Harry Potter, Here we Come!

If you have been around me at all over the last 6 months, you know how excited I have been to plan our first trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I've been obsessing over all the details and found this theme airbnb for us to stay in Orlando, with one room all HP, one Disney, one StarWars, one Minions, and one Frozen. Ha! It's complete with a backyard pool and local amenities include water slides and a lazy river. It looks so very cool and I hope the pictures live up to the hype!

I've been telling the boys forever that we would go when I turned 40, but this year for my 39th, Jon and I decided it was time. I have been loving every minute of planning, but for the big trip reveal, I acted like it was all Jon's idea and planning so I could jump and around and scream and be excited with the kids. Ha! Highly recommend! 

The party started out with Jon telling me an owl had been spotted on the porch and upon investigation, we found the sorting hat with the following letter rolled up inside: 

Dear Joy, 

You’ve waited 39 years, 

we know this much is true. 

Waiting one more year is far too long for a wonderful witch like you.

So we are sending you this owl 

to say with all our hearts, 

we are excited for you to join us this year at Hogwarts!

Buy your supplies, pack your bags, and get yourself ready for leaving, 

because we really can’t wait to see you soon at the Wizarding World this Thanksgiving! 

Sincerely, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

After reading it out loud, I started slowly by saying something like, "Does this mean what I think it means?!" Jon answered yes, then we all got to jump around screaming. I had gotten everyone an HP shirt or some type of goodie, so we all opened our presents and jumped around and yelled some more.

Then about 40 minutes later while we were watching Youtube videos of rides and checking out our Airbnb online, Mimi and Momo texted everyone saying, "We heard a huge racket by the owl house in the trees, and looked what just showed up!" They had Hogwarts t-shirts too. Then we all jumped around and screamed again, so excited that Mimi and Momo were coming. By this point, I think Ollie was seriously wiping tears from his eyes. Hahaha, it's super fun for me to remember. It definitely makes me smile. About 20 or 30 minutes after that text, Jennifer texted a picture of an owl and had a t-shirt as well. By this time the kids were just stunned and shocked, although we did manage a few more screams and jumping.

We gave Mimi and Momo and then Jennifer a call, excited to share in the news. It's going to be so fun! We can't wait!!