Disney 2015.... Harry Potter and arriving.

For 10 years we shielded the kids from all things Harry Potter. We made sure that no movies would be watched during sleepovers and that no books would be read without us. WE wanted to be the ones to share it with the kids first. So for their 8th and 10th birthdays this year, they got books one and two. They actually had to be DRAGGED To the couch to listen as they didn't think they would like it. But after 3-4 chapters they were HOOKED! We are now about halfway through book 5 and we read once chapter out loud after dinner on any night we're all together. So on this trip to Orlando, it was finally time to visit Universal! We landed at MCO and headed straight there as we decided to stay on-property for one night so that we could get early entry the next morning. As a bonus we scored "buy 2 days, get a 3rd free" tickets so we ended up with 3 potential days of Universal! We decided to use our free day to head to the parks on our arrival day even though we knew lines would be long. We figured we could at least explore the shops. Sasha wasted no time in leading us straight to the back of the park to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. She was so excited!

First stop: the London Waterfront, where we found number 12, Grimmauld place, and Kreature even peeked out at us from behind the curtain!

 We also saw the Knight's Bus!

 Then it was into the Leaky Cauldron for a very late lunch... We tried butter beer in all of it's forms: hot, regular and frozen. YUM!

 Then on to Diagon Alley. Absolutely immersive and incredible...

 We headed to Ollivanders and saw the wand show but the kids did not want to be assigned a wand, they wanted to pick their own! Into the sprawling, rickety shop we went... there were about a million different wands and the shelves went all the way to the ceiling!

 Wands chosen!

 The wands actually interact with the world around you. You can explore all of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and there are many spots where if you stop and do a spell correctly, things happen. It's pretty cool...

 After exploring the shops and getting some ice cream, we decided to take the Hogwart's express to the other park. This is one of the coolest, most innovative things any theme park has even built. It's a ride, in that as you move from one place to another you see things outside your window that tells a story, AND you see things unfolding inside the train in the hallway outside your compartment, but it's also a ride in that it actually transports you physically from one park to the other.

 Here's the train!

 All aboard!

 Once in Hogsmeade it was getting dark, but we were still able to explore, ride a few rides and have a great evening. Then it was home to bed.

 The next day we went back for early entry. The crowds were light so we got to really explore Diagon Alley and ride the Gringotts bank ride which I have to say is the coolest combination of motion and 3D effects ever. Teddy got very good at his "Aquamenti" spell and was able to turn the fountains on for all of us!

 That's better!

 We rode the train to the other park, did a bunch of stuff on that side, had lunch at the 3 Broomsticks, and then rode the train back to Diagon Alley mid-afternoon. It was getting hot and crowded and we were ready for a break. We stopped at one last place, the establishment of my 2 favorite characters..... Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

 Then it was off to the World... Hooray! So good to be there!

 We checked into Beach Club, had a nice swim in the pool and relaxed for a bit. Then we took the bus to Downtown Disney to meet up with Auntie Karen and Brit. We ate at the Irish pub, Ragland Road. We'd never eaten there before and had always wanted to. It was great. Awesome food, good dancing, and our table was right in the middle of all the fun!

 Some of us didn't make it through the evening though... ah well, touring the wizarding world, and an Irish beer flight will do that to you I guess....

 After that it was back home to Beach Club. I was surprised that so many Christmas decorations were still up all over WDW when we got there on the 6th. I think they try to keep them all up for the races. No complaints here... they were beautiful!

Christmas in SA!

 Sometimes with all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, when you can't be in the middle of it all with tons of friends and extended family, it's nice to just have a chill holiday and relax at home doing a whole bunch of nothin'. This is exactly what we did this year. We closed the gate at about 2pm on Christmas Eve and didn't open it again until Saturday! Christmas eve dinner we had gammon with roasted veggies, super easy but very festive:

I actually did not know what a gammon was...they were set out for the holiday and everyone at the store was grabbing one so I thought "shoot, 'When in Rome...'" and tossed a Gammon into my cart. Jeff was like "What's a gammon?" and I said, "We'll find out when we open it!" It turned out to be a ham and it was moist and delicious!

 On Christmas eve we packed off the 2 nuts with strict instructions NOT to wake up adults until 7am. Of course they were NOT at all tired...

 Kids man, they just don't have any idea how much set up there is to be done on Christmas Eve. Go to sleep you two!! We stuffed the stockings and set up the big Christmas surprise:

And Roxy WATCHED Grammy stuff her stocking! What a cheater...

 I love those eyes:

 Christmas morning the kids woke us up at 6:48... close enough right? We had locked the safety zone and taken away the key so that they couldn't start Christmas without us! Haha suckers!

 What's Christmas morning without kids?

 Roxy ripped into her stocking, grabbed her new Kong baby, and ran out the door and around the yard with it, tossing it to herself. She was so happy she wouldn't come back in and open the rest of her stocking for an hour!

 Hooray!

 My budding guitarist got a big upgrade:

 And my fashionista got a cool new jacket for our USA trip:

And I got an amazing medal display made custom for me by Jeff! Can't wait to fill this baby up!

 Jeff and Max, just Chillaxin'

 The big surprise of the day was our Disney cruise and the reveal took about 2+ hours from the scavenger hunt to the solving of the puzzle. It was so fun! VIDEO HERE.

Of course there's always one toy that no one can put down... not even the adults... not even Grammy! This year it was the Perplexus puzzle. Man that thing is maddening. I want another, easier one to practice on!

 In the afternoon the kids had a swim....

 While the adults relaxed and made a seafood potjie for Christmas Dinner.

 Yum! Probably the last time in a long time that we will dine al fresco on Christmas Day!

 Happy, relaxed and grateful for the time and the holiday:

 I am grateful for so many things this year and this season and these 3 are high on the list!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our loved ones near and far!

Cape Town Finally! (Part 2)

Cape Town Animals : VIDEO HERE

On Thursday we woke up early and had breakfast on the patio. Another beautiful day! We had a full day planned going all the way down the Cape and then back up the other side.

Our first stop was Simon's Town, and the penguin colony that lives there. AWESOME!! There are penguins, on the beach, as far as the eye can see, just hanging out and being penguins!

 I love you...

 They are so fun to watch... you can focus on the big group or just pick one and follow it. I loved seeing how graceful they were in the water and then so comical as they come back ashore.

 It was nesting season and they were digging holes and laying eggs. This one laid an egg right in front of us!

 Yeah, you get a lot of pics, this is a fraction of the pictures I have... what can I say, I love penguins...

When they were sitting on their eggs they would all hang out with their mouths open wide and just freeze. Like hoping bugs would just drop from the sky or I don't know what...

 We watched them for what seemed like hours, it was so entertaining, and then it was time for lunch. We found this restaurant that was right on the beach and they gave us the corner table right on the water!

 They we drove on towards the tip:

 Cape of Good Hope:

 First we hit Cape Point, which has a lighthouse and this amazing rock outcrop jutting out into the sea:

 There were amazing views of the Cape itself:

 Lighthouse!

 There was a trail between Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope and Sasha and I wanted to hike it so Grammy and Teddy took the car and drove around to meet us and we set off down the trail.

 So nice to have a hiking buddy:

 Maybe the most southerly pocket beach on the tip of Africa...

 Me and my girl, looking back toward the lighthouse:

 South-Western Tip of Africa!!

 We took the switchbacks down to the parking area and Grammy and Teddy were waiting for us. We had to get our official group shot:

 On the way out there was a baboon troop being epic as always. We got some good video that you can link to at the top of this post but check out this pic! Yep buddy, it's still there....

 Then we visited an Ostrich farm. Ostriches freak me out...

 Seriously, they're like Aliens:

 Our last stop of the day was a vineyard in Noordhoek. They had an open-air Christmas carol concert with wine and a million food booths. Strolling through food booths and deciding what to eat is pretty much my favorite kind of dining EVER.

 Dessert and cheese section of the food:

 Main food area... how do you choose?!?

 I got dinner from these guys, they were cooking up 3 kinds of potjie. It was AMAZING!! I asked them if they would adopt me into their tribe....

 The setting:

 The view:

 We sat there listening to beautiful Christmas music, sampling our yummy food, and watching the sun set over the water. It was the perfect end to a perfect day!

 The one thing we didn't get to see that was on our list was this cool fort that Sasha had learned about in school. We took one wrong turn on our way home and there it was! She was so excited... Cape Town bucket list sorted!

 On Friday we had a 10 hour drive back to P.E. But I can't complain as it has to be one of the most scenic drives on the planet. Plus I had 3 very entertaining people with me. You never know WHAT kind of trouble they're going to get us into....