The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The first full day of our trip was devoted to the Magic of Walt Disney, but the second day was devoted to a completely different kind of magic. The Harry Potter kind. I have been waiting for years to see this park, literally for years. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a Harry Potter nerd. The kinds who dresses up, talks about mandrakes, yells "Expecto Partronum" on rides and buys wands. It's ok, I understand if you are just now grasping the full effect of my nerdiness.

The Wizarding World is at Universal's Islands Of Adventure. We had season tickets to Universal when we lived in Orlando so we had been to the park many many times. When we got there we decided to head straight for Hogsmeade and Harry Potter land. This time of year is not very crowded anyway so there weren't a ton of people at the park, however, I think every person there had the same idea we had: bypass Seuss Landing and The Lost Continent and head straight for Hogsmeade Village. I was like a kid sprinting to see Santa Claus while we walked through the park. The rest of the islands were like ghost towns just hoping to catch some waves from Harry's wake. I had pretty high expectations and hopes for what lied ahead but the Wizarding World exceeded all of them.

We approached the sign that said, "Hogsmeade, please respect the spell limits", I was in awe. It by far exceeded my expectations. The second we walked under that sign we were transported to a wintry English village with cobblestone streets, stone shops with weathered signs and the bustle of people battling the Florida heat. I was like a tourist in Times Square for the first time, I gasped and walked slowly just looking up and around, taking in my surroundings. Zonkos and Honeydukes were to our left, the Hogwarts Express and Hogsmeade station were to our right and a butterbeer cart was directly in front of us. I was in Potter heaven.



We decided to head straight for the new ride, The Forbidden Journey. Seemingly, this is what everyone else did as well. The line was wrapped around the sidewalk but said it was only a 30 minute wait so we hopped in. This ride is in the Hogwarts castle so we could see the amazing castle in front of us. I was reluctant to admit, but I think I liked this one better than Cinderella's castle. (Steve asked me which I liked better and I gave him a lame answer like that is comparing apples and oranges. He totally called me out cause it is comparing castles and castles). We had Cian with us and were doing the kid-swap thing so we by-passed some of the line. Sweet, I am not above using my child to move ahead in a theme park line. We walked through the gates to the castle and shortly came to the greenhouse. In typical theme park fashion there was a weaving maze of metal directing the line. I was so glad we had come in an off season and didn't have to wait through the entire thing. We made friends with the lady waiting behind us in line and she told us that at times in the summer there had been a three hour wait. That is nuts! I talked about mandrakes and herbology while we were in the greenhouse and we even saw some potted mandrakes! Upon entering the castle we could see the phoenix statue and the entrance to Dumbledore's office. I won't give away the entire castle, but we saw the cylinders keeping the house points, talking paintings, the pensive, and the defense against the dark arts classroom. This makes waiting in line so much fun! Steve and Rob rode the ride first and I took Cian into the kid-swap room where they had "The Sorcerer's Stone" playing on a tv. Cian saw the screen and yelled out "Potter"! He is so my kid. After they had ridden Steve and I got on the ride and it was incredible! We were taken through a Quidditch game, the Chamber of Secrets, past the Womping Willow and into the Dementor's clutches. I actually screamed "expecto patronum" at the dementors. Unfortunately I cannot produce a patronus so Harry had to come save us.

Cian yelling "Potter"at the TV

There are two rides in that section that have been revamped with a Harry Potter theme, Dueling Dragons is now the Dragon Challenge and don Tri-Wizard tournament decor and The Flying Unicorn is now Flight of the Hippogriff. The lines were really short for the other rides so we were able to ride the dragon challenge a few times in a row. For the first time I felt nauseated from riding a roller coaster so I had to skip a couple rides after that. We got some butterbeer and visited a few of the shops. We tried frozen and regular butterbeer and the frozen was my favorite. It tasted like a mix between butterscotch and cream soda but so much better. (This was Steve's analysis, all I could come up with is really really good). We came back throughout the day and visited the owlery, Ollivanders and Honeydukes.


We got a wand that is made of vine (like Hermione's). They had wands of the Harry Potter characters and wands associated with your birthday. Mine must have been the Virgo wand. At Honeydukes there was a chocolate frog in the window that croaked and jumped, Cian really got a kick out of it. I did get some goodies including a chocolate frog. We skipped on the Bertie Bots because it might have broken us to buy everything. (We didn't bring enough gallions).

We did hit up the rest of the park and our wait times were usually 20 minutes or less. Cian didn't do as well here because there wasn't much he could ride and he was cooped up in his stroller all day. This is torture for an almost two year old. After a rather embarrassing screaming and crying fit we finally took the hint and fed the kid and took him to Seuss Landing where he could ride the Carou-seuss-al and see Cat in the Hat. He loved this!! We rode the Carousel twice because he loved it so much. I probably should have just gone straight there after WW and stayed for the rest of the day so the boys could have enjoyed the other rides. I felt especially bad for Rob who had to wait around on us while we tried to calm our screaming banshee. At the end of the day we had a great time but on our way out it started pouring. You know, the afternoon downpour that Central Florida gets every day! It was actually kind of a nice cool down.We had a great time and I can't wait to go back to visit. I wish I could go every year...I guess I will have to settle for every three to four. (Sorry Steve).

Rob and Steve on Dr. Doom (this was during my nauseated period)

Steve and Rob on The Hulk

Magic

It's true what they say, Walt Disney World is magical.

I can (sort of) remember the first time I went to Disney World when I was four and can really remember all the subsequent trips, so I was very excited to take Cian for the first time. We went on my birthday and it definitely started off the last year of my 20's with a bang! We were only in Orlando for a few days so we decided just to go to the Magic Kingdom. (The other days reserved for Harry Potter and visiting friends).
For anyone who is planning a trip to WDW, I would highly recommend going the week after Labor Day. Our longest wait was about 30 minutes--which was awesome. We didn't even have to fast pass anything. When you get to the Magic Kingdom you have to park a mile away from the park and ride the monorail or the ferry. We were able to get on the front of the ferry so Cian could see as we approached Cinderella's castle!
It seems the natural progression to start with Tomorrowland and work your way back around to Main Street for the light parade and fireworks. (I think this is how I have done it every time and we had a mere ten hours to do this). It goes like this; Tomorrowland, Toontown, Fantasyland, Liberty Squqare, Frontierland, and Adventureland. The park is great because there are so many rides that Cian can actually ride on. The only ones he really can't ride are the "Mountains": Space, Splash and Thunder. They have kid swap for those rides where you can wait in line together and then take turns holding the little one while one parent rides. Then you get to go right onto the ride without waiting in line! This worked out especially well for Ryan (Steve's cousin) and Rob (Steve's brother) because they were able to ride multiple times on the rides. It was cool having them there as well because Steve and I could ride together sometimes. Cian really liked all the rides and when we rode Dumbo I took him all the way up and asked him if he wanted to stay up or go down and he said up! I think now our family is two against one, two WDW lovers and one bah humbug.

Maybe in this case a picture is worth a thousand words so without further adieu...

At the hotel before leaving for the parkRiding on the speedway. I think I can actually run faster than this ride goes...
Teacups!!
Too bad Ryan and Robs teacup couldn't spin like ours..
Dumbo. I think I look more excited than Cian does
Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me
Arrghhh
Steve and Cian on the Alladin ride

As it started to get dark we headed back to Main Street for Wishes, the fireworks display. On the way we stopped to get candy and a birthday fudge covered Oreo. Because we were late the street was really crowded so we had to head back to almost the end of the street where we stopped to watch the show. Well, apparently we stood in front of the wrong lady. I should start by saying that there was definitely something slightly off about this woman. Unbeknownst to me she had asked the boys to move because we were standing right in front of her. This would seem a logical thing to ask if there were not a thousand people standing between us and the castle. 999 of these people were in front of us. Since nobody moved she came and stood directly in front of me. I mean inside my territorial bubble, mere inches from my face. Well unlike normal Becca fashion I didn't say anything smart to her, I just said, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you ask us to move." She turned around and told me she has been standing in the spot for three hours. THREE HOURS. This spot was not the creme de la creme, it was at the end of the street--far away from the castle and with a tree obstructing our view of the fireworks! This poor lady proceeded to walk around and complain to everyone around her, who were all trying to watch the show, about how we came and stood in front of her. There was one man videotaping the fireworks and unfortunately his video will have her complaints overpowering When you Wish Upon a Star. When the show was over we hightailed it out of there in case she called the mouse police on us.

We walked from there back to Frontierland to watch the light parade.

I always said I would never buy one of those leashed that keeps your child connected to you. Never, those were horrible. Well that was before I had a 22 month old and we decided to bring him to an amusement park. We went to three different places to find one that wasn't a backpack. It turns out he hated it and tried to take it off the entire time he was wearing it. I think the backpack would have been better. For the record, I did get looks like I used to give that said "that poor child is on a leash." Too bad they don't know that this child would be off and running screaming see ya suckers" at the first chance he had. This is what we used to keep Cian with us...

When we found a spot to watch the parade Cian and I went to stand right next to the street while the boys sat back on a bench. We sat next to a family with a boy around 8 and a girl around 11. Cian immediately wanted to hang out with them. He was running around them and giving them five. He liked the brother more than the sister, I think he suspected she had cooties. He was eventually running around and giving the brother hugs and then wanted to sit in his lap. The poor kid didn't want to tell him no but learned that he was glad he didn't have a little brother.

Once the parade started Cian was all oohs and whoas. He kept yelling, "Whoa, who dat?" and Whoa, wha dat?" as the new floats would come. He sat in my lap almost the entire time and just watched as the floats and characters rode by.

It was so awesome to see Cian so excited and it really brought back the magic of Disney to see him experience it for the first time. I can't wait to take him back and take our next kid for the first time!

Party Planning

So, I started trying to come up with a theme for Cian's second birthday party months ago (so what if his birthday is not until November) and came up with a theme that I absolutely love, "What Are Little Boys Made Of?". What are they made of? Why "snips of snails and puppy dog's tails" of course.

My friend Mary Leigh has a son, Bates, whose second birthday is in December so she helped with the theme and we are going to do the same theme for both the boy's b-days. This is fun because I have a partner in crime for planning and we can split everything which means twice the party for half the price!!

Here is my inspiration board so far:


As for details, you will just have to wait until November and December...

Hi, I'm Becca and I'm a Harry Potter addict...

It's true. I read the books, watch the movies and even dress up as the characters. I am like those Star Wars nerds who dress up and go to the conventions. (Except I havent'been to a Harry Potter convention). We are taking it a step further in two weeks and going to Orlando to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Islands of Adventure. (We are also going to visit friends and family there). I am passing my love on to Cian, who can say Potter and loves Dobby the house elf.

I am so excited and can't wait! In anticipation for the park and the movie coming out in November I am re-reading The Deathly Hallows. Turns out, there is so much I forgot from the 72-hours it took me to read the book the first time.

I am a little sad because these two movies means the end of Harry Potter anticipation. I didn't start die-hard following the story until The Goblet of Fire came out but since then I have been there to get the following three novels the weekend they came out. I got The Order of the Phoenix in Venice (after being told by an uppity bookkeeper that we would not find that book in all of Italy) and finished reading it on our long train and Eurail trips in a week. I was there at midnight to get The Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows. Heck, I even dressed up as Tonks for the last book release. This should show you how truly nerdy I am:

Midnight book release party in Orlando. They gave us tatoos and glasses and we got to make our own wands!

Even Steve partook in the nerdyness

Sixth book release party, I am dressed as Tonks and drinking my butterbeer here..

Back home right before I started reading the book, Steve was my little Olivander that night and made my wand.

This was Cian's room before it was Cian's room

I have promised that I won't dress up when we go to the park in Orlando, but I can't promise not to be a total geek walking around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

Ladybug Garden Tea Party

Baby Maggie is coming! My sister in law Amanda is expecting a baby girl on September 10th (the day after my b-day).

Amanda is one of the most selfless, generous and deserving people I know. She is not however one of the easiest people to surprise. She always finds out! When we threw her a wedding shower she was on to us long before she opened the door and we yelled surprise. We did manage to surprise her with a shower for her son Will but that doesn't mean Tracy (Amanda's sister), Rachel (their cousin) and I didn't jump at throwing a girly shower!

Baby Maggie Ann's room has ladybugs in it so we started with that and ran with it. We probably had the most frou frou party imaginable and it was darling! In true Becca and Tracy fashion we waited until the week of the shower to put everything together so we were up into the wee hours of the morning finishing tissue paper flowers and gift bags. (Christina, Tracy's lifelong friend, was in town as well and we recruited her against her wishes to help up with the girly ridiculousness).

There were a lot of people in town from St. Louis for the weekend of the shower, we used a housewarming party for Tracy as the decoy. We also had Rachel take Amanda shopping for a gift for Tracy before the shower as a way to get her out of the house and over to Tracy's after everyone else. I think she had the most fun job!

The colors we used were pink, green, red and black. We made tissue paper flower garland and flowers to hand on the walls. We used twine, clothes and clothespins as decor as well. (So great when your gift can also be decorations)! We had a diaper cake and a bunch of dolls and little tea sets. It was super girly and very fun!

In the end, Amanda was surprised and there were many family members and friends who were able to share the joy of a new baby on the way. We are so excited for a new family member and can't wait to meet little Maggie!

Keep Truckin...

I am so stinkin glad the weather is cooling off! When I got up to run this morning (at 5:30) it was only 68 degrees! I was only somewhat drenched when I got him instead of monsooned. I have actually kind of slacked in my training the last couple weeks but I am determined to get back on track with my long runs!

I did run 5ks the last two weekends in a row and placed both weeks! I ran the Smyrna Parks 5k two weeks ago and ran a 23:16 with second place in my age group. I ran the Fenton Payne and Fred 5k last weekend and ran a 24:04 and also placed second in my age group.

So far this week I have logged a 6 mile and 4 mile run. I am hoping to get a 10-11 mile run in tomororw and get back to my schedule next week.

I really have to get serious on my fundraising as well. My child partner this time is adorable and I can't wait to meet her. Her name is Maleigha and her photo is below.

My name is Maleigha. I am four years old. I have Spina Bifida and have been goign to Special Kids for physical therapy for two years now. I have two brothers that I love very much. I also love Dora the Explorer and anything with princesses.

If you would like to see my training schedule or to make a donation to support my training and Special Kids you can visit the site below:
www.teamask.org/athlete/rebeccageorge

Happy Trails!

Family Photos

You know how you go trucking along in life thinking that you aren't aging and you are staying the same and then wham, all of a sudden you realize the days and months are passing by so quickly? Is it just me? I know this is so cliche and everyone says this, but after you have kids you really come to realize how fast the days, weeks and years are passing you by. Cian is approaching two very quickly and I can't belive he has been part of our family for almost two years! At the same time, I can't imagine our famly without him. For this reason, I feel it is so important to document our ever changing family. Cian will not always be this smiling, ball throwing, loving little guy. He will grow up and we will age as well (though I have decided I'm stopping at 30). We will add to our family and the dynamic will always be evolving. I want to have these moments and years on film (or hard drive) so that we may pass them down to our children and grandchildren one day. I want to be able to look back and remember who we were in 2010.

It just so happens that we know two amazing photogrphers (who just so happen to be amazing people). We had Chris and Adrienne Scott take some photos of our family when Cian was 18 months old. Below are the photos that are on a beautiful canvas on our wall. (You should come over and see it sometime).

Chris and Adrienne are so talented and did such a great job capturing our little family! These are truly heirlooms we will cherish forever!

Here is the portion of the blog where I give them a shameless plug: You can see the rest at http://www.chrisandadriennescott.net/ or check out their site at http://www.chrisandadriennescott.com/. Not only can they make you look this good but you are guaranteed to have a great time and laugh a lot while you are around them. Call them. It will be good for your health.