Flagstaff

Marcus and I drove down to Flagstaff this past weekend for Brad and Jessica's reception. We stayed with my family at my grandparents' cabin and drove up for the festivities.

Allegro and Charlie were excited to see us and wanted to come with us back to Utah :)

Grandpa made breakfast - yum!

Dad and Max Maurer

Sir Charles, Dad, Max, and Alex

Breakfast with Annie and Rea

Big Al

Charlie

Sadie

Yes, Alex eventually went in the cage with Charlie

Brad and Jessica's reception/shindig was at Fort Tuthill-- it was great! A lot of people stayed in the hotel or cabin there, so we met up with everyone for the reception.

Max and Ada strolling around

The Dave Logan band-- they were awesome!

It was also their cd release debut, and Marcus was the very first person to buy their cd Outside Looking In

T, Mimi, and Jake

...dinner

Brad & Jess

Excellent cupcakes!

my dad and Ada

Siblings

More siblings-- Annie, Becky, Rick, and Mimi

Eating dinner

We were so glad to be able to make it down for the reception, although I did have to dig out a jacket and sweatshirt :) It was a fun getaway before Marcus started school today and see a lot of family we haven't seen in awhile.

Congrats Brad & Jess!

Harry Potter

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is actually just a tiny area inside Universal Studios. I must say, I was a little disappointed at the size, but the amazing details around the park made up for it. One employee told us that they never anticipated so many people visiting the park, so they thought it didn't need to be very big. They were wrong. It's incredible. Everyone should go :) I liked what Marcus said about the park-- apparently, despite all the magic, the Wizarding World has yet to figure out a solution to the humidity problem in Florida. Haha. But you should still go!

I probably have a billion pictures of just this part of the trip. I picked only a couple from each major attraction, so hopefully you'll get the feel.

The Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts

Herbology

(walking through to enter the castle)

Inside the Castle

Dragon Challenge

(awesome roller-coaster)

Entering Hogsmede

Walking Around

(with hundreds/thousands of other people)

Hogs Head

for butterbeer (loved it!)

The Owlry

Dervish and Banges

Ollivanders

Honeydukes

What a great day! Well, great morning three different times :) Due to the crowds, we woke up early to get in line for either the castle ride, roller-coaster, or Ollivanders. But we did it all.

Moral of the story, I LOVE Harry Potter!

Good thing Derek and Cozette do too. :)