Hogwarts

This year Riley turned 11 in May.  She absolutely loves Harry Potter and the only thing she wanted was to go to Hogwarts/Harry Potter World (Universal Studios).   We were able to surprise her - somewhat - with a five day trip with Jeremy and she's waited several months to go. 

The night before her birthday we put together an 'official' letter from Hogwarts to her in a special envelope with a wax Hogwarts seal.  Julia and I created the seal from a kit where you light a small candle and place a metal spoon over it while holding a candle over the spoon.  It melts the candle into the spoon.  When the spoon is full, you pour the wax onto the envelope and press the Hogwarts seal into the wax.  It turned out SO cool.

Julia and I were trying to find her Snowy white owl and asked Riley where it was.  She then knew that she was getting Harry Potter stuff, but was trying to hold back her excitement because she didn't want to be disappointed if she wasn't getting to go on the trip.

The next morning she opened her presents before school and was excited about going on the trip, but didn't have quite the reaction I had expected because she had already thought so much about it that she'd convinced herself that it was really likely.  We had purchased a few Harry Potter items for her birthday and later this summer found a few Potter tshirts/tank tops at Target as well as some hats at Walmart. 

We chose to do the trip in mid-September because the weather would be cooler, the crowds would be practically nothing, and school had started, but wasn't too far into it all.  Jeremy and Riley left on September 11 - 15.  They both came back with lots of stories, tons of excitement about the rides and the experience and the food and had the best time ever. 




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