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Photos, mostly.
Not much time for a proper update, but how about some photos from the past couple weeks?
First we have Hallie modeling a new hat she got at the American Girl doll store, and a dress Heather made to go along with it. Pretty nice, eh? She's getting tall!
Last weekend my company did its annual Family Fun Night, which is a very nice perk. The past few years have been at Universal's Islands of Adventure park, this year we switched to the Universal Studios side instead. Here's good ol' Jebediah Springfield, over in the Simpsons area.
But the main attraction was the chance for us to check out the new Diagon Alley area. We've been to the Hogsmeade side at the other park a few times, but hadn't been to this new part yet. Expectations were high. (Oh, this is a look inside the Knight Bus which sits outside the London facade hiding Diagon Alley from view.)
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Cool. :)
Inside Weasleys'.
Adjoining one shop was this, an empty room with a bunch of owl cages (and owl poop, eww) overhead. One of the employees told me this was a queue area for when they first opened and were insanely packed.
Gringott's! The dragon breathes fire every 15 minutes or so, though I didn't manage to get a photo of that. The first time it happened, we weren't expecting it and Amy was a bit traumatized. :/
Inside Gringott's. The queue was pretty amazing and detailed, as expected.
The goblin clerks were very convincing. The ride itself was pretty awesome too, I must say!
Borgin & Burke's in Knockturn Alley.
If there's a fake photography shop, I must take a photo!
Really cool effect--as you go through the queue for the Hogwarts Express, guests ahead of you appear to be walking through the wall to Platform 9-3/4. I hung back to get the girls going through. :)
Waiting for the train. This was really well done, very cool indeed.
This past weekend Heather's sister came for a visit, and we took a walk at Lake Lotus Park. Not too exciting, but this leaf-footed bug nymph was cool.
Monarch on milkweed, of course.
Later we went down to the neighborhood lake, where we saw not just one, but two armadilloes! We'd never seen any down there before, so that was pretty cool.
Okay, enough for now. Maybe more substance tomorrow. :)
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new friends
Was impressed with your prison photos and their correlation with the film. Clever.
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Yes, photography has been a serious hobby for the past 10 years or so--mostly since our firstborn came along and I wasn't getting the photos I wanted (Hallie's #2 of 3 girls--she's almost 8, and we also have Hermione (10) and Amy (4)). I got fairly decent behind the lens, so I do some paid work on the side--family sessions, engagement photos, weddings now and then. That's mostly to help the photographic toys pay for themselves, since they don't come cheap! I definitely get the most enjoyment from travel photography, though. I love finding new (and old) places and committing their details to pixels, you know?
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I remember there being a Race World Cafe, or something like that which I thought was pretty cool.
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There was a NASCAR Cafe at CityWalk, the shopping/dining complex between the two parks. But that got the axe last year and is being reconstructed as we speak. I don't know that they've officially announced what it will become, but I gather the rumor is an NBC sports-themed restaurant.
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