And... we're off to Universal's Islands of Adventure. Although our accommodations provided scheduled transport to and from Disney locations there was no such offering for Universal. Thus... We cabbed back and forth Thursday and Friday. About a 15 minute run! Simple route... Just takes a little more in relation to "The Fund" (but a little less time as far as shuttle riding). We were on the ground there at 8:00 am headed for the main attraction.

Our first stop was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter... One of the parks latest additions. In total I suppose we spent two and a half hours in this corner of the park... The kids and Jane did three rides, including the Forbidden Journey and Dragon Challenge, and checked out Honeydukes and several other stores, roamed the grounds and even sampled the foamy "butter beer" (tasted like old fashioned cream soda to me). It was obvious that great detail and attention had been given to design, artifact and architecture in the castles, streetscapes and rides. By the time we moved on it was absolutely packed. I wonder if the engineers now consider whether they constructed it smaller than required. Perhaps, when the next bombshell addition is added the pressure on this area will be eased!

From here on it was rides, rides and more rides! The Jurassic Park River Adventure and Rip Saw Falls drenched the gang, only to see them get dried out in the Super Heroes area by a series of very physically intense coaster and drop rides. The Hulk Ride (which literally growls as it moves around the roller coaster track) and another nasty vertical drop mechanism, Doctor Doom's Fearfall, were rides the gang got to try. I was a little shocked, as I expected that the kids would be at least somewhat reluctant to venture on to some of these monsters. Yet, with the help of their mother, they got on anything that was offered. We had bought an Express Plus Pass for the park and it saved us lots of time on the regular rides. I believe it covered most attractions (other than the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey). It was a bit more to purchase but we may only ever visit once and time is money so what the heck.... it was worth it for us, no question.

What else? Peter picked up a comic, we had some great Ben & Jerry's cones and lastly were just in time to see Grinchmas... A Broadway style musical of Dr Suess' classic (minus Boris Kharlov). Pretty neat sets and the whole thing worked quite nicely. I had, however, some difficulty reconciling the Christmas Carols, trees and decorations here in 25-30 degree sunshine. Guess cold weather doesn't have an exclusive monopoly on Christmas!

Basically... By the time we got home the kids (and Dad) were worn out. Janie and Eileen bolted for some shopping and the kids and I enjoyed Pizza and the History Channel. Monica and I nodded off for big naps until the shoppers returned... Then a glass of wine, a few snacks and Thursday Night Football. Nice way to end the day.