A Galaxy Far Far Away

From the boy who can't sit through Star Wars, and hasn't even made it as far as the, "These aren't the droids you are looking for" Jedi mind trick:

M:  Mom, I'm going to clean up the family room back here and then I'm going to make it Star Wars-y.  Of course, we'll need to order a few things from Amazon.

The night before, he asked me to search Google Images for "invisible spy cars."  Hmmmm.


It should come as no surprise that his older brother has been throwing around the word "epiphany" to describe events such as this:

A:  Mom, I just discovered that the buttons on the keyboard that have two things on them -- the SHIFT key makes them work!

I wonder if he counts the gazillion times he's typed @, !, ", (, ), and : ?


Captain Obvious and his padawan live at my house.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My children . . . 

and their parents would like to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day.  Take the occasion today to eat a pink cookie, open a sweet journal . . .

read a sweet card, savor a chocolate, eat mashed pink potatoes . . .

admire a bouquet sent by your admirer, or (as the case may be),

buy yourself your own flowers because your Valentine shops at REI*.

And do it all with the happy thought that you are loved by ME, 

even if you didn't actually get anything FROM me.

Because I do!


*By the way, I totally scored!! Who needs flowers?

HarryPotterLand

Despite the tornado warnings, I spent my Orlando Tuesday at Universal Studios' Islands of Adventures, better known as the home of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.   And I went alone, which was okay because it seemed like every Brazilian was in Orlando that week, so I was actually with thousands of my closest Portuguese-speaking friends.

I've been wanting to go to HarryPotterLand ever since I first saw the preview on The Half-Blood Prince.  They did an excellent job of making you feel like you were walking through a replica of Hogsmeade.  The styrofoam snow on the roof kind of gives it away, although the dark ominous clouds of the day added to the atmosphere.  I hope that the staff do not have to wear their robes and capes during the summer season.

The entry to Hogsmeade

You could stand in line to get a picture of the conductor,
but I chose to just steal this girls' photo op instead.
She's rockin' the fanny pack.

. . .except the train doesn't actually move.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Yummy Displays

Not the cheapest way to buy candy, but definitely yummy.

It would've been cheaper to buy a chocolate Easter bunny and
pretend it was a chocolate frog, but then I wouldn't have the cool box
and the Rowena Ravenclaw trading card.

Hogwarts Castle, home of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

A roller coaster is a roller coaster is a roller coaster, unless you put it in Hogwarts Castle, and then it's an EXPERIENCE.  Most of the fun was in the line through the castle and grounds.  Lots of attention to details.

The whatchmacallit that keeps track of the House Points

Um, I don't think they were really enforcing this rule that day.

Yes, of course, the Sorting Hat talked to me, as did all of the pictures.

I was impressed with the effects and setting, but decided that the Forbidden Journey was the type of "roller coaster" that I did NOT like.  The Dragon Challenge, on the other hand, was TOTALLY AWESOME!!  Two intertwining roller coasters that are FAST.  Those are okay, I guess.  The kind that jerk you around back and forth, up and down are the ones that make me ill.  And the set up to the Dragon challenge was equally cool, with lots of Tri-Wizard tournament banners and tie-ins, including a car crashed into a tree, but I had locked my camera in the locker.  Sigh.

Buckbeak bowed, so I could ride the Flight of the Hippogriff.  Phew.

Random overpriced souvenirs.  I stuck with the candy.

The wicked, snarling Monster Book of Monsters

The Three Broomsticks for lunch

Fish, Chips, and Butter Beer.  Mmmmmm. 

  

No, the Lorax was not in HarryPotterLand,
but he was my fave from Seuss Landing so he's here.

Was it fun?  Yes.  Was it expensive?  Duh.  Was it worth it?  Depends on how big of a Harry Potter fan you are.  I made a point of riding every ride in HarryPotterLand and even threw in a few rides from the rest of the park. I did decide that I would pass on Dr. Doom's Fearfall, The Incredible Hulk Coaster and the Jurassic Park River Adventure(it wasn't THAT warm). 


I could have brought home bottled pumpkin juice (ick), but they didn't have Butter Beer in a bottle (sigh).  I decided that I didn't need something with Gryffindor or Hogwarts on it, and really, who buys the Slytherin stuff?  I didn't need a wand or a robe or a snitch or a sneakoscope, and they didn't have a Marauder's Map, so I brought home a bunch of candy and called it good.  One note:  Any Flavor Beans are NOT just jelly bellies.  I probably spit half of them into the garbage because really, who needs to eat dirt or beef gravy jelly beans?


If you are planning a trip to HarryPotterLand, or just dreaming of one, the website is pretty cool:


http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

Orlando Fun

I joined G. on a short but sweet business trip to Orlando in January.  It was lovely until the tornado system moved in, but no worries.  It just rained really really REALLY hard.  On Monday, I spent the morning at Downtown Disney, then went with G. to Epcot for the evening.

The Characters in Flight attraction,
which I decided that I just had to
 ride to prove that I could conquer
my fear of heights.

The little ball way off in the distance is the Epcot Center.

Planet Hollywood from 400 feet

A windblown me from 400 feet

Disney as far as the eye can see

Which came first?  My little Mismatched, or theirs?

Didn't stop to ask how many mini-figures
were in this Lego Store display

The really big Epcot Ball

Sadly, I didn't get many pictures from Epcot because of their rules or bad lighting, but we did have a good time.  Next time, however, I will tell the nice man at Mission to Mars that I will take the less-intense option.

Another Movie from A

Another example of A's creativity and patience.  Now, if he would just show the same attention to detail and motivation regarding his Eagle Scout project.  Maybe tomorrow.

Who says Computer Time is Wasted Time?

(The captions are kind of small, so you'll want to make this full screen to view and ignore the pixilation)


There's nothing that makes a mother happier than seeing her children create a work of art on the computer.   Can you tell that we saw "Tangled" in the theater earlier that day?  Can you tell that S. wields a mean digital paintbrush?  Can you tell that S. is becoming a bit sarcastic?  Yup.  I'm such a proud mom.

A's First Stop Animation Attempt

Who knew that my son could be this patient?  Surprise surprise!