Universal Studios

We recently went to Universal Studios to celebrate Nicholas' 12th birthday. Universal Studios is not our favorite place (Gustav & I), but our children adore it, so off we went. One of our favorite parts of the whole park is the statue as you walk in , seen in the picture here. Looks like a great statue of a filming scene, right? Well, let me tell you, looks can be deceiving. That man on the right there, with his hand in his pocket...see him? He's real. Yup, he stands perfectly still for a few minutes and then just up and walks to the other side of the display, scaring those who've never seen it before and delighting those who knew it was coming. I don't envy his job, standing in the Cali sunshine with who knows what kind of crazy paint/makeup on, but he sure entertains our family!

We had a fun time on the rides. Gabriel could go on the Jurassic Park ride 500 times in a row without getting bored. We only went on it 5 or 6 times on this trip. The bigger kids just love The Simpsons Ride, even though they'd never seen the characters before in their lives. And Gustav just loves the studio tour and the special effects show.




Here's Nicholas participating in the national pastime of twelve year old boys: stuffing his face! I know it gets worse. Everyone with older boys tells me it only gets worse, but I would rather not think about it. My grocery budget is already bursting at the seams. I remember fondly the days when a $20 bill could feed all of us at the drive-thru. No longer. I will choose to live in the blissful ignorance that this is as bad as it will get. Thanks for indulging me.




We took in one of the fun animal shows this time. We cracked up as these amazingly trained animals did all sorts of hysterical things. What a hoot!




Kurt loved his time in the Curious George area, designed for the littles who are too small to go on any of the rides. There are balls, slides, swings, and all sorts of super-fun things to do. And isn't he so stinkin cute? All matchy-matchy with his shirt and shoes. Come on.


Don't get Gustav started about the parking situation at Universal. You can pay $12 for stinky parking or even more for actual close-to-the-park parking. It makes his blood boil every single time we go there! I even prep the kids: "Don't talk to Daddy while he's parking." heh-heh.

All in all, a great day for the Hoyers. Lots of fun time spent together gets an A+ in my book!