a nice long break

I took a nice long break from work over the holidays and we had our first family vacation in two years, which was not so much a break for Geoff and I as it was the main xmas gift to our boys, who had been very patient with us during the whole renovating/selling house/buying house/moving saga that kind of took over the last year and a half of our lives. We decided to surprise them with a little four-day trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal in Orlando, Florida. Lots of standing in line for hours for rides and walking around for two long days at the theme parks but they were troopers and the looks on their faces when they got to choose their wands from Olivanders and drink Butterbeer made it all worth it. Universal isn't for the faint of heart but it is pretty awesome through the eyes of 9 & 10 year-old kids. We got to fly over Hogwarts with Harry Potter, drift down a Jurassic Park river where a T-Rex almost ate us, we were rescued from falling off a tall building by Spiderman and had a delicious dinner of fish 'n chips and butterbeer at the Three Broom Sticks in Hogsmeade. At the end of the first day, we got a surprise little text from Miller on my iPhone: "I love you guys. xo" which is all one really needs to feel like you're doing a good job as a parent for the next year or so. On the last day, Bram went to bed saying, 'this holiday was the best days of my life.' Mission accomplished! It was a great way to start the new year together before the return to school and to work. Best wishes for a bright new year!

images from my instagram