Vacation #1: Orlando

Confession: our vacation marathon was going to start with Universal Studios on Sunday; however, my friends and husband convinced me to take off the 2nd part of the day on Friday to go on a float trip! (Look at me being spontaneous!!) Jeff, Kelsey, Zach and I headed to the Ichetucknee to sit our butts in an inner tube and float down the crystal clear, freezing river. Florida has such a unique ecosystem that I did not learn about in school. The springs come from the aquifer and flow into this river. It was pretty overcast, so we did not have the sun to warm us up. The water is 70 degrees year-round. Every couple of minutes an enormous white crane would fly over our heads. We saw hundreds of turtles sitting on logs. Every once in a while, a fish would swim under my feet. It was so much fun!

Now on to the actual vacation… Zach and I had a friend over for dinner, and he ending up sleeping over. We went to bed at 2am only to get up 3 hours later to be at Islands of Adventures when the gate opened. We weren’t well-rested, but we were running off of pure adrenaline and coffee. We literally knocked out the entire park in 4 hours. When the gates opened, everyone headed right to Harry Potter World, so Zach and I headed left to the Hulk rollercoaster. No wait for front row! We also walked right on to Spiderman and Fear Fall. Win!
Next, to Hogwarts!

We went on all the Harry Potter rides and were so entertained by the creativity! Seeing the movies is great, and they just brought the life the things from the movies. The village of Hogsmeade is really neat!
Stopped by Olivanders Wand Shop...

Had lunch at The Three Broomsticks...

Frozen Butterbeer... YUMMMM

Like I said- done with Islands of Andventures in 4 hours... on to Universal Studios! The morning had been perfect- no lines and no sunshine! A few dropplets, but they were refreshing! The sun was blazing by the time we got to Universal Studios, but look at what we found:

If you buy your tickets with an American Express credit card, just bring your tickets and reciept or confirmation to the AmEx Lounge. Bottled water, snacks, clean bathrooms, comfy sofas, and air conditioning!!!!!! It was the perfect little break, and we needed it because the night before was starting to catch up with us! The concert didn't start until 9pm!

This is the concert stage, and behind it is the Rip Ride Rockit Roller Coaster! We got in line for this ride, and the thunderstorms started. We ended up being stuck at the ride for a couple of hours before it all passed and they started the ride again. No problem since we were under cover and kept moving up in the line. After we rode the coaster, we went to dinner and headed to the stage to get some prime seating! Zach was so wiped, he laid in the wet grass and took a nap!

He woke up in time to start boxing people out- the place was getting pretty crowded!

Zach has been a Third Eye Blind fan for a long time. He was so excited that we were in the front row!!! The lead singer brought out some glow sticks, and my man caught one for me! Yay!

The week leading up to the concert, I listened to nothing but 3eb to get ready. I love them now, too!

We got home at midnight... it had been such an awesome day! We had a great time! Go big or go home!