Antojitos

Universal Studios: Day One

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of adventure and excitement, which began at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We had so much fun and loved it much more than our trip to Disney World a few years ago. If you are a Harry Potter fan, it is a place that should definitely put on your bucket list, in my opinion. You truly get the sense that you are in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and the experience really does feel magical. The bulk of our first day was spent in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and we really couldn't get enough of it. We did eventually move on to other sections of the park, but Harry Potter World was truly special and a place we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Universal Studios Orlando

Number 12 Grimmauld Place
(Can you spot Creature peeking out the window?)

The Littlest Wizard

Escape from Gringotts was a very cool ride,
and that dragon really breathes fire!

Taking a butterbeer break

Ready to board the Hogwart's Express

Lunch at The Three Broomsticks

Clay and Max really loved The Flight of the Hippogriff ride
and never missed a chance to say hello to Buckbeak.

The one souvenir Clay especially wanted was a real wand.
Here he is casting the "lumos" spell. 

The Hogwart's Castle was amazing, even though the ride made my head spin.

Eventually, we made it over to Jurassic Park

T-Rex on the loose

On Marvel Super Hero Island, Jeff and the younger guys
rode the Storm Force ride several times.

Meanwhile, Ruth and Weston were obsessed with the Hulk ride.

Perot Museum

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Weston's a big fan of The Periodic Table

Creating Dinos

A skeletal puzzle

Earthquake!

The Water Cycle

An interesting weather report

Our little engineer was in heaven!

Battle Bots

Starting a building project

You know this boy wasn't leaving without a picture with the frog statues!

Musical Max

The end of a very fun day

Fitzroy Gardens and the Melbourne Museum

We spent most of the day yesterday at Fitzroy Gardens, a lovely large park, just down from our hotel. It also happens to be home to Australia's oldest building, Cook's Cottage, which was actually built in England in 1755 and later imported to Australia. (Unfortunately, I didn't snap a picture.) We had our ball, frisbee, and boomerangs, plus grass, trees, and lots of room to run around. A good time was had by all!

It was rainy this morning, so we decided to visit the Melbourne Museum, where we saw an IMAX movie about dinosaurs and then spent the rest of the day fascinated by the different exhibits--everything from dino bones to rocks and minerals to insects to the human mind and body to the history of Melbourne. The younger guys also spent some time working on their own engineering projects, with Legos and magnetic blocks in the fun children's area. It was quite an enjoyable day, and we didn't leave until we were forced to, at closing time. By then, the weather was all cleared up and we were able to enjoy another nice park, just outside the museum, before heading off in search of a local burger joint for dinner.

I spent several pleasant hours on that bench yesterday!

Fitzroy Gardens is full of impressively large fig trees

I believe both the ball and frisbee were in use at the same time during this game

So many things to throw!

Unique flora

Swinging and climbing and having a ball!

3D Dino movie

Primitive weapons

He's worth his weight in gold!

Bugs, bugs, bugs

A display depicting Australia's coat of arms

Little builder 

Concentration