We're Back, Florida!!

        

During our two weeks in NC with family, we had the opportunity to see and hug and talk with lots of family members and friends that we hadn't seen in months; for some, it had been more than a year since we'd last seen one another.  It was a lot of fun talking with everyone, sharing our adventures, and seeing what had changed and what had stayed the same in our hometown.       

I got new glasses!

Mia and I had a great time staying with our Aunt Shirley

 I did a photo shoot with my uncle's beautiful husky, Adonis. 

My aunt's dog, Milie, is such a cutie!

I also got my nose pierced while we were in town for Thanksgiving!

        We left North Carolina on November 30, stayed overnight in South Carolina, and got to our campsite in Orlando, Florida; on December 1.  We celebrated Mia's 12 birthday by going to Universal Studios for the day.  We bought season passes to Universal Studios, since we would be in the Orlando area for the winter.  I love Universal; especially the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  It's so well thought-out and it feels like you're walking right into the movies and books.  Mia and I each bought headbands with our house colors on them (I'm a Hufflepuff and Mia's a Ravenclaw); and we also couldn't resist buying some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.  These look like regular jelly beans on the outside, but they taste very different.  In our batch of beans, we got flavors ranging from toothpaste and cinnamon to rotten egg and dirt.

The dragon perched atop Gringotts Wizarding Bank

The village of Hogsmeade in The Wizarding World was so Christmas-y!

Happy birthday, Mia!

Waiting in line for a roller coaster...

One of the rides is themed like Hogwarts Castle, and its line goes by lots of famous places and objects mentioned in the books and shown in the movies. 

We found a lot of fun stuff in the gift shop for Revenge of the Mummy

Mia making a fashion statement

The lake at our campground

Just one of the many roller coasters we rode at Universal

Mia wanted me to take a picture of the huge chandeliers in Gringotts Bank

Universal at Christmastime was pretty and festive

Optimus Prime

The Hogwarts Castle would be lit up at night for Christmas, and it was beautiful

One of our favorite rides at Universal is their new roller coaster, Velocicoaster. It goes upside down 4 times and reaches speeds of 70 mph

I used a filter to make my dad look like Santa Claus 😊😍🎅🎄

Friends from home came to Universal for a week and we had such an awesome time with them!

        My mom surprised me and Mia with a Christmas concert by For King and Country, our favorite band. This was mine and Mia's first concert and we absolutely loved it.  They are such a talented band and have a great story. 

        On January 2, my nana came down from NC to spend the week with us.  Our first day we spent in St. Augustine.  Founded by the Spanish in the year 1565; St. Augustine holds the title of the oldest city in the United States.  We walked down St. Augustine's streets, saw the oldest wooden schoolhouse, and visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. The Castillo de San Marcos is the fort that helped the Spanish defeat the attacking British and save St. Augustine.  We finished off the day by strolling the streets enjoying the bright display of the Night of Lights.  The historic district of the city was decked out for this two-month long display of lights. 

        

Castillo de San Marcos fort 

St. Augustine waterfront, with the Bridge of Lions to the left. 

        My mom booked a cruise for the three of us (my dad didn't go) in the beginning of February on Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas. The cruise lasted six nights and we stopped at ports in Jamaica, Bahamas, and Haiti.  This ship had a lot to offer, from indoor skydiving, to rock climbing, to great entertainment.  As you can see from the pictures below, we had an awesome time. 

The Effectors was such a good show, we watched it twice

Another yummy meal in the main dining room

Dessert on night six was a chocolate cherry tart

Silent DJ was one of my favorite activities on the whole cruise. The idea is everyone puts on headphones that can be turned from blue station to green station. Each station has different music and you can rock out to your own style of music. What's really funny is if you don't have headphones on but everyone else does so it looks like they're all singing and dancing to nothing. 😂

Mia and I all sutied up for indoor skydiving!

Overhead view of the ship from a capsule called the North Star

Haiti

This tree in Jamaica was so cool; I'd never seen anything like it

Of course I had to do a few cruise photo shoots with Mia--here's the first one

Another dessert!

One of the entertainment venues--Music Hall

Jamming out at a late-night dance party

I found this cool chair that was so comfy

Dinner is served!

Another dessert 😋😋

Getting ready to rock climb!

Mia on the rock climbing wall

On the Skypad trampoline

That beautiful Caribbean water

Where we spent our day in the Bahamas

Our ship, the Odyssey, is on the right. Next to it is the Oasis of the Seas which is one of my favorite cruise ships

Bumper cars

The pool deck

Night One

The beautiful chandelier in the dining room

Photo shoot number 2

Our Bahamas photo shoot

        While we were in Jamaica, my mom booked a beach horseback ride for the three of us, and it was such a surreal experience.  I felt so lucky to be on a beautiful tropical island, riding a horse with the turquoise ocean stretching on for miles beside me. 

        While we were in Florida, Mia started watching art videos on Youtube and practicing different sketches.  The more she practiced and learned, the better her sketches were.  Below are a few of my favorites. 

        After three and a half months in Florida, we moved to South Carolina for three nights and then went back to North Carolina for a few weeks.  Once April comes we will set out on our Northeast route for this year.  I'm really looking forward to seeing this beautiful part of my country, and I am excited to blog about it for all of you! Thanks so much for reading. 👋