Claire at Uni-ber-sal (and a few bonus things about our trip)

We really had such a blast with Claire at Universal, despite some misgivings that I had about taking a two-year-old to an amusement park. She was so much fun and so much fun to watch. She found everything to be rather magical. A few favorites:

It's ok, Nana, it's ok. (when standing close to a roller coaster that was loud and a little bit scary to a small child)

So, technically, this is Poppy, not Nana, but they were having the "it's ok" conversation.


TWAIN! (at all times. It was an enthusiastic request to ride the Hogwarts Express. Again.)

The twain station in Hogsmeade.


Uni-ber-sal seeping. (translation: Universal is sleeping. This is how she comforts herself when she can't be immediately gratified with something she wants; she says that it's sleeping.).

George Uni-ber-sal! (her excitement over the Curious George play area in Universal Studios. We heard this refrain a lot. Correction: We hear this refrain a lot. She remembers it well.).

Dancing in the George splash pad.

Her happy place!

The ball factory. It was a dream for Claire; the whole premise is to clean up balls (so they can be dumped out on you). She LOVES cleaning up balls.

Amiee even got in on it.

It's adorable. And tucked in a less-trafficked corner of the park, so it's a low-stress, super fun family area. 

Ducks! (in true 2-year-old fashion, one of her favorite things at the theme park was the duck pond behind the Three Broomsticks. Bless.)

The duck pond: a hidden gem for parents of toddlers.


Again! Again! (her reaction when the One Fish, Two Fish ride finished. We all rode it approximately 29384 times.)

The first of many trips around the fountain.

Nana and Poppy took their turns, as well. If you pull out your magnifying glass, you can see them.

We spent a decent amount of time in Seuss Landing in Islands of Adventure, as it is a favorite of ours, as well. It has all kinds of super fun (and colorful and crazy) Seuss-themed rides. Even though it's geared for kids, we all really love it. Everybody took turns riding the Caro-seussal with Claire, those of us tall enough rode The Cat in the Hat (it's a fun ride, but it's also got AC, which is equally important), and we caught one of the Seuss shows and character meet-and-greets. Amiee really enjoyed meeting the characters, while Claire eyed them all with suspicion. Except the Grinch. She loves the Grinch because of this past Boswell Family Christmas party.

Seriously. How fun is this?

Daddy and Bear on the first go.

As much family as we could get in one moving carousel shot.

The Lorax (which she hasn't seen or read...so she was wondering why she needed to snuggle up to a fuzzy orange fellow.)

Amiee has a special connection to Green Eggs and Ham. It's a good story.

Claire saw absolutely no reason for a picture with the narrator. She is for sure not a Seuss character. Imposter.

The Grinch!

By the last character picture, she was finally getting the hang of it.

We also managed to snap a few good family pictures. Claire is in a less-than-helpful camera posing stage, so it's always a success if she's even looking at the camera. Two-year-olds, man.

At Hard Rock Cafe on our first night.

35th anniversary celebration!

The rare Brad-and-Erin shot.

Just about the closest to posing for the camera that we could get from her. Claire, not Amiee. Amiee is good at pictures.

Group shot!

Family selfie on the way to Florida! Claire actually smiled.

On the water taxi from the resort to the park. It was great fun, despite the look Claire is giving the camera. She loved it.

On our last day in the park, we got separated for about half an hour while Brad, Mom, and I took Claire to Seuss Landing while Daddy and Amiee rode a roller coaster. For some reason, I got separated from everyone for a few minutes, and on my way to meet up with Brad and Mom, I got waylaid by a gal recruiting volunteers to screen some promotional ads for a network. They were paying $15 a person, so Brad, Mom, and I decided to go for it. We figured we would be able to pay for lunch on the way out of town the next day. After we'd been in there for about 20 minutes, in walk Dad and Amiee. They'd had the same "pay for lunch tomorrow" idea, and in the end, we walked about of there with $75 cash. Yay, us!

And finally, a couple gratuitous shots from Hogsmeade.

Hogwarts.

Until our next family adventure to Universal!