12.15.2010

Muggle Magic

::MAGICAL REWIND::

Back in November, before Thanksgiving, Tim and I took the ferry to Seattle for a very special occasion.  HARRY POTTER DAY!

In case you can't tell from my blog, I am a big Potter fan and thankfully, I've found other people in the area who share my enthusiasm (and who also have husbands that don't mind being dragged along).

We started the day with the IMAX showing of the newest movie.  I laughed, I cried, it was fantastic and I left thinking "IS IT JULY 15th YET!?!?" (That's the release date of the last movie.)

Of course, no pictures were taken of the movie.  Following the show, we had some time to kill before our timed-entry tickets to the Harry Potter: An Exhibition. We headed into the Science Center and immediately found the "Mindbender Mansion," an exhibit featuring puzzles and other mind-bending games...i.e. Timmy's Paradise.

In this game, we had to move 4 pegs from the black holes to make each line an equal amount of pegs.
We spent a long time trying to figure this one out.

Moving on to other games, Tim solved this one in mere seconds...it was a math game.

Can you take two oddly-shaped pieces and create a perfect triangle?  Tim can!

Finally, the four of us who had gone together, got into some bumper-car like things and played a game similar to this:

But LIFE-SIZE!  It was awesome and we did a pretty good job.  Unfortunately, the only picture I got was a bit blurry...we were racing against the clock!
 

FINALLY it was time to see the Exhibition I had been waiting for all day!
It was probably a good thing that pictures weren't allowed inside the exhibition, because I would have been there all night getting pictures from every angle.  

The exhibit starts with the sorting hat, which anyone can have placed on their head for a chance to be sorted.  Then, we were shuffled into a room that played an introduction to the entire movie franchise and the exhibit.  It was very exciting.  The doors opened and the exhibit began.  There were quite a few costumes, wands, movie props, and set pieces, including the four-poster beds from Harry and Ron's dormitory.  The exhibit felt like we were moving through different sets, from the grounds of Hogwarts, to the dormitories and, of course, it ended in the Great Hall.  I rented an audio-guide at the beginning, and my favorite fact from the movies concerns the Mandrakes in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  In case you aren't aware, the only cure to un-petrify the victims of the monster is a Mandrake potion.  The students had, conveniently, been learning about them earlier in the movie.  The cry of an adult Mandrake will kill you.  Oh, and the Mandrakes look like ugly, potato-esque babies.  Well, they had some of these animatronic plant-babies at the exhibit that you could pull out of the pots, like in the movie. Now for the fun fact:  The Mandrakes were each individual animatronic robots, powered by battery packs.  They were a popular item of theft on set.  

Like all good exhibits, it ended in a gift shop.  I couldn't resist buying a few things, but this really caught all of our eyes...     
Thinking back, I probably should have purchased it! 


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12.07.2010

A Day...or 4...at the Beach

I won't lie, I have completely failed at blogging lately.  And I blame it on too many pictures! I simply could not find the time and/or energy to shuffle through all our pictures from Thanksgiving and add them to the blog.  So, if you'd like stories...um...I guess you'll have to ask! :-)

In order to feel better about posting and feed all of your hungry mouths with pictures, I've put together a little (only 178 pictures) slideshow.  ENJOY!



And I promise more stories and pictures later...just probably not about Thanksgiving.  Oh, and please don't think I haven't posted because we didn't have fun, we had an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC time! Photobucket

11.21.2010

Auto Show: Part 2

Due to Tim's never-ending work schedule, you'll have to do with my "pretty car..." explanation of the Seattle Auto Show.  Sorry!

Sitting outside the Events Center, was this Tesla Roadster.  In case you don't know, Tesla cars are completely electric.  The two on display at the show were both privately owned vehicles.
 Once we got into the show, we had a hard time deciding what direction to look in first.  Luckily, the Mercedes-Benz section was right in the center calling our names.  I have no idea what this beauty is, but when Tim saw it he very quickly exclaimed "Take a Picture!" I like the doors.
 Here I am sitting in a Lexus RX Hybrid SUV.  It was pretty nice, but I found a few other cars I'd rather own.  I thought it was funny that the dealers took all of the "removable accessories" out of the cars before displaying them, including the shifter knobs.
 Here are a few more cars Tim needed to have pictures of...
 A Corvette 
 And a Ferrari Italia (Don't hold me to that...)
 This isn't a car, but Tim wanted a picture of this Ferrari engine.  
 The grill of a Maserati
A Dodge Charger, in what Tim told me was an original color.
 Then we headed upstairs to see some more of the luxury cars, but I took a picture of the main Events Center floor.
 Now, I think I've been doing really well explaining these cars so far.  This one, though, I have no idea.  Tim was super excited about looking at this car (from behind a rope) and even wanted a close-up of the interior.  Enjoy!

 We really did have a great time looking at and sitting in all of the newest cars.  I have decided that I'm saving my pennies for a Volvo.  I think Tim is saving his for a Camaro.  Or maybe a Lamborghini.  Or maybe [insert any other car here].

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11.15.2010

Auto Show: Part 1

Why is this titled "part 1?"  Because I have no idea what any of the cars are called and I know Tim will be a little annoyed if I title them all "pretty car #1," "pretty car #2," etc, etc.  :-)

So here's the one car I know I can identify for sure:


THE FLYING FORD ANGLIA FROM HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS! 

WOOT!

5 more days until I get to see the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in IMAX!!!!!! AND visit the H.P. Exhibition!!!!!!  I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! 

Is it too obvious??
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11.09.2010

Undefeated!

I've been holding on to some photos from his work basketball league that I have wanted to post for a while now.  

Tim has been playing on this team for three years, and even though the teammates have been ever-changing, they've managed to stay at the top of the league.  This year is no different!  They are currently undefeated!  In fact, last week they played the only other undefeated team in the league and WON!  Oh yeah!

Here are some pictures of the guys in action (FYI - Tim is #50):






And I had to include a video...



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11.08.2010

The Big 2-6

Happy (belated) Birthday to Tim! 

Of course, we did celebrate the entire weekend, so this isn't really all that belated.  After Tim got done with work on Friday, I picked him up and brought him home for presents and dinner.  

Like my sweet wrapping skills??
The birthday boy with his haul...
He opened a present from Delaware...
And some from me...
 And eventually he found his way to the big hit of the evening...
 A new iPod Touch!
 After he had opened everything, I went to make dinner.  Tim requested homemade chicken and cheese enchiladas for the big day and I couldn't say no to him actually requesting my cooking!  But what was really funny was that every time I looked out of the kitchen, this is what I saw:
 He was completely immersed in his iPod.

Also, on his birthday, Tim wanted to go to the movies.  We finished dinner and drove to Gig Harbor to meet his friend Adam for the movie Due Date.  It was very funny!

After the movie, we headed back home and it was time for Tim to cut his cake!  He had requested a DQ Ice Cream cake...
 Evidently, they're pretty tough to cut...
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11.02.2010

Halloweekend 2010

We have an annual tradition here in the Wells household for Halloween and it involves haunted houses and cupcakes.  Sounds like a great combo, right?!  Thankfully, we were also able to spend the holiday weekend with Tim's sister, also an annual tradition.

Laurie and I started the day off right with a lunch of mexican food, while we waited for Tim to get off work.  Once we were all home, Tim had gotten a nap, and we made sure the cupcakes were all ready for decorating, we headed out to dinner and the Haunted Fairgrounds.

Evidently, I have attained VIP status at the fairgrounds, thanks to some sweet theater connections.  We managed to bypass the entire general admission line and we got to go through by ourselves.  Umm...it is way scarier going through a haunted house in a group of 3 (4, if you include our "host," who also managed to scare us several times)! It was an awesome experience and probably my favorite haunted experience ever.

Then it was time for CUPCAKES!
Preparing to decorate...

We had to put in a Halloween movie to set the mood...

Our decorating supplies...

My sweet vampire cupcake...

Tim and my completed cupcakes...

Laurie putting the finishing touches on her cupcakes...

This is what happens when I go to set up the tripod...

 And after several attempts...
 We got a group picture!

The next night, on Halloween, Tim and I had to get the Jack 'o Lantern pizza!
And, for the first time ever, we got trick-or-treaters!  4 kids came to our door for candy!  It may not seem like a lot, but it was sure exciting for us.  I think the kids liked that we gave them handfuls of candy out of pure joy and surprise!

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