Oct 2025

 Brooklyn loves going to Menard's with Richard because they found a massage chair there that they can use. Richard took this picture and texted me "Brooklyn is in her happy place". 

Kaylee went to Homecoming with a group of friends. She wasn't feeling the best so it took a lot out of her but she still had a lot of fun. And her friend, Megan, had broken her ankle so she was able to sit out with Megan for a lot of the dancing when she was tired. They went to eat at Olive Garden and we took pictures of them at Homestead Park. 

McKenna got to go on a school trip to Washington DC. She said the White House was the coolest thing they saw. I don't think she loved a lot of the museums and walking but she had a blast hanging out with friends!

We went to Orlando with the Gregorys and Scott and Mom came along! We stayed in the coolest house ever that had a different them for every room, a fun game room, a pool, a full kitchen and themed appliances like a Mickey toaster and Mickey waffle iron. I was worried about Kaylee being able to walk all day since she's been feeling terrible and so we rented a wheelchair every day for her to ride in so that she could save her energy for the fun.

The first night Kristi sorted us all into houses and gave us little gifts that went along with our houses. We also bought a fun little game with gummies that all looked the same but were either watermelon, lemon-lime or pickle flavor. I have been really loving making peg dolls and wanted to make Kristi a set of Disney princess dolls. But then I felt bad that I didn't have anything for everyone else so I decided to make everyone peg dolls themed after what they are into. So I made Mario ones for Alex, HP ones for Tess, superhero ones for Parker, a Superman for Scott, a Tron guy for Tony, and a set of Mom and Dad in temple clothes for Mom. I was pretty proud of them!

The first day we went to Islands of Adventure. We bought matching shirts for almost everyone- Brooklyn and Tess, the men, Kristi and I, and Kaylee and McKenna all had matching shirts. The first ride we went to was an intense Jurassic Park roller coaster. Brooklyn decided she would try it but it was a lot for her first one and she was much pickier about the roller coasters she went on after that! While we waited for them to go on that ride, we went into a dinosaur themed gift shop where luckily they had some activities we could do. Kaylee and McKenna tried a simulator that took a picture of them and merged it with a dinosaur. The result was pretty hilarious!

We then went on a Jurassic Park water ride and then headed to Hogsmeade, which is what I was most excited about! Everything looked amazing- we saw a show from Hogwarts students singing and rapping, got Butterbeer to drink, went on the ride in the Hogwarts castle, and then went to eat at the Three Broomsticks. 

Kristi had charmed one of the workers at the front gate and he gave us fast passes that we could use for one ride. We decided to use them for Hagrid's Motorbike and I'm so glad we did because even with those, we were still standing in line for almost two hours! 

We then headed over to Ollivander's where Tess was chosen for the little show they put on there and then she was able to buy the wand she wanted. We made sure to hit Honeydukes for some yummy treats and took pictures with everything Harry Potter that we saw. 

Towards the end of the day, the boys went back to re-ride some bigger roller coasters and the rest of us went on a few smaller rides in Dr Seuss land. The park closed a little early that day for a Halloween event they were having that evening but it felt like we were able to do everything we wanted to do.

The next day we were off to Universal Studios! It was a little bit of a frustrating morning where we got off to a late start and then ended up walking really far to get to one ride and then had to walk all the way back to get lunch but luckily we knew we were coming back to this park later so that helped. Diagon Alley was amazing but we didn't spend too much time looking around. We went on the Gringott's ride and then split up to get lunch. We ended up at a restaurant right outside where they put on a parade in the afternoon so we watched that for a bit. This park had a lot more 4D rides that McKenna could handle so we tried some of those and then on our way out, we checked out the amazing Wicked store that had huge displays from the movies. The park closed even earlier this day for the Halloween event, but we planned on coming back on Monday. 

Sunday we wanted to go to church but couldn't find a ward that was close enough at the right time (and in English) so we just watched our ward's broadcast and then drove to the temple after lunch. It was pouring rain but we put on our ponchos and were determined to still get a picture in front of the temple. Miraculously, by the time we parked and walked to the temple sign, the rain had stopped and the sun came out. It was gorgeous! 

That night we went to check out the bigger pool in a close-by neighborhood that had slides, a lazy river, and a hot tub. Richard had gone on a walk that morning and seen a big alligator in the pond right by our Airbnb so I wanted to walk over to the pool and see if I could also spot one. Mom and Scott walked with me and we did see some cool birds and a bunny but no gators. The slides were so funny because one of them was ridiculously slow and the other was so slick that you would fly out of it. The guys had a blast going down the fast one and trying to make each other laugh. 

The next day we split up and half of the group went back to Islands of Adventure and the rest of us went back to Universal Studios. We made sure to head straight to Diagon Alley so we could check out all the things we had missed. We did all of the "magic" spots with our wands and went through all of the shops. Kristi bought a park to park pass so she could stay with us for the morning and do all the Harry Potter shops and then go be with her family in the afternoon to ride all the big roller coasters. 

We bought packed lunches this day so we ate lunch and then bought butterbeer ice cream for dessert. We had explored every inch of Diagon Alley and were ready to head off to other rides. It started pouring rain in the late afternoon, and some of the bigger rides had to close down, but those weren't the rides we were mostly going on anyway and we had our ponchos but we still got pretty wet going from place to place! 

One scary experience we had was when we were in line for the E.T. ride. That was when it was raining the hardest and there was a lot of lightning and thunder. We were just about to head inside the building when the LOUDEST thunder hit and behind us, a woman went down. At first we thought she had been hit by lightning and everyone was paralyzed just starting at her, not knowing what to do. Richard ran around trying to get the workers to call for help and went to hold an umbrella over her to keep her out of the rain as much as possible. I was so impressed by his immediate action to help! We found out that she had actually slipped on the wet sidewalk and probably broke her arm but we don't know if she also hit her head and passed out for a minute because she was not moving for a while after she fell. We were glad she was ok! The girls were really scared and it took a long time for them to calm down. 

The last park day was at Epic Universe, which was amazing! Every inch of the park was decorated amazing, especially the Mario world. We went there first and waited in line for a few hours for the Bowser ride. Instead of just weaving through metal bars like a normal ride, the line went through different parts of Bowser's castle, like the library, and they had an amazing number of things to look at, which made it much more enjoyable. We also did the Yoshi ride, which was more of a kiddie ride but it did give us an amazing view of the whole Mario land. 

We then ate lunch at the Toad Cafe, where I had the most incredible gluten free burger! Even the food was all themed, and tasted really good, and it was so fun to see what everyone ordered. 

We headed over to the Harry Potter part, which is supposed to look like Paris from the Fantastic Beast movies. However, the Ministry of Magic ride is supposed to be from after the HP books, so it seemed a little disconnected but that's ok because the Ministry was our favorite part. Not only was the ride SUPER cool but walking into the Ministry literally took our breath away. You get to go through a fireplace as if you are taking Floo Powder to get there and when you walk through, it is an enormous room completely covered in dark green tile and decorated to look like the Ministry of Magic atrium. Even though we had seen pictures of it beforehand, we were not prepared for how amazing it looked in real life! The wait was really long again, but it was really cool to see all the things the room was decorated with. Because we had Kaylee's wheelchair, they had us go to a different area where the elevator was. Right then, they told us there was a problem and the ride was going to be down for a bit. We were lucky that we ended up where we did because we could sit down and relax and we had a bathroom and drinking fountain right next to us. Luckily it wasn't too long before they got the ride going again and we were able to get on. It was worth the wait! It was the coolest mix of animatronics, video, 4D movement, and storyline. Definitely one of the most futuristic feeling rides I've ever been on! 

It was amazing how fast the day flew by with only going on a few rides because the lines were so long. Alex had paid for a special Mario watch that gave him points for doing certain things around the park. When he got enough points, he got to go in an otherwise restricted area and we all got to play a game to defeat Bowser. It was actually really cool!

 We spent the rest of the evening between the other lands- How To Train Your Dragon and a monster area with all the classic monsters. This was the only day that the parks were open the full time and so we stayed until 10. We were extra glad we did because as the park was closing, they had a full light and music show with music that represented all of the different areas throughout the park. 

The next morning we had to get ready to head out and say goodbye. It was so fun to get to experience these parks with more family!

We got home the day before Halloween and missed some of the usual holiday parties we go to but Brooklyn was able to go trick or treating with her friend dressed as Bellatrix, and McKenna went with some friends who all dressed as a season (plus one scarecrow who joined at the last minute). Kaylee invited Amelia over to watch a scary movie and I was starting to feel sick so I was upstairs resting while everyone else enjoyed their Halloween!