#SSfO (Such Suckers for Ollivander)

To catch you up:
Kyle is pooped out. (literally)  (mostly)
Lauren is well.  (mostly)  (still hoarse, but otherwise mostly okay respiratory-wise)
Jenna is living every 8 year old's dream:  to skip a week of school and hang at Disney World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Speaking of the latter, I have a few moments to finish uploading this amazing experience at Ollivander's Wand Shop at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  There is a long line to get in, but for good reason.

The set is pretty dark, but you may spy someone familiar despite that.  Witness the magic:

Harry Potter and The Hangover (spoilers)

Don't ask how, but my husband and I were able to see two movies in one day today. Thoughts:

Harry Potter
1. I so love Harry. Really, he's grown up so. And he has a thicker neck than previously. And he's clean shaven. And he rocks the ringer-t, no?

2. God Bless Harry & Hermione's relationship. How have these two never hooked up? This movie (if not the book long ago) solidified that they've never been romantically interested. Why not? Hermione = sweet, cute smart, Harry = sweet, cute, courageous.

3. Ron. Finally. I've come to begin to reappreciate your hotness potential. You have shown that you have guns. And in this movie in particular, you are apparently a good kisser. And decent Quidditch player. I still do not think you are deserving of Hermione, but Love loves what it loves.

4. Alan Rickman. What, 20 lbs? God bless you, too, but really, it seems strange that your face doesn't age in these movies yet your body does seem to. Lose the pounds, gain years. Yes, welcome to a chick's world.

5. Minerva McGonagall--looked like the walking death. She's always been my favorite professor--even above Dumbledore--but please, please have a butterbeer and some eye cream. Me loves you. Wrinkle cream loves you, too.

6. Lavender. Ohhhh, girl who plays Lavender. Well done, my dear, well done! You are adorable and loveable and did Lavendar justice. Bravo!


The Hangover
1. My husband "assures" me that his Vegas bachelor party was "just like The Bachelor". Minus the missing tooth business, or the tiger business. Huh. Thanks.

2. Rachael Harris deserves a freaking Oscar. Please--Rachael Harris as the nagging bitch who is completely serious that her boyfriend better not stand up for himself? My description of her here does her no justice. Watch her. Love her.

3. There were two hot dudes in this movie. I would like to get to know them better. For real. Never seen them before, never heard of them before. Let's remedy that, shall we?

4. Heather Graham, will you ever not be the adorable Vegas-ite who schools the newcomer boy? Swingers--check. Boogie Nights (was that in Vegas?)--check. The Hangover--check. We love you. Mostly in Swingers. Can we stop playing the....hey wait, just realized your Swingers role was actually set in L.A. Okay, you've only played one Vegas girl. I'm an a-hole. Whatever. You deserve a lead/primo part, eventually. Best of luck, mwah.

5. Did I mention the hot guys? imdb.com claims they are named Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha. Yeah, still never heard of them. Oh, but I will. I shall devote myself to renting from iTunes any movie they've been in, and watching any future movies of theirs. You thought I was obsessed with Twilight? Ha, just wait.

6. Bare "twig and berries" in an elevator next to old lady's face is never acceptable. There is no exception to this, oh photos of end credits, you.

London, Baby! (Well, eventually.)

Okay, that's it. Hubby and I are dead set on visiting England in 2010. This involves so many logistics with the kids that it's not even funny. But if we don't get the hell out of Dodge for a few day, we're going to go to the looney bin sooner rather than later.

Any tips on what to do on our third trip to London? We've already done the super-touristy stuff--Jack the Ripper walking tour, Windsor Palace, Bath (would love to go back there, though), Stonehenge, Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick Castle (ditto Bath comment), Harrod's, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, Hyde Park, etc. Any other gems of places you can think of? We were delighted with Warwick Castle when we visited, and would love to visit more, I think.


What about Wales or Scotland? What are the logistics in getting there from the London area? We haven't seen Canterbury yet. Nor Manchester. Nor the white cliffs at Dover and such. Worth the time? We're contemplating visiting my childhood friend Linda in Paris via a 2-day Chunnel pass (or whatever they call it). (This is your warning, Linda--we may be in your neck of the woods next year--if you're still living there by then, anyway.)

Too bad we don't have the choice to see Michael Jackson at the O2 while we're there. Ok, not that Chris would ever agree to spend money on that kind of thing while we're on vacation (or on Michael Jackson at all), but still. It would have been nice to have the choice.

You think there's a Harry Potter walking tour? Perhaps a soccer (futbol) stadium which not only serves beer but also allows you to drink it at your seat? No? Well then, it's going to be a long trip.

Also, we only stay at Hilton. I'm thinking the one at Covent Garden, again? The Paddington property was super-convenient for the train to Gatwick airport, but the rooms were t-i-n-y. And the Hyde Park Hilton made us sign waivers before they would let us open our window, promising we wouldn't jump (??)--plus, there weren't many places within walking distance to eat, and we would have died before paying eight POUNDS for a burger from the Hard Rock Cafe near there. Any other hotel suggestions?

So, what else? I'm already gathering up my passport, Boddington beer, Harry Potter books, and Clark's walking shoes. Getting super excited for a trip 9-12 months from now which is barely a twinkle in our eyes...

And in celebration of London, one of our favorite places on the planet, I leave you with this:

Friday Update

I can't stop posting videos now of the tiniest little things. Things they never would have been able to do pre-May 2009, but they do now. All because of the valproic acid med. I wish I could get some good footage of Kyle doing stuff, but frankly he's just not as cooperative as Lauren, and he also likes to act clueless as soon as the camera turns on. But I will make it my mission to catch him doing something soon.

Chris got to go to the Harry Potter exhibit in Chicago when he had some downtime this week. http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/harry-potter/ He reports that it was totally cool and wishes he had a ton of money to blow in the gift shop. He brought Jenna back a t-shirt and her own Golden Snitch. She's thrilled.

I seem to be all better, from whatever germs attacked me last week. Hooray!

I really am getting tired of this place... I want to go on a trip. Almost anywhere. Well, anywhere that is a little cooler than Phoenix--sorry, no Tucson or Vegas. A road trip to SoCal would be so much work, but it'd be worth it. Lego Land or Disneyland sound awesome right now. But it'll never happen, darn it. Chris can't get any time off of work. And I'm not about to do it by myself. Plus the logistics around finding a hotel suite big enough yet affordable is always a PITA.

The Families of SMA annual conference is in about 10 days, and so many of the SMA families we've met on the internet are going. It's in Cincinatti. Most of the families attending are driving, since their kids are too fragile for air travel, which means many of them are posting updates to their Facebook or blogs that they're starting to get packed up and mapped out, etc. I'm jealous. I wish we were going. It's just too, too far to go for us. I would never drive that far from Phoenix with the kids (just too much time in the car), and that's way too long for us to be on a plane with almost-2 year olds. The flight to Salt Lake City was 1h 15m and it was about the maximum we could comfortably do with them. Hopefully some year, the FSMA chooses a host city a little closer to Phoenix.

Happy Friday!