Harry Potter World - family style

So a few weeks ago my family (Mom, Dad, Spectra, her hubby Sawyer, Elliot, and me) went down to Orlando to celebrate my dad’s retirement. And by, went to Orlando to celebrate, I really mean went to Harry Potter world to celebrate our own wizard and witch skills!

Before I get started on Harry Potter world, let me first say crazy that my dad is retiring, for several reasons i) he is a really magical teacher and seems to have so much fun with it all (from dressing up as a knight and knighting a child from each class who exhibits strong character, to using Google earth to pretend he is an astronaut with the kids landing on Mars….this is just the beginning, ii) he does not really have much gray hair, which seems like it would be a requirement for retiring, iii) my parents have crazy amounts of energy….as an example – when we were planning Orlando they decided they wanted to do theme parks 3 days in a row, and when I say theme parks I mean arrive at 9am leave at 10pm after the fireworks…..wow-zer, I really needed a vacation after the vacation, and finally iv) for him to retire, means I am really old enough to be an adult (hence the name Growing Up Thyme – always weird when I remember I am an adult)

Here are some highlights of the trip

1)      Butter Beer, butterscotchy cream soda goodness…nuff said

2)      Picking out own wands at Ollivander’s Wand shop….now most people would select a wand by either their birth month or which character in Harry Potter they most relate to….not my family – Wally (dad) insisted of having us open a bizzillion wand boxes (without him knowing which wand was which) and glide the wand over his head until his Chakra energy felt powerful….let’s just say it is kinda scary Elliot felt the Voldemort and Harry Potter! I hope my hubby is not evil!!

3)      Moaning Myrtle moaning in the bathrooms

4)      The amazing window displays

5)      The state of the art ride where I got to fly….so neat! Even the line was amazing – going through Hogwarts

6)      Honeydukes candy shop – yes I did buy a chocolate frog and bertie botts jelly beans (my favorite of the weird flavors was grass and pepper!)

7)      Unrelated to Harry Potter, but playing Settler’s of Catan late night with the fam

Having geek parents that would rather do Harry Potter world vs. some stiff dinner or party sure is awesome…WINNING!

Here are some pics

{Wandering the streets}

{Obvi they are in costume}

{Family Photo - don't pretend you don't like the fanny pack!}

{Hogwarts}

{Enjoying a butter beer}

{It moved around the talked!}

{Mandrake}

{Frog choir}

{Lots of small touches scattered around}

{Wally wearing his sorting hat drinking another butter beer - non alc. of course!}

A reminder to be mindful

A few weeks ago I was in Raleigh visiting the family, when I noticed a small bell hanging from the doorway down to the basement (ie my dad’s shrine). I asked my dad what the bell was for and he explained to me, each time he walks directly in to it, bumping his head against the bell, which then chimes, and serves as a reminder to be mindful. Silly Gaya, I should have figured!

I will have to ask my dad more about what mindfulness means to him, but in the meantime, google told me “In its Buddhist context, mindfulness has three overarching purposes: knowing the mind; training the mind; and freeing the mind.”

Here are photos of the rents demonstrating:

{To bad my mom is too short to be reminded to be mindful!}

Happy 1 year anniversary to my sister Spectra and her hubby Sawyer

Yes, my sister's name is Spectra....don't act like you are suprised.

A year ago today, Spectra and Sawyer got married in Minnesota in a Harry Potter themed wedding.  2 reactions happen when I tell people that it was a Harry Potter wedding, reaction 1, people are insanely jealous and wish they could have a sister as cool as mine, or reaction 2, they roll their eyes and secretly judge it.  I don't care if Glamour magazine said having a Harry Potter wedding is a "don't"

I was skeptical myself, but trust me, they kept it classy.

A few highlights:
1) spells and wands used during the ceremony
2) spontaneous combustion in the ceremony
3) butter beer
4) chocolate frogs
5) gourmet s'mores
6) the savenger hunt "Hunt for the Horcruxes"
7) sitting with our "houses" at the seated dinner
8) the owl decor
9) lots of tweed
10) late night dance party

Here are some pics:

Love you two! Happy Aniversary! Can't wait for Orlando in a few weeks and going to Universal for Harry Potter World! Count down!

Wait...I thought all parents have the United Nations flag hanging in their dining room

So I got to visit my parents over the long weekend and decided to share a taste of my life with you guys....are you ready?

My parents are fabulous hippies.  Not the drug using music loving hippies, but the protesting liberal to the core hippies. Throughout the blog I will share tidbits of their awesome-ness, but for now, I will just share photos of their house.  I realized while taking these pictures, that all of this seems really normal to me - having Balinese art next to the UN flag in the dining room.  Let's just say my parents are not boring.

Here is a tour:

Frogs in a water fountain outside - my mom loves frogs, my mom also loves water fountains. Even more than frogs and fountains, she loves birds.  She is also happy when birds come to drink out of the fountain.  

Random hippy art

A gong, that my dad painted.  Behind the gong is some Balinese art

A Balinese mark at the entry way of the house.  Welcome to the Myers/Peeples household - don't be scared

Another mask to welcome visitors

Typical art hanging on the wall in the office

Not sure really, I think Mayan art

Shiny things hanging from the ceiling

More Mayan art - also notice the Christmas lights - my family loves lights all year round (even though we are Buddhist/Unitarians)

Art I bought dad when I was in India (he requested specific pieces that I was supposed to buy him when I was there)

This wall art actually looks like water is really flowing (yes, I am not joking), this is in the downstairs basement and represents the waterfalls of the Havasupai in the grand canyon

A painting my dad did inspired by the same waterfalls:

Yes, my father has a shrine....wait....yours does not? I thought everyone had a shrine?  The next two pictures are from the shrine

Here is a painting my dad did (I think?) from our time living on a Hopi reservation

Some religions have commandments and strict rules.  Us Unitarians have seven principles which congregations affirm and promote.  My dad has created art and pictures to explore these, here is one photo he took titled "imbalance begets balance"  Notice the 20 dollar torn bill in the corner of the picture....ask me for the story in person sometime.

 Here is another one

More art from Bali and India (picked it up on my 2nd trip over there)

Yes, that is a buffalo skull, yes, a buffalo skull. My dad is creating an elaborate piece of art

We also like nifty stuffed animals

We also like masks, here is a mask of an owl

Here is a painting my dad did of a dove

Here is the UN flag hanging in my dining room:

Typical reading materials (typical for my mom, but probably too mainstream for my dad)

In the guest bathroom, we have M&M Christmas lights up year round.  You might ask why?  My family would ask "Why not"

Some more of my dad's paintings/art

Star trek and the wizard of oz - typical

My parents love this one

Here is the gong from earlier - but my dad wanted to move it where I could get a better picture.  Notice yoda sitting on top with his head shaking to the vibrations.

Gnomes and nukes and other things on our refrigerator

"Mommy when I grow up I want to help smash the white racist homophobic patriarchal bullsh*t paradigm too!"

This is just the beginning really. Hope you enjoyed a taste of my family.  Now you know why they named me Gaya