Back from Universal

We had an awesome time at Universal, but the weather was HOT as HELL!  I know I was complaining about how I needed me some sun - well I got more than I bargained for.  It was upper 80s and even reached the 90s our last day.  Luckily, most of the rides were inside and the longest wait was 60 minutes for the Harry Potter ride.  It was a fun-filled, non-stop 4 days of fun and now I need a vacation from my vacation.  


Here are some pics from the trip. 



The girls were a little punchy since we had to get up at 3 am.  Dave found a great deal on our flight and hotel, but we had to travel about 90 minutes to the airport and our flight was at 7 am.  Since we hadn't been to this airport before and weren't sure about parking, we left ourselves plenty of time.  We got to Orlando about 9 am, got our rental car, checked into hotel and went to Universal Studios until close, ate dinner and collapsed around midnight. 

All aboard to Hogwarts. 

The Harry Potter area was great. Hogsmeade was exactly like I imagined from the book. They had Olivanders, the wand shop, where they picked someone from the audience and the shopkeeper went through several wands before finding the perfect one.

Hogwarts is in the background.  The line to the ride takes you through parts of the school it and then the ride, a moving seat, takes you through other parts of the castle, some real and some simulated.  You get to feel what it's like to play in a  Quidditch match as well as flying on a broomstick. 

Forget milk!  Butterbeer is yummy!

Saturday night was the Mardi Gras parade, which was a lot of fun.

There were a lot of bright and unique floats. 

The costumes were all very cool. 

We got a lot of beads. 



The end of a long day. 

A very long day, but fun.

Eventhough cat in the hat is a kids ride, we still love it. 

My Thing 1 and Thing 2.

We saw the Blue Man Group on Sunday night. The girls loved it.  Hubby and I had seen before and were hoping the girls would enjoy it.

Group shot at the entrance to the lost continent. 

Warmed my heart that my 12 year old would still pose with Dora.  My 15 year old, however, would have no part of it. 

The Simpson ride is a crazy virtual reality trip that takes you on a roller coaster, a crazy boat ride, in the mouth of a giant baby and a lot of other stomach rolling feelings.  My husband was not feeling too well after this ride.  He can do the scariest roller coasters, but virtual rides make him want to hurl.

Vacation is over. Went by so fast!

On the band front, I had an appointment with my surgeon on April 6th.  He said based on my slow weight loss (5.5 lbs in 2 months) and the fact that I can eat more than a cup of food, he felt a small fill is needed.  When I told him I was going away, he scheduled me 2 weeks out for the fill so I am going this Wednesday.  I'm really excited and hoping that this fill will take me to my green zone.  It would be great to start losing weight quicker since bathing suit season is right around the corner. 


As some of you may know, I've been stuck in the 240s.  Not any more.  I saw this lovely, unexpected number this morning. 



I'm confident that with my fill I'll get even more securely in the 230s. 

I'm really behind in reading blogs and it is doubtful I'll be able to catch up so will probably just start with current posts.  Hope you are all doing well.