The biggest news around here is that Joseph has started getting college acceptance letters--much sooner than I had expected! He got an e-mail (not surprisingly) from Digipen Institute last week, and got a packet in the mail today. And yesterday he got a very nice, personal letter from Earlham (making reference to Harry Potter, and Quaker camps) accepting him and offering two merit scholarships--one President's scholarship, and someone else's...it all adds up to less than a quarter of the total cost, but that isn't anything to sneeze at.
Four more to go, and he is to make a decision by the first of May. He is very much enjoying his summer, with lots of friends still around before they go off to various universities, mostly over the next couple of weeks. He has made spaghetti for a gang of them tonight, as they play some game that isn't quite Dungeons and Dragons, but like that.
Joseph got his full driver's license two weeks ago, just in time for Emily to start school, and for him to start picking her up from school, which is very helpful. Emily likes her new, young and energetic male teacher. She is in Year 8, the top of the school, with lots of emphasis on leadership and independence and setting a good example. In two weeks, they will go to school camp for a week, and hers involves going on the Tongariro Crossing--supposed to be the best one-day tramp in New Zealand, some 12 kilometers over a mountain...I'm just as glad someone else gets to coax her onward...
Hiccup and Charlie are still getting along swimmingly. Hiccup starts adolescent puppy class in two weeks. He is still the cutest thing on four legs.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
A new year
I am sorry for being so very delinquent in my blogging. It is not that nothing is happening...the last semester was a very busy one, and it kept on going after classes ended, right up until the middle of December, when the university closed up and we went home.
Highlights of the last six months:
In July, Joseph went off to Greece and Italy with his classics class (under the pretext of looking at vases and old stone buildings). My sister Sarah came for two weeks, and had some quality time with Emily, since my between-semester break did not correspond at all to Emily's between-term break, thanks to the biggest media event of the year (you may not have noticed), the Rugby World Cup.
In October, Emily and I went on a cruise! It was a small one (four days), to try out the concept--big boat, thousands of people (well, 2000). I wasn't sure how it would be, but we enjoyed it--Emily liked the kids' programme, and I liked reading my book on the balcony and not being able to do dishes even if I wanted to. We might try it again in a more exotic location (like Asia or Pacific Islands) sometime.
In November, my college roommate, Marian, and her friend, Pam, came to visit. They explored some local attractions on their own (Rotorua, The Shire, where they had just finished filming the Hobbit) and we went to Taupo and Napier over a long weekend. Highlights were the Art Deco walking tour (Napier was destroyed by an earthquake in 1930-something, and rebuilt very prettily) and the gannet colony, where we saw gannets hatching.
Joseph finished his last exam in November, and became a "high school leaver". This doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment...but we tried to celebrate, in spite of minimal cultural support.
The BIG EVENT, however, was Christmas, and its aftermath...Emily got a puppy. Ok, we all got a puppy, but he is Emily's, officially, and Charlie's friend. He wasn't actually under the tree--just a package of puppy accessories that very, very slowly dawned on Emily as she opened them up. It included a picture of the puppy, on a dog tag necklace, which she wore for the next 10 days, while we went to the Quaker Summer Gathering, and then picked him up on January 3. Emily has named him Hiccup. He is a Tibetan Spaniel, five months old.
So the anniversary of Manford's leaving was marked also by a new beginning. We did have some words about him in Meeting that morning, and the yearly meeting gave us a fern to plant in his garden.
Hiccup and Charlie started off slightly leery of each other (Hiccup barked, which scared Charlie, who is about 8 times his size), but they have quickly become friends, and started romping in the yard within two days. I will post pictures.
And by the way, Joseph turned 18 on the 30th, and (I'm not supposed to know this) had a date with a girl on Boxing Day (the 26th). The mother grapevine is strong. And I got myself a car for Christmas--a Honda Jazz, which is called a Fit in the US, I think. It will replace the minivan, as we downsize. Still plenty of room for us and the dogs.
Highlights of the last six months:
In July, Joseph went off to Greece and Italy with his classics class (under the pretext of looking at vases and old stone buildings). My sister Sarah came for two weeks, and had some quality time with Emily, since my between-semester break did not correspond at all to Emily's between-term break, thanks to the biggest media event of the year (you may not have noticed), the Rugby World Cup.
In October, Emily and I went on a cruise! It was a small one (four days), to try out the concept--big boat, thousands of people (well, 2000). I wasn't sure how it would be, but we enjoyed it--Emily liked the kids' programme, and I liked reading my book on the balcony and not being able to do dishes even if I wanted to. We might try it again in a more exotic location (like Asia or Pacific Islands) sometime.
In November, my college roommate, Marian, and her friend, Pam, came to visit. They explored some local attractions on their own (Rotorua, The Shire, where they had just finished filming the Hobbit) and we went to Taupo and Napier over a long weekend. Highlights were the Art Deco walking tour (Napier was destroyed by an earthquake in 1930-something, and rebuilt very prettily) and the gannet colony, where we saw gannets hatching.
Joseph finished his last exam in November, and became a "high school leaver". This doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment...but we tried to celebrate, in spite of minimal cultural support.
The BIG EVENT, however, was Christmas, and its aftermath...Emily got a puppy. Ok, we all got a puppy, but he is Emily's, officially, and Charlie's friend. He wasn't actually under the tree--just a package of puppy accessories that very, very slowly dawned on Emily as she opened them up. It included a picture of the puppy, on a dog tag necklace, which she wore for the next 10 days, while we went to the Quaker Summer Gathering, and then picked him up on January 3. Emily has named him Hiccup. He is a Tibetan Spaniel, five months old.
So the anniversary of Manford's leaving was marked also by a new beginning. We did have some words about him in Meeting that morning, and the yearly meeting gave us a fern to plant in his garden.
Hiccup and Charlie started off slightly leery of each other (Hiccup barked, which scared Charlie, who is about 8 times his size), but they have quickly become friends, and started romping in the yard within two days. I will post pictures.
And by the way, Joseph turned 18 on the 30th, and (I'm not supposed to know this) had a date with a girl on Boxing Day (the 26th). The mother grapevine is strong. And I got myself a car for Christmas--a Honda Jazz, which is called a Fit in the US, I think. It will replace the minivan, as we downsize. Still plenty of room for us and the dogs.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Shortest days
It is July, midwinter--still getting used to that. We are past the shortest day, so someday soon it will be light by 7, but not now. I went to a conference in Dunedin, a far piece south of here--almost to the bottom of the South Island--last week, and it was even darker there, and colder, but nothing like Kansas cold. It was a university town--30,000 of the 110,000 inhabitants are students--and the oldest university in New Zealand (that's not that old...maybe 100 years? maybe a bit more?). I liked it, but really didn't get to see much of it because it was dark by the time we got done with the conference every day, and I didn't really have time to linger. Emily stayed in the boarding house at her school, and enjoyed it, at least for a five-day stint. Joseph held down the fort at home, eating nothing but chicken tenders and pizza, as far as I can tell.
The day after I got back was Book Character day at Emily's school, and I realized as I dropped her off that this is the Halloween equivalent here. They barely celebrate Halloween, and not at all at school, so I'd been kind of sad she was missing out on dressing up and parading around--but then they have this day, which is the culmination of Book Week (they have some authors come and talk to them--not sure what other things go on), when they get to dress up as a character from a book, and they talk about it for weeks, and come in an array of costumes, from casual (a bow and a book, and you're Matilda) to elaborate (I saw a girl in an enormous hoop skirt and wig struggling out of a car). Emily was Robin Hood's daughter. Don't ask me what book that was.
Joseph was off long before dawn this morning to a "fixture" in Auckland--that is where all the sports teams from one school go to another school and play all of their teams. Joseph is on the chess team, and looks a little out of place with all the jocks in their school track suits...then tonight, at midnight, he and a friend are going to the opening of the last Harry Potter movie. Complex emotions. I have no idea what his are. Then, Friday morning, he leaves for Greece and Italy, with his school Classics class.
My sister Sarah is here, hanging out with Emily during the day, as Emily is on the break between terms (she has three weeks). She has been here two days and is nearly recovered from the trip, I think. She and Emily and Charlie walked to Hamilton Gardens, a big park a good walk away, between rain showers yesterday.
We've got the basics of Manford's memorial garden put in, now, and I can see it out the living room window, where he spent his last month. There is a Japanese maple in back of the Buddha, but it is just a stick right now--and the flowers are barely there, but in time I think it will be lovely. I am working on some mosaic on stones at the hospice art therapy group to add one of these days.
The day after I got back was Book Character day at Emily's school, and I realized as I dropped her off that this is the Halloween equivalent here. They barely celebrate Halloween, and not at all at school, so I'd been kind of sad she was missing out on dressing up and parading around--but then they have this day, which is the culmination of Book Week (they have some authors come and talk to them--not sure what other things go on), when they get to dress up as a character from a book, and they talk about it for weeks, and come in an array of costumes, from casual (a bow and a book, and you're Matilda) to elaborate (I saw a girl in an enormous hoop skirt and wig struggling out of a car). Emily was Robin Hood's daughter. Don't ask me what book that was.
Joseph was off long before dawn this morning to a "fixture" in Auckland--that is where all the sports teams from one school go to another school and play all of their teams. Joseph is on the chess team, and looks a little out of place with all the jocks in their school track suits...then tonight, at midnight, he and a friend are going to the opening of the last Harry Potter movie. Complex emotions. I have no idea what his are. Then, Friday morning, he leaves for Greece and Italy, with his school Classics class.
My sister Sarah is here, hanging out with Emily during the day, as Emily is on the break between terms (she has three weeks). She has been here two days and is nearly recovered from the trip, I think. She and Emily and Charlie walked to Hamilton Gardens, a big park a good walk away, between rain showers yesterday.
We've got the basics of Manford's memorial garden put in, now, and I can see it out the living room window, where he spent his last month. There is a Japanese maple in back of the Buddha, but it is just a stick right now--and the flowers are barely there, but in time I think it will be lovely. I am working on some mosaic on stones at the hospice art therapy group to add one of these days.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Twenty years on
We have celebrated, and weathered, Manford and my 20th wedding anniversary this week. The last month or two have been hard, I suppose the reality of loss setting in and work no longer working as a way to get away, so I approached the anniversary worried, and with a bad cold. Most of our big days are spread across two days here, now, since the date comes first here, then in the US, and we are not sure which is the real anniversary. So on the 26th, here, I had lunch with a friend who brought beautiful flowers, and had a massage, and at home with the kids we lit a candle after dinner and looked at wedding and honeymoon pictures (which Emily loves to do). We remembered many friends and family that way, some of whom are gone, some changed a lot, some changed very little. Then on the 27th, I had six friends over and we opened the bottle of wine Manford and I brought back from St. Victor la Coste, where we spent much of our honeymoon. The wine was a bit harsh, but the company was good, and we toasted Manford.
This time of year is the most confusing for me here; I don’t know if that is worse this year or if it is just the juxtaposition of it being May, but so clearly autumnal, that I can never figure out what the date is, and feel very disoriented. Here they would say “disorientated,” but I can’t bring myself to do that. It is a beautiful sunny day at the moment, but there are big grey clouds hanging about and it could change rapidly. We have some amazing varieties of fungal life growing in the garden, the most spectacular of which is called a basket or lattice fungus, apparently, and it looks like something man-made. First there is a small roundish brown egglike thing in the grass, and then out pops a white structure like a latticework ball, about as big as a softball. A few days later, it collapses and stinks. Apparently it is part of the “stinkhorn” family, but it is definitely not hornlike.
At Easter, we went on a trip to Wellington and then on to Nelson, at the top of the South Island. All three of us went to Wellington, and ate good food and explored for a couple of days before Joseph went up to Young Friends Camp at Whanganui, and Emily and I went on the ferry to the South Island. We drove to Nelson, and spent four days there. It was a bit rainy, but on Good Friday (which is a holiday there, along with Easter Monday) it was not yet rainy and we got to go sea kayaking and got very close to a dozen or so seals. I also learned to try to steer with my feet (the double sea kayak has a rudder controlled by foot pedals) and coordinate paddling with Emily, which was challenging because she has learned to kayak in smaller single kayaks where she steers by paddling strategically or chaotically, depending on her whim. At least she has gotten over her previous habit of dropping the paddle every ten minutes.
We had a good time, but punctuated by the realization that everywhere in New Zealand (and the rest of the world) is either somewhere I went with Manford, or somewhere I didn’t go with Manford. Maybe we need to work on taking him with us, still. Happy Anniversary, my love, and everyone else who remembers it.
This time of year is the most confusing for me here; I don’t know if that is worse this year or if it is just the juxtaposition of it being May, but so clearly autumnal, that I can never figure out what the date is, and feel very disoriented. Here they would say “disorientated,” but I can’t bring myself to do that. It is a beautiful sunny day at the moment, but there are big grey clouds hanging about and it could change rapidly. We have some amazing varieties of fungal life growing in the garden, the most spectacular of which is called a basket or lattice fungus, apparently, and it looks like something man-made. First there is a small roundish brown egglike thing in the grass, and then out pops a white structure like a latticework ball, about as big as a softball. A few days later, it collapses and stinks. Apparently it is part of the “stinkhorn” family, but it is definitely not hornlike.
At Easter, we went on a trip to Wellington and then on to Nelson, at the top of the South Island. All three of us went to Wellington, and ate good food and explored for a couple of days before Joseph went up to Young Friends Camp at Whanganui, and Emily and I went on the ferry to the South Island. We drove to Nelson, and spent four days there. It was a bit rainy, but on Good Friday (which is a holiday there, along with Easter Monday) it was not yet rainy and we got to go sea kayaking and got very close to a dozen or so seals. I also learned to try to steer with my feet (the double sea kayak has a rudder controlled by foot pedals) and coordinate paddling with Emily, which was challenging because she has learned to kayak in smaller single kayaks where she steers by paddling strategically or chaotically, depending on her whim. At least she has gotten over her previous habit of dropping the paddle every ten minutes.
We had a good time, but punctuated by the realization that everywhere in New Zealand (and the rest of the world) is either somewhere I went with Manford, or somewhere I didn’t go with Manford. Maybe we need to work on taking him with us, still. Happy Anniversary, my love, and everyone else who remembers it.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A month later
It seems like it has been a long month, though most of what is happening is not to us--upheaval of all sorts in many parts of the world. Here, Emily has happily joined the ranks of the myopic...she has been waiting for years for the coming-of-age that getting glasses seems to represent for her. Or the joining the family, or something--she felt left out being the only one without glasses. Now she is not different any more, and seems to be adapting well to wearing her glasses most of the time, though she doesn't really need them all that much...
We enjoyed visiting with Carleen and Bob Franz, from Lawrence, over the last week or so--Carleen was here visiting a friend in Taupo, and then Bob joined her and they came her for a couple of days, during which she graciously taught one of my classes and talked with some people at Emily's school about learning disabilities--maybe sowing some seeds to come back and do more exploring.
Charlie and I have been enjoying morning walks in the part, but the dawn comes later and later every day, and is encroaching on the time I need to prod Emily into getting ready for school. Our time has not changed yet, but will in a couple of weeks. The weather is still lovely, though--almost like Fall sometimes, then slipping back to summer. I was corrected in the tea room, though, for calling it Fall. Autumn.
I have been trying to fathom structural equation modeling, which I think was not really invented yet when I took statistics. The good news is that I am starting to putter around in some data that has been sitting here for nine months, waiting expectantly(maybe appropriately, being as it is about pregnancy). But there is always more to know, more to learn, more to do.
We enjoyed visiting with Carleen and Bob Franz, from Lawrence, over the last week or so--Carleen was here visiting a friend in Taupo, and then Bob joined her and they came her for a couple of days, during which she graciously taught one of my classes and talked with some people at Emily's school about learning disabilities--maybe sowing some seeds to come back and do more exploring.
Charlie and I have been enjoying morning walks in the part, but the dawn comes later and later every day, and is encroaching on the time I need to prod Emily into getting ready for school. Our time has not changed yet, but will in a couple of weeks. The weather is still lovely, though--almost like Fall sometimes, then slipping back to summer. I was corrected in the tea room, though, for calling it Fall. Autumn.
I have been trying to fathom structural equation modeling, which I think was not really invented yet when I took statistics. The good news is that I am starting to putter around in some data that has been sitting here for nine months, waiting expectantly(maybe appropriately, being as it is about pregnancy). But there is always more to know, more to learn, more to do.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Severe earthquake in Christchurch--not here
We are just hearing about the severe--not so high on the Richter Scale, but very damaging--earthquake in Christchurch today. No, we didn't feel it; it is very far away, but we are sad for the people there, and for the loss of some beautiful old buildings. I just saw a picture of the Christchurch cathedral, a centre city landmark which I think is in one of these old blog pictures, with the top broken off. I hear there has been loss of life (which fortunately there was not in the last big quake there) and much damage downtown. We can all hold them in the light.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Orlando report, while I still remember...
Time is slipping by; I went back to work this week, and am figuring out how to juggle and/or coordinate things. Emily tried out for Girl's Choir(which is a chapel choir, which means things I'm not sure I yet understand) for the third year in a row, and got in this year, much to her delight. This means she has rehearsal after school until 5 on Wednesdays (which is good, no after school care that day) and before school at 7:45 on Fridays (which is good, I get to go to work early, but this Friday we nearly forgot, which would have been a fatal error and she is convinced would have meant she was kicked out of choir, but I remembered at 7:20, five minutes after she got out of bed, and we made it...). Joseph does not have Chemistry, because of a scheduling conflict and a full class, so he has one open period this year, and is enjoying sleeping in on Tuesdays and planning two groups of Dungeons and Dragons followers. He is the dungeonmaster, which means he makes up the plot, kind of, and it seems to involve quite a lot of more careful notetaking than I've ever seen him do for school...
Step back three weeks, to Orlando...We spent one day at Harry Potter Wizarding World (or, more correctly, at Islands of Adventure, which includes HPWW), and one at Disney World Magic Kingdom. We stayed at one of the hotels affiliated with Universal, so we could just take a water taxi to HPWW, and got in an hour early, at 8 a.m. This might not have been Joseph's ideal plan, but I dragged him out of bed and we did go early, because I had insider's tips from the night before in the hot tub, when I talked with several young men who worked at HPWW. They said go to Olivander's Wand Shop first, because it has the longest lines, and then the Forbidden Journey, which is the Hogwarts Castle ride. So this is what we did.
As you can see in some of the early pictures, when we got there it was to a very empty park. There were a couple of dozen people from the park hotels, all making a beeline for HPWW. Islands of Adventure consists of six different themed areas--Dr. Suess (which Emily and I enjoyed), Marvel Comics (where Joseph went after HPWW), Tune Lagoon (old fashioned comics like Blondie and Popeye), Jurassic Park, Lost Continent (sort of vaguely classical mythology) and HPWW. Each has a few rides and/or shows, and lots of shops...
Harry Potter Wizarding World was very well done--it consists of an entry with a very small bow to the Hogwarts Express--part of a train and a little station, and a street that is kind of a blend of Hogsmead and Diagon Alley--it has many shops and two restaurants, the Three Broomsticks and the Hogs Head, though really they are the same building. Some of the shops are just storefronts, but there are plenty you can buy things in...a candy shop (Honeydukes), a joke shop (Zonko's), Flourish and Blotts, which should be a bookstore but is miscellaneous souvenirs...and Olivander's, the wand shop, where we did start. They let in a few people at a time into what is essentially a show in the shop, where Mr. Olivander picks and child (Emily was disappointed not to be picked, but enjoyed it anyway) and he goes through the process of having the child test out three wands, in roughly the sequence Harry experiences in the first book--the first wand makes all the wand boxes bang and rattle, the second collapses some shelves, and the third glows and makes magic happen...then you all move out and the parents of the chosen child get to buy the wand, if they so desire...and everyone else can buy a wand, of course. We have wands, so we did not need to buy one.
Emily was wearing Quidditch robes--the red and gold robe Sue Wine made, with minor assistance from me, for Joseph's long-ago Halloween costume. He wore it several years, and Emily has been making good use of it lately. Joseph just wore one of his regular Harry Potter t-shirts, and acting nonchalant...
Then we sped on over to Hogwarts, it still being before 8:30 in the morning, and there was no line for the Forbidden Journey, which actually turned out to be something of a disadvantage. They have designed the ride so that you walk through the castle, presumably slowly if you are in line. We kind of dashed through, not taking sufficient time to appreciate the detail, which included talking pictures and interesting magical instruments. We went through Dumbledore's office, which had a hologram of Dumbledore talking, and the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, where Harry, Ron and Hermione were talking, and dashed onward. Later, Joseph and I went back and realized that these were setting up the premise to the ride. We were students, going to a History of Magic Lesson (boring, taught by a ghost), and Harry, Ron and Hermione were scheming to fly us out of the castle to escape the lesson (the Forbidden Journey). We arrived in the Griffindor Common Room and sat in chairs (the ride) and took off. The ride was a bit harrowing. If I hadn't been worried about Emily being traumatized, I would have enjoyed it a bit more, but really she was ok, an parts of it were fun...I liked the parts where we were flying on a broomstick, following Harry out over the castle and landscape. I wasn't as fond of the parts where we were approached by dementors, giant spiders, and a dragon...I think Emily had her eyes shut through much of it, but somehow she seems to remember more of it than I do, or at least with more certainty about what happened when...They took a picture of us during it, and Emily has her eyes shut and her hands over her ears, I am gazing upward as if praying or god knows what, and Joseph looks carefully composed. Come to think of it, I bought a download of the picture, and so will get it sometime and post it if I can. Emily claimed to be very embarrassed by it, but did take the hard copy we bought to school last week...
All the rides these days dump you out into a shop, where you can spend hundreds of dollars, if you wish. We accummulated many odds and ends, but resisted early in the day. After the ride, we went to the Three Broomsticks for breakfast, including the first taste of butterbeer, which was a very sweet version butterscotchy creme soda. Then we wandered around Hogsmead as it got more crowded, and by 9:30 had basically seen it all...there are two more rides in HPWW, but they are both roller coasters and neither of the kids were very interested in going on them. Emily and I went to Suess Landing, where we enjoyed the colorful kiddie rides and went on Cat in the Hat three times and the CaroSeussal twice. There were almost no people there because all the new people had dashed straight for HPWW. Later we walked around the park with Joseph, seeing Captain America and Dinosaurs and all, and had lunch at Mythos, which claims to be the best theme park restaurant in the world. That may be true (the competition is not all that stiff); it was kind of like a real restaurant.
After wandering the now-crowded shops of Hogsmead and buying more Harry Potter stuff (two new shirts for Joseph, Emily's first HP shirt, a quill, keychains, cards, a Gryffindor cap and luggage tag...), we dragged ourselves back to the hotel to rest. Joseph and I returned later in the afternoon for a second look. It had been a cloudy but warm (for winter) day. I think it would be miserable in summer. At 6:00, just as Joseph and I were leaving to go back to the hotel, it started pouring, complete with thunder and lightening so that the water taxi did not operate and we had to wander around trying to find the other shuttle back to the hotel, getting thoroughly soaked and returning to find Emily hiding under the covers. We got room service and holed up in our hotel room, looking at our loot.
The next day, we had a more leisurely morning, not rushing to get to Disney World. Joseph might disagree, since anything that involves getting up before 10 seems like rushing to him. We took a cab to Disney World, which is a city, if not a county, of its own, about 20 minutes from where Universal's domain is. There are four theme parks and two water parks and thousands (probaby tens of thousands, really) of hotel rooms and hundreds of shops in Disney World. We went to the Magic Kingdom, the traditional Disneyland-ish park. With Fairy tale castle, Small World, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, etc. No Matterhorn, though. It was pleasant enough...neither of the kids is really into wild rides, though; Joseph went on Space Mountain, and Emily and I wandered around and enjoyed a Buzz Lightyear ride that involved shooting things. I dragged both kids to Small World, where we found they do have a small New Zealand bit, and to the Haunted Mansion, which was a bit much for Emily. So she didn't go on Pirates of the Caribbean, which was probably a good choice. We had lunch that was no competition for Mythos, and enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic, which was a 3D movie zooming through various Disney shows. I couldn't convince the kids to see the Hall of Presidents...another spin at Buzz Lightyear, some real American ice cream on Main Street, and we were done. Enough theme park for a few years...
Step back three weeks, to Orlando...We spent one day at Harry Potter Wizarding World (or, more correctly, at Islands of Adventure, which includes HPWW), and one at Disney World Magic Kingdom. We stayed at one of the hotels affiliated with Universal, so we could just take a water taxi to HPWW, and got in an hour early, at 8 a.m. This might not have been Joseph's ideal plan, but I dragged him out of bed and we did go early, because I had insider's tips from the night before in the hot tub, when I talked with several young men who worked at HPWW. They said go to Olivander's Wand Shop first, because it has the longest lines, and then the Forbidden Journey, which is the Hogwarts Castle ride. So this is what we did.
As you can see in some of the early pictures, when we got there it was to a very empty park. There were a couple of dozen people from the park hotels, all making a beeline for HPWW. Islands of Adventure consists of six different themed areas--Dr. Suess (which Emily and I enjoyed), Marvel Comics (where Joseph went after HPWW), Tune Lagoon (old fashioned comics like Blondie and Popeye), Jurassic Park, Lost Continent (sort of vaguely classical mythology) and HPWW. Each has a few rides and/or shows, and lots of shops...
Harry Potter Wizarding World was very well done--it consists of an entry with a very small bow to the Hogwarts Express--part of a train and a little station, and a street that is kind of a blend of Hogsmead and Diagon Alley--it has many shops and two restaurants, the Three Broomsticks and the Hogs Head, though really they are the same building. Some of the shops are just storefronts, but there are plenty you can buy things in...a candy shop (Honeydukes), a joke shop (Zonko's), Flourish and Blotts, which should be a bookstore but is miscellaneous souvenirs...and Olivander's, the wand shop, where we did start. They let in a few people at a time into what is essentially a show in the shop, where Mr. Olivander picks and child (Emily was disappointed not to be picked, but enjoyed it anyway) and he goes through the process of having the child test out three wands, in roughly the sequence Harry experiences in the first book--the first wand makes all the wand boxes bang and rattle, the second collapses some shelves, and the third glows and makes magic happen...then you all move out and the parents of the chosen child get to buy the wand, if they so desire...and everyone else can buy a wand, of course. We have wands, so we did not need to buy one.
Emily was wearing Quidditch robes--the red and gold robe Sue Wine made, with minor assistance from me, for Joseph's long-ago Halloween costume. He wore it several years, and Emily has been making good use of it lately. Joseph just wore one of his regular Harry Potter t-shirts, and acting nonchalant...
Then we sped on over to Hogwarts, it still being before 8:30 in the morning, and there was no line for the Forbidden Journey, which actually turned out to be something of a disadvantage. They have designed the ride so that you walk through the castle, presumably slowly if you are in line. We kind of dashed through, not taking sufficient time to appreciate the detail, which included talking pictures and interesting magical instruments. We went through Dumbledore's office, which had a hologram of Dumbledore talking, and the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, where Harry, Ron and Hermione were talking, and dashed onward. Later, Joseph and I went back and realized that these were setting up the premise to the ride. We were students, going to a History of Magic Lesson (boring, taught by a ghost), and Harry, Ron and Hermione were scheming to fly us out of the castle to escape the lesson (the Forbidden Journey). We arrived in the Griffindor Common Room and sat in chairs (the ride) and took off. The ride was a bit harrowing. If I hadn't been worried about Emily being traumatized, I would have enjoyed it a bit more, but really she was ok, an parts of it were fun...I liked the parts where we were flying on a broomstick, following Harry out over the castle and landscape. I wasn't as fond of the parts where we were approached by dementors, giant spiders, and a dragon...I think Emily had her eyes shut through much of it, but somehow she seems to remember more of it than I do, or at least with more certainty about what happened when...They took a picture of us during it, and Emily has her eyes shut and her hands over her ears, I am gazing upward as if praying or god knows what, and Joseph looks carefully composed. Come to think of it, I bought a download of the picture, and so will get it sometime and post it if I can. Emily claimed to be very embarrassed by it, but did take the hard copy we bought to school last week...
All the rides these days dump you out into a shop, where you can spend hundreds of dollars, if you wish. We accummulated many odds and ends, but resisted early in the day. After the ride, we went to the Three Broomsticks for breakfast, including the first taste of butterbeer, which was a very sweet version butterscotchy creme soda. Then we wandered around Hogsmead as it got more crowded, and by 9:30 had basically seen it all...there are two more rides in HPWW, but they are both roller coasters and neither of the kids were very interested in going on them. Emily and I went to Suess Landing, where we enjoyed the colorful kiddie rides and went on Cat in the Hat three times and the CaroSeussal twice. There were almost no people there because all the new people had dashed straight for HPWW. Later we walked around the park with Joseph, seeing Captain America and Dinosaurs and all, and had lunch at Mythos, which claims to be the best theme park restaurant in the world. That may be true (the competition is not all that stiff); it was kind of like a real restaurant.
After wandering the now-crowded shops of Hogsmead and buying more Harry Potter stuff (two new shirts for Joseph, Emily's first HP shirt, a quill, keychains, cards, a Gryffindor cap and luggage tag...), we dragged ourselves back to the hotel to rest. Joseph and I returned later in the afternoon for a second look. It had been a cloudy but warm (for winter) day. I think it would be miserable in summer. At 6:00, just as Joseph and I were leaving to go back to the hotel, it started pouring, complete with thunder and lightening so that the water taxi did not operate and we had to wander around trying to find the other shuttle back to the hotel, getting thoroughly soaked and returning to find Emily hiding under the covers. We got room service and holed up in our hotel room, looking at our loot.
The next day, we had a more leisurely morning, not rushing to get to Disney World. Joseph might disagree, since anything that involves getting up before 10 seems like rushing to him. We took a cab to Disney World, which is a city, if not a county, of its own, about 20 minutes from where Universal's domain is. There are four theme parks and two water parks and thousands (probaby tens of thousands, really) of hotel rooms and hundreds of shops in Disney World. We went to the Magic Kingdom, the traditional Disneyland-ish park. With Fairy tale castle, Small World, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, etc. No Matterhorn, though. It was pleasant enough...neither of the kids is really into wild rides, though; Joseph went on Space Mountain, and Emily and I wandered around and enjoyed a Buzz Lightyear ride that involved shooting things. I dragged both kids to Small World, where we found they do have a small New Zealand bit, and to the Haunted Mansion, which was a bit much for Emily. So she didn't go on Pirates of the Caribbean, which was probably a good choice. We had lunch that was no competition for Mythos, and enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic, which was a 3D movie zooming through various Disney shows. I couldn't convince the kids to see the Hall of Presidents...another spin at Buzz Lightyear, some real American ice cream on Main Street, and we were done. Enough theme park for a few years...
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