Well, the dramamine I took to not-have-motion-sickness on the train on the way back from Seattle worked better than not having taken any on the way to Seattle (as in, I was *much* less sick on the way home, although I still couldn't walk around or look out the train, etc. the ginger ale and saltines also helped immensely...) Still, something about the medicine in the less-drowsy formula gave me an incredibly intense migraine all last night and today. I'm sure it didn't help that I was traveling and tired and all that goes along with that. The kids enjoyed their time at home today and I spent quite a bit of it in bed, either resting or sleeping or spending time with cats. I'm hoping this migraine {that seems to be finally winding down} will be completely gone by tomorrow so I can get back to other things like knitting and taking walks. The sun isn't shining but it has warmed up enough that the outsides were calling out to me today. I'm hoping to spend some more time out in the yard with the now blooming snowdrops. Maybe I'll uncover some more crocus buds while I'm at it...

harry potter trip day 3

And, we're back. Today we went to the Seattle Aquarium and took a walk along the waterfront and then back to the hotel, much to everyone but mine and Carolyn's chagrin. Still, it was nice to see how close together everything was. I had been looking forward to seeing the sculptures in the Olympic Sculpture Park, but somehow we managed to walk right past {most of} them on our {uphill} journey back to the hotel. Something tells me a trip during the late spring or early summer would be perfect for checking them out. Next time!



The Aquarium was fantastic {again}. Eva had been looking forward to that most of all, possibly even more than the Harry Potter exhibit. Here she is touching one of many many sea creatures she checked out throughout the day. We were even lucky enough to see one group being fed. They place small bits of cut up sardines into the sea anemones and into little crevices where various crabs spend their time hiding. Other fish and crabs eat bits of shrimp strewn through the water.

harry potter trip day 2

So today it was the Pacific Science Center and the Harry Potter exhibit and the Space Needle, with little bits of gift shops and lunch and pizza in between. I have several photos to post from today, but realized as I sat down to post them that I need to be at home to take care of so many {properly}. I decided instead to post two of our highlights from the science center- Eva holding two particularly happy hermit crabs, something both of us enjoyed thoroughly, and something we returned to a few times during the day-



(I wondered about the hermit crabs being curious about the different human hands picking them up each day...)



And here are Samuel and Eva in a model of a moon landing craft.

harry potter trip day 1

The kids and I are up in Seattle with friends to check out the Harry Potter exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. We came up on a train with Amtrak this afternoon (which was good and bad- good, because it's a fine way to travel and the kids enjoyed themselves and the new experience, etc. bad, because i had such an awful case of motion sickness that i had to literally sit with my head down on the table in front of me with my eyes closed for most of the entire ride. {so that's um 3 1/2 hours give or take...} thank goodness for carolyn and the kids getting along and understanding and all that because i was so so sick i could do very little else but sit quietly hoping for the few stops along the way to last as long as possible. needless to say, i have already been planning a trip to the drug store for medicine to help me on the way home. i mean, i don't want to assume that i will necessarily be sick like i was on the way here, but i don't want to leave it completely to chance either. the complimentary ginger ale {kept just for such an occasion...} helped during one of our stops, but was not enough to get me through the whole trip unscathed. i'll be carrying some of that with me, as well, though, you can be sure.)

So- there are no pictures yet, but we are all checked in and we've eaten and even swam in the pool for a bit. We're all looking forward to the exhibit first thing tomorrow.

knitting

I started a new knitting project for Eva- the kids' club skirt from Greetings From the Knit Cafe. (Here's an example. And another.) We went through some of the yarn in my stash and found some fun colors and textures and then took a trip to the yarn store and bought some *really* fancy yarns, complete with sequins and pink feathery textures. I'm also trying out a popcorn yarn with pinks and greens. Should be fun to knit up, although I was reminded last night how quickly the different skeins can become tangled. The sequin yarn in particular was trying my patience and I ended up having to cut it because the tangle seemed irreversible. Now that I'm onto those fancy yarns, I have them better organized while knitting. It is not, unfortunately, going to be a good traveling project. I'll have to find something else for that.



Sample of some of the yarns I'm using in the skirt. The sequins are knit with another "regular" yarn, in this case, the purple worsted weight by Malabrigo. {And check out the popcorn yarn in the upper right hand corner. It was the last skein. I feel lucky to have found it.}



Close-up so you can see the sequins. Can you tell we are very excited about the sequins?

I also recently finished mittens for myself. Rather than buying another skein to finish up the last little bit, I used some purple that Eva chose for her fingerless gloves. That purple is, by the way, going to be the main color in her skirt as well.

outside

Gorgeous day spent outside pruning roses and checking out the bulbs poking out here and there. It has been such a relief to spend some time over the last couple of days outside- both out in the yard and on the patio reading. Eva and I took a walk around the neighborhood and saw an incredible amount of moss and heather in bloom. In our own backyard, behind the part of the yard most flooded by our recent deluge, we even found snowdrops in bloom! And wood violets blooming near the house...

I had some fun with the hipstamatic app. on my itouch out and about in the yard-



First growth on rose bushes and a big pile of pruned stems.



If you look very, very closely through the swampy growth, there are actual snowdrops beginning to bloom. I couldn't go much further in because there was at least six inches of water on the ground out there. My socks were soggy after I finished checking out the flowers and Eva's boots are still on the heater waiting to dry out.



Carrots in the garden with their tops nibbled off. The guinea pigs and I have been enjoying these carrots over the last week or so.



Eva and I found no less than five different types of bulbs already poking out of the ground. And yes! These are some of the wood violets blooming. The smell while I pruned the roses was amazing. I can never get enough of their fresh sweet scent.

magic tree house revisited

Eva had the idea a few months ago to read *all* of the Magic Tree House books {by Mary Pope Osborne} in order. I groaned inwardly at this suggestion- not because I dislike those books. Because I don't. I wouldn't say, though, that they are my favorite books. Plus. I've already read them- some of them many times over. First to Samuel. Then to Eva. Other times, again. And again. But! We've never actually read them in order, at least not beyond the first few books.

So, I let the suggestion go for a little while and then it came back up and I decided to rush headlong into it and just get started- yesterday. And so we've read through the first one and then we checked for which ones we already own {again}. And then, when we went to the library today, we checked out some more.

Here's my plan. We read 1/2 a book (in order) each day. Right now we have enough to last us 20 days. Half a book (rather than a whole book) ensures that I am able to keep at it. Those books are definitely readable in one sitting- true- but I find when I try that too often, their charm decreases considerably. And we'll just keep on like that, doggedly {and yet enthusiastically!} until we're done. So there you go.

And while these are not my favorite books to read, I am enjoying Eva's enthusiasm at the prospects of actually-reading-them-in-order! I let myself be carried by her enthusiasm and also allowed myself to bask in the positive thoughts associated with starting a project! (And used it as an opportunity to practice a little mindfulness.) It can't- after all- be the worst thing in the world to sit down with my daughter and read the Magic Tree House books. And so it wasn't. And most probably won't be.

Here's what I'm looking forward to. There were several books we skipped {for various reasons} that we will read through this time. There is a thin plot that connects the books that we have all gleaned, but which {upon rereading} we will be able to fully piece together. And, there are several books that were written much later (after we had stopped reading them the first time) that I know very little to nothing about.

Samuel's involvement is undetermined at this point. He groaned outwardly when he heard of our plan, but was intrigued when he thought about actually-reading-them-in-order. He joined us last night, but skipped today, and he knows he is welcome to pop in and out as his interest is piqued.

My only disclaimer about my plan is that I can see getting a little burnt out about reading every day and scaling it back to every few days. I am going to try to stay on task, though, because Eva is so intent on this project and I want to support that, even if it means skipping a few days here and there to keep the momentum moving forward. And then- also- I imagine being able to say we've read them all. In order. And that helps to keep me going, too.