You've had a birthday, shout "Oy vey"

I'm finally getting around to posting our vacation to Orlando. For those of you who have been breathlessly waiting, here you go!

I haven't felt completely excited about a birthday in, oh, a decade or so. Mike always makes every holiday special, but the prospect of turning a year older is a little depressing. Once I started to get closer to 30 than 20, birthdays lost most of their luster. That's doubley true now that I'm closer to 40 than I am to 30. I woke up May 25th and I thought of a conversation I had with my cousin, Marika's, daughter (7 years old at the time) that went something like this:

Amber: Look at the Lego thing I’m making!
Me: Wow! That’s really cool! Tell me about it.
Amber: Well, it’s this vehicle with wheels.

Me: It looks great.
Amber: You remember 1983?
Me (smiling with nostalgia, thinking of Madonna, “Smurfs,” jelly shoes, and “The Christmas Story”): Yeah…those were good days.

Amber: Well, I’m making a horse that can pull this covered wagon I’m building just like they had back then.

Me (no longer smiling): Um, I think you mean 1883.

My pity party lasted only a few moments, though, because May 25th was the day that we were planning on going to see the new Harry Potter land at Universal Studios.

It was off to Hogsmeade. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Harry Potter books, I'm not going to orient you, because...shame on you. You really need to read the books.

We had butter beer (don't worry, non alcoholic), cauldron cakes (don't worry, not on fire), and pumpkin juice. We toured Hogwarts, stood on platform 9 3/4, and went in Olivander's Wand Shop. It was so much fun.

You probably can't see my earrings in the above post, but trust me, they're awesome. Mike got them for me, along with a necklace and bracelet. He's such a sweetheart and made the day very memorable--to the point that I will now look forward to birthdays because his enthusiasm is so contagious. Thanks, Hon!