Harry Potter Party

A few weeks ago Julia and Ethan finished the 5th Harry Potter book. We had been trying to space them out since from book number 4 on they get more mature. However, after a lot of begging we let them read the 5th book, and then somehow they convinced us that they are ready for the 6th (they both already finished that one) and the 7th (both about half-way done) ones as well.

One activity that we had been planning was to watch the 5th Harry Potter movie while I was there. Then that idea grew into having a full out Harry Potter party. I turned out to be a lot of fun. In preparation they read a few books about Harry Potter food and Harry Potter activities and they were all really excited for it.

In preparations for the party we made a Hogwarts sign, wands, and some food, and the kids decorated the house with Dolores Umbridge declarations. We also got our costumes all ready. Julia was Hermione, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott were all Harry, Agnes I think was Luna, Rebecca was Professor McGonagall, Rebecca's mom was Dolores Umbridge.

Once everyone arrived and had their pictures taken, the first stop was Gringotts to get some money. Then everyone want to Ollivanders. We had made about fifteen different wands and they turned really well. We started with dowels about 12 inches long. Then we used hot glue to decorate them/give them some texture. Then we painted them, mainly brown, black, or white and used glow-in-the-dark paint for the tips. Then we sealed them and they were ready to go. Rebecca made me one that looked like the Elder Wand, but it just never seemed like I was truly its master. After Ollivanders we stopped at Honeydukes and tried some of the Bertie Bott's Jelly Beans (Jelly Belly BeanBoozled beans). Last, before the movie we had the sorting hat tell us which house we would be in. Julia had found this idea on the internet all on her own. She said that we should have someone put their cell phone in the top of the hat and then when we place it on someones head, someone else can call it and do the voice to say a house. Unfortunately, I got Slytherin while everyone else in my family got Gryffindor.

We had lots of other yummy food to snack on during the movie, including pretzel stick booms, HP popcorn (mixed popcorn and chopped Oreos, and then covered with almond bark), butterbeer cupcakes, butterbeer drinks, and pumpkin juice.

The kids loved watching the movie. I feel asleep for parts of it, which I was sad about because this is probably my favorite one.

I think a Harry Potter Party will have to be a Fall tradition for us every year.

Washington Visit

A while back Rebecca got stuck on an airplane while they tried to fix some problems before taking off. Fortunately, they gave her a $150 credit toward another flight. This weekend I used that credit to go visit her and the children back in Washington. It was a great trip and a nice way to break up this time that we have apart. I left Pocatello at 2 a.m. on Thursday morning to catch a 6 a.m. flight out of Salt Lake City. That sounds horrible, but it was actually a really nice drive - no traffic and I got to hear some interesting things on a radio (one station had a guy on who did his dissertation on alien abductions and he was talking about how aliens are breeding with humans and now they live among us and we can't even tell who is a human and who is an alien). The flight went smoothly, I was able to sleep through it all, and Rebecca and the children were able to pick me up at the airport at 7 a.m.

So on Thursday we went to the Puyallup Fair. I mentioned that Rebecca and the children had gone before, but they joined me again while I was in town. Talitha gave us some tickets so we got in for free. Then we mainly checked out all the animals and crafts and produce and things like that. As we were almost at the front gate on our way out, someone stopped Rebecca and gave her a bunch of ride passes. There were passes for at least 8 rides, but we decided to just do one for each of the kids and then give the remaining rides to someone else. Julia, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott considered the roller coaster that they did last time, but they all decided on a train ride instead. At the last moment Elliott was worried it was going to be like the roller coaster again and he jumped off. He ended up going on a spaceship ride instead.

On Friday we had a Harry Potter party. It was a lot of fun and I will do a separate post about that.

On Saturday we went to the zoo in the morning, then the kids had a practice for their primary program, and then Julia and Rebecca had Women's Conference. The zoo was a lot of fun. We were able to see them feed the sharks which wasn't as cool as it sounds. All of the sharks were super active at feeding time and that was neat, but when they gave them their food it was just small bits of fish that they feed them through a tube one at a time. We did get to touch the sting-rays and some sharks and then some other sea creatures as well (starfish, anemones, crabs, sea cucumbers, etc.). That was probably everyone's favorite part.

On Sunday there was just enough time for me to see the kids primary program at church before rushing off to the airport. Julia, Ethan, and Christian all did a great job on their parts and it was fun to see them sing all of the songs too. They were really excited for it and for me to be able to see them do it. However, the program was taking a super long time and Ethan was the very last person scheduled to talk in it. Rebecca snuck up there during one of the songs and asked if Ethan could go next. All the other kids were a little confused, but he did his part and off Rebecca and I went to the airport.

Besides all of the time with Rebecca and the children, one of the things I enjoyed the most was being able to have some real food. Some of the things I ate were a croissant baked french toast, breakfast cake, an omelet, pizza, and a lot of ribs. Since I was only going to be there for a couple of days I didn't hold back at all and for every meal ate until I was stuffed.

Now just 5 more weeks and we are all through with our time apart!

Animal Fun

I had an adventurous morning taking care of the animals today. First I went out to feed the fish that they have in two ponds and that went fine except for one of their cats kept following me around really close. I thought maybe it just wanted some attention, but I was kind of in a hurry. Then I went out one of the side doors to water the plants, and my first step out was on top of something kind of squishy. I looked down to see that the cat that had been following me had killed a squirrel and placed it there for me to see. After I noticed it, the cat was looking at me to see if I was proud of it. I tried not to acknowledge because I didn't want it killing any more squirrels while I am watching it, but I didn't want to punish it because I don't know if the owners want it to get the squirrels.

After taking care of the dead squirrel I went over to feed the chickens. Somehow one of them got out. I ended up chasing it all around before I was finally able to corner it and get it back in its gated area. Then I noticed that two pigeons were stuck in the chicken area. They must have been able to squeeze through the fence somehow, but as they tried to squeeze back through in a panic their wings were flapping too much to fit. I was able to finally shoe them out of the area. Overall, I thought it was an amusing way to start the day.

Do the Puyallup

Growing up, one of my favorite things to do at the end of summer was to go to the fair. Puyallup has a excellent fair and it seems like wherever I go, if someone is familiar with Western Washington and I tell them that I am from Puyallup, they say "Oh, that's the place with the big fair." I haven't been for years and I didn't get to go this year, but at least Rebecca got to take the kids. 

From their report, it sounds like they had a really fun time. They enjoyed seeing the animals, the big vegetables, some of the other attractions, and the fair food, but most of all it sounds like they liked the rides that they got to go on best. I can't remember ever taking them on fair type rides before so this may have been their first time. They each got to pick one ride to go on. 

Ethan, Christian, and Elliott all picked a roller-coaster.  Ethan told me that he felt like he was going to fall out because the bar didn't hold him tight enough. He also told me it was pretty scary because he was in the front cart and it might be a little while before he wants to go on another one again. Christian told me that he that it was fun and scary too.

 

Julia picked to ride a pony. She liked it a lot, but felt like their ride was too short.

Looks like they also got to catch some fish.

Thinking back to when I was younger I never really did the rides. It may have been that they didn't interest me as much or maybe they just cost too much money. Some of the things that I do remember that I liked a lot were the games (I didn't play any of these until I was a teenager and had my own money to waste though), the cheap pickles, the fresh cow milk, the huge displays of vegetables that were arranged to look like paintings, and all of the cool booths with people trying to sell toys and other products.

Favorite Things about Pocatello, ID

It has been a month now since I left Rebecca and the kids behind in Washington. It's been a long month and I am counting down the minutes until I get to visit them in a couple of weeks. Since they are not here with me, I often find myself thinking about the things that they will like once they do get here. I think this is going to be a really great place for our family to live and for our children to grow up. Here are a few of the things that I have found that I really like about Pocatello, ID over the past month living here.

1. I like how Idaho State University plays an important role in the town. Pocatello is definitely not a college town, but it is the largest employer (followed by the school district and then the hospital). On game days many businesses and homes will put up school flags, the city holds a welcoming party for students at the start of the year (Welcome Back Orange and Black), and the streets of the city even have tiger paw prints (the school's mascot is a Bengal tiger) on the roads leading to campus.

2. Related, I like how ISU seems to have lots of family friendly activities to engage in. Right on campus they have a cheap theater (free for students, but $2 for faculty and family). Just last week I saw Jurassic World there and a couple weeks ago I saw the Avengers movie. They also do free babysitting for parents who want to go see a movie on a Friday night, so once Rebecca gets here I already have plans to take advantage of that (not sure if they are expecting someone to drop off five kids, but there are no limits from what I read about it). ISU also has a small natural history museum, a swimming pool that is open to the public (and I think free for family of students and faculty) at certain times during the week, one of the best performing arts facilities in the nation, and it seems like they have lots of other fun campus activities.

3. I like how the cost of living seems to be much lower than other places that we have lived in the past. I love having a Winco close by and being able to get bulk candy and spices and everything cheap. Even at the Costco, from what I can tell things like milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables are all cheaper. And it is not just groceries, but we found out that although we a building a brand new home that will be twice the size of our old home, our monthly mortgage payments are going to be lower than we were paying in Alaska. Gas is also cheaper as well as it seems like a hundred other little things.

4. I like being around so many others who share similar values and beliefs. 75% of Pocatello's population identifies as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. It is nice not to have to explain myself or some of my actions as often. But more than that, even those who are not members of the LDS Church seem to hold many of the same values regarding family and media and things like that.

5. I love being in the mountains. Although I do not think they are as pretty as the rugged mountains of Alaska or the tree-covered mountains of Washington, I love being able to look up and see mountains all around me. It is nice to be able to drive just 5 to 10 minutes and have access to several secluded mountain hiking trails.

6. I love all of the wildlife. I have mentioned this in other posts, but mainly what I see through the city on a daily basis so far are deer, rabbits, and hawks. But I have heard that the moose will come around sometimes too.

These dear were in the back yard last night. The people I am staying with are out of town, so I knew that I was at their house by myself. I was startled when I saw something move in the back yard, but then I realized it was just deer.

7. I love the weather so far. I know I have only been here for summer time, but the weather has been great. It has been nice and warm in the days (not too hot where I am sweating all of the time), but then it really cools off at night. Based on what we have looked up about Pocatello, it looks like we will be able to get all four seasons without it getting too cold in the winter time. I have already felt a few colder breezes here and there though and I am actually looking forward to the winter this year.

8. I like the size of the city. Pocatello has about 60,000 people in it, which for me is perfect. It is large enough that it has things like Costco and a mall (it even has a lot of stores we didn't have in Anchorage), but small enough that I never have to worry about traffic or not finding a place to park. Plus, it seems like that after living here for a while we will be able to really get to know people in the community and maybe be able to feel like we can contribute to shaping the city.

9. I like the central location of Pocatello compared to where our families live. We have family siblings in Washington, Utah, Nevada, and just recently Minnesota. It will be nice to be able to drive just 10 hours so the kids can see grandparents and some cousins, but then just 3 hours to see other cousins. We hope to be able to do many more road-trips and we hope to be able to have lots of visitors come to us.

Pocatello is right at the top right side of the T in United

I am grateful for all of the places we have lived. We loved Anchorage, Syracuse, Stillwater, Provo, and growing up in Washington. We have very fond memories of each of those places. However, I am glad that we get to live in Pocatello now and I really look forward to the future our family will have here.