Part 3 Universal Studios

Thursday March 10th

We ate breakfast at the hotel first thing and then packed the car back up for our trip to Universal Studios. We got lost. After four different sets of directions, we finally pulled into the Universal parking lot around 11 AM. We had a pleasant stroll through Universal City and then we entered the park. We loved the Hollywood themes (red carpet, famous characters, and movie sets). The tour of the TV and movie lots and that also included the new King Kong 3-D, was by far the greatest part of the park.

After the tour it was time to get Mark’s much needed churro. He was kind enough to buy one for each of the kids. We then watched a show about how Special Effects are made. Some of the Special Effects were a little scary but the kids, Mark and I really enjoyed the show. After the show we took the many escalators down to the lower level and road the Jurassic Park and Mummy Rides.

Hallie and I were even lucky enough to run into Shaggy and Daphne with the Mystery Machine. Hallie didn’t like the look of Shaggy (He was too hairy), but she was super excited about Daphne.

After three rides on Jurassic and two on The Mummy, we decided to take the escalators back up to the upper level. While waiting for Mark to help tie shoes Colin, Austin, Hallie and I discovered JAWS! Hallie thought he was cute.

Then we made our way over to Curious Georges Spray Park. Reagan and Austin both had giant buckets of water dumped on their heads. Hallie got a little wet, but soon discovered a play land full of balls. She, Colin and Caitlyn all spend the next half hour shooting balls at each other. What a great time! But it was time to start heading to San Diego and Grandpa Fred. We made it back to the car and once we made it out of L.A. traffic we were on our way. With just a small stop for sandwiches we pulled into Dad’s driveway around 8:30. We were all excited to see Grandpa and to stretch out.