Soccer

Another soccer season has come and gone for Blake.  He loves it so much, he even brings a ball to school and plays with his friends during recess and any other chance he gets. 

 

He is not afraid to get right in the middle of things, and go for it!  It is fun to watch.  He is in the white shirt below:

 I just love this steal he makes:

 He loves offense the most, but loves being goalie too. 

 

As crazy as soccer makes our schedule, it is probably going to get even crazier, since he loves it so much.  We are going to keep going, and give him more opportunities to play.  Here's to being a soccer mom!

Mama's Shoes

More Harry Potter World

I love this dragon. 

 

Olivanders!  

 We did leave Harry Potter World sometimes.  We found our way to Jurassic Park world.  It was more fun there than I thought.  I loved the raft ride.  I kept thinking of the boys, they would have loved this one the most. 

 

I got really, really wet. In the past, when I have gone on water rides, I dried off within an hour.  But that was California, not Florida.  I didn't account for the humidity.  The smart girls wore their ponchos :)

 Hard Rock Café. 

Gringotts Bank!  It was neat to look at.  All the details were so well done. 
This ride, escape from Gringotts was a 3D ride.  It was really cool, but it made me a little motion sick. 

 I love food.  I LOVE FOOD.  So eating at the leaky cauldron was a highlight for me.  Fish n' Chips.  Mmmm.  And this pear drink?  Amazing.  They don't sell pepsi/coke products in this side of the park.  There is good reason.  This was definitely better than the soda I would have ordered. 

Tired, but happy! 

 Leaving Hogsmeade.  I loved how everything was snowy.  What an amazing trip. 

On Saturday morning, three of us went to the Orlando Temple.  What a beautiful place!  It was soul filling.  Then on to the last few hours of Harry Potter World. 

I almost didn't go on this trip, just because of my fears.  But what fun it was!  So glad I didn't give in.  I didn't realize how much I needed this.  It was very relaxing to only have myself to worry about for a couple of days.  I felt blessed, really the whole trip felt that way.  Coming home was wonderful.  I missed my little family.  Brian had the house all clean, and it was late so all the kids were sleeping.  I fell right to sleep and woke up feeling great Sunday morning. 

It was a magical trip. 

Harry Potter World

I went to Universal Studios Florida!  It was awesome.  I got to go with the lovely ladies in my book club.  We are all Harry Potter nerds, and Harry Potter World was unbelievable. 

Number 12 Grimmauld Place.  Kreacher poked his head out above, it was cute! 

 

This telephone is right outside, and it gives a ministry of magic message when you listen. 

 



Here is the view when you first walk into Diagon Alley.  Look at that dragon!  He would roar and shoot fire every few minutes.  It was spewing fire right as we walked in, it was pretty impressive. 

My favorite shop.  The Weasleys joke shop.  It was visually stunning; so much to look at.  Looks just like the movie.  Got some cute stuff for the boys here. 

 

I got to have real live butterbeer.  It was SSOOOO Good!  The cream on top was amazing.  It tasted a little like cream soda, with a little something extra.  Mmm.  

 

We got so lucky with the weather.  We were all ready to be rained on the whole time, but really, it just barely sprinkled the first day.  It was beautiful.  I loved the air in Florida.  It reminded me of my home state California.  The air was full, and heavy;  smelled like agriculture.  Made me a little nostalgic. 

 



My favorite person in the movies in Bellatrix.  She is amazing, so I loved seeing this animated poster of her. 

 

I had to get a wand!  It is Luna Lovegoods wand.  It really works, there are places in the park that you can really do spells.  I am not a muggle after all! 

 The castle!

Stealing money from Gringotts.  Had to pay for this trip somehow!  Ha ha!  All the details were so amazing. 

Yogurt

This is how Julia helps herself to the yogurt. 
She puts a hole in the top with her sharp little teeth. 

 

And drinks like it is a sippy cup! 

Star Valley

We went up to visit Brian's side of the family in Wyoming.  It was a good trip.  It only takes about 2 hours to get there. 
Dad gave Julia some rides on the four wheeler.  She loved it and kept asking for more.

 Dallin was allowed to drive.  How do you think he felt about that?  :)

Blake fell in love with a bb gun. 

 And Kyle learned how to shift gears on a motorcycle. 

 It didn't matter that it got cold, he still loved being out. 

 Julia found someone else to give her rides. 

Poor Brian was so tired, he had been up since 2:45 Friday, the day we left.  But he still had fun, it was a good trip.  :)

Baby in the bowl

The simplest things keep babies entertained. 

 

 

She makes me laugh. 

Cheesy Smile

I love this smile that I get when the camera comes out! 

Camping

We went up to a camp site last week and had dinner with the kids.  It was a nice summer day and they loved it.  We found the neatest bug.  Never seen anything like it before. 

We did hot dogs, grapes and smore's.  Mmm.  Chocolate. 

 

 Julia had fun.  And got super dirty!  She just wanted to eat dirt non stop! 

 The boys had fun crossing the little river and climbing. 

 The boys really wanted to catch this gecko.  But he was too fast! 

Julia had fun exploring. 

 It was so fun and simple.  The best things are usually that way.  :)