Growing the Mott: November 2022

We just got home from our great Orlando get away. Here are some pictures! (Seth decided a few weeks ago that he didn't want to go. He wanted to stay home and we had some friends come check on him, so you won't see any pictures of him.)

Jon and I celebrated our 18th anniversary by going to a brewery for HP trivia night just a couple nights before we flew out. We got 5th place! I was pretty proud of our team, Where's my Rememberall?

First meal after arrival.

Me: Oh they have cinnamon toast crunch shots? It's gonna be a good trip.

Ollie with a chicken strip thing the size of a notebook paper.

We stayed at an Airbnb which was pretty epic with a Star Wars, Mickey, Frozen, Minion, and HP room. I should have taken a picture of each room. The décor was super fun. We had a little pool in our backyard which was perfect for our crew.

This is in the Harry Potter bedroom.

It had a fun game room with foosball, air hockey, and an arcade style game. Ollie organized an air hockey tourney for us and then won.

Mimi and Momo met us in Florida as well. Noey was only slightly excited to get to play with Momo.

What? Why can't I get that sucker? I've hardly had any sweets!

Jon in Seussland speaking for the trees with the Lorax.

More rides at Seussland

Catching a wave before dinner.

And now for the main attraction (at least in my eyes...)

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts
Teach us something please
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff
For now they’re bare and full of air
Dead flies and bits of fluff...

Hogsmeade

Practicing our wandwork while trying alllll the Butterbeer. Ollie preferred normal Butterbeer, while Jon, Jennifer, Nolan, and myself liked frozen Butterbeer. Mimi thought Butterbeer ice cream won the gold. Hot Butterbeer was yummy and reminded us all of Hot Buttered Rum, and the Butterbeer fudge was just meh. I was disappointed in the interactive wand displays. They didn't work super well in my opinion, but we had fun trying.

Here we are at Kings Cross Station getting ready to get on the Hogwarts Express. When we were on the train, Nolan's eyes were as big as saucers. A Dementor comes at one point and Nolan Expecto Patronum-ed him away at the perfect time in-sync with Harry. Noey was so proud of himself and it was pretty cute.

Hagrid's Motorbike

Chilling with Stan.

Entering Diagon Alley.

Gringotts

There are 5 Harry Potter rides and Jon, Ollie, and I loved Hagrid's motorbike the best. So fun! I literally laughed and screamed during it. Nolan rode escape from Gringotts, but that was a mistake. It was way too scary, so he sat all the other HP rides out, other than the train rides. I thought Gringotts and Harry's Forbidden journey were so fun as well. We will have to try again when Noey is a little older.

Toad in the Hole with Pumpkin Juice at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. Sad to say the Gillyweed water did not allow me to breathe underwater for 60 minutes.