Hogwarts!

We celebrated New Year's Day. . . at Hogwarts!
And it may have been one of the funnest, most magical, dreams-come-true, best days of my life.  It was as amazing as I imagined and more than I dreamed of.  But it was especially fun to be there with Clayton, Isaac, and Brigham who not only live and breathe Harry Potter, but who know the books frontwards and backwards (Literally! Isaac read the entire series backwards - just for fun - starting with book seven and finishing book one right before Christmas) have every spell memorized, can recount pages of dialogue, and know every single character by heart!  It was seriously so much fun. They recognized every detail (in every nook and cranny) of the whole place - pointing out details and remembering background stories and information from the Harry Potter books that otherwise I would have missed.  We had the time of our lives.  Here's a picture tour (from my cell phone) of our adventures at Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Now I can relive the dream anytime I want!

Diagon Alley

Quality Quidditch Supplies

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

This was one of the most looked forward to places to visit.  And it did not disappoint.  The store itself was amazing but the wizard workers fell right into character and put on quite a magical joke show!  My boys were in heaven.

We came out of there with a few Weasley Wizard Wheezes of our own. . .

including some Fever Fudge for Nate (in case he ever needs an excuse to skip work once in a while.)

Gringotts

The Gringotts ride is the main attraction of Diagon Alley. With one-hour early admission, we pretty much walked right past the goblins at the front gate and onto the ride.  It was crazy-awesome. Isaac's favorite ride.  

Knockturn Alley

We watched some fantastic street shows here, grabbed snacks at the Leaky Cauldron, and explored all the creepy and bizarre Wizard shops.

Brig got some gilly water.

London

We visited the phone booth and the Knight Bus and even met Stan Shunpike the conductor.

Platform 9 3/4

We went to Kings Cross Station and entered through the wall at Platform 9 3/4 to catch the Hogwart's Express.  Here's the video of Clayton, Isaac, Brig going through barrier.

The Hogwarts Express

This was like stepping right into the book.  The whole thing is quite unbelievable.  The train ride from King's Cross Station to Hogsmeade looks and feels like the real thing - you see different things each time (dementors, Hagrid on his motorcycle, the Weasley twins, the Riddle mansion, the English countryside, escaped chocolate frogs. . .) The Hogwart's Express was my favorite!

Here we are inside our compartment on the Hogwart's Express.

Hogsmeade

This was like stepping into a storybook for us.  I can't even describe the awe and magic of it all. . .

Hagrid's Hut

You walk past Hagrid's hut to get on the "Flight of the Hippogriff" ride.

You also get a spectacular view of Hogwart's Castle and you get to see Buckbeak.  We went on this ride 5 times.

Here we are on our way through the back alley behind the Three Broomsticks to get back in line for the Hippogriff ride.

The Three Broomsticks

 We ate breakfast at the Three Broomsticks which is where we tried Pumpkin Juice for the first time.  The kids loved it.  Sadly, I'm not a huge pumpkin fan.

Looking for the giant octopus in Hogwart's lake next to Three Broomsticks.

A view of the castle. . .

Honeydukes

I love these pictures of my kids drooling over the window displays at Honeydukes.

This was another much anticipated place to visit.  The smells of chocolate and sweets come back to me just looking at these pictures.  Every detail of the place was spot-on from the books.  Amazing.

Ollivanders Wand Shop

We waited in line for the wand-choosing ceremony.  It was worth it.

 Look at this place!

Truly the wand chooses the wizard.

All the boys were chosen. And wands were purchased.

The witch who helped us purchase the wands kept teasing Isaac about his shirt, "well, I done know how ah feel aboot sellin' a wand ter ya, if yer up to no good!  Wands can be dang'rous things in thee 'ands of mischievous wizards, ye know."

5 seconds after he got the wand, Isaac stepped outside the store, waved his wand with a little too much flourish and broke the tip against a window ledge.  He was heartbroken.  He looked as sad as Ron Weasley back in the store holding his broken wand. . . and holding back the tears.  Thankfully the witch who teased him, repaired (replaced) his wand by magic at no extra charge.

Sirius Black Poster.

Screeching Mandrakes.

Hogwarts

Hey look!  One of the Weasley's photo-bombed our picture.

This tour of Hogwarts ended with an insane broom ride through Hogsmeade, the castle dungeons and towers, and even through a game of Quidditch.  It was unbelievable.  Brigham's favorite ride.

Dumbledore's Office

Isaac is looking in Dumbledore's pensieve.

The hall of talking, moving paintings.  This was unreal.

We saw a few Hogwarts students with their singing toads giving a magical musical performance.

Here's a little clip.

I loved Maestro's Magical Instrument Shop.  (I want that silver violin.)

The Leaky Cauldron

We walked through the Leaky Cauldron but my kids took one look at the food on display and decided that a real wizard lunch wasn't for them.  Instead, we met Nate and the girls back at the hotel for lunch.  The traditional English food looked delicious to me - I'll have to go back when my kids aren't such picky eaters!

 And look where you get to sit to eat!  Love this place.

Casting Spells

The boys used their maps and spell guides to find all the places around Hogwarts to cast spells with their interactive wands.  They got pretty good at making things appear, move, turn on and off, explode, collapse, and disappear.  

There was always an audience gathered around to watch.  My kids felt like master wizards!

Look at all the people in the window reflection watching Isaac make all these eyes open and move around.

Brigham is consulting his spell map.

This poor woman parked her wheel chair in the wrong spot.  Brigham cast a spell that dumped a whole cauldron of water onto her seat.  Oops.

Butterbeer

The highlight of the afternoon was meeting up with the McKays for Butterbeer!

Clayton loved this stuff so much he bought himself another cup later on in the day and spent an hour drinking it - sip by sip - savoring every last buttery drop.

These friends also enjoyed casting spells together. . .

and going on rides together.

Clayton's favorite ride was "Dragon Challenge" - this insane double roller coaster.  Lucky for me, Brigham wasn't quite tall enough to ride, so I didn't have to go.  Clayton and Isaac went on it several times.

I loved the atmosphere of the whole place.  Even when it got really crowded, it still felt like we'd all been transported right into the books.  It was like a whole crowded village of happy people!

Look at the details of the window displays.  Amazing.

Hogwarts at Night

The castle lit up at night.  It was fun to enjoy all the rides again in the dark!

We also went for some late night treats at Honeydukes.

Mmmmm. . .

Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes!

And of course, more Butterbeer.

More spells at night too.

We were sad to say goodbye to the wizarding world but will always remember our spellbinding adventure.

Universal Studios

We also saw the rest of Universal Studios, including a parade.  I hardly took any pictures though.  Besides Harry Potter, the boys agreed that their favorite ride in the park was Minion Mayhem. Hilarious.

Picture of Dora for Lydia.

Goodbye to an awesome day!  A dream come true.