Kid Free Vacation

Earlier this year Jennifer was asking if we could go on a trip just the 2 of us. I was hesitant because I didn't know how the kids would do with us away from them and how I would do too! We initially planned a trip out west to coincide with some football games that I would like to see, but I didn't get the right week off from work. So, back to the drawing board on where to go. We tossed around the idea of going out of the country, but we couldn't decide on a destination that we both found interesting yet still have enough time to plan every thing that we wanted to do. So, about a week before our trip we finally settled on heading back down to Florida to visit Universal Studios again. Even though we went there earlier this year we decided that we might be able to fully take in all the stuff if we didn't have two kids attached to us for a few days.

Dinner with our little kiddos before we left on our adventure. I am not sure what they thought was going on, but after dinner at Cracker Barrel we loaded up in our car and Grandma and Grandpa left with the kids. It was the first time that we had ever started out a journey without an actual end destination  for our first day. We weren't sure how far we would make it on the road so we didn't know where to book a hotel. 

I don't know what got into me but I just got in the zone driving and didn't really get tired until about 5 am. We still had some driving to go until we made it to Miami so we just took a little nap in a rest stop before heading back out on the road. We booked a hotel on the drive, so next stop was Hollywood Beach which is right outside Miami.

At the ocean with my beautiful wife. Our hotel was right on the beach. The water was a little cold, but otherwise everything was great!

Some pictures from our beach adventures. Jennifer's iPhone case is waterproof so I took it out to try and get some pictures in the water. I was trying to get one of a wave cresting. We also saw quite a few jellyfish washed up on the beach. I also spotted the Goodyear blimp for the first time ever that I can remember.

Through my sister I have met a lot of great people that work for the NFL. I contacted one of these people who was able to hook us up with some tickets to watch the Miami Dolphins. The seats were great and the Dolphins actually put on quite a show against the Houston Texans. They scored 41 points in just the first half. We had two times when it began to down pour and we had to retreat under the bleachers. It was a really great atmosphere and we were so thankful for the experience.

If you have never had Giordano's stuffed pizza then you are truly missing out on some of the best pizza that I have ever tried. I knew that they had a couple of franchises in the Orlando area from when we were down there earlier this year so we headed out to get some pizza after checking into our hotel.

Our hotel was just about a mile from the gates of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure so the first of our three days at the park we skipped the shuttle and just walked right over to the park. Even though we had just been there in February we wanted to be at the gates when they opened and planned to rush straight back to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter very first.

There was hardly any lines at all so we rode them all a couple of times and then it was time to get Jennifer her first Butterbeer of the trip. She absolutely loves the hot version so that is what she got.

Somehow we either missed this section of the Jurassic Park area or it hadn't been finished when we were there in February, but this was a pretty neat little exhibit. Behind us is a Velociraptor from the movie Jurassic World and they were somewhat tamed by the workers at the park. We had someone film it and we sent it to the kids so they could see it. Grandma told us that Landon was scared that it was going to bite mommy.

We decided that since a couple of the main attractions at Islands of Adventure were closed for repair that we would only spend one day at this park and the other 2 days would be spent at Universal Studios. So, before we ended our day we got one last glass of Butterbeer each and just sat down in Hogsmeade and enjoyed the views of Hogwarts. It the picture with the Hogwarts Express you can see my pair of long socks that I am sporting. I forgot to pack socks in my suitcase and tried to go without them, but my feet were already getting blisters on them so I broke down and bought this pair of Gryiffindor knee high socks. After we left the park we stopped at Wal-Mart to get some much more affordable socks for the rest of the trip.

The next day started at Universal Studios with back-to-back-to-back rides on this roller coaster, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. It is awesome! You get on and they secure you in the lap belt only and they you get to pick the song of your choice to enjoy during the ride. The coaster then goes up 17 stories before heading down the first big hill and many loops and twists ensue. They also record you during the entire ride so that you can check out your expressions and see how scared or excited you are during all the big drops.

We also met Bumblebee from the movie Transformers. He is unique from the other Transformers because he doesn't have a voice and he communicates with you by changing the radio to different songs. When we walked up to get a picture he started playing the Notorious B.I.G.'s I love it when you call me Big Poppa! It cracked me up. Again we had someone film the interaction and sent it to the kids. Grandma said that they watched it over and over.

Walking around Diagon Alley proved to be very entertaining. We even found things that we had missed on our previous trip. While here I got obsessed with trying to get Jennifer a wand of her own. Problem was that she kept telling me that she didn't want one. We kept going to Ollivander's wand shop where they have a little presentation where someone gets picked from the crowd to have their own experience of the wand choosing them, just like in the books. It is pretty neat because the wands cause different things to happen in the shop. I think we tried at least 7 times, but for some reason the shop owner never picked Jennifer. So, that means that we never got a wand either!

We met the cast of Despicable Me and some of the minions too. Seeing all of them just made me miss the kids even more. That is because as soon as we got home it was going to be Halloween and the kids were dressing up as minions.

When planning our trip I noticed something about Halloween Horror Nights. I had never heard of this before and I did some research into it and found out that it was a huge Halloween party with 9 haunted houses. Some of these haunted houses were themed after popular movies or TV shows. I decided that it sounded pretty cool so I talked Jennifer into buying the extra tickets for the event. Let me just tell you that this was by far my favorite part of the trip. It had been about 15 years since Jennifer and I had gone to a haunted house. They all had some pretty great decorations and lots of people jumping out trying to scare you. They were pretty effective at scaring Jennifer. I had to walk in front of her and she held onto my hands. If I noticed something on either the right or left coming up then I would squeeze that hand to prepare her. It didn't help because they still made her jump and scream. I think I laughed for the majority of the houses because I was just amused.

Here we are with a statue of Jack the psycho clown. We actually were there for the 25th annual Halloween Horror Night. Jack the Clown was a character that Universal Studios created just for Horror Nights. He has been so popular that they continue to bring him back for some of the haunted houses. One of the rooms of a haunted house had about 20-25 of these and you couldn't tell which ones were real and which were just statues until they jumped out at you. It was pretty creepy! Overall, I would highly recommend going to Halloween Horror Nights if you ever get a chance. I would love to go again, but Jennifer says never again. She was brave enough to make it through all nine houses, but she told me later on that she kept her eyes completely closed during one whole house.

After being away from the kids for about 5 days I was ready to get back to see the kids. We left early and made it back just before it was time for bed. I missed them so much, but it was so nice to have some time with my beautiful wife without having to entertain the kids too. Thanks for reading and God bless!