Destin In Pictures

Apparently I took some time off from blogging this fall and summer and I completely didn't give you the day by day account of Destin!  We went the third week of July this year which is about two weeks later than usual.  I thought I was going to die of anticipation, but turns out I made it.  The Destin trip is really the highlight of the summer and going two weeks later prolonged the season in a good way.

We made an overnight stop in Ruston to see our family and these two got along famously.

The next morning we were beach bound early, and I snapped a picture of one of my favorite sights on the trip:

Alli always rides with her Tata and Diddy, so I love getting pictures of her from the road.

When we finally arrived, everyone ran out to the ocean.

We spent our mornings trying to spot dolphins off the balcony and drinking coffee.

We spent our days on the beach riding the waves, sunning, chatting, snoozing, and sipping.

We spent our evenings dining at our favorite spots, playing cards at the condo, and hanging out on the beach playing football and paddleball.

We found a sea turtle nest, rode on a pirate ship, and watched fireworks over the Destin Harbor.

 And then we took our Destin pictures using John Patrick's new tripod, camera, and remote.  It wasn't glitch-free...

But in the end, we perfected it and got some wonderful shots.

I'm so grateful for fantastic memories with these wonderful people and I can't wait to go back!

Disney Vacation Day 5: Universal Studios

Since we'd already spent half a day enjoying everything The Wizarding World of Harry Potter had to offer, we started the next day Universal hitting up the roller coasters - including the truly scary Rip Ride Rockit where you pick your own personal music that plays for you during pretty much the most terrifying roller coaster ride of your life.  Which Alli made us ride three times.

Then it was on to Minion Mayhem, which much like several of the other rides is a 3D simulator that's about as intense as a roller coaster!

Please note that little Ginny Weasley is still wearing her Gryffindor robes.  We also wandered through the super hero section of the park to see if the Hulk roller coaster was open, and it wasn't (for now) so we decided it'd be a great idea to ride Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw Falls.  A word to the wise - if it's 70 degrees and breezy, don't do the log ride.  Otherwise you'll be spending $5 in the heaters they have just at the ride exit.  BRRRR!!!!

We went back to Hogsmeade to ride the dueling dragons roller coaster (we did blue the day before and had to try red of course).  We caught some shows and then wandered back through the park and met some characters on the way.

The Hulk roller coaster was finally open and it was everything Alli thought it would be, but I'll be honest.  This is the point where the entire trip caught up with me.  I was nauseated, I was worn out, and I was done riding rides.  So when Alli and Ryan hit up the thrill rides one more time across the park, I sipped a Butterbeer and stocked up on souvenirs from Diagon Alley.   We left the park well before closing because we were just beat.  In fact, I think a month later I am still recovering!  But we truly had a magical time with zero regrets and a lifetime of memories.

Disney Vacation Day 4: Universal Studios & Epcot

So a little less than a month later, I am finishing the Disney recap.  Listen, y'all.  Fall is so hectic that I. can't. breathe.  I am sorry for the delay, but better late than never right?

We had initially planned to spend an entire day at Epcot, but on the bus to Hollywood Studios we met a family who went on and on and on about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios.  As major Harry Potter fans and the parents of a daredevil looking for roller coasters, we decided to drop half a day of educational fun and hit up Universal.  We read that it was important to go to Olivander's to get a wand straight off, so we headed to Diagon Alley first.

Kids, if you are a Harry Potter fan, you owe it to yourself to get to the Wizarding World.  It's amazing.

The wandkeeper at Olivander's selects one child to fit a wand to and guess who he chose?  Not Alli.  So there was a really cool demonstration where the girl he chose tried several wands until one worked for her.  Then we were emptied out into the store, but not before the wand keeper stopped us, pulled us back into the room, and fit Alli with a wand.  Talk about special!  She got a ivy wand with a unicorn hair core.  We immediately went across the street to Madam Malkins to get Alli her Gryffindor robes so she was truly a wizard.

We rode the brand new Escape From Gringotts ride and then hopped on the Hogwarts Express through Platform 9 3/4 to see Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

We rode all of the rides in Hogsmeade and then hopped back over to Diagon Alley for lunch, where Ryan and I finally got a Butterbeer.

Interesting fact:  Diagon Alley is built on top of where the old Jaws ride used to be.  And if you know me at all, you know how much I love Jaws.  I'm sad the ride is gone, but I still got to pay homage.

After half a day in Universal, we headed to Epcot for a few hours.  We used our Fast Passes, spotted some dolphins, had a little Turtle Talk with Crush, and then made it to our dinner reservation at the underwater restaurant.

And so concluded another fantastic day in Disney World - only one day left to blog about!