Harry Potter: Magic at Play

When I saw this was coming to Chicago, it was a no-brainer to take Ireland for her birthday. Her cute friend tagged along and since we had virtually no traffic coming into town, we parked and stopped at Starbucks before heading over. It was fun to chat with the girls about school, parents, etc over a hot chocolate. There was a bit of a line to get in but it was fun to see what everyone was wearing. Ireland would wear her Ravenclaw robes on the daily if it weren't a bit socially odd. 

Get ready for a lot of pics! There were so many great photo ops while we waited.

Great quote!

First we began at the Dursley's house at number 5 Privet Drive.

A hurricane of letters from Hogwarts coming out of the fireplace. Almost all the pictures on that fireplace were of Dudley. 

You could peek in at the room under the stairs.

Next on to Platform 9 3/4! We spent some time here getting the perfect shot.

Finally on to the Hogwarts Express!

From there across the lack where you could see Hogwarts in the distance.

These Marauder's Map footprints guided us where to go.

The Great Hall had a table and banners for all the houses.

On to get sorted...

...and straightaway to class!

I understand Hermione's exasperation, "wingardium leviosa" doesn't seem that difficult to master.

I absolutely loved the wall at Divination! All those tea cups!

Take a closer look at that.

This was one of my favorite parts!

This one tested your knowledge a bit.

The dusty jars were so cool. Made me want to whip up a potion!

Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble!

The cornish pixies wreaked havok!

I'm just now realizing Hogwarts didn't have much by way of extracurriculars aside from Quidditch.

To enter the Forbidden Forest, you had to use a lantern with a black light- so genius!

With the light you could see images like your patronus! This section even felt a little cool and damp!

On to Hagrid's and his giant pumpkins!

Next was a maze.

With the Whomping Willow at the center!

We made it out of the maze...

...and on to the Knight Bus and having seen everything, were ready to head home.

But where is home, really?

Had to grab some butterbeer for the road!

I had a lot of fun doing a little HP geeking out with Ireland and her friend! Ireland's fervent love of HP is one of her most endearing traits, for sure. We stopped by the nearby Cheesecake Factory for lunch before heading home, our imaginations filled with the world of Harry Potter.