A Birthday Visit to Diagon Alley

Today was GPS's eleventh birthday. And an offhanded remark led to a pretty amazing birthday present from the siblings.

A few weeks back, GPS was asked for a birthday wish list. The semi-joking response? "I just want my Hogwart's letter."

Well, of course, right? Harry Potter got his letter when he turned eleven. Isn't that what every self-respecting HP fan would want?

FutureStar and Midkid heard this and jumped into action. So when GPS got back from baseball practice tonight, this is what happened:

Hedwig was waiting at the front door, and the acceptance letter was on the front porch.

Inside, signs welcomed us to Diagon Alley (up the stairs).

At Flourish and Blotts, GPS was given the First-Year textbooks (a three book Hogwarts Library). 

Then on to Ollivanders, where GPS received a wand and bookmark, and was "sorted" into Hufflepuff (complete with house lanyard)!

Then we all went downstairs to the Three Broomsticks...

 

Where we feasted on homemade Butterbeer and pumpkin pasties.

Best birthday ever, or what? :)

She's Baaaa-aaack!

It's been a month since I last blogged?

Seriously?

*checks calendar*

Dang.

*checks calendar again*

Oh, of course. That was the end of the school year. Makes perfect sense now.

Since then, I've:

1. Spent time with the family (all home for the summer);
2. Gone on vacation across the state;
3. Traveled to Oklahoma City for a day-job-related conference;
4. Read some great books;
5. Taken up golf (with the hubs);
6. Written!

...and there's more where that came from, with a camping trip and various day excursions planned for the rest of the summer. But I'm adding blogging back in, both because I've missed it and because I've got some exciting stuff coming up.

Including a new interview that's in the works! I think you'll be as excited as I am once you see who I get to chat with next. :)


In the meantime, here's a great deal I found out about yesterday. My Siren-Bookstrand erotic romance, Hooked, has been selected for their Retro Romance promotion, which means it's on sale here for only $1.99 until August 2. Pretty cool, huh?



Stop by tomorrow for a new Inspiration Friday post, and next week I'll be sharing some of my summer vacation pics, including one with me standing next to a giant metal chicken.

See you then!

The End is Nigh...

School gets out next week, and I'm on the last stretch of no-kids-at-home time before the horde descends for the summer. I'm really looking forward to the family time, but until that happens, I've got paperwork from the day job up to my eyeballs and not enough hours in the day to catch up.

So long story short, I may be scarce from the blog for a while. Look for me on Inspiration Friday, and I'll try to pop in with other posts when I can. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook. Wish me luck!

Glitter!

FutureStar has been working on a poster this week, for school, that apparently required large quantities of glitter. Glitter designs, glitter over glue, glitter glitter glitter.

Of course, we now have glitter everywhere. Kitchen floor, family room carpet, kitchen table, pretty much every pair of socks in the household, even FutureStar's eyebrows (don't ask).

It's a great poster, and it's been fun watching FS really focus all that energy on making it the best one possible.

So the proliferation of glitter is a small price to pay, really.

It also reminds me of my first-ever published work, a poem that was included in my college literary magazine. I'd written for years before that, but this was the first time I'd ever held my own work in published form, and it was magical.

Funny thing is, I'd submitted a bunch of poems, almost all of them emo and "deep", and they picked the light-hearted one I'd tossed in on a whim. And a year later, a friend told me that they'd been sharing favorite poems in class and someone had read mine. Just goes to show that you never know what's going to make the biggest impact.

So here it is! My first published work:

Astronomy

somebody spilled
glitter on the hallway rug
bare feet scuff up a cloud of stars
galaxies sparkling
I dance
through the Milky Way
(wrap Orion's belt around my big toe)
and waltz off to bed
Cassiopeia clinging to my heels

Rest in Peace, Grandpa

I just heard that my last surviving grandparent passed away last night. He lived a long, productive, love-filled life, and I'm honored to have known him. I loved spending time at his house during the summer, in the guest room in the basement. I loved the garden where he grew corn and pumpkins and berries and so many other yummy things. He was gentle, and thoughtful, and always positive. And he loved his family fiercely. You'll be missed, grandpa.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

I'm in love.

My husband isn't worried, though, because he's in love, too.

We've discovered our new favorite thing – Mauna Loa macadamia nut Hershey's kisses.

Perhaps not unrelated, I'm writing this on a Hawaiian airlines flight. Weird coincidence – my ob/gyn is about ten rows behind me. (A great woman – it was fun to see her outside the office!)

Anyway, I'll be spending spring break on a beach, slathered in SPF 50, taking a little time to relax and enjoy family time together.

I'll be back in a week or so with pictures and maybe a present or two, so be sure to stop by the blog for my afterparty. In the meantime, I'll be posting updates to Twitter when I can (translation: when I'm able to slip away from the family long enough to post), so if you're interested be sure to follow me at http://twitter.com/kate_davies.

Enjoy the week!

Holiday Traditions

So in a few minutes the kids and I are off to the big city to watch the Nutcracker. I think this is the fourth or fifth year we've gone, thanks to my wonderful in-laws. All the cousins will be there, excited to see the show.

Afterwards, we'll go get pictures taken with Santa (can't waste the opportunity, especially since they'll all be in nice clothes!), and have dinner before heading home.

Then, later this weekend, it's time to hunt for a Christmas tree. (The picture is of a local tree farm that provided the White House Christmas tree a few years back.)

Just a couple of events out of a busy holiday season, but we all look forward to them every year.

What's your favorite holiday tradition? Remember, every comment is entered for a chance to win Margaret Mallory's fabulous new book, Knight Of Pleasure!

Gone From The 'Net, For A Bit

Hi all --

I've got a full week-plus of family stuff coming up, so my internet time will be severely truncated. I'll try to pop on in between events (Can't wait to finish up my review of Torchwood), but in the meantime, here's a video that I absolutely loved:



Hope it makes you smile!

Travels With Kate - National Park Heartbreak

So last year we bought an annual pass for the National Park System. With the Grand Canyon and Arches both on our itinerary, it seemed like the prudent thing to do. A year flies by, as they tend to do, and it's due to expire at the end of the month. What do we decide to do?

Visit some National Parks, of course. Want to get some value out of that thing! (Of course, just seeing the Grand Canyon and Arches would have made it worth it, plus supporting the parks system, which we love.) So Saturday we head to the Klondike Museum in downtown Seattle, an urban park smack dab in the middle of the city. We walk up to the counter and flash the card.

"Oh, don't worry about that. This park has no entrance fee."

Dang. Oh well, better luck next time.

(It was a fabulous museum, full of interactive stuff for kids and plenty of info for all of us.)

Next day, we decide -- Mount Rainier! Why not? We'd been meaning to hit Rainier since we got back from last year's road trip, so it was the perfect opportunity. A beautiful, warm day, excited kids, an annual pass that expires in two weeks...brilliant!

We get to the entrance, flash the annual pass again. "Oh, you don't need that today. It's one of the three free weekends this year for National Parks."

You have GOT to be kidding me. Not only do we save NOTHING, everyone and his mother is on the mountain taking advantage of the free admittance.

(And yes, even though we didn't find any parking at the visitor center, we trundled down partway and walked a few easy trails with the kids. Fun was had, and the views were spectacular.)

Okay. It's starting to get serious. How can we save money when they refuse to charge us anything?

Two days later, it's over to the coast and the Lewis and Clark National Park. We stop at some heritage markers, check out the winding road along the Columbia river, and reach Fort Clatsop. Park, gather kids, enter visitor center. Haul the pass out of my purse with a sense of dread.

Victory! We've saved the admittance fee! (And no comments about how the kids would have gotten in free anyway. I'm busy basking in the moment.)

So that's the story of my run-in with the National Park system. And despite the comedy of errors trying to "use" the pass up before it expires, each park was fabulous and I highly recommend them.

A Change of Plans

Sometimes, all you can do is laugh...

A couple of days ago, I posted that I'd be away from the computer for a few days, without internet access. We had camping reservations, and were going to enjoy our new pop-up trailer for the first time. No internet at the state park, so I was leaving the computer at home. We spent most of the weekend outfitting the camper, buying and packing stuff, and preparing to head out of town.

Monday arrived. We packed the camper and the van, hooked the pop-up to the hitch, and stepped back to take a look.

Was that low, or was that my imagination?

Uh, no. The trailer we'd purchased based on the assurances of the RV dealership, the place that installed the tow package, and the car dealership that it was the right size and weight for our vehicle, was almost in a "V" formation -- front of trailer and back of van almost dragging on the ground, the front of the van and the back of the trailer hitched way up in the air.

Dubious, we headed down to the closest RV dealer to have it looked at. The guy at the dealership took one look and confirmed our suspicions. We couldn't take it camping without risking damage to the hitch, the trailer, the van, even the spare tire.

Home we drove, slowly, to unhitch the trailer, unpack it, put everything away, and cancel our reservation. All of us were bummed. Any future camping experiences will require either a new tow vehicle or some weight-distributing modifications on the one we currently have.

So no camping. Instead, we're taking some day trips with the kids. And except for this brief hop on the computer, I'm keeping the promise to my family and staying away from the internet. Hopefully, it will be a time we can still remember happily, whether at a campground or a waterslide park. I should be back online sometime next week. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying this season as well!

Blog Party -- A Tip of the (Cowboy) Hat

My husband is a big fan of westerns.

Not the romances, the movies.

So when it came time to write The Devil Inside, I knew I wanted to include a couple of Western-movie references, just for fun.

Example one: Sam Quincannon borrows her last name from the classic John Ford/John Wayne Western, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

Example two: Cody's middle name, Ringo, comes from two of my personal favorites. The first, Stagecoach, is another John Ford/John Wayne collaboration, this time from the best year of movies ever, 1939. The Ringo Kid is the name of John Wayne's character, and it made him a star.

But just now, I slipped and called the character Johnny Ringo. That, my husband reminded me, was a character in Tombstone. So really, it's a name that fits both classic Westerns and more modern interpretations.

Question of the Day: Have you ever noticed an "in-joke" in a book -- a reference to a movie, another book, or a song? If so, what was it?

Dodged a bullet...

Whew! The rivers flooded, but not nearly as badly as anticipated, so we stayed high and dry. I'll post pictures once I download them.

The two days of emptying the basement now seem like child's play compared to the time needed to re-stock it. Of course, since I can actually see the basement floor, it's time to sweep and mop and reorganize, so that's not helping. :)

How was your weekend?

Happy Anniversary!

So today's my wedding anniversary.

Getting married the week before Christmas is both great and strange. You save a ton on decorations, since everything available surface is covered in poinsettias and Christmas trees. On the other hand, you get a lot of Christmas-themed presents.

And it's hard to celebrate just as a couple, so close to Christmas, with all the activities associated with the holiday. Tonight, we'll be having dinner at home with the kids, watching the snow fall.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy anniversary, sweetie!

Spaaaaaaaahhhh....

Last Christmas, the DH gave me a gift certificate to a semi-local women's spa. Now, the word "spa" can conjure up fancy-schmancy images. I know when my mother started talking about this spa she'd found in Tacoma, I was a bit surprised. She's more earth mother than "ladies who lunch". But as soon as I tried it out, several years ago, I understood.

It's a traditional Korean women's spa, with earth energy rooms, multiple soaking pools and whirlpools at different temperatures, steam rooms -- just about everything you'd need to turn into a limp noodle. And the women who go there range from college students to grandmas. No body image issues here -- which is a good thing, since it's not a place for modesty. :)

You can buy added treatments, of course, like body scrubs and mud wraps and massage, but it's just as much fun to pay the $30 entry fee and spend a solid half-day enjoying the facilities.

Observant readers may notice that I got the certificate last Christmas. Almost a year ago. Coincidentally, my Dad got one for my Mom at the same time. And with the holidays fast approaching, we both decided it was about time we actually used the darn things.

So Thursday morning I dropped the kids at school and trundled up the freeway to meet Mom at the spa.

It was *heavenly*. Almost four hours of relaxation and great conversation. We even decided that next time we'd have to hit its sister spa a bit further north, just to compare and contrast. (I have it on good authority that there are quite a few amenities the southern location doesn't have -- a charcoal room? a tea room? Nifty!)

Now, to just make sure it doesn't take me another year to get back to the spa.

How about you? Where do you go/what do you do to pamper yourself?

Sad Days

Conversation with my youngest this morning, following a family funeral on Saturday...

KID: Is Uncle Jim in heaven now?
ME: Yes, he is.
KID: Can we still love him?
ME: Of course. Even when people are gone we can still love them.
KID: Yay! (pause) I can't kiss him, though.
ME: No, that would be hard now.
KID: (Long pause) Well, I can kiss him in my heart.

In memory of my Uncle Jim, who died on Nov 4, 2008, following a long battle with lung cancer.

Road Trip Report -- California Adventure

When people say they're going to Disneyland, California Adventure is often wrapped up in that statement. After all, it's just across the plaza from Disneyland proper, so why not refer to the whole shebang as Disneyland, like Walt Disney World in Florida encompasses everything from Magic Kingdom to Epcot to that Animal place. :)

Why not, indeed? I dunno. I just wanted to separate the two in my posts because the Disneyland-titled ones were threatening to eat the blog, they were getting so danged long.

My youngest had been itching to hit DCA (Disney's California Adventure) since the minute we turned onto South Harbor Boulevard. See, last year said child was a quarter-inch too short for Grizzly River Run, a fact that was heartbreaking at the time.

This year, the kid topped the required 42 inches by almost two extra inches. And wanted to test out the ride NOW!

So, midway through our second day of the four-day pass, we headed across the plaza to DCA.

Now, DCA is smaller than Disneyland, so it can be a little more manageable. There are a few really popular rides -- Tower of Terror, Soarin' over California, the aforementioned Grizzly River Run, California Screamin', and the new Toy Story Midway Mania. All except Toy Story have the FastPass option, which is lovely. (Although what is it with new rides and no FastPass? Argh, the lines, the lines...)

We did the FastPass tango right away, picking up tickets for Soarin' before going on the ride, and then heading to the far end of the park where California Screamin' is -- right next to Toy Story. Amazingly, Toy Story only had a forty minute wait, so we got in line. (Later, I noticed that the line is set up to hold people in a queuing area across the walkway, which I thought was overkill -- until the next morning. Oy!)

Loved, loved, loved this ride. I'm only sorry it wasn't FastPass-enabled, because I would have been on that thing many times over. It's a 3D ride based on midway games, from balloon popping to plate smashing, and the ride moves from game to game at a really fast pace. It's fun, easy to do (unlike Buzz Lightyear, which frustrates me to no end because I can never tell which little red dot is mine), and a kick in the pants. Big, big thumbs up.

Once done with that, we got FastPasses for California Screamin' and headed over to Grizzy River Run for FastPasses/first ride, too. As expected, youngest child LOVED it.

Hint of the Day, part one: If you have anything in your possession that can't get wet, they evidently have lockers available for short-term use. I didn't know that until it was too late to make a difference. A good alternative is to carry ziplock baggies to put your camera, phone, etc. in so they stay dry, even if you don't. And you will get wet. After one ride, my DH and I didn't fully dry out for about five hours.

The next day, we went back to DCA at opening, which is later than Disneyland -- 10 am at the time we were there. We got there at about 9:15, hoping they might let us in early even if the rides weren't open yet. Sure enough, they opened the gates, then told people to follow the signs to Toy Story if they were interested in getting in line.

We wanted to give it another go, so we got in line, fairly close to the front. A cast member led us through the park, along paths I'd never seen before (someone joked that they were just yanking our chains, making us take the longest possible route to see if we'd follow), and then made us stop for about fifteen minutes.

Right before "opening", they led us to the ride itself, weaving the line through the many twists and turns to get to the entryway. At one point I looked back and the line behind us stretched over the bridge and past the point of visibility. We guesstimated there were over a thousand people waiting at that point.

Very, very glad I didn't wait to get in line.

Had another great day at DCA, skipping the shows for more time on the rides (though if we go again in the next year or so, we'll definitely make time for Aladdin. It's a great show.). At about five that evening, we decided to head to Tower of Terror for our last ride. It was so empty, we rode it four times in less than an hour. Walk in, go on the ride, walk out, go around the corner and walk in again. It was great.

Tip of the Day: Multiple rides in a row can be great fun. If you're lucky enough to happen upon a favorite when there aren't many people waiting, go for it!

And to that cast member who singled me out in the front row the last time through during the "no photography or videotaping" spiel, staring at me and saying he didn't want to see anything about the ride on my MySpace page, here's a message:

Nope, no MySpace. But you never said anything about Blogspot. So there. ;)

Tomorrow -- first Road Trip Report winner!

Can You Keep a Secret?

That was our challenge this year for vacation. See, we took the kids to Disneyland. And didn't tell them until we got there.

Yeah, they noticed that we were planning a trip -- kinda hard to hide something like that -- but we'd always wanted to surprise them with Disneyland and knew this would be our best year for that. So while the DH and I were on our way back from a much-needed couple vacation early in the month, we were brainstorming how to get them all the way to southern California without tipping them off.

"I know!" One of us said. "Let's tell them we're going to the Grand Canyon!"

Not that Anaheim is truly on the way, but it'd work. Eventually, though, we realised that we'd have to do better than just come up with an alternate, fake destination. No, we'd have to really take them to the Grand Canyon.

With a five-day detour along the way.

No hardship, really. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, so I was pretty excited about heading there as well. But it was funny to see our jaunt to CA turn into a twice-as-long road trip throughout the Southwest, all for the opportunity to surprise the kids.

And the surprise? We made it to South Harbor Boulevard, the road running right in front of Disneyland, without any of them figuring it out. Once or twice they'd say something like, "Hey, isn't this the hotel we stayed at last time we drove to Disneyland?", but it would be quickly forgotten in the grand scheme of things. In fact, we had the kids hunting for a Cold Stone Creamery as we took the exit to D-land, and the older two missed the visual clues at first because they were searching for ice cream. It took the four year old to yell out, "Isn't that the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror?", to which we replied, "Surprise!"

The looks on their faces were totally worth it.

Next up: The Disney Report

Best. Mother's Day. Ever.

So yesterday morning I wake up to find the DH has made cinnamon rolls for breakfast AND done the dishes. Nice way to start the day! After breakfast we headed to the family room where the kids gave me their school-made presents -- a bookmark, a sachet, a decorated mug -- and I opened a few cards. Then the DH handed me a card from the kids with a post-it inside.

Thus started my adventure. In order, here are the clues:

1. Happy Mom's Day to you. Look in my closet in one of my shoes.

2. (In DH's dress shoe) You found me, way to be. Look by the TV.

3. (Under the back right corner of the downstairs television) Back upstairs you go. To the medicine cabinet. Don't be slow.

4. (Tucked in toothbrush packaging) Down you go pitter patter pitter pat. Look inside the Western hat.

5. (WWU baseball cap in front closet) Outside you go to the garage what a drag. Check out the lawn mower bag.

6. (Lawn mower bag, of course, in our detached garage.) What a long way you went. Back inside to child #3's tent.

7. (Play tent in child's room) You found this one, ain't life grand? Go check inside your lovely van.

8. (Under back seat) Go go go you are moving real slow. You will surely thank the kids a bunch. How about some Cap'n Crunch?

9. (Bottom of box in cabinet) Upstairs I do command. Do you think it's in a nightstand?

10. (Bottom drawer of DH's nightstand) To the basement shoo shoo shoo. I really want you to Love Me Do.

11. (Do you KNOW how many Beatles CDs we own? I do now. In the jewel box.) I hope you've had a nice trip. Look in the family room rip.

12. (Our family room couch has a rip in one of the cushions. It's there.) The treasure is close and not so faint, where do we keep the paint?

13. (Paint cabinet in basement) This is exhausting, you look really pale. Maybe you should send the mail.

14. (In mailbox on porch) They will say she ran and she ran. How about the X-mas tree stand?

15. (Back to the basement and the holiday decorations) The treasure you want so make your stand. I think it is in one of your baby's hands.

Back to the family room, where the three kids are standing in a row with their hands behind their backs. Middle child finally hands me a wrapped present, which I open to find a velvet box. Inside is this:

It's hard to see the colors, but it's a mother's birthstone pendant with my kids' birthstones -- peridot, diamond, peridot. Absolutely gorgeous, and completely unexpected. DH really outdid himself this year.

Then we headed to the in-laws for lunch and an impromptu game of Wiffleball -- kids against grown-ups -- before collapsing for the night. It was all in all a perfect day.

Hope your Mother's Day was everything you wanted it to be!

Happy Mother's Day!

If you're a mom --

Or you have a mom --

Or you know someone who's a mom --

Happy Mother's Day! May you spend it with the people you love.

You Know It's Going To Be A Long Day...

...when your four year old throws up in your purse.

Sigh.

Hope your day is going better than mine!