Our Time in Texas

We sure know how to pack a lot into a short visit, even with both parents sick with the epizootus (I was already on antibiotics, but I think we picked up a virus at the airport because Mama and I are sick all over again--I didn't have a voice for most of the trip.)

Here's a non-sequential list of what we did:

• boat rides:  I love a boat ride.  Always have, probably always will.  Wind in my hair, kinda bumpy--it's a great time for reflection or day dreaming.  Sis said it's like cantering on a horse; she likes boat rides, too.  She even drove some.  On our second ride, Sis saw churning water and we then saw a dolphin!  Must have been chasing up some fish.  It stayed around us for awhile, curious, surfacing so close to the boat once that it's blow hole squirt splashed my cheek.  Beautiful creature.  I couldn't get a good picture, though--it surfaced very quickly and in unpredictable places.  My back handled these boat rides much better than four years ago.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• driving the golf cart:  Sis and Bud had their first non-MarioKart driving lessons!  And no one was injured.
• fishing:  Bud and Pop went fishing early one morning in the harbor, before anyone else was awake.  They caught some catfish.  On another morning, the whole crew went fishing in the harbor and each kid caught a catfish, with Bud catching the biggest one.
  
  
  
  
• tubing:  Sis was definitely in her element.  She loves going fast and thus loved being pulled behind a motorboat on a huge tube, especially when she flew off into the bay!  Yes, she had on a life vest.  She said the best part was bouncing two feet off the surface of the water.
• sailing:  Sis also went sailing with Gommie in the little Sunfish.  She liked it much better than her sailing lessons at Mystic because it wasn't as windy and rough.  
  
• swimming:  the kiddos took to the warm, muddy water right away, even though both were stung by little jellies.  They especially liked jumping off the pier into the water.  I went into the water myself, never my favorite activity at the bay (I'm irrationally scared of Jaws, though there aren't any threatening sharks there, and I don't like jelly fish), and floated around with the kiddos.  Even with sunscreen,  I got burned a little.
  
• family:  I think Gommie and the kids counted and they met 60 new people, more than half who were relatives--Gommie's siblings, her cousins, my cousins, my second cousins, my second cousins' kids . . . . It's a bit overwhelming, but the kids managed.  Though, Gommie did help by drawing out the family tree. Bud even shook everyone's hand!  Of course, our goal in going to the bay, besides their experiencing Gommie's very favorite place, was spending time with Aunt Banana and kiddos.  It was a bit strange at first for Sis and Bud because they aren't around little kids much at all.  Sis took to them well enough and even Bud did chalk art with Cousin M.  I don't know how much chance they got to talk to their aunt and uncle; it was pretty chaotic and busy the whole weekend.  I'm not sure I got to really visit with them!  I did do some art and juggling with Cousin M and played "slide the baby off the roof" of the dollhouse with Cousin B.  And I had some nice chats with my Aunt T, Aunt A, and Aunt J.  It was good to be together.  
• fireworks:  My cousins put on a lovely fireworks show off their pier one night.  Bud and I walked down to see it close up.  I really liked the ones that explode into a giant array and then the "spray" explodes into smaller arrays.  There were also some very striking red and white fireworks.  And you could see other displays all around the bay.  Unfortunately, some of those fireworks, on another night, caught the back fields on fire.  I was already back at the hotel with Mama, but Pop, who'd driven me to the hotel, couldn't get back to the bay house because the road was closed.   Everyone was safe--there were a dozen water tanker trucks between them and the blaze, which the fire departments amazingly put out very quickly, not before it burned a few acres.  But it could've reached the boat houses and all those boats with 100-gallon gas tanks.  The kids called me in the middle and weren't scared, just wanted reassurance.  I knew they were safe with Gommie and Aunt Banana.  Still, scary and impressive.
• Mikeska's:  Nothing like eating ribs and chopped beef sandwiches surrounded by taxidermied dead animals!  But I love their banana pudding and sweet tea.
  
• Prasek's:  KOLACHES!  Fruit, sweet cheese, or sausage-filled pastries.  Best kolaches in the world.  And really good Tex Mex chocolate sheet cake, too.  The Prasek family's bay house is right next to ours and we had told one of the grandchildren how much we loved their kolaches.  Lo, and behold! Mr Mike had someone deliver 3+ dozen more kolaches to us!!!  Love that Texas hospitality.
• Buc-ee's:  Oh, you know how I love Buc-ee's.  It's like the Texas version of the Vermont Country Store--food, souvenirs, homey, except Buc-ee's isn't quite as upscale.  But they have iced tea!  And I met a new food--the Frito Burrito!  Yep, that's right--a tortilla filled with chili, cheese, onions, refried beans, and FRITOS!!!!!!  We like their plain bean-and-cheeses and also breakfast burritos, too.  And I got a bluebonnet pillow.  I knew I wanted my Texas souvenir to have bluebonnets on it and I found the perfect throw pillow at Buc-ee's.
• Whataburger:  Not "waterburgers," even if we pronounce it like that.  Mama spent two days asleep at the hotel where we were staying as "overflow" (Gommie and Pop's house isn't big enough to comfortably fit three families.)  I took her Whataburger a few times, once with the kids.  I love the chicken bites and creamy gravy with Texas toast (which is just thick white bread.)  And of course, iced tea!  Sis liked them, too.  Just seeing the orange-and-white stripes makes me smile (I remember the steak fingers of my childhood, but they don't have those anymore.  Or was that Dairy Queen?)
• Food:  In addition to all of the food at restaurants, we also ate back at the bay house.  Mama and Aunt Banana had coordinated meals so we each took different nights.  We made Cowboy Supper but added cubed chicken breasts to the usual sausage; she made these great pulled pork tacos.  She also had this yummy Greek pasta salad.  Gommie brought French Dip sandwiches for the first night.
• Palacios:  I had wanted to visit the town where my great-grandmother had lived and so Gommie, Mama, our twins, Aunt Banana, and Cousin M and I drove over one afternoon.  We had a good lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant (noodles with grilled chicken and egg rolls, shrimp and veg with noodles, somethink like a bird's nest with fried noodles, spring rolls, Vietnamese iced coffee (like Thai iced coffee, with sweetened condensed milk), and this great banana pudding.   Then we drove around to all the sights:  grandmother's house where Aunt Banana and I would spend the weekend (separately) across from the hospital, her real estate office which is still a real estate office, the restaurant Pederson's where we always went for Sunday brunch but which is now a bookstore (still has the bar and mural, though), the Texas Baptist Encampment, the shrimp boats, the piers where there used to be a pavilion for dancing, abandonned Camp Hulen which held 10,000 WWII soldiers in pup tents and where my great-grandmother was a typist and met my great-grandfather, and the old Luther Hotel, with the same screen door I remember passing through four decades ago.  It's a grande ol' dame of a hotel but has seen better days.  We saw a little white kitten there with one blue and one green eye (so probably deaf), covered in fleas but cute.  Pop almost got a new cat!  Aunt Sis and I remembered the vanilla wafers Grandma Mildred kept in the refrigerator, with their delicate and crispy brown edges, the burger place we often ate, and the shops she would take us to.  
  
  
  
  
• pina coladas:  this is one of the popular drinks down at the bay and both kids learned how to make them!  Sis was sure to make a "virgin" pitcher for herself.  Directions, as far as they recall:  1 cup Coco Lopez, 1 cup pineapple juice, blend it with 2 cups of ice and 3 oz of rum (they don't remember.)  When I was a child, I would make bourbon and cokes for my uncle.
• games, including Mexican train and "hand and foot" canasta:  The bay is full of game players and both kiddos got to play.  They learned a domino game called Mexican train and a card game called "hand and foot."  And both of them won.  I was really pleased to hear that they were good winners, shaking hands and thanking others for a good game.  I was even more pleased that I didn't have to play!
• walking on the pier at night:  We went out our last night there, just for the experience of it.  I always feel like I'm walking above clouds on the pier at night.  
• bird sightings:  This part of Texas is a birdwatcher's paradise.  I wasn't trying too hard but did notice many species I don't often see in CT, including the brown pelican, laughing gull, cattle egret, some kind of heron, snowy egret, mockingbird, Mexican eagle/caracara, gray hawk, white-winged dove, purple martins, and even baby buzzards.  I spotted my first caracara squaring off with a buzzard over some road kill.  They flew away as I drove off and the buzzard got back first.  As for the pelicans, I'm still amazed to see them everywhere; they weren't many of them at the bay when I was a child.  Now, they fly the coast every morning and evening; it's awe-inspiring.  And they really do look like dinosaurs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• hammock time:  Mama liked the hammock under the porch, as does Pop.
  
  
  
• chalk art:  Cousin M and Bud did a great big chalk mural under the house on the concrete.
  
• water balloon fight:  The cousins also had fun doing a water balloon fight.
• birthday parties:  There was a big train birthday party for my 3-year-old nephew (I added the train tracks to the cake!)--it was funny to see him smear cake on his face!--and a pinata for our 12-year-olds.  It took awhile to smash the pinata so by the end they were not even using a blindfold; several of the cousins helped out.
• the land:  I forget how flat it is in our part of Texas.  So flat, with views so far in the distance.  We passed huge cotton fields, corn, maize, but not as much rice as when I was a child.  There are old abandonned farm houses in some places, lots of cows, some windmills, lots of barbed wire fencing, silos in the distance, small towns of 200 people with all the businesses on main street closed, and Sis counted at least 277 horses!  It's not bluebonnet or Indian paintbrush season, but I did enjoy seeing some flowers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• mosquitos, high humidity, and Trump supporters:  Let's just say the bay would be a nicer place without any of these (let me revise that last one:  it was hard to believe that all my extended family (not my immediate family, i.e. parents, sister, BIL), who love us, also voted for HIM.  I'll keep the family, just dump #45.)

The only thing I didn't get to do while at the bay was honor the memory of my aunt and uncle and cousin in any way.  This was my first trip back since they'd all died and I had hoped to get a chance for some kind of quiet observance.  But I never quite figured out what that would be and there didn't seem to be a good time, with Mama and I both not feeling well.  Next time, perhaps.

Whew.  I'm tired just writing about it.  Good thing it's summer and there's not much I have to do right now.  Except laundry!

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Giada De Laurentiis's Pulled Pork Tacos

                        2 teaspoons ground cumin

                        1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 

                        2 teaspoons salt 

                        1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 

                        2 pounds pork shoulder roast 

                        2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

                        1 onion, chopped 

                        3 cloves garlic, smashed 

                        1 chipotle in adobo plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce

                        1/2 cup beer

                        1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest (1/2 orange) 

Garnishes:  lime wedges, cheese, avocado, etc.

For the pulled pork: In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, coriander, salt and oregano. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork roast.

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork roast and brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, in a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker, combine the onion, garlic, chipotle and adobo sauce, beer, and orange zest. Add the browned roast along with any pan juices. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours.

When the pork is cooked and fork tender, shred it using two forks. Add the shredded meat back to the slow cooker and toss with the onions and cooking juices. Keep warm in the slow cooker for people to help themselves and assemble the tacos with all the garnishes.

Aunt Banana's Greek Pasta Salad

bow tie pasta

cooked chicken, cubed

kalamata olives

cucumber 

tomato (optional)

bell peppers? (I can't recall)
**I saw a recipe on myrecipes.com that includes 3 cups baby spinach

red onion

feta cheese

Greek salad dressing

Cook pasta al dente then toss with vegetables and chicken and coat with Greek salad dressing.

Aunt Banana

Milk-Can "Cowboy" Supper, Bay Version
adapted from Cook's Country

2 lbs. kielbasa, cut into big chunks about 1 1/2-2" long 

4 chicken breasts, cubed12 red potatoes, washed but unpeeled
1 small cabbage, cut into wedges and unstacked
1 1/2 cups baby carrots (oops, forgot to put this in)

1 red pepper, chunks

1 onion, cut into wedges
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
7 ears of corn, halved
4 cups chicken broth

1/2 can beer

salt and pepper to taste

Brown the kielbasa and chicken until browned all over (about 6-8 minutes on medium high.)  Remove from pot. Layer ingredients in pot in this order, bottom to top:  red potatoes, cabbage wedges (unstacked and all spread out flat), baby carrots, onion, garlic, and corn.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper; add bay leaves and thyme.  Distribute kielbasa on top and pour in chicken broth.  Bring to boil, cover, and simmer approximately 15-20 minutes.  Add green bell pepper on top and cook 15-20 minutes more until potatoes are tender (use long skewer to test doneness.)  Remove to serving platter.  Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day!

We're in our living room watching "A Capitol Fourth" with Sutton Foster, Christopher Jackson (of Hamilton), and others, and will later flip back and forth with the Macy's fireworks on NBC--our traditional July 4th activities!

We're not much for celebrating (being too cynical for most jingoistic patriotism--especially this election year!--and too averse to hot weather to for beaches and barbecue), but this year saw us do more than usual.  On Saturday, we attended a wonderful lakeside picnic at the summer home of one of Bud's kung fu buddies.  There was a lot of tasty food--pasta salad, baked ziti, roasted corn, my Tex-Mex chocolate sheet cake, lasagna, various catered Indian curries and dishes, a fresh fruit salad (complete with cored and halved cherries!), this great couscous salad with pine nuts and dried fruits (I hope to get this recipe later), etc etc etc--and we all had our fill.

I talked with various other guests--two women owned horses and compared notes with Sis, one couple had a new 10-week-old baby, others went to a private school that Mama and I have our eyes on, one dad had left our kung fu school a couple of years ago and had stories to tell.  A nice group.

Best of all, the kids got to hang out with some of the older kids (from 14-18 years old.)  They went swimming in the lake together, playing on the standing paddle boards and the water trampoline.  The kids were like fish!  And, while there were life jackets to be had, they didn't need them.  Mama and I sat on the dock in the shade watching them, the ducks (Mr. and Mrs. Mallard), the Canada geese, the Red-Shouldered hawk screeching overhead most of the day, the various birds flitting back and forth, and the sun glinting off of the green water while the trees swayed in the light breeze.  It was a beautiful day.  Later, the kids made music together inside, each showing off various piano pieces and singing karaoke together.  Then they hung out upstairs, exploring the nooks and crannies of the old house.

After the party, we stopped for ice cream at our favorite local place.  The lines were long, but it was worth the wait.  Black raspberry.  Coffee.  Cherry Vanilla.  Toasted Almond.  A chocolate milkshake. Mmmmmmm!

Then we went to play putt-putt!  It was a lovely little course surrounded by shrubs and a stream.  It wasn't kitschy, just some good old fun.  We were pretty wiped after that, grabbing some burgers on the way home that night.

On Sunday, Mama and the kids went to NYC for dim sum with the grandparents, while I went to lunch to celebrate the birthday of Mama Teacher.  Then, we spent the evening together watching "The Great British Bake-off."

Today, we celebrated Mama's birthday belatedly by going to see Finding Dory at the fancy theater with the reserved and big reclining seats.  It was a cute film--especially those otters and the two whales.

Which brings us full circle to the 4th of July tv shows right now, while real fireworks are going off in yards around town.

Happy Independence Day!

And may we continue to be the land of the free . . . . with freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.


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And so we finished more of our list in one weekend:

1. Putt-putt golf
2. Celebrate 4th of July--we've been invited to a picnic.
3. Celebrate Mama's birthday--we're doing it this coming weekend!

And let's add to the movie list 

    4.  See Finding Dory

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From “ Field of Greens” cookbook:

Couscous Salad with Apricots, Pine Nuts and Ginger

1 cup instant couscous

1/2 cup water

1 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tablespoon vinegar (I usually use some kind of fruity vinegar, but basically anything works)

8 dried apricots thinly sliced

2 tablespoons dried raisin, cherries, currents, cranberries (whatever you have around)

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Salt

1/2 cup finely diced red onion

2 Tablespoon pine nuts

Pour couscous into small mixing bowl.  Mix water, orange juice, olive oil and vinegar in saucepan and bring to boil.  Stir in dried fruit, ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; immediately pour over couscous and then cover bowl and let sit for 20 minutes.

Bring small pt of water to boil and drop in red onion for 15 seconds.  Drain.

When couscous is ready, fluff it with fork and then add pine nuts and onion.

It's Not Everyday Your Young Man and Woman Turn 11!

What a wonderful birthday trip we had!

So much fun, in fact, that we can barely move today.  Between walking up to 22,000 steps a day (that's 10 miles!!!!) in 90+F heat (over 100F heat index some days) and then not getting home until after 1 a.m. last night, we're just beat.  So we're watching the Harry Potter films in order and giving our poor, neglected cats some love.

Instead of writing about this trip in strictly chronological order, I'm breaking it down by themes.  

The Beginning

On the morning of the last day of school, the kiddos awoke to Snowy Owls in their rooms delivering Hogwarts letters, complete on parchment-esque paper.  They had been selected to attend an American Hogwarts program at Universal Studios in Florida for five days!!  Okay, yes, we made all that up, but they were thrilled to be going to Hogwarts for their 11th birthdays.  It's not everyday your young man and woman turn 11!  After school, we hastily packed and even got some sleep.  Mama and I were just amazed we had pulled the secret off.  We had slipped a few times--when Mama left the Universal Studios maps on the couch where Bud sat, when I mentioned needing something for a plane.  But they had no clue.  Woo-hoo!!

It was a very early morning--Mama and I were up by 4 a.m.  When I woke Sis up with "You're a wizard, Sis!" she replied sleepily and sweetly, "I'm a wizard, Harry!!!"  Amazingly, we were in Orlando before noon.  It was bittersweet to be heading to Orlando so soon after the massacre.  JetBlue flight attendants mentioned that there were family members of the deceased on board; they gave their condolences over the PA twice.  We saw other signs of support of the victims of Pulse--silver ribbons, rainbow stickers, headlines daily on the Orlando paper, a rainbow fountain, more LGBT pride shirts that you see on average.  It was sobering to find out that one of the ride attendants at the Wizarding World had died in the massacre.  No doubt had it been otherwise, we would have crossed paths with him.  It was surreal to be there with his friends and coworkers who carried on with smiling faces despite their loss.

Our view

We were staying at the Royal Pacific Hotel, the Universal version of the Polynesian (where we stayed at Disney World three years ago.)  It was an odd mixture of Southeast Asia (the Buddhas, the elephants, the dancer statues) and Oceanic cultures (leis, luaus, island resort decor.)  But, you just have to let your critical and analytical and liberal sides slide; otherwise, you'd worry about environmental costs, cultural appropriation, feminism, materialism, etc the whole time.  We ate lunch at Jake's American in the resort (see Food below) and checked into our room on the seventh floor.  It had a lovely view of the lush grounds (with a water feature, HUGE palm trees, bright orchids, and the sweet smell of jasmine flowers all around), with some of the park visible, though not Hogwarts.  I stared out that window quite a lot over the trip, especially when a thunderstorm moved across us.  I love a good storm, as you know--Connecticut rarely has them and still never like Texas or Florida or Louisiana.  I miss the scent of rain, the dark purple-gray skies, the ear-splitting thunder, lighting flashes, and sheets of big drops creating temporary eddies; I always get a funny drop in my stomach, like being on a rollercoaster or the like.  When a storm hit a few days into our trip, Mama and I actually went outside to sit in a covered walkway and watch.  It was even quite windy.  It was like the cherry on the whipped cream of the trip for me.  The hotel had nice touches--fruit-infused chilled water in the afternoon (strawberry lemonade, peach, lemon-lime, etc), leis upon arrival, also back scratchers, a nice little shop with iced tea and Ben & Jerry's ice cream.  Oh, and Zentangle patterns everywhere--on the floors, wallpapers, upholstery.  We would stay again (even though the water was extremely soft and we ended up having to double rinse all the time!)

Okay, back to the parks.  We went straight to the new HP park, Diagon Alley, which is in Universal Studios.  We got confused constantly between the two parks--Universal and Universal Islands of Adventure--and sometimes even forgot what was in Diagon Alley and what was in Hogsmeade.  So, if I confuse them, please forgive me.  It really should just be the Harry Potter park and everything else!

To get to the park, we took the water taxi all but once (when we took a pedi-cab/rickshaw.  Mercy, that cyclist could pedal--and she talked the whole time, too!!)  Mama and I couldn't help but wonder about alligators, even in this obviously dyed and human-made lake.  The staff said there weren't any gators; I'm sure the WDW staff had said the same thing.  What a tragedy the death of the toddler was!  So unexpected.  Just three years ago, our kids played on a beach at the same lagoon, though in a different part, several times.  Not even in the water.  And even though I know about gators, I never gave them any thought.  It's just such a freak accident.  But so awful.  This time, we didn't go near any beach or water's edge.  But I liked the boat ride, though not quite as fast as Pop's Grady White.  Pop, that's always a retirement option:  you could captain water taxis in Orlando!  I know you could "kiss the dock" quite as well as these guys.

One other thing:  the birthday buttons!  Sis and Button wore special big buttons announcing their 11th birthdays and Mama had one two, without her age, which they wore everyday as part of their birthday vacation.  Most of the staff and even some of the other tourists gave them birthday wishes.  They even got free cupcakes.  There was one belly dancer who kept calling loudly to them all in a funny voice. Sis and Bud were relatively shy about the extra attention; Mama eventually took hers off!  

What can I say about the heat?  Oh, I hate heat.  We wore loads of sunscreen and hats (most of us most of the time)--no one got a single sunburn!  I think that's quite an accomplishment, though we did  spend most of the mid-afternoon inside, from about 2-5 ish.  (The kids either played Nanograms or watched Food Network kids' competitions like Kids Baking Championship, Kids BBQ Championship, and also Chopped.  So much commercial tv that, once when I groaned about being stiff, Bud joked, "Will her legs work?  We'll find out after the break!!")  It was high 80s, low 90s with high humidity the whole time.  Very HIGH UV most of the time.  Ugh.  It was so hot that Mama wore shorts!  Let that sink in.  Even the kids have never seen her legs.  I know, I know, I'm a Texan and I should be able to manage, but a).  I left Texas 23 years ago and b). we weren't usually outside all day long.  And definitely not walking 22,000 steps a day--that's almost 10 miles on our highest day.  I had to handwash my back brace in the sink every night because it was just gross; and body gel isn't really laundry soap.  Ugh.  Thankfully, the whole place is beautifully air-conditioned; otherwise, it really is unbearable for me.

Diagon Alley

You enter this part of the Wizarding World through a mini-London, with a King's Cross Station (that leads to the Hogwarts Express), various London-esque buildings, the closed Leicester Place tube station, Grimmauld Place (where Sirius Black lived), past the Night Bus, past the Ministry of Magic phone box where you can dial "M-A-G-I-C" and hear a special recording (we had to teach Sis and Bud how to work a rotary phone!!!!), and then through a brick wall complete with the sound of grinding bricks, just like in the first movie.  

It's so cliche, but it's all so magical!  A view of the main street complete with a dragon on top of Gringotts Bank greets you.  And it looks just like the movies, but wider and with Muggle tourists instead of witches and wizards in robes (though, even in this heat, there were people in robes.)  Where to go first?  Actually, we stood there and watched the dragon, who growled loudly a few times before releasing a burst of fire.  You can feel the heat halfway down the street.  It happens about every 15 minutes and I caught photos of it from different angles each time.  Amazing.  

I think we went to Ollivander's for our wands first (after buying our first frozen Butterbeers!!!!  MMMmmmmmm, so good.  I think we had at least one a day.)  Mama stayed outside with the drinks (a mistake) and I took the kids in, hoping they would both be chosen.  I smiled at the wizard as he entered the wand room and . . . I was chosen!!!  "The wand chooses the wizard!"  It's just like the scene in the first movie.  The first wand I tried blew things up, the second caused lightning.  With the third--made of Ash with a unicorn core, which indicates caring and healing--a triumph played and I was lit from above.  I was thrilled, really, though I know it's all a marketing ploy (see suspending disbelief, above.)  But I bought it.  And the kids each got one as well.  They were so excited for me and about the wands.  Mama got one, too.  It's one of the extra features of the park because there are places throughout the Wizarding World where you can wave your interactive wand in a certain way and make displays work--float a feather (Bud's favorite), tip a cauldron of Cornish pixies, armor standing up, open a beautiful book, throw a shoot of water at someone, illuminating invisible ink, blow hissing air, set off a stinky plant, make an umbrella rain around you, turn on the numerous lights in a lighting window (my favorite!), a couple of dozen in all.  It was Bud's favorite part; he even found some of the hidden spells which were not on the map included with the wands.  At one point, my wand quit working and a very nice witch named Elizabeth helped me set it to rights; I actually had to have it fixed (all part of the service!)  And then I could work the lumos charm on the lights again.

Features of Diagon Alley

• Ollivander's:  see above about interactive wands.
• Honeydukes:  a sweet sweets shop, where we got sherbet lemons, pineapple marshmallows, Butterbeer fudge.  Delightful!!
• Florian Fortescue's:  this ice cream was amazing!!!  The floral Earl Grey with Lavender was really special.  Clotted Cream ice cream was a thicker version of Froyo's original tart flavor.  But it melted very fast in the heat.
• Weasley's Joke Shop:  Bud got lots of hilariously-named treats inspired by the film, like fainting fudge.  I detected the rose scent all around, which was from the love potion (rosewater and honey, yum.)  
• Menagerie:  where you adopt critters.  Sis got a Crookshanks, which she carried everywhere and petted with great joy.  Mama got one too.  I have a small Barn Owl.  
• The Arcade:  in the British sense, a covered urban walkway with shopping.  This is where all of the performances were.
• Celestina Warbeck:  a magical jazz singer with her back up troop.
• Three Princesses and Three Brothers puppet shows:  two highly-artistic shows based on the Beadle the Bard stories.  I loved the gorgeous puppets and the way they utilized simple props as settings for the fountain or hiding death
• Gringotts money exchange:  you can talk to a realistic, interactive Goblin and exchange dollars for galleons, etc.  I asked him about the dragon and he shut me down!
• Gringotts bank escape ride:  I could walk through this ride without going on it, seeing the main room with the chandeliers and goblins, some of the vaults.  Such attention to detail!  Sis and I didn't ride.  Apparently it was quite intense, with a dragon chasing you. 
• Shutterbutton's Photos:  After donning robes, we had our photos taken for a moving-picture scrapbook with different scenes of us at Hogwarts, Honeydukes, etc.
• Knockturn Alley:  ah, the dark, cold realm of the Death Eaters.  A great place to escape the heat.  But it wasn't scary; the park goes out of its way to avoid Voldemort, the Death Eaters, the Dementors, and the Dark Mark, except in a few select places.  The mirage of the night sky above was great.  And there was the nice detail of the Phoenix ad that appeared and then burned up.

Hogwarts Express

You can ride the Hogwarts Express train from London to Hogsmeade and back again, with the experience differing each way.  Just like in the books and movies, bad things happen on the way to school--in this case, some dementors.  I like the more idyllic ride back, with Hagrid waving goodbye, the buccolic countryside, Fred and George zipping about setting off fireworks, centaurs through the forest, and the Night Bus snaking through the streets.  The views of London outside King's Cross are spot on.  There is a sighting of Malfoy Manor and Voldemort with lightning (who then becomes a tree--a trick of the eye, blink and you'd miss it.)  Both have gorgeous views of Hogwarts castle.  (Though, the voice double for Emma Watson is not convincing at all.)  The train itself is a convincing replica (the prints in the car were exactly the same as the movie!) and the stations are perfect.  I really enjoyed the gentle, air-conditioned ride.  On one trip, we sat with some British tourists and compared notes between the Warner Brother Studios outside London and Universal--they preferred the theme park because it was immersive.  It just made me want to go back to England and see the places they filmed the movies, like the cloister walk (in Lincoln, was it?) and such.

Hogsmeade

We had been to this part of the park before, three years ago when we popped over from Disney just to see the Wizarding World.  They've changed a few things--we didn't see Hagrid's Hut hidden away this time, Honeydukes expanded and took over the joke shop, and some of the features were missing from the Three Broomsticks (like the shadow of a house elf)--we didn't notice the Owl Hoot-Hoot clock last time--but it's still fabulous.  

My favorite part, then and now, is Hogwarts Castle.  I love looking at it and imagining its real.  I know there are all manner of tricks of proportion and size relationships (a raven landed on a spire and almost looked as big as a hippogriff!), but it is rather convincing, especially at twilight as the lights come on.  I enjoyed taking pictures of it at all times of day from different angles.  Mama and I did walk through the interactive queue twice, while the kids were riding.  It's amazing.  You see the grand staircase with its talking frames, Griffyndor Common Room, Dumbledore's office, Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Herbology greenhouses, and little details like the statue of the founder of Hogwarts, a tapestry with a map of the classroom, the tunnels of the Basilisk, etc etc etc.  It's like being on the actual sets or in the movies themselves.  Mama and I walked through it very slowly, letting people pass us by, admiring all the detailing; what a great date night!

Mama loves the snowman with the snow owl.  We agreed that, in the heat, all the fake winter details were mocking us, though.

There was only one negative experience the whole time (especially because the two others were near misses--when Mama left her iPhone behind on the Minions ride and Bud left his wand on the water taxi; both were recovered.)  We let the kids do a lot of wandering in specific areas by themselves, meeting back with us at a specific place.  (This was a huge step, especially for Mama, but a very important one.)  But one time we got our wires crossed.  In the crowds, we missed each other.  Luckily, we had a plan all worked out if we got separated.  If any of us missed a designated meet up, we would gather at the emergency locale--in Hogsmeade it was the Owlery; in Diagon, it was in the Arcade near the stage--and if no one came, we would talk to staff.  Well, one night, in the dark, the kids made it to the exit of the Forbidden Journey ride before we did and thought we'd left so they made their way to the Owlery.  There, they set off their "tile" which was keyed to Mama's cell phone . . . except we didn't hear it.  Within about 5 minutes when we didn't show, they alerted a staff member.  I showed up right about then, as they were talking to a nice witch, and could see the panic in their faces.  They were so scared.  For my part, I was proud of them.  They followed the plan and did what they were supposed to.  And I actually think being lost or left behind and "fixing it" is a very important experience; I'm kinda surprised it took a decade for them to feel truly left behind anywhere.  I wasn't nervous, though, because I knew they were together and that the parks are really very safe.  But it took them a long time to calm down.  Ice cream helped!

• Hogwarts Frog Chorus--I loved watching these "students" perform, complete with rumbling bullfrogs!  We sang "Double Trouble Boil and Bubble" with frog sounds throughout the park.  Just made me smile.  We had our picture taken with them.
• Tri-Wizard Rally--the Durmstrang men performed a superficial approximation of some of Bud's kung fu moves (maybe he can have a college job here), while the women of Beaubaton danced with ribbons.  This was entertaining and we had our picture taken with them, too.
• Forbidden Journey ride--this was the kids' favorite part of the whole trip.  Each night when the lines were very short, they rode this several times by themselves.  Total count:  18 times!  We got a great photo of them on it, with Bud making a funny face.  They loved the feeling of whisking through the air on broomsticks.  
• Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom!!!

The Rest of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

We did have to walk through the other parts of the park to get to the Wizarding World.  And we actually liked some of it, but HP was by far the best part.

• Simpsons world:  the kids LOVED eating here at Krusty Burger!  Sis loved the fried chicken, which was pretty good with its cornflake crust.  Bud had a Krusty Burger; Mama liked the ribwich.  Nobody liked the average cupcakes.  But the specialty drinks were fun, especially the Flaming Moe, which smokes because of the dry ice.  Funniest of all were the HUGE pink doughnuts from Lard Lad.  We're not big doughnut heads, but these were hilarious and pretty tasty; we didn't get to try the sundae, though.  The kids rode one of the rides and thought it was okay.  They played some Arcade games, too.  Sis won a doughnut, Mama a "Santa's Little Helper" dog, and Bud got a dog (which he traded for a cute blue penguin Mama won later in a family challenge water pistol game.)  We also posed for a photo with Marge and Bart.
• Minions ride:  I could ride this one!  With my sensitive back and weak core, I don't go on any but the gentlest of rides, which precludes most of the fun ones.  Luckily, I could walk through the interactive queues of the two main Hogwarts rides without riding.  And the Minions ride had a special non-shaking spot!!!  This was perfect.  Thank you, Universal!  It was such a funny 3-D ride that I laughed (and got a bit dizzy even) just from watching the screen.  I looked back at the kids a few times and they were bouncing around and squealing.  Such fun.  At some point, the kids posed for a photo with a couple of Minions.  There were unicorns from Despicable Me all over the park and on the first night I grabbed one and yelled the tagline, "It's so fluffy!!!!"  Later, Sis bought one and surprised me with it.
• MIB, Spiderman--two more rides the kids took.  They liked shooting the aliens in MIB.  Mama had the highest score of the trio, with 200,000 points!
• Marvel Superheroes (from the comics, not the movies)--I bought some Captain America comic book stuff for our favorite deli lady who loves all things Marvel
• Jurassic Park:  We eschewed the water rides, but the kids did ride the gentle high-flying gondola of Pteranodon Flyer.  
• Talking Fountain--this was just annoying.  While we were getting henna (more below), the fountain was talking to a birthday boy who loved Minecraft and sushi . . . and it wasn't Bud!  
• Henna:  Sis and I wanted to do henna.  She chose a simple flower design and I chose a more elaborate free form design, which eventually had flowers and paisley.  The woman worked with these Nirja henna cones so quickly and intricately!  I was amazed and inspired.  We chatted about the history of henna, with its origins as a cooling tool in the heat of Africa.  I told her about the henna program I oversaw at the academic art museum and we agreed that lemon juice does darken the color (I poured lemonade on my arm later and it did the trick!)  She said to put vaseline or coconut oil on the design before going in the pool.  Sis picked her clumpy henna off as soon as it dried and wanted to do it at her birthday.  Mine stayed on longer, but I let them pick off the clumps later in the day.  We both love the look and it was fun to do together.  
  
• Seuss land--it's like Egypt at the Met.  You always seem to walk through it.
• Animal Actors show:  this was particularly for Sis.  They asked for volunteers and she raised her hand--but when they mentioned dog lovers, she put her hand back down!!!  There were trained pigeons, pigs, a variety of dogs, a parrot, otters, a porcupine, a skunk, a bird of prey (they never said what, but it looked like a falcon of some kind), even several cats!  Maybe she can be a Hollywood animal vet!
• Optimus Prime:  the line was always too long, but Bud did pose for a picture with the statue on the roof.

Food

We had several wonderful meals, in restaurants in our resort and in the parks.  We do love to eat out and try new things; it was a major part of our trip.  

Emeril's Tchoup Chop--we ate here twice, once for dinner and once for lunch.  We liked the lily pad fountain and loved the food.  It was some of the best we ate all trip and is probably in our top ten ever.

• chicken egg rolls with orange dipping sauce
• Big Kahuna drink with orange juice, pineapple, and almond syrup with a splash of gingerale
• Hawaiian Watermelon "mocktail" with watermelon syrup and some Sprite
• char-grilled beef "bulgogi" skewers
• Robata char-grilled pork belly
• Bud's rainbow with various sushi fish (ahi tuna, salmon, unagi, etc) roll in chili ginger sauce
• yummy stir fried udon in garlic hoisin sauce
• Sis and my favorite "KFC"-inspired Korean Fried Chicken, sweet and crispy
• chicken Tchoup Chop salad with fried wontons, oranges, sesame seeds, in sesame soy dressing
• Chirashi, salmon over rice with unagi glaze and spicy mayo
• smoked pork ribs, also Sis's favorite
• delicious Pancit Bihon noodles with lime 
• fried rice

The Cowfish  This North Carolina-based restaurant features both beef and sushi, combining Southern and Japanese food.  It was a tie for our favorite place to eat.

• fried pickles
• parmesan truffle fries with bacon
• "Cheeseburgushi," ground beef and cheese wrapped in bacon and rolled into string potatoes and fried
• Pulled pork handroll, with pulled pork and barbecue sauce wrapped in potatoes and deep fried, with bacon coleslaw
• the OMG roll with coconut shrimp
• filet and lobster roll!
• Lemon Yuzu Meringue

The "Leaky Broomsticks" aka both HP restaurants, the Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks--these two HP restaurants have wonderful movie-inspired HP decor and pretty good food for an amusement park.  We ate breakfast here twice, lunch once, and dinner once (and the kids and Mama grabbed at least one snack.)  

• traditional English breakfast, with eggs, beans, tomato, blood pudding, mushrooms, bacon, and a croissant, 
• mushroom leek tart
• traditional American breakfast, with eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, and croissant
• pancakes
• apple oatmeal "flan"
• toad in the hole (egg in Yorkshire pudding)
• Cornish pasties
• Cottage pie
• Scotch eggs
• fish and chips
• turkey leg
• Butter beer
• Pumpkin juice and pumpkin fizz
• "Fishy green ale" with black beads
• Butter beer potted cream

Other HP treats

• BUTTERBEER!!!!  regular and frozen with cream tops
• Butterbeer ice cream
• Butterbeer fudge
• Earl Grey and Lavender ice cream
• Clotted cream ice cream
• Chocolate and raspberry ice cream
• Sherbet lemon candy
• Fever fudge candy
• Jelly Slugs
• Chocolate frogs
• Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean
• Pineapple marshmallows
• Fainting Fancies chews
• Love potion, aka rosewater with honey

Other Treats in Simpsons World

• Krusty burger
• Ribwich
• Double batter fried chicken with fries
• Flaming Moe drink with dry ice
• Giant Lard Lad Donut
• free cupcakes for birthday kids and Mama!
• Groovy Grove juice, with orange juice, lemonade, and blood orange syrup
• Mr. Teeny, with lemonade, pineapple juice, and blue Curacao syrup
• Mt. Schwartzwelder, an apple juice, apple syrup, lemonade, and tea

Jake's All-American at the Hotel and Other Restaurants

• Tahitian French toast, with orange syrup and bananas
• salmon in the buffet, just for Bud!
• grits
• sausage gravy and biscuits
• lovely sesame ginger dressing in salad
• spinach and artichoke flatbread
• skirt steak flatbread
• charcuterie

But it was hard to get an iced coffee!!

Last Bits

We closed the park each of the four nights, staying until the last fireworks lit up the sky before leaving the HP world.  Sometimes we could barely get our legs to work on the way back. And then, surprising for us, we slept in til almost 9 a.m. every morning!   The last two mornings, I stayed back at the hotel, wanting some downtime and not wanting to ride the bouncy rides.  So while Mama took the kids through MIB, Spiderman, and Simpsons again, I sat by the elephant fountain in the central court sipping on an iced coffee (which I had to give instructions on how to make!  Is iced coffee not a thing in Florida?)  I made an Art Rock on one of those mornings and left it in the fountain.  Art Rocks are one of our summer activities--decorate a rock, include a quote, and leave it for someone to discover.  This one had a heart and the "Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love" quote from Lin-Manuel Miranda.  (Other times, Bud and I left Art Rocks near the walkway by the swimming pool.)  

On our last afternoon, following our second delicious meal at Tchoup Chop, we went swimming.  All of us!  It was so restorative and rejuvenating.  I was floating in the cool water, the sun beating down on my front, a cool breeze chilling the wet parts of me, and I kinda bobbed up and down.  Eyes closed, and I was in a different world.  Eyes opened and I saw palm trees and blue skies above.  No cares in the world.  The kids had fun, as did Mama.  And we finished off the day with a sweet, cold virgin Pina Colada.

As for souvenirs, we followed our usual habits.  Mama got several pins, including several HP ones and one Olympics one; I got a few magnets.  Sis had her stuffed Crookshanks.  Bud likes his pink doughnut pillow, a few pins, and a great black cap not unlike the one he wore in the play that he especially liked.  I also got a small model of the Hogwarts castle.

We took lots of pictures (including in front of the spinning Universal globe, which Mama and I had just seen in Sharknado 3 on a date night at home!!) and brought home lots of wonderful memories.  It's taken me three HP movies to write all of this up and we're not tired of it yet.

Happy birthday to our special witch and wizard!