Jia's Magical 7th Birthday!

Jia turned 7 (!) on the 11th. She received some family gifts before her party.

 

Her party was on her birthday. She wanted a Harry Potter party. We found a lot of great ideas on the internet, and came up with some of our own.

We sent out notices to the children indicating that they had been accepted at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They were invited to attend a pre-term birthday celebration for the newest head girl, Jia.

 
The day of the party, Jia dressed as a Hogwarts student, and Willa was Hedwig the owl.

The students entered via Platform 9 3/4.

The event was led by Professor Snape (Joe) and Professor McGonagall (me). We explained that Snape's hair was blue because a dragon had sneezed on him, and that he wanted revenge.

 

We then did this mind-reading magic trick. It was especially fun because the kids could not figure out how it was done.

 After, we had a tour of Diagon Alley.

The kids enjoyed exploring, and one of the sticky eyeballs ended up on the ceiling. A Nimbus 2000 came to the rescue.

At Diagon Alley, we told Professor Snape not to touch the snake in the cauldron, but he did anyway. Then he was petrified! I had to take over his Potions class and we made a Mandrake Restorative Draught with mandrake root, dandelion root, blue phoenix tears and yellow dragon sweat.  It fizzed bright green when it was ready.

Mixing their potions:

  

 

Snape drank it (or pretended to) and then he was revived! The group then set out on a journey to find the dragon who turned his hair blue. They followed a set of clues which led them around the park.

But they only found this large egg. It was filled with gold Galleons and silver Sickles and indicated they should go shopping at Honeydukes!

The kids filled their bags with Dumbledore's Lemon Drops, Pirate Choppers, Giggles, Bewitched Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Jelly Slugs.

Then it was time for a Quidditch match with a bewitched bludger! The kids took turns hitting it with a Nimbus 2000.

After the bludger pinata, it was time to eat. They sat in the Great Hall.

 

They also received their Magic Fortune Telling Drinks. The clear cups were filled with ice. When we poured in Sprite, their drinks changed to red, blue, green or yellow!

 

Jia's turned blue.

The kids did a toast with their colorful drinks:

Then Professor Trelawney (my sweet friend Jeremi) did palm reading. She predicted such things as many trips to the candy store, being lucky in love and meeting a famous person. She was fantastic and the kids excitedly told me their fortunes and then kept going back for more!

We had cake:

 

There was some loud cheering of "Happy Birthday!"

The kids received troll snot party favors to take home:

Overall, it was such a fun event. The kids had a great time and Jia was thrilled to be surrounded by her friends on her special day.

The Faces of Camp

Both girls attended YMCA's Camp Kici Yapi this year. It was Jia's third year and Willa's first year. Willa had spent the first two years trying to get on the bus to go to camp with Jia, so we knew she was ready.

We love this camp because not only do the kids have non-stop fun, they also learn about values such as responsibility, honesty, respect and caring. One day, for example, the camp had a contest to see which group could pick up the most trash. Another contest involved each group bringing in pennies and other coins to see which group could send the most disadvantaged kids to camp. (Jia told me she believed all kids should be able to attend camp, and raided her piggy bank to donate money to it.) At the end of the week, Willa told us all about each value and how important they are.

Added to this are exciting activities like canoeing, swimming, archery, horseback riding, tie-dying, cook-outs, games, arts and crafts and more. The girls also each went to camp with a bunch of friends this year, including cousin Han, which was very fun.

The camp even makes the bus ride a good time by singing and preparing cheers for when they arrive at Singing Hill. Or "Singing Hell" as Willa thought it was called. We informed her it wasn't. :-)

The girls' faces of camp were alternately eager, exhausted, dirty and excited!

Here they are on the first day, ready to get on the bus:

At the climbing tree at the bus stop:

Willa, a full-body paint cheetah:

Willa with her group:

 

Jia with her group (love her huge smile!):

Ready for Nautical Nonsense Day! Jia dressed as a pirate:

Willa as a mermaid:

Willa with good buddy McKenna - and more face-painting!

They're already excited for next year!

Riding the rails and trails

This weekend was all about transportation. We decided to check out the Minnesota Transportation Museum. The main focus there is trains. I'm not really into trains and neither are the girls, so I wasn't sure how it would all play out. I pictured dull old train displays and toddlers playing with toy trains. Yes, both of those were there, but thankfully, there was so much more. We all loved it! What a pleasant surprise.

We rode the rails a while.

 

  

 

We examined the roundhouse turntable (one of the last operating ones). Joe, a train enthusiast as a child, explained how it operates.

We inspected cool old train cars. The girls loved the multi-functionality of it all, and enjoyed peering into the various compartments.

 

 

 Engineer Willa.

Jia making a lot of noise.

 

And making even more noise.

Vintage bus.

The following day, we went on a bike adventure. The weather finally cooled off and it was the perfect day for biking. Our city really does biking right and we have trails around lakes, though prairie and to downtown.

We passed Target Field on the way.

We biked along the Mississippi River for a while.

Our journey ended downtown at the Stone Arch Bridge. What a great ride!

Dinosaurs!

There was much fun and screaming at our zoo's dinosaur exhibit.

This one sprayed everyone with water when it roared!

Learning how they're made.

Cavegirl Jia!