We went to Universal Studios first. This was the first time for us and yes, gasp, we diverted from Disney. CHH and I are huge fans of Harry Potter and we wanted to go to the new Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios. CHH and I along with my Dad and sisters have read all the Harry Potter books. CHH and I even were those crazy folks standing in-line at midnight to pick up the latest book we had placed on order; we did this a few times! The later books, we would even buy two copies when they came out because neither of us wanted to wait for the other one to finish it -- yes, we enjoyed our Harry Potter books hence the trip to Universal Studios.
We had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves. The Harry Potter theme park was AWESOME! I loved it and I think the Harry Potter ride is my current favorite ride between Universal and Disney. Jordan and Katelyn loved Universal as well along with the Harry Potter theme park. Both girls really enjoyed all of Universal Studios which we did so as well.
Upon arriving at Universal, we met up with my sister, brother-in-law, and the girls' cousins at The Three Broomsticks restaurant in Harry Potter land. Below is our family enjoying lunch.
Cousins! Jacob (7), Jordan (5), Katelyn (3), and Zack (10)
The girls looking at Chocolate Frogs in HoneyDukes.
Harry Potter Land. The Butterbeer cart in the background was one of our frequent stops. CHH and I loved the frozen butterbeer.
CHH and my brother-in-law, Bob, outside of Honeydukes.
The kids looking at Zonkos the joke shop.
We also really enjoyed the Dr. Seuss portion of the Universal Studios Theme Park.
This is the sweetest thing. When Jake was at Disney earlier in the week, he declined to buy a huge Stitch stuffed animal in order to buy a smaller one for himself and a pink Stitch for his cousin, Jordan. When we met up with them at Universal, he was very excited to give the pink Stitch to Jordan. She was thrilled and it was so sweet he thought so much of her this way.
Oh so precious!! I think this picture "describes" Katelyn's personality perfectly. She is so fun!!
Had to get my girls pictures in front of this since this movie came out this year and we saw it. 
Mommy and her girls in front of the Hogwart's Train! The conductor was really English and so very nice.
We went back several times to the Harry Potter portion of the Universal Studios theme park. The girls loved it as much as we did. They loved the Hippograff roller coaster!
Hogwart's Castle in the background.
Katelyn picking out her wand at Ollivander's wand shop. She was so excited and got the wand that corresponded with her birthdate.
Jordan with her wand in front of Ollivander's. In the window are the famous wands from the story like Harry Potter's, Hermione's, Ron's etc.Jordan loves to tell the story on how her wand matched her. The shop stated they were out of the wand that corresponded with her birthday. CHH and her than proceeded to look at all the wands for a good amount of time. He patiently would take one out, Jordan would view it, and then decline it. This went on forever. She was very particular about her wand "picking" her.
While waiting, there were samples of the various wands for the birthdays. I looked at the one for Jordan's birthday and started looking at the bottom shelves in the shop. I suddenly spotted the one that match the wand on display. I called Jordan over and showed her what I had found. I will not forget the look on her face and the excitement she displayed. Her wand had found her! This was much to CHH's relief - ha. CHH and I were both so happy seeing our girls so excited about purchasing their wands from Ollivander's. Look at that sweet excited face!
After three days at Universal, we went to Disney World. Oh what joy! Our happy spot!!
Our friends from Philly met us at Disney World!
CHH's Birthday! August 19, 2010 - 48 years old! It was a great day for him -- family, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Ohana's (his favorite restaurant) for dinner.
Our room at the Grand Floridian got canceled by Disney even though we had already paid in full for it. As a result, they moved us to the concierge floor at the Polynesian. I was disappointed at first but when we saw our room that quickly flew out the door. It was phenomenal and had the best view of the Magic Kingdom. We could view the fireworks every night from our gigantic windows and also see the electric light water parade right in front of our room. They definitely made it up to us and it was a wonderful stay.
The girls' dear friend, Ali, and the girls on their way to the Cinderella breakfast at the castle in Magic Kingdom. I love this picture of them in their Cinderella outfits.
The girls loved meeting Tiana and Prince Naveen from the Princess and the Frog. Tiana and Prince Naveen really enjoyed speaking to the girls and spent a lot of time doing so with them. My girls loved them!
My cousin, Danny, works for Disney and lives with his family in Orlando. I had a great time with Danny's wife, Cynthia (my cousin-in-law!) , catching up. Of course, my girls are so excited each year to get to visit with their girl cousins. The girls are close in age and really enjoy being with each other. I love seeing the girl cousins as well! Below is Maria and McKenna. Erika, Katelyn's age, is missing from the picture. 
Jordan and McKenna had the best time with each other!!
More family!! Grinny and Papa drove up from Tampa and spent a couple of days with us as well at Disney for CHH's birthday. The girls loved getting to spend time with their grandparents as well.
It was a fabulous trip as usual. We have a great family time every time we go to Disney World. Lots of happy memories!!
