Florida VACATION!

What does Vacation Greg look like?

All play and no work makes Greg....!

ORLANDO, FL

We are trying to make up for no vacations from the last 3 years. My sister Lea, her husband Shayne, their 4 boys, and Shayne's parents Sheldon and Cheryl were hanging out at the amusement parks in Orlando, FL, so we went to join them.

We went to ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE and UNIVERSAL STUDIOS for 3 days!!!

The final verdict: Harry Potter Hogsmeade is AMAZING!
And we also really like hanging out with Lea and her fam!

Sisters and their babies (and Shayne's parents in the background....Sheldon was amazing and watched the babies while we went on the rides)

Butterbeer! That is a butterscotch foam mustache in case you're wondering.

We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks. We were disappointed that the food was not free or magical, but it was good.

Hogsmeade

Me with Hogwarts Castle in the background.

Ollivander's Wand Shop, and yes, we also got to have the Ollivander Wand Experience. Danny picked up his wand and waved it around and said, "Mom, this wand is broken!" Even though they were all broken, he still bought one.

Greg's old BYU roommate and his daughter Callie joined us the 2nd day. This is the entryway to Dumbledore's office while waiting in line for the Harry Potter ride, which was awesome.

And the Hogswarts Green House while waiting in line. Everybody was confused how a baby could come on the ride...ever heard of Child Swap, people? Okay, we hadn't either, but it sure came in handy!

And of course I had to get a picture in front of Flash Gordon, my hero! (I am in love with the 70s movie with the Queen soundtrack. Yes, I even own it...now, who will watch it with me?)

I jumped in on Lea's family pic at KrustyLand. The Simpsons ride was hilarious, but unfortunately I'm not going to be the cool mom I always dreamed of being. Rides made me sick, and I sat out on a lot of them out. While sitting there, I tried to at least look cool.

Getting some Uncle Shayne love!

Adam and Rob are Greg's BYU roommates. It's no wonder these 3 got along so well...they are all just really genuinely happy, easy going guys. Randomly, Adam and Rob ended up living 20 minutes apart from each other, which is great for us when we visit!

We haven't seen them in 4 years and during that time Rob and Sarah have increased their family to 4 kids, and Adam and Lianne have increased their family to 3. (Okay, so that was the reason we haven't visited in 4 years, but I'm over that now. No really...I am...totally over it.) Thanks guys for being such wonderful hosts!

Julia couldn't go on any of the rides at the park, but she could ride Sarah's kids' toys in the play room.

Hold on tight!

This little train went around the track

She loved it!

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL

 While we were in the Okeefenokee Swamp last year we heard about St. Augustine which is the oldest city in the US. Having loved Savannah and Charleston, we decided to make the hour detour on our way home to visit, considering we had plenty of vacation time that is.

This is the Castillo de San Marcos. It was constructed in 1672...pretty old for the US. It was built by the Spanish, then went to the British, then back to the Spanish, and then to the US. It went all those places because that's where Florida went during that time. No wonder everybody's confused about their origins in FL!

Greg and a really cool cannon (and yes, it was as cold as it looks)

Family pic!

During the Park Ranger's speech. He certainly loved his job, but Julia and I didn't really love him.

And then we went to the Old County Jail

Henry Flagler (of the Exxon-Mobile dynasty) financed this building on one condition -- it had to be a pretty building. How many pink jails do you know of?

True story: When there wasn't enough room in the jail, they would put the prisoner in this over-sized birdcage and hang it from a tree over night. Our tour guide said it would straighten the prisoner out right quick!

And this was our amazing tour guide. We entered the jail as prisoners and he treated us as such through the tour. Luckily we didn't have to try out the gallows behind him.

Or experience the novelty of the hanging tree...

And only Julia had to put the shackles on for being disagreeable.

We couldn't resist!

What you can't see is my foot sticking out on the right side as Julia was sitting on my leg. I am Super Mom!

This is is in the main section of town - the oldest wooden school house in Amercica. If you go on the tour, you get a high school diploma at the end. Unfortunately it was closed when we came by. Julia, looks like you've got 15+ years of schooling ahead of you after all!