Phillips & Turner Fun Times: Holiday travels 2010, part 1

Almost as soon as the kids' school ended on the last day before winter break, we loaded up the van and headed south. First stop (after a night at a hotel along the way) was to Uncle Greg and Aunt Judy's house in northern Florida, where they were kind enough to take us out on the pontoon boat on a portion of the St. Johns River even though it was 50-some degrees outside and misty.

Pointing out the water birds as we drove past.

Cold but happy

The kids got to squeeze the orange juice for our breakfast, and we had shrimp caught fresh last summer in the St. Johns River for lunch.

Next stop, Orlando and Universal Studios. The kids' "big" present for Christmas was a visit to the park that has the Harry Potter rides (Islands of Adventure). We met Dan's mom and brother at a hotel on site, staying overnight in a Jurassic Park room) and got up WAY too early to walk for 10 minutes in the near-dark to the entrance of the Harry Potter adventure. Reece and Dan got in line for Ollivander's Wand Shop while the rest of us headed to the Forbidden Journey. We were near the front of the line and waiting when we started to hear announcements that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties. Long story short, after half an hour in line and no sign of the ride starting anytime soon, we jumped out of line and headed to the shops in the HP area (technically Hogsmede, the town where Hogwarts is, but it included stores from Diagon Alley, for those who actually know what any of this means). After we'd had enough of that area, we branched out to the rest of the park where we spent the remainder of the day.