Universal Studios Orlando

One of the major things we were looking forward to was a day at Universal Studios in Orlando.  I won't even try and lie, I really, really wanted to go see the Harry Potter stuff.

Can't start a day at an amusement park without a nice egg and cheese sandwich on a poppy seed bagel.  

It didn't take us too long to drive there from Ryan's mom's house.

At this point I was super excited as we approached the City Walk area.  Here you can see the fun mini golf, which we ended up playing at the end of the night.

Welcome!

Of course I spotted the Hard Rock cafe.  That was a good thing.  Not only did I need to buy a t-shirt, but we had plans to meet up with our old next door neighbors from Japan there after we finished in the park.  They are now stationed in Florida not too far from Orlando.

More fun welcomes!

Classic!

That's right.  The adventure begins.

I have lots of pictures from inside the park.  Everything is so fun to look at.

Dr. Seuss!

Passing through the lost continent on our way to Harry Potter.

Yay!!!  Here is Harry Potter!

Hogwart's Express! I happened to have taken a picture while this cute little girl was posing for a picture.  I have no idea who she is, but her parents definitely have cute pictures of her now.

Butter beer anyone?

Inside, getting ready for the main Harry Potter adventure 3D thrill ride.

Surprisingly there was not as long of a wait as we had thought or expected there to be.

By the way, the Harry Potter ride was AMAZING!  I am very glad I was wearing a scopalamine patch, otherwise it would not have been as much fun.

Here I am with Ryan's mom.  I am always one to pose for a picture in these fun little set ups.

Next, Ryan and his mom rode the carousel and they had a blast.

Then we went to the Hulk roller coaster.  Very crazy!  It was the first time I thought my glasses might fly off.

Here are some pictures inside the Spider Man ride.

After those rides it was definitely time for lunch.  Hard to find something to eat right where we were since we needed to still meet up with Ryan's mom and aunt.  At least there was veggie pizza.

Haha!

Then we went on the wild river ride where we got soaking wet.  Don't let this sign fool you, haha, not paradise.

See, lots of water involved.

Then we went on the Jurassic Park ride.  I have been on this one in CA, so I was happy to go on it again.  Not nearly as drenching as the previous water ride.

Couldn't resist!  This was too cute.

Wait, is that Harry Potter land I see again?  Oh yes, we went back and because the line was short, we went on the ride again.  It was AWESOME!

Dinner was at the Hard Rock cafe with Andre and Jasmine, our old next door neighbors from Japan that moved back to the States in January.

Andre had a giant burger.

Ryan's mom and aunt had some bruschetta.

I had fish and chips.

And Jasmine had some nachos.

Here I am with Jasmine out front.  She's pregnant!  I was so happy I got to see her when she is pregnant.

To finish off a great day, the four of us played mini golf before heading back to Ryan's mom's house.

It was definitely a great day.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever been to Universal Studios?  Are you a Harry Potter fan?  What's your favorite ride?

Treats for me!

Since I am traveling now, but have not gotten to share this trip with you, I thought I would show some of the treats I received before heading on my trip.

The first is a painting Ryan and I bought on the street near our hotel in Paris.  It has been hanging unframed since last July.  It was time we framed this, and the other painting.  I love how the framing turned out.  It is amazing and we love this painting now hanging in our hall.

I got a package in the mail from Krystal over at the Special K Treatment.  She is in Germany, so I love the fun goodies she sends.

I think I am most looking forward to giving this a try.

How cute are these bunnies?  They taste good too!

Teeny little Ritter Sport bars.  If you have never had Ritter before, you are missing out.

Since this post is also one for catching up, here is a meal Ryan and I had before I went on my trip, and before he went on his.  Oh, I didn't tell you.  Ryan went to Boston, NYC and then to PA for his cousin's wedding.  It was a last minute plan and I was already on my way to Israel during that time.

So, on to the meal.  Looks about the same as they always do, especially because we have ordered these before at this place.  But we love the location, so we keep going back.

This was from our anniversary dinner.  Nothing fancy.  Just some Italian, as a symbolic gesture for the upcoming anniversary trip to Italy.  We will be heading to Florence, Rome and Venice at the end of the month (don't forget, I am looking for guest bloggers).

 

This is one of my favorite treats.  Our landlord owns a grocery store, so when we pay rent, we often get goodies.  This month we received a fresh (still warm) loaf of Portuguese sweet bread.  It is very similar to Challah bread, but a little sweeter.

 

I used it to make a giant egg and cheese sandwich.  

 

I think I cut the bread a tad too thick, but it was good anyway.

 

So what is my last treat?  Golf clubs!

Do I play?  Nope!

But my grandfather came across this set which he said would be perfect for me, and he thinks I need to learn, and seeing as Ryan likes to golf and wants clubs, I think this is a good idea.  Now I have my own. This is just the box, and the ones inside are not the ones on the box.  But you can get an idea of how big this package was.  I had to carry this myself out of the building, out to my car and then into my house.  It was about as tall as me!

QUESTIONS:  Do you golf?  Get any treats recently?

Let me know if you are interested in doing a guest blog post for me.