Orlando Vacation Part 2: Lego Store & Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios

We visited the Lego store at Downtown Disney. My brothers and sister and Dave all grew up playing with Legos, so we wanted to see this landmark. It was colorful, imaginative and expensive; so we just browsed.

Above, my sister Emily and her husband James and their son Wesley pose in front of some amazing people and dogs made from Legos. Here my brothers Chris and Jeff and I pose with reptilian Legos.

The next day (Friday, Aug 6) we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Our first stop was the new Harry Potter theme park. Dave and I had read Harry Potter several times, so we loved seeing this book come to life.

The line for the new Harry Potter ride was an hour long. Only during the last 20 minutes were we inside snaking through Hogwarts castle mock scenery. We took turns riding & holding Jessica, who slept for part of the wait.

We drank "butterbeer" (cream soda with butterscotch whipping cream) in the owlery, 

and tried Chocolate Caldrons, and Ton Tongue toffee, which we bought at the park's "Honeyduke's" store.

Some of the family ate turkey legs at the "Three Broom Sticks" for lunch. The rest of us got stuck outside Harry Potter world when the big crowds came in the middle of the day. In the rest of the park we enjoyed water rides, roller coasters,

motorcycle shows, 

and stood in a lot of lines. We rode the two Dueling Dragons coaster several times since the line was so short. The Incredible Hulk roller coaster shot you in the air on the way up the first big hill. It was the hottest time of the year, and we tried to keep ourselves from melting with misting fans.

Robertson 2010 Reunion in Yellowstone

The 4th biannual Robertson reunion in May 2010 was great timing. Just three months before, we adopted Jessica, our first child. We had been childless for 10 years, and 24 family members were excited to meet her.  We were so happy to show her off---so here's your warning, there are a lot of pictures of Jessica!

It was Dave's brother Danny, who lives in Idaho, who hosted this reunion. He and Karen reserved a large cabin just outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Jessica was 6 months younger than her cousin Micheal, but she would soon pass him in size. She had a talent for putting on weight.

There was a group grandparent birthday cake: 340 years is a lot of experience between just 4 people.

The first full day we took two rainy hikes along rivers. We saw a lot of animal dung, birds, and blue sweatshirts. On the first hike Jessica fell asleep in her baby carrier.

That night we did our talent show. The boys singing and us girls did a skit all pretending to be our husbands.

After church on Sunday, we had our usual sweet testimony meeting and planning session for next year. 

It was the world debut of the first Primary song I'd written, called "Joy, Joy, Joy". Everyone indulged me and learned how to sing my 3-part melody and I recorded it. It made me so happy!

Later, we drove to a scenic bridge and 2 waterfalls. 

Dave's Grandma and Grandpa Stringham rode with us through farm fields to the last falls.

Jessica took a nap while we hopped out to see this site.

On Monday (Memorial Day), we all caravanned to Yellowstone. Apparently, Yellowstone Park is a giant crater of a super volcano, which erupts regularly every 600,000 years and covers half of the United States in ash. Last time it erupted was 640,000 years ago.

We saw a lot of rainbow-colored steaming hot springs.  The most memorable part of this part was our (6-year old?) niece Jane. She screamed in terror the whole walk, afraid of falling in.

Little buffalo.

Big buffalo.

Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt.

I came to Yellowstone when I was younger than 10 years old. The stinking boiling mud pits and Old Faithful were all I remember. Too bad Jessica won't remember any of this trip.

For lunch we drove to some very high picnic grounds for food and games.

This is photo evidence at the now infamous "pinecone on a spoon" relay, of the notorious cheater Melanie, chucking a banana peel at the other players at the start.

We ended sight-seeing that day with some elk and bear sightings. The bear was sleeping a few hundred feet from the road, which caused a traffic jam of tourists. 

We ended our sight-seeing for the day at beautiful Yellowstone Falls.