Calling All Potheads!

My husband and I are those people who pre-ordered the Harry Potter books and then read them within two days of their release.  (I feel like I need a caveat of the fact that we also read lots of other books, not just HP.  Those people are super irritating.)  Anyway, with the impending release of HP7 Part 1, we discussed the relative merits of getting a sitter to come to our house for the midnight release but decided against it as a few days later, we would have a horde of free babysitters in the form of Thanksgiving visitors.  We would have to wait, plugging our ears and covering our eyes at every turn for a few days, so we wouldn’t hear anything about the movie before seeing it.

Scott had taken some leave to work on his comprehensive exam for grad school, and I kind of pulled a manipulative AF wife move.  It is so rare that we actually have leave that I decided we needed to take advantage and do something fun.  I kindly asked if Scott thought he would be able to complete his exam in ten days instead of fourteen.  It made him nervous, but when I (also kindly) explained that spending a little time with the family would reap numerous benefits for everyone involved, he acquiesced, buckled down, and finished his work in record time, allowing us to hop, skip, and jump down to Orlando for an extended weekend.

If we weren’t going to catch the midnight screening of HP7, why not just head down to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?  We had never been to Universal Studios, but after a little research, I learned there was a superhero area, a Dr. Seuss area, and enough other things I thought the boys would be interested in to warrant a trip.  Plus, a few days before we left, I had the boys watch the first HP movie.  I also read part of the first book to Will at bedtime.  By the time we got to Hogsmeade, they were just as excited as we were (well, probably not just as excited, but almost).  Of course, I had my obnoxious mom camera with me to get some pics (we have more, but I didn't want to show too much for those of you who will be going soon!).

It was a perfect day for wizarding.

The only thing we had to wait in line for was Ollivander’s wand shop, 

but we purchased some beverages to help us along the way.  Our first taste of butterbeer and pumpkin juice:

And I even got to spend some time talking to one of my favorite wizards while we waited.

I just told him a joke, and he was like, "Oh, Leia!  You are so funny!"

And I was like, "Gilderoy, stop looking at me.  We're trying to take a picture!"

He finally cooperated.  

After stopping for lunch,

we headed to platform 9 3/4:

We enjoyed these flags on the way up to the castle:

and came across the Weasley family car (right after Will fell and scraped his knee, leaving him dramatically distraught):

The whole experience was a little overwhelming for Ben:

but a good time was had by all!