Universal Studios

After Disneyworld, we took a Taxi to Universal Studios. We stayed at the Lowes Royal Pacific Hotel and it was beautiful! It is really nice because it was a short 10 minute walk to the park and because we stayed at an "on site" hotel, we got free front of the line passes so we didn't have to wait in any lines. Its Universals version of Fastpass, but usually you have to pay for it. That night we walked over to City walk and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe

 Lauren, Zoey and my mom at the hotel after dinner. Zoey was being very funny and was giving them very big hugs!

The next morning we got up extra early because another perk of staying on site was that we got to go into Harry Potter world at Islands of Adventure1 hour before the park opened. I LOVE Harry Potter world! I wasn't able to ride the Forbidden Journey last time we went because I was pregnant so I was very excited to finally ride it. It did NOT disappoint! It is the coolest ride ever!

 Jed and Zoey walking into Harry Potter next to the Hogwarts Express!

 We are here! Everything is so realistic- the castle is an exact replica of the one in the movie, just a lot smaller. You get to walk through all the fun rooms while walking to the ride. It is very fun to feel like you are inside the movie. Jed even loved it- he is now a Harry Potter Junkie just like the rest of us! (I know I could turn him :)

Jed,  Mom, Lauren, Spencer and Elisse on Flight of the Hippogryph

 The Conductor of Hogwarts Express

 You can't go to Harry Potter and not experience the Butter Beer! I am so sad- we bought this souvenir mug and it fell out of my cabinet the other day and shattered. I was very upset.

 The bug likes butter beer too!

 I thought Zoey would be tall enough to go on all the rides in Seuss Land, but she was only a inch or two short! I was so sad. She was a champ though and would stand up to the measuring stick big and tall.

 One of the rides she was able to go on was One Fish Two Fish. Just like Dumbo only it shot water and bubbles at you- Of course Zoey LOVED it!

 The next day we went to Universal Studios where the new Minion Mayhem ride was. Zoey wasn't tall enough for it, so she waited at the exit with Grandma and Lauren. My mom makes such a cute Minion!

 Zoey didn't quite understand why Phil was so big! She loved dancing to the music (they had a dance party at the exit of the ride with a bunch of minions) but she didn't like it when they came close to her

 It's So FLUFFY!

 I tried to get her to take a good picture with the minion but she wouldn't take her eyes off him- she was very suspicious

 "Hair?" Zoey loves holding onto hair and lauren was a good sport

 While the rest of the family went on another ride that Elisse couldn't go on, we took Zoey to the kids play area. It was all curious George and SO cute! It was really hot and since it was a splash pad, I let Zoey go to town.

 At first she was cautious....

 ....but then she jumped right in! She must have been REALLY hot!

 She kept walking over to this sprayer and would put her head under it and just let it run over her back. It was too funny! She used to hate the shower but after this trip, she loves it now!

 Aunt Leesy and Bug after she was soaked!

After the splash pad we were walking back to the ride to meet everyone else and the Dora and Diego Parade started- the flower came over and took Zoey out to dance with her. It was so cute!

Dancing with Diego and the Flower

 My hot mamma! What a fox

 Lauren and Zoey on One Fish Two Fish

 Nap time in the middle of the day

 We got Zoey a minion from the Despicable me ride and she loves him! She walks around saying "oh boy" trying to sound like "papoy" (how the minions talk)

 Family pic in front of the Universal Earth

Mom and Lauren

Goodbye Hogwarts! Until the Bonan family makes their way to Florida again...

We were leaving Florida the next day (Monday) and I was so excited to sleep in and go to the pool before we headed to the airport. This was not in my cards. Jed woke me up about 1:30am claiming he was dying so after an hour of listening to him lay on the bathroom floor moaning I decided he was going to the ER. He knew it was a kidney stone so off we went in the middle of the night to find drugs. Luckily Elisse and Spencer were sharing a room with us so Elisse was able to stay with Zoey. We took a 4 minute $20 cab ride to the hospital where they got us into a room fast but then jed sat there for an hour and a half screaming and throwing up from pain before they finally came in to give him some relief. They took a half hour getting the IV in and finally gave him some Delauded. Within seconds he was much better and a couple minutes later he was asleep. They took him to get a CT and found that he had a 7 mm stone. They wanted him to stay and have surgery there but I refused. I sat there for hours while Jed slept. I was SO tired. They finally discharged him at 7:00 and i forced him out of bed to get back to the hotel. He was loaded up with drugs so the walk to the cab and ride back to the hotel was a lot of fun! He got in bed and slept until we had to check out of our hotel at 2:00pm

 Jed giving the thumbs up in the ER.

But wait! This is not where my story ends. While Jed was asleep, I decided I needed to venture to Walgreens to get his prescription before he woke up so we could make it home. Elisse was so nice and decided to go with me. My phone GPS said the nearest walgreens was only a mile away so we decided to walk. It was SO hot outside but it was only a mile so off we went. After some sketchy Jaywalking and almost getting eaten by Alligators (JK) We made it to walgreens... to find that this walgreens had NO PHARMACY! Are you kidding me?!?! No Pharmacy! At this point I am going on 2 hrs of sleep and the day is just getting more and more horrible. So they tell us the nearest pharmacy is a 10 minute walk up the street. I think they meant 10 minute drive. An hour and 2 dress sizes later we FINALLY make it to a walgreens with a pharmacy. If you need a weight loss plan, walk around Florida in the 100% humidity for 2 hours. I felt so bad because Elisse is pregnant and had to be suffering more than me. We decided to go get $1 Cokes before we went into the pharmacy because we were so parched but Florida has $2.50 cokes. We didn't care. We finally got the prescription 30 minutes later and I decided we were talking a cab back to the hotel no matter how much it cost. I put the hotel in my phone and we were 3.5 miles away. I had $10 in my wallet. I watched the meter go up and up praying that it wouldn't go over $10... we pulled into the hotel at $9.90 so i handed him my $10 and ran. Sorry buddy! No tip here!

We got into our swimsuits and took Zoey to the pool. I was so glad we still had time to go. I really wanted her to be able to swim since she has decided she loves it so much.

 Laying out with Grandma

 My sweet girl

 She loved the sand entrance. She also loved playing ring around the rosie.I can't wait until next summer so we can take her swimming again. After swimming we packed up and took another cab to the airport. We got there early so we ate dinner at outback steakhouse and I tried my best to take care of my two children (Zoey and Percocet Jed). We got to our gate and right when we sat down the heavens opened up. It was raining and lightening so hard they shut the airport down. JUST MY LUCK! Our flight was delayed by an hour and a half and I was SO ready to be home and in bed at this point

 Waiting for the airport to open again- Goodbye Florida! We had a blast!

Luckily my mom sat next to me and helped me with Zoey because Jed slept pretty much the whole time. Keeping a busy toddler on your lap for a 4 hour flight is no easy task and I was SO happy when we landed.

At home with her "punzel" and Thing 1 and Thing 2 slippers. It was such a fun trip (minus the last day from Hell) and I can't wait to go back again. You can't ever have enough Disney :) Until 2016 Florida.. we will miss you!

DisneyWorld part 3

 I got most of my family to go on Splash mountain with me- this picture is right before my hat flew off- I thought all was lost, but my dad snatched it out of the air like a true champ! Lauren and I were trying to make a heart with our hands... fail.

 Me and my Pops on Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom- not his favorite ride. He got pretty sick on the backwards part

 My cute (super sweaty/wet from rain) love bug

 Such a ham

 Dinosaur! This is not my favorite ride because I might have a phobia of dinosaurs (yeah yeah, i know they aren't real). As you can see from the pic above, this is not Laurens favorite ride either... lets zoom in...

 Yeah, we are babies. I have yet to keep my eyes open this entire ride. Those T-Rex's are super scary!

 Getting on the Safari. I have done the safari ride many times and this was by far the best one ever! All the animals were so active!

 The Giraffes were right by the path where we drove- I love this picture. Zoey was so enthralled by all the animals

 The coolest thing ever was the Elephants were playing in the mud/water. They were going in and out and spraying each other. i have never seen seen Elephants act like that in person- it was VERY cool

 Later in the day we went to Epcot for Dinner at Tutto Italia in Italy. It started down pouring like usual and Zoey loved stomping in the puddles

 At dinner

 Aunt Lauren taught Zoey how to hang the spoon from her nose

 All tuckered out from a long day of playing

 The only family picture we got with the whole family. My Dad had to leave after only a couple days because he had to get back to work. We missed him a lot and will make sure to plan our next trip so he can stay the whole time.

 The babies in front of the Graumins Chinese Theater at Hollywood Studios

 Playing outside of Le Cellier. Best steak every, but super slow service. Do these people not get that a 1 year old will not sit at a table for 1.5+ hours quietly for dinner?

 Cousins

 Me and Zoey in Canada at Epcot

 Lauren LOVES the UK... Ok, maybe she just LOVES  a certain boy that might currently live in the UK :)

 Whinny the Pooh and Tigger too! Zoey liked the characters as long as we were holding her as you will see in a few pictures

 My mom was super sweet and bought Zoey a Rapunzel Doll since she loves hair so much. She loves playing with her! She gives her kisses all the time

 Going to bed with her new BFF Rapunzel.. Don't worry, we probably spent $30 on milk before I realized they sold half gallon jugs for $2.50! I was so mad! The little single serving ones we were using were $1.75 each.. such a rip off!

 Family pic at the gate to Animal Kingdom

 The fam in front of the tree of life- we were growling like animals... at least some of us were

 Not sure what ride this is... but Lauren sure looks cute! (And of course Zoey) I do not know how she kept her hair down in the sauna heat!

 On the monorail to Magic Kingdom

 Girl pic in front of the castle. We have to do one of these at least once a trip :)

 Our last and final Ride at Magic Kingdom. Zoey LOVES Dumbo- she was so excited and said "wee" the whole ride! It started to rain really hard right after this pic and since there was lightening, they closed down all the outside rides. So we headed off to dinner at the Contemporary Resort

 This picture perfectly illustrates how Zoey did NOT like the characters! We ate at Chef Mickeys Buffet and it was really nice because the main characters all came to your table so you didn't have to wait in line for pictures. Pluto came over to the table while I was getting food and I got back just in time to take this picture. The poor girl was terrified. When goofy came over, she just pretended to ignore him and eat and I could just see her little mind thinking "maybe if I eat my food he will go away!"

 But when I held her, she put on a brave face and said cheese. I sure love her! That night the storm was so scary and it rained so hard that the water was half way up my shins on the way to the bus! So crazy! I am so glad we didn't get tickets to the Mickey's not so scary Halloween party because we were able to go back to the hotel and just relax

 Our last day at Disneyworld, we went back to HollyWood Studios. This is the Organ from Pirates of the Caribbean. We went on a movie ride and you got walk through an area that had a bunch of movie props. It was neat to see how to do action scenes and we also rode a tram to a "flood" area where they showed us how they do a giant flood scene in movies

 On our walk out, we saw this little guy. Zoey was very interested in him. I have the cutest video of Zoey dancing to the Toy Story music. I'll have to figure out how to get it loaded. We weren't able to ride Toy Story Mania! (I still haven't been on that ride!) but after hearing Elisse and Spencer's horror story (they waited in line for 2.5 hours because the ride kept breaking!!!!) I am glad we didn't get in line for it.

Lauren, Army Guy and my mom.

DisneyWorld was a BLAST like always and I can't wait until 2016 when we go back! After Hollywood Studios, we took a cab over to Universal.... to be continued!