Halloween

Halloween: These two - and their dolls - have been planning their costumes for a VERY long time. ❤️❤️

 

We also dressed up this year. I won a costume contest at work as Taco Belle!

The girls had fun with friends on Halloween night:

Games

We played "Would You Rather" at dinner. The question was, "Would you rather lick 1,000 stamps or lick a 10 foot strip of a New York city street?"

Willa: "Lick a stamp? Why would anyone lick a stamp? I don't get it!"
___________

Jia made our family and house in her Sims game and then tracked our movements. Apparently all we do is hug, play video games, eat PB & J sandwiches, and chat. Ha!

 

Sea World and Friends!

Our tickets to Discovery Cove came with free admission to Sea World, so we spent the day there. We watched the orca show, visited the manatees and enjoyed the aquariums. To everyone's surprise, our favorite part of the day was Pet Ahoy, an amazingly choreographed animal show featuring pets rescued from local shelters. It was so cute and well done! Jia had her portrait sketched as well.

We ended the day playing with local friends at our resort. We had so much fun we forgot to take any pictures! What a perfect trip!

Discovery Cove

Hitching a ride on a dolphin, snorkeling with tropical fish, feeding exotic birds by hand - all in a white sand beach setting. It was a bucket-list kind of day.

 

 

 

 

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Day 2

We rose bright and early again and started our day at Diagon Alley. We brought along our to-do list, which included some Wizarding World secrets that we had researched the night before. While Joe rode the Escape from Gringotts ride again, the girls and I did more spell casting, this time in unmarked locations. We visited the Gringotts Money Exchange and thoroughly offended the Gringotts goblin by asking if he was a house elf. We watched our Marauder's Maps glow in dark of Knockturn Alley (and I wore my Borgen and Burkes shirt for the day). Willa enjoyed a gigantic ice cream cone from Florean Fortescue's. We continued to marvel at the Gringotts fire-breathing dragon. We shopped for more treats and Willa purchased her pygmy puff, Arnold. We loved arriving early and having the place nearly to ourselves.

Back in London, we looked inside the Knight Bus, and saw Kreacher peeking out of 12 Grimmauld Place. We then took the Hogwarts Express for Hogsmeade. We shopped at Flourish and Blotts, visited the Owl Post, and pretended we were Buckbeak on the Flight of the Hippogriff. Willa and I then rode the Hippogriff again, while Joe and Jia rode the Forbidden Journey in Hogwarts.

Afterward, we ate at the Three Broomsticks where Willa, naturally, ordered Butterbeer and fish and chips. We visited the Hog's Head pub, and peeked into more magical storefronts.

Rain started to pour so we took the Hogwarts Express back to Diagon Alley. It was a different experience on the way back, and included a brief glimpse of Voldemort and spiders on the windows!

We shopped more, and then said our good-byes to Diagon Alley. We were all sad to leave! What a fantastic place.