The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I just got back from an incredible trip with Zahara. She turns 11 this summer, and as a huge Harry Potter fan, I knew the perfect gift for her would be a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal theme parks in Orlando! It was even better than I expected!

We spent four days and three nights at Universal's Endless Summer Resort--Surfside Inn and Suites. The hotel worked out perfectly. Staying onsite at one of the more budget friendly hotels was terrific. The rooms were spacious and comfortable, the staff was friendly, and the shuttles to/from the parks were frequent and convenient. We also loved cooling off in the pool after a long day at the parks.

Earlier this spring I enlisted my amazing sister-in-law Amy to help with the surprise for Z. Amy designed a letter from Professor McGonagall welcoming Zahara to Hogwarts. We printed a bunch of copies and put them around the fireplace.

It's hard to tell who was more excited--me or Zahara. We both were giddy with anticipation for our trip. We bought Harry Potter shirts and borrowed an interactive wand from a friend. We read blogs and books on how to best approach our time there. After all that research, I decided the best approach would be to go with the flow. I wasn't anticipating riding most of the rides and had no must-see attractions, other than the parks themselves. That attitude served us very well during our trip. It was one of the least stressful trips I've been on.

Here are some of the highlights from our trip:

Universal Studios Florida

Diagon Alley is incredible. I honestly felt like I was in the books. The level of detail on every store front and display was awesome. Feeling the dragon breathe fire was a real experience! The Tale of Beedle the Bard was worth the stop. We did the Ollivander experience and there were only four of us in the room. Zahara and I both got selected by the wandmaker. Such fun! We didn't purchase the wands, but it was well worth the time.

We purchased a park-to-park ticket and I 100% recommend that! The Hogwarts Express alone is worth it. It's just a fun ride and is different in each direction. But more than that, we loved the freedom of being able to hop around and explore at our own pace. If lines were long in one park, we could just hop over to the other one.

The best thing in Harry Potter World was the frozen butterbeer. I can't describe how delicious and refreshing this drink is! We shared one a day and it was a highlight of the trip.

Seuss Landing was whimsical and more fun than I expected. We spent most of our time in the Harry Potter world, but we did explore the other parts of the parts too. The Cat in the Hat ride was adorable and the If I Ran a Zoo was fun. 

Minion Villain-Con ride was fine, but the line leading up to it was so clever. The posters, booths, and advertisements for bad guys was adorable. 

We did the Men in Black ride on the last day. I had fun shooting the aliens. Again, the line leading up to the ride was filled with fun scenes. I liked the breakroom and the supervisor's office.

The Bourne Stuntacular show was amazing. The effects were incredible. You don't need to have seen the movies to appreciate the show, but if you're a fan there are so many fun pop-outs. Warning for sensitive folks, Z hated the show because there were too many flashing lights, loud sounds, and 4D surprises. 

There's so much more to cover about our trip, but this is getting long enough. I'll report more in a second post. Suffice it to say, it was an incredible trip and I am eternally grateful for the one-on-one time with my favorite daughter :)

Dear Zahara: 9 Years Old

Dear Zahara,

Happy ninth birthday! You have grown up so much this year. It's amazing to watch you mature into the clever, hilarious, caring, prankster you are.

Zahara, you are so full of passion. You're an avid reader (thank goodness for the library!), and love mostly fantasy or magical realism. You finished all of Harry Potter, Land of Stories, Wings of Fire, most Roald Dahl books, and many more. You also continue to be a great artist. We signed you up for art classes this year and your class painted a giant mural!

You've overcome some of your fears this year including riding a bike. You're super speedy on that thing. Daddy got a bike this year too so the two of you are able to ride together. You and I have been running together! You joined Girls on the Run and worked your way up to a 5K (3.1 miles). We have now run four 5Ks together. I'm so proud of your perseverance and grit.

After a hard run you of course need a nice relaxing spa. This has become another tradition of ours. Now on Sundays we have a whole routine with a steam, a face mask, and a massage. Sometimes it's over the top but it's sweet.

You got braces! You had a few baby teeth pulled and had an expander and three brackets put in. You're doing such a great job taking care of your teeth. It feels early for braces, but so many of your friends have them now too. I'm glad you're in good company.

This summer you'll be returning to Pinemere, a sleep-away camp in the Poconos! We were so proud of your bravery to spend ten nights away. This year you'll have three whole weeks of archery, swimming, arts and crafts, Shabbat dinners, and of course spice challenges (you're the Spice Queen, apparently!). 

I know you'll have a great time at camp, but secretly, I know you'll miss your brother too. You two recently separated for a week while you each spent time with a set of grandparents. You only made it a couple of days before you called Asher on Hangouts to see if he wanted to chat. I LOVE THAT! It's not always roses and sunshine, but we see you guys continuing to develop your relationship and it makes daddy and I proud. You're also continuing to deepen the relationships with your friends. In particular, you and Leticia are great friends to each other. You're also close with Amalia, Joni, Isa, and Abby.

Zahara, this year has been a delight. I'm so proud of the hard work you've put in this year to grow your social, emotional, physical, and intellectual skills. Daddy, Asher and I are your biggest cheerleaders and we can't wait to see what this next year brings. We love you!

See Zahara's other birthday wishes here.

Dear Zahara: 8 Years

Dear Zahara,

Happy eighth birthday! I said it last year, and I'll say it again: what a year it's been. Reading your letter from last year highlights the journey we've been on for the past 18 months. Last summer, there were still so many unknowns about the year ahead. Would you return to school? Would the pool open? Would there be vaccines? While there are still many unknowns, this summer we are returning to a bit of normalcy. We are all grateful for that!

Though Covid is still impacting our world, you are doing an exceptional job navigating all of the changes. Zoom continued to be the norm this year. You were in virtual school for the majority of the year, returning to campus (and meeting your teachers for the first time!) in late fall. That was only for two half-days a week. It took another few months before you transitioned to two full days, and then finally four full days a week. It was hard for all of us, but I loved our time as co-workers. I already miss our Kabbalat Shabbats together.

One highlight of the school year was carpooling with your classmate Zamir. You two were the cutest! Listening to your banter was amazing. Big news for you this year is that you got glasses--real ones, not just the blue light glasses above! As the fashionista you've become, you've incorporated the glasses with style. You chose these two pairs for yourself, and you did a great job.

You're still an avid reader. You're reading in the 98%, which is just astounding! You just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book 5) by yourself. We read the first four books together, so I'm a little sad you did this one on your own, but it's just part of you growing up.

You and Asher are continuing to get along well, for the most part. I love watching you fill the role of big sister and show him the ropes. Whether it's in the swimming pool, on a hike, with electronics, you're right there to help him out. I also love listening to your imaginative play together. You often play pet and owner, family, or teacher and student. I'll let you guess which roles you play in each of these games.

Last year we were fortunate that the pool did open and it's open again this year. Once again, you're a little fish! You are a great swimmer, earning your deep-end status. 

Have I mentioned your strong personality yet? I say it every year, and every year it's just as true. One day, Zahara, you're going to rule the world. I never worry about your future. Ever. You don't take no for an answer and you don't suffer fools. You know what you want, though you don't always do a great job of communicating it. We're working on channeling your passion, emotion, energy, and willpower into forces of good. 

Zahara, I love our conversations, our silly dances, our inside jokes, our reading time. Though I may not love every minute, I really do love being around you. You're fun, funny, smart, empathetic, energetic, and so much more. I can't wait to see what this next year holds. Love you lots!

See Zahara's other birthday wishes here.

Tonga Week!

As summer comes to a close, we decided to wrap up our around-the-world adventures. I'll have a highlights post with some of our favorites, but for now, I'll fill you in on our last stop on this world tour: Tonga. 

Craft/Culture

Why Tonga, you might ask? Or where is Tonga--another valid question. Tonga is a Polynesian nation of more than 170 islands located in the Pacific Ocean. Only a few of those islands are inhabited, with some islands even disappearing and reappearing with volcanic activity and erosion.

This week I let Zahara choose the country. She had recently listened to a podcast called Wow in the World (family favorite!) that highlighted this island nation and wanted to learn more about it. I'm all about interest-led learning, so off we went!

I posted earlier about how we used this country week as an excuse to visit a nearby waterfall (see here). It was a bit of a stretch, but we had fun pretending we were exploring a Tongan island and that the sand and mud were volcanic. 

Dan helped get us into the spirit of the week by buying a young coconut. We drank the water and then used the shell to make a coconut bra. Ha! Mixed verdict on the water. The meat wasn't ready to eat--it was more gelatinous than I was expecting, and the water was a little bitter. But two thumbs up for Dan's engineering skills and Zahara's dancing skills!

We also watched Moana this week. It was a nice tie-in to talk about the Polynesian culture and their ancient traditions. I love this movie. It's so beautiful. And of course the songs are incredible. 

Food

When Zahara first mentioned Tonga, I wasn't sure there would be much to eat this week. Turns out there are a ton of Tongan dishes that we could make at home. You won't be surprised to find out that almost all of them center around coconut. Here was our menu: ota'ika, lu pulu, lu sipi, kale moa, otai. No, I'd never heard of any of these before either.

Ota'ika is a little like a Tongan ceviche. It's raw tuna mixed with coconut milk, tomatoes, and bell peppers. It was pretty good, actually. We got all of our ingredients from H Mart.

Lu pulu and lu sipi are the same dish, but with different proteins. Lu pulu is lamb and lu sipi is beef. You make them both of them by wrapping the meat, onions, and coconut milk in taro or banana leaves and then cooking them in the oven. Traditionally, lu sipi uses canned corned beef. We made our own corned beef instead, and it turned out great. This was a really different dish--and not at all visually appealing, but I enjoyed it.

Kale moa is a chicken curry with...you guessed it. Coconut milk! I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but Asher was a great sous chef. 

This watermelon drink was really refreshing! We made it the traditional way without coconut. We all loved it, and Zahara even asked for seconds.

I was really surprised that we were able to make a whole week out of this tiny country, but we did! This was a good reminder to me to not say no automatically to my kids' ideas, but instead to explore and learn with them. Tonga was a wonderful host for our last week around the world.

See our other country weeks here.