Marcie T and Harry P

In anticipation of the big movie, Marcie T is all decked out in her scarf from Gryffindor and wand:)

Springfield,MO

Our first trip to Springfield was so much fun!  We spent from Wed night until Monday late afternoon with Megan, Jeremy and their 4 sweet children!  We were able to spend lots of time playing with them and really getting to know them better.  By the last 2 days even the babies were coming to us!!

Bikes and warm weather:)

Walks and warm weather!

We spent one afternoon at a very fun "farm park"

The twins had a front row seat to all the animals - Emma was a little frightened of the pigs!

We quickly learned that no outing in Springfield is complete without a stop at Andy's custard shop - yum

Silly Grandpa and giggling boys.

One night we sampled our "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans" from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - not sure these pictures capture how much fun we had.

Grass flavored?

Pa and Jeremy shared a bean - it was the "rotten egg" flavor - Jeremy hustled to the sink to rescue his palate!

Unfortunately, Marcie T got the vomit flavored bean - after this one Hyrum was quite insistent that we stop trying the yucky flavored ones and just eat the "good ones"!

Hyrum and Hunter both enjoyed the blueberry and tutti-frutti beans. 

The "yucky" ones that really weren't too bad: black pepper, soap, earthworm and dirt!

Next stop:  Branson, MO

Watching the trains

We had a great time in Branson - shopped lots, watched a water show, and just ran and played.

Miss Emma reading a book - quiet Sunday time.

Thank you so much Shakespear family - we had a wonderful time together!!

Disney's Epcot

We spent the evening after Animal Kingdom and several hours on Saturday at the Epcot Center - what a delightful time that was!  We made a quick stop at Hollywood Studios - time for Marcie, Zac, Andrew and Jackson to take a backlot tour and Scott, Joy and Anne to visit the Tower of Terror.  Epcot has some very fun rides and some great shows and then a huge lake around which several countries are highlighted.  We enjoyed an authentic German meal in Germany about half-way around the lake!

Here we are in front of the most famous landmark at Epcot:



It appears that a few of us got a little too close to "Bruce" from Nemo fame!

Joy and Anne in line for Tower of Terror (at Hollywood Studios)

Zac and kids at Honey I shrunk the Kids at Hollywood Studios

Zac and Joy - our wonderful companions on this vacation.  Thanks again so very much for inviting us:)

Back at Epcot - visiting some old stomping grounds!

Leaving the country of England - was mistaken thinking this was a way back to the Ministry of Magic!

You can tell that we had a marvelous time at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.  It's so very much to see in such a short time but I think we did well to see as much as we could.  We were tired each night but the sun was shining and we had wonderful company.

Disney's Animal Kingdom

On the Friday we were in Orlando we spent the bulk of the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  We had a wonderful time - the weather was in the 80's and quite delightful.  There are 5 basic areas in the kingdom:  Africa, Rafiki's Planet Watch, Asia, Dinoland and Camp Minnie-Mickey.  We headed right for the Kilimanjaro Safari, an expedition in an open-air vehicle through an African-style savannah.  We saw lots of very fun animals and had a great time out in the jungle!

                In the middle of the park was Discovery Island, home of the tree of life. 
                 We hope these next pictures do it justice - it was incredible!

As you can see, the trunk was carved into animal shapes.

Look closely or you'll miss some of the animals!

In Dinoland we saw a Broadway caliber show called "Finding Nemo - The Musical" and also played in a fun place called the Boneyard - built around dinosaur fossils.

We all (except Jackson) rode a very exciting roller coaster in Asia called "Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain".  Good thing we rode it before lunch!

We also enjoyed a wonderful buffet at the Tusker House in Africa.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We spent all of Thursday at Universal Studios and what we termed "Potterville". We had a great time and were very impressed with the castle and the streets of Hogsmeade - very real. We enjoyed lunch at the 3 Brooksticks, complete with Butterbeer and Pumpkin juice. Marcie T stood in line to visit the famous wandmaker, Ollivander, we visited Hagrid's hut and rode a roller coaster named "The Flight of the Hippogriff".

Andrew, Anne and Marcie T pose in front of the Hogwarts Express.

The Hogwarts Conductor got into this picture and any other one he could weasel himself into!

Downtown Hogsmeade!

Ahh, Honeydukes - the sweet store. 

One of the more popular purchases, the chocolate frog. Each package has a "trading card" inside featuring one of the original 4 Founders of Hogwars. 

A glimpse of the Hogwarts castle and then.............. 

in full view.

On our way to the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" ride, we passed through the medicinal garden of Professor Sprout.

We were able to photograph the famous mandrake plant before fully developed.  Stay tuned later for a photo of a fully developed one - screaming at the top of its lungs.

Buckbeak himself "bowed" to us as we started up the first leg of the roller-coaster "Flight of the Hippogriff"

Hagrid's hut.

 

Anne posing with a couple of Hogwart's choir members, with frog accompaniment!!

 

The center of town was a popular stop - for a mug of butterbeer.

Entryway to the "3 Broomsticks" restaurant - we enjoyed shepherds pie, cornish pasties, fish & chips, and a huge turkey leg.  We washed it all down with butterbeer and pumpkin juice!

Finally the mandrake is fully developed and screaming its head off - luckily it's behind a glass window - these plants are made into a mandrake draft, especially good for restoring petrified folks.

In front of Ollivanders wand shop.

You can select from the many varieties of "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean" - complete with flavors such as grass, earwax, sausage, bogie, and vomit!

After drinking so much butterbeer and pumpkin juice, we were glad there were plenty of these:

Marcie T at the crossroads leading to either Hogwarts or Hogsmeade!!



Another view of the castle as we made our way out of the Wizarding World.

Jackson enjoyed playing more with the pumpkin juice container than its contents.

We enjoyed a stop in the land of Dr. Suess where the 3 Turner boys enjoyed a ride together.