Harry Potter Weekend

It was a lovely fall day, and Hurricane Sandy is still well over the horizon, so what better way to spend the day than at Chestnut Hill's annual Harry Potter festival.  It was a little bit like an outdoor Con, with enthusiastic kids, goofy college students, and parents who were just a little bit too much into it.

Audrey looks very cool walking down Gravers Lane with her Muggle Posse Tristan. As fate would have it, she chose to be Hermione for Halloween this year, so she got double use out of her Hogwarts robes.

Dumbledore and Neville oversaw Audrey's sorting into Ravenclaw.  We all sort of knew.  Anyhow, the Sorting Hat sounded suspiciously like Neville.

I don't know who this kid was, but he was easily the most badass wizard out there.

The Pixar Lamp

Here's a little film Tristan and I made while Audrey was away on a playdate. The lamp is an homage to Pixar, of course. I think the omnipresent Zhu Zhu pet is supposed to be a tip of the hat to John Ratzenberger.

Knocked Over!

So we're at the Renaissance Faire today, and Tristan decides he wants to try his hand at tilting.  So he gets on this ride that's like a big ol' zipline horse, aiming a wooden lance at a ring hanging from a wooden dragon target.  Tristan misses the ring but demolishes the target.  Then the impact causes a ricochet, and the little guy gets a lance to the side of the head.  Some ice and a trip to the First Aide tent later, and he was still kinda grumpy.  Then he got stung by a bee.  Poor guy.  But then I told him that he took out a carnival attraction, just like Gru did in "Despicable Me," his favorite movie.  Much better now.

Knocked over!

.

Fortunately, they did not practice Renaissance medicine in the First Aid tent.  Except for the leeches.

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What can happen when you turn the TV off

A hike in Valley Green

Tristan's Movie Preview

Tristan offers a look at upcoming films from Pixar in his inimitable style.

Puddle Jumping for the Win!

Rabuck: The Movie

Strangely, several students were able to film a recurring dream of mine.

A Springy Day Out

Taking advantage of the nice weather last weekend, we paid a visit to the Morris Arboretum.  There was a Japanese Cherry Blossom festival going on (too late!  The cherry blossoms were so two weeks ago) with some white dude doing zen archery.  The kids, however, were not yet at the level of zazen, so they chose to do a tree scavenger hunt, which they enjoyed because they got to emboss their passports every time they found a question station.

Not the first, but surely a significant robin of spring.

Audrey borrowed my camera to take pictures artistic....

...and less so.

I put my hands in the air air air

Audrey busts a move.

DC: Al fine!

This weekend, we took a trip to Washington, DC, so Mom could run in the Cherry Blosson 10M and the kids could get to know our nation's capital.

Tristan and Audrey check out the rockets and missiles in the Air and Space Museum. Audrey had a camera and took pains to chronicle every second of her trip.

Audrey outside the Museum of the American Indian, home of the best lunch in DC and home of some very friendly ducks.

Tristan and Audrey discover what really happened to Big Bird.

...and what really happened to Cookie Monster.

Hey, lookit the capital!
While waiting for a museum to open, Audrey and Tristan work on their tango.
Kid down!

Oh, come on kids. Be serious! It's your nation's capital!

Audrey finds some authentic Hogwarts robes.

There was a kite festival going on. Cool!

The race is about to begin. See Mommy?
Audrey takes part in the Fun Run
And here comes Tristan!

Audrey checking out the WWII Memorial.

Tristan at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

The photographer is himself the subject.

Meeting some ducklings in the Constitution Gardens.

Mommy triumphant!

Best damn book report ever

When it came time for Tristan to do his first book report, there was little question it would take the form of a stop-motion movie. Of course, he wanted to cast his Zhu Zhu pets in the lead roles. His classmates loved it.

New Film: Nigel Takes a Fall

From the stop-motion goodness of TR Studios:

Tristan's Latest

Hatch plus Zhu Zhu Pets= Tristan's Dream Feature