Home and Happy...

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Has it only been two weeks?

It feels like so long since I've been posting.

A huge thanks to all the Crushing on Colors ladies

 for their wonderful posts that kept the blog hopping 

while I was soaking up some vitamin d.

Want to see what we were up to?

We travel to florida almost every spring, 

but don't always hit the parks.

This was a theme park year.

Day 1 and the kids were beelining for Harry Potter at Universal Studios!

Apparently several thousand other people were doing the same thing,

and it was a wee bit crowded :)

But we persisted and what an astonishing place.

If you have read the series 

(you must read them, the books are far richer than the movies)

you would have been amazed to see the main street of Hogsmeade brought to life, 

a scaled down Hogwarts towering off at the top of the cobblestone streets.

"Mum, another picture?!!"

They were so patient with me,

 taking pics and endlessly examining all the design elements they used in the castle :)

The Hogwarts tour is spectacular,

entering straight into Dumbledore's office 

(complete with a hologram of the headmaster himself),

then through the passageways, where paintings come to life,
ceilings glow, and stairs lead off into hidden passages..

A hologram Harry, Ron and Hermione visit you in potions class,

and then it's on to a hair-raising ride.

To celebrate, the darlings (and some friends) had butterbeer!

Then they watched Hogwarts and other students perform on the streets,

visited Ollivanders and chose wands,

had their fingers attacked by a caged Book of Monsters at Dirvish and Banges..

rested in the Owlry, dined in The Three Broomsticks...

checked out the pranks and toys at Zonkos...

 and brought home chocolate frogs and Bernie Bot's every flavoured beans from Honeydukes.

Crazy, no?!

Two days of that required some serious down time at the beach and pool

and then back to fun at Sea World..

and Aquatica, Sea World's water park -
 by far the best theme park I have been to!

So relaxing, two huge wave pools surrounding an enormous sandy "beach",

and heaps of exhilarating rides with no or very small lines.
The darlings have inherited D's and my love of speed :)

That face says it all, doesn't it?!!
Plenty of good food, time with friends, and shopping (!!) completed a wonderful trip.

I didn't take any color or design books, determined to have a break from"work".

By day six I had bought three design magazines and was
"popping in" to Z Gallerie and Ballard designs at  the mall :)

can't stay away!!!
And glad to be back!

I have found the coolest blog dedicated to provided free vintage images for general use.
There's some really gorgeous bits..
I will post all about it tomorrow - x