Feeling Fabulous at 40

In October I turned 40.

I don't get too hung up about birthdays.  Mostly I am thankful I got this far as I have held the hands and hearts of people that didn't.  I do get contemplative on my birthday though.  I tend to take stock of what's happening in my life and what I want to accomplish and experience and make sure I am set up to do just that.  I think because I am loud and outgoing people think I am extroverted but truly I am a little introverted.  Hence the biggest gift I could receive on this big birthday was a few days on a trip by myself.  I am so thankful to have a partner that understands that about me.  My partner is the biggest gift of these forty years - everything is better because of him.

I have been thinking about women at 40 and what that would look like for me.  My hopes had been to get into "really good" shape by my birthday.  A few things prevented that goal - one of which is having a 3rd baby at 38 who is the absolute joy of our family.   Then I got busy with motherhood and medicine and pushed working on my body to the back burner.  I do not beat myself up about this.  I will likely get back to working on my body again but not from a point of vanity.  I am deeply loved just the way I am.  Mostly because I know it's an important part of taking care of myself which is something that tends to get sidelined if I am stressed.  Bodies are a funny thing to talk about because they are often wrapped up in self-worth.  I rebel against the idea that my worth is wrapped into my weight or my youth.  In fact I am pretty liberated by the fact that I am 40 now and I am taking no shit.  Things I would have tolerated before I just don't anymore.  I will take up space.  I have existed on this earth, have experience and knowledge to share and I do not need to be smaller to make you more comfortable. When I was younger a friend's husband said that my personality "filled up a room".  It was not a compliment.  That is until my husband said "Does this room make my personality look fat?" - a quip we use to this day.  My personality does fill up a room though and I have exhaled it into the corners of spaces - I exist not to make others feel small but I won't dim my light so that you feel more comfortable.  Come shine with me.

So sitting here on the stunning balcony of my amazing apartment in Trinity Beach in Queensland looking out to the Coral Sea I want to talk about something that women so often don't want to talk about.  This is my love letter to my imperfect beloved body.

This trip has been a big realization for me - I am truly an expert in my field.  My brain carried me there.  I was very stressed coming to Australia that I was on a panel of experts with people who's papers I have read - experts in the field.  It wasn't until after I held my own on that panel (without my slides that didn't load) that I realized I was an expert too!  I am very lucky that my brain is a library of medical knowledge but also remembers my patients and their stories so when a patient came up to me in Melbourne with tears in her eyes from 6 years ago I knew who she was and her condition.  My brain is magnificent and I am so thankful for it. 

One of my favourite poems is by W.B. Yeats "When you are Old"

"How many loved your moments of glad grace, 

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you. 

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;"

I think of this poem often while I watch my face slowly change in the mirror.  While I do miss the woman with less lines on her face I am happy to have earned each and every one of them.  They are the proof of a thousand worries and tears, millions of bouts of laughter and smiles between friends and strangers.  My eyes may occasionally need my dark-rimmed glasses to properly read powerpoint or to protect me during surgery but they can still appreciate the beauty of novels, the faces of my children and the majestic Coral sea. This mouth of mine often gets me into trouble but it's also bold and brave.  I try to speak for the voiceless, the people who aren't afforded the mouthpiece of a white, cisgender woman of high socioeconomic status.  I still sing loudly and love to do so - as recently at the raucous dance party at the end of my conference in Melbourne (what a fun international work community!).  I still smile most of my day as I have so much to smile about.  This mouth has also shared countless kisses - with friends, with the children that I have been blessed to have as a part of my life, with my babies as they fall asleep and with the man I love more and more deeply after 15 years of marriage. 

My shoulders and arms have carried the weight of many worries - my own and those of my friends and patients.  I have cradled countless babies in my arms as they have left their mothers.  What a tremendous honour to be the first touch of new life as it enters the world.  That I get to make the transition of life a little less scary for babies as I love each and every one of them as I transfer them to their mama's chests or to the waiting arms of the skilled paediatric team.  I have cradled my own babies countless times.  I hope to fill their childhoods with hugs, kisses and love. I can't do everything for them but I can let them know how immensely loved they are and fill their human need for touch and connection.  My arms have wrapped around countless necks and waists in embraces all over the world.  I am a huggy person and I forgot how other cultures often embrace longer and how I really love that. 

These hands of mine can do amazing things.  They can play piano, write on this keyboard, make my children's Halloween costumes and braid my daughter's hair.  They can feed giraffes and pet kangaroos, hold birds and pat puppies. They can also cut you open, save the life of you and your baby and sew you back up again with a small scar you can barely see.  They can hold another person's hand in their happiness or grief.

My heart is my superpower beating in my chest.  It sustains this beloved body but it also pours love into everything I do and everyone I meet.  I care deeply and I have the courage to open my heart again, even when it has been hurt, to pour love out again and to be loved in return.  Love fills this big beautiful heart. 

My belly is not flat.  It bears the scars of birthing three children and removing a tumour that thankfully was not cancer.  That is my battle scar and it makes me feel like a warrior and I am not ashamed of it.  My belly is bigger than it's been in a long time and it may be smaller and bigger again - who knows?  As a good friend said - "Bodies are transient - good ones and bad ones."  This belly, the one I have right now is mine.  It works and it does not cause me pain.  It shows the evidence of countless amazing meals prepared with love.  It shakes when I laugh really hard (which is often). 

My hips have carried my children up and down stairs to bedtime.  They have propped up pregnant bellies when I deliver babies via c-section.  They have danced in countless countries with total abandon including my favourite place - our kitchen dance party.  Big or small - these hips move.

My legs and feet have taken me further than I ever imagined I would go.  They have stood on the Great Wall of China at sunrise, crawled into a Great Pyramid, ascended the steps of the Duomo in Florence and climbed down into a canyon (with Cian on my back) in Hell's Gate in Kenya. I have stood in wonder at Victoria Falls, Valley of the Kings, Chichen Itza, Kilimanjaro and the Masai Mara.  These legs have climbed onto an elephant in Zimbabwe, a camel in Egypt, a donkey in Greece, and horses in countless countries (those beautiful animals!).  My feet have squished into the pink sand of Bermuda and the white sand of Fiji, Grand beach and Bondi beach. I have dipped my toes into five of the Seven Seas.  I haven't been everywhere but it's on my list :) and I have been so fortunate to experience what I have, in part due to the healthy strength of my legs and feet. 

It isn't inherently easy to write positive things about one's body without caveats.  This piece of writing has been mulling around in my head for a while so I thought I would share it in hopes that other people would be reminded of all the things their bodies can do too.  Thank you to this body for 40 years of experiences.  I look forward to what the future holds. 

Backcountry Camping with Cian - Adventures on Caddy Lake

Cian is most definitely an outdoorsy kid.  He always loves being outside and being in a canoe and ESPECIALLY fishing.  Last year I figured that this summer he would be old enough for his first backcountry trip.  We are really trying to pack a lot into our weekends as I am working the remainder of the summer so we had picked this weekend without thinking that I would have a full OR day on the Friday.  I was trying to do the math and figure out how we were going to pack up, get the canoe, drive to the Whiteshell and paddle to our first campsite all after my work day.  It was stressing me out a bit as I would never typically start a trip that late in the day. When I got home though Cian was at the backdoor before I had even gotten into the garage so there was no changing our plans now.  We moved pretty quickly and got to the dock at Caddy Lake at 7:30 pm.  The fact that I had no idea where we were camping that night and the sun was already setting had not improved my concerns but at least the water was beautiful so we took off across the lake. 

We figured out where the first tunnel was as there was a canoe going out for an evening paddle and they were ahead of us.  When we got to the opening of the tunnel they were coming out and we were going in and they warned us it was dark.  Cian was very brave and I at least put my brave face on.  He immediately put his headlamp on but listened when I said please don't turn it on as I had heard there were bats in the tunnel and I was sure that the Batman origin story of a million circulating bats in a confined space was not going to improve our canoe trip one bit.  We got onto the other side of the tunnel (I may have held my breath a bit) and there were tents with fires along the shore.  I had looked up where the pre-organized campsites were but they seemed to be occupied and at this point it was getting pretty dark.  There was an area a bit down from one of the campsites that was likely used as a shore lunch spot and that was where we stopped for the night.  Cian got a chance to use his headlamp as we set up my old little tent in the dark.  I was really impressed with my gear.  I have had my camping/canoeing gear for longer than I have been married and all of it is in pretty good shape. We went to bed that first night very late but happy in the sound of wind and waves.

We woke up later the next morning around 8-9 am.  There was already a bit of a breeze and I realized I would be heading into it a bit on the way up the lake to the second tunnel.  We boiled some water thanks to my friend Vanessa's little biofuel stove and had oatmeal for breakfast.  Cian's eating can be somewhat unpredictable.  He can sometimes eat very little (like on this trip) or a lot (half the eggs and a burger when we got home).  He especially doesn't eat when he is excited though so I should have planned for that. 

We packed up our camp and headed up the lake to the second tunnel.  It's quite a nice paddle and something I could do solo which is good as my 10 year old is more interested in looking around and eating trail mix than paddling. Several power boats passed us and Cian was inspired to start dreaming of the power boat he might buy one day.  Clearly they were in it for the fishing and that's where he wanted to be.  To be fair to him he might have been more satisfied in the canoe if I let him fish but I could not imagine trying to fish and managing hook entanglements. He was pretty happy though just to hang out and look for loons and beavers.  Just before the second tunnel we saw an animal run over the rocks and into the water.  Cian thought it was a marten (I didn't even remember Martens existed). The second tunnel is longer than the first and by midday when we were there we needed to make some noise to make sure there wasn't a power boat coming the other way.  It was pretty neat to see all the swallows nests.  Prior to going through the tunnel a train had gone by overhead.  That's the reason the tunnels were made in the first place so that when the railroad was created there was a management system for the water. 

On the next lake there were a number of fishing boats as well.  I would have never thought a power boat could get through those small tunnels until I saw it with my own eyes.  At this point we were looking for a campsite and I think we snagged the last one on North Cross Lake.  We saw the small metal pole at the shoreline and made a beeline for it.  There were some fisherman in a power boat close by and they told us they had never seen the lake that busy with campers.  They also thought we got the last site and it was a favourite.  We liked it from a distance and Cian was finally convinced that it had been a good idea to move our camp from our first location.  The guys had been fishing and asked if we were and I said that Cian had talked of nothing else all day (which was true) and was excited to get his rod out.  Unfortunately, despite our best efforts the line was super tangled and I spent a number of minutes looking at that mess without really a clue how to fix it.  Then there was a rain deluge that we spotted about 5 minutes before it happened so Cian and I quickly set up our tent and tarp before that soaked us "to the bone".  After that quick shower we turned our attention back to the rod.  The guys who had been at our site earlier were closeby and since Cian knew I wasn't figuring out anything quickly he took a big rock and planned to through it in the water on the side of our peninsula that they were on.  I suggested we just say hi (which is what we did) and ask for help (we did that too).  They were more than happy to oblige as they were already worried that "the little guy" wasn't going to catch anything from shore.  Our heroes names are Mike and Ricky.  Mike jumped on shore to fix Cian's rod (he cut the mess and started from scratch and fixed it in under 2 minutes) and out with Mike jumped the 3 little dogs in the boat.  They only had 10 legs between the 3 of them.  Turns out Ricky must have a thing for sad causes :).  They asked if we wanted to come in the boat and go fishing as they figured Cian would have more success there.  He was more than ready.  Fishing in a power boat and 3 dogs - what's not to love?  We hopped in the boat and were off.  Ricky had a fish finder - Cian didn't know he could love fishing more and then you add a videogame-type element to it?  The guys were amazing with him.  They gave him their rods and every time there was a bite on any rod he got to reel it in.  They taught him how to stick his thumb in their mouths to hold them so you didn't get poked.  They taught him how to release a fish (I didn't know how to do that).  They were so encouraging and awesome and I can't thank them enough for making a pretty great weekend trip an amazing one. 

They dropped us back at camp and we filleted one of the black crappies that Cian caught (I hate filleting fish but I hate it even more with a dull fishing knife 😣) We cooked it on the open fire and then made hot chocolate and smores. Much better than our planned dinner.  We planned to turn in early as I had calculated how early the morning start needed to be in order to get the canoe back to the rental place at noon in Winnipeg.  We read the classic Patrick McManus in the tent before turning in.  

I had set my alarm for 0430 and it was still dark outside (with the exception of the full moon) so I reset it to 0530.  I did get my lazy butt in gear that time. Here's my epic mom fail.  I put the other 2 fish that Cian caught that we didn't eat in a bag and tied it to the back of the canoe and kept it in the water so that it would be cool and less smelly.  Well I guess that the bag wasn't tied as tightly as I thought and when it filled with water the fish must have slipped out.  He took this disappointing news surprisingly well.  I know it will be a fish story he will tell on future trips.  "Mom, remember when you lost my fish in the lake?" 🙈 

It was much chillier this morning than it was the day before so it was not as inviting to get up.  I knew the earlier we got up though the easier it would be for me to solo paddle the boat back and the better chances we would have of a calm lake.  Cian was cold and had already asked the night before if he could sleep in the canoe.  I have slept in a canoe and it was amazing so I figured why not?  I packed up everything else and then he got in the boat and I brought him his sleeping bag and he cuddled up into the bow.  The water was stunning.  It was clear as glass and mist was rising everywhere.  With the full moon it was the perfect morning for a paddle.  Day had broken but the sun wasn't up yet and so the cool dim morning meant we saw lots of loons, beavers, ducks and eagles on our way back.  The mist on the lake was everywhere and it made the whole morning magical.  We got through the second tunnel and there was just enough light and mist to make it enchanting.  The paddle back seemed much easier than the paddle there.  I was hoping for a tailwind and the universe obliged.  Cian tried to make his raincoat into a bit of a sail but we will have to work on that skill on a different trip.  The tail wind was definitely a wonderfully welcomed thing. We barely saw a power boat (or anyone else really) this morning and it was a quiet perfect morning on the water.   Everything timed out like clockwork.  On the water by 0600, at the boat dock at 0900 and packed up with the canoe strapped down just after 0930. Cian was a great help with packing up the car and strapping down the boat (a much better help than paddler but I expected that). We got back to the canoe rental place with 5 minutes to spare. 

Cian and I had a great time and I hope this is the first of many backcountry trips together.  Preparing for it made me nostalgic when I dragged out all my gear. It reminded me of my 20 year old self and her love of being outside and how I haven't lost that even with all the years between her and me. I love teaching Cian stuff outside and seeing him really in his element.  He is such a good sport about school but that is not his love.  He does love being outside and with animals and doing things in nature and I love sharing that together.  His appreciation and sincerity are such amazing gifts and I love those qualities about him so much.

(this morning)

Cian : Mom do you see the sky?

Me: Yup it's pretty...

Cian: YEAH...PRETTY AWESOME!!

Driving home cocooned in my little car with the Wenonah on the roof I was listening to Ani diFranco while Cian played a game.  I am glad I haven't lost sight of the things that make me "me".  That I can fall into a paddling trip like I did it days ago rather than decades.  That sterning a boat is like breathing.  That I can still be mesmerized by a misty calm lake.  To share all of that with Cian this weekend was amazing.

" I do it for the joy it brings

Because I am a joyful girl

Because the world owes me nothing

And we owe each other the world

I do it because it's the least I can do 

I do it because I learned it from you

And I do it just because I want to 

Because I want to"

- Ani DiFranco

Hanging out at our second campsite

Double fish awesomeness (Thanks Mike!)

Here we see Cian in his natural habitat eating his regular diet of wraps...

waterlilies are beautiful

Misty lake and the second tunnel

Chilly morning at the tunnels

Late night start to our canoe trip 

Cian packing up our first campsite (complete with headlamp)

First time through the second tunnel

Second campsite on North Cross Lake

My early morning "paddling" buddy - cosy in his sleeping bag

Entering the second cave in the dark early morning

Our heroes Ricky and Mike - sometimes angels drive power boats.

The Surprise Harry Potter Trip

Because Emily wanted to have a Harry Potter birthday party this year, and because we were just finishing book four and I was contemplating a break from the books because the themes were getting a bit dark, I thought about doing this big trip this year.  Emily turned seven this year and is therefore a bit young to get her Hogwarts letter but I loved that she was totally enthralled in the magic of the Hogwarts universe and therefore started dreaming of a trip to Orlando to Harry Potter world.  And then everything just came together perfectly.  She had the day off from school on her birthday.  I had the weekend off as well as the Friday off from work.  There were direct cheap flights on Flair Airlines.  There was a Canadian residents deal at Universal.  It was like the universe said "Come on just do it already!".  So I did.  I booked the trip to blow my little bookworm's mind and didn't tell her about it.

I had to keep the secret for months which was a VERY difficult task for me.  I meticulously planned the trip which helped me through the winter as I didn't find it as long or as exhausting because I had this great thing to look forward to.  I'm not big into springing surprises on our kids but our middle kid (aka the drama queen) LOVES to react to things so I thought this was my chance.  Again thank goodness for Pinterest where there are ideas and tools for everything.  I told Cian the day before and I was a bit worried he would feel left out but in true Cian fashion he told me she was going to love it it. There isn't a jealous bone in that kid's body - he is such a better person than his mother. 

I asked our neighbourhood Facebook group if someone would like to drop off Emily's Hogwarts letter and lots of people offered to help which is a testament to how amazing our neighbourhood is.  The "witch" who came to the door was excellent and surprisingly Em was a bit nervous at first but certainly started to warm up to her.  When in finally sunk in what was happening she was STOKED.  This is a kid that loves the details so she scoured all the "paperwork" and loved that I bought a new suitcase (we needed a new one) that sort of looked like a trunk.  Cian's gift to her was Hogwarts lanyards that we kept our tickets in and a "I Solemnly Swear I am Up to No Good" T-shirt as well as a bag of Dumbledore's favourite candies "Sherbert Lemons" for the trip.  

We left very early in the morning for our flight and wore the matching Marauder's Map infinity scarves I had made us for the trip.  (Thanks to my neighbour Karalyn for letting me use her sewing machine as mine had died).  We got our coffee and snacks for the plane and 3.5 hours later we were there!  I can't recommend a one-on-one trip with your kid enough.  It was so fun to let her pick what she wanted to do and see what she wanted to see.  I had very little agenda once we got there other than to start our Hogwarts adventure the following day on her birthday.  Kids don't care about so many things that adults do.  She loved eating at Denny's and sitting by the pool and watching TV in the hotel room.  We stayed in a pretty budget place since it was close to Universal and I figured we would only sleep there (which was true) and she thought it was luxurious.  

"We solemnly swear we are up to no good"

Our first day was the day we got there and we did some non-Harry Potter rides (since we were saving it for the birthday the following day).  Our first ride was Spiderman which was a fast 3-D ride.  Disneyland had taught me that Emily loves rides so I wasn't too worried about it.  She was excited as she loves Spiderman but this first ride was a doozy.  Spiderman lands on your car and things move very quickly and she shut her eyes and hated the whole thing.  I thought that I had made the most terrible mistake with this trip as I knew the Harry Potter rides were fast and scary too but she loved every fast and scary ride at Disneyland.  This was the highest anxiety of the whole trip but I hadn't taken into account that we had been up since the early hours of the morning so she was doing a whole lot of new things on very little sleep.  We went over to the Jurassic World area and there was a kids ride called Pteranadon Flyers which was new I think since Keith and I were there in 2014. She LOVED this (and truthfully I thought it was a bit scary).  The Pteranadon is above you and there are two swing-like seats hanging underneath it.  The kid sits in the front and an adult in the back and the track is above the Pteranadon.  It takes you high above the park and then you swing down but the swing sideways is pretty wild.  It's lots of fun but Keith would have hated it (he doesn't really like heights).  We also did the classic Jurassic Park water ride but I covered Em's eyes for the T-rex which I was super thankful I did because it's more realistic than I even remember.  She loved the big drop though. We did some Seuss rides and then by the time we got back to the hotel room it was very late in the evening.  We watched the Harry Potter rides on Youtube before bed to prepare for the following day and I think that really helped her enjoyment of the next day's events as she knew what to expect. 

The next morning was Emily's birthday.  We had breakfast by the pool at the hotel and then got our robes on for our Harry Potter experience.  We are both in Gryffindor house.  She had her birthday button and when we got to Universal the person at the gate was so incredibly kind and had everyone at the gate sing her Happy Birthday.  Then they gave her a Universal Happy Birthday pin.  If you love your birthday and you want lots of acknowledgement on your big day - you should go to a theme park.  They know how to do it.  Everyone wished her happy birthday - all sorts of people who work there and also lots of other people (kids and adults) that were visiting the park too.  It was pretty awesome.  

We made it to Diagon Alley as we had decided that we wanted to go to Diagon Alley first and then ride the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade and the castle just like Harry Potter would have done :P.  We got to the back of the park where Diagon Alley is and it was as amazing as I remembered.  She was stoked that you can walk through the brick wall and enter a magical land with a fire-breathing dragon on the top of Gringotts Bank.  It was hard to know what to do first but we figured we would replicate Harry Potter's trip and go to Ollivander's.  She loved looking at all the wands and I had heard about the experience where Ollivader picks wands for people and I found the small line up outside the shop.  We had to go through 3 times and I would have spent all day there to get her picked for a wand because it was magical.  The first time we went through and got a new Ollivander actor he picked her right away so I told her that was the real one.  It was incredible - they have done an amazing job of figuring out how to infuse magic into the wand experience and I was happy to spend money on her interactive wand after that.  We spent a lot of the next two days doing spells throughout Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. 

Diagon Alley

Our first Harry Potter ride was Escape from Gringotts.  This kid loves rides so much that long line-ups don't seem to scare her and in some ways it was good to get out of the direct sun for a bit.  There was lots to see even in line and she had great fun with people wishing her Happy Birthday all the time.  Escape from Gringotts is a 3D rollercoaster ride and because we had watched it online she was prepared for Voldemort and the trolls so that was really good.  She said she only closed her eyes for Nagini the snake but so did I so I couldn't really fault her on that.  In general, a big success and my ride stress reduced significantly when I saw how excited she was that all her imagination of the books we had been reading had come to life everywhere she looked.

We had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron - fish and chips and frozen butter beer.  I had anticipated one meal being enough for the two of us and it was plenty.  That way we could also enjoy some of the amazing snacks. One of the people at the Leaky Cauldron made sure that Emily knew about the spells in Knockturn Alley so we went there after lunch to check it out.  It's amazing how they make it night in there and noticeably cooler with spooky spells and shops.

After a few more spells in Dragon Alley we went to Kings Cross station to take the Hogwarts Express.  The line was long but we were armed with snacks from home.  We had our Bert's Every Flavour beans and I even had made a chocolate wrapper that said "Open in case of Dementor Attack" We headed through Platform 9 3/4 and off we went.  They do such a good job of making the train a magical experience and it feels just like the books.

Once in Hogsmeade we checked out Honeydukes and all the shops and spells available there.  Em was the perfect age for the interactive wand because although kids and adults older than her had them and were doing the spells too she truly BELIEVED.  She corrected other kids if they didn't say the words while they were doing their spells as she wanted to "help" them and she was laser-focused when it was her turn.  Worth every penny. 

We headed over to Hogwarts castle and it was going to be yet another wait but she was up for it.  We saw the mirror of Erised and she knew all the other details they had placed in the line.  Herbology class, the pensive, the Fat Lady, the sorting hat and the house points tracker to name a few. She always pointed out to people who were wearing other house colours that Gryffindor was ahead (which is sort of a Gryffindor things to do).  When we passed the entrance to Dumbledore's office she would say "Sherbert Lemon" knowing that was the password in first year (she tried this each time).  She is the exact target audience kid for whoever planned the park. I was a bit worried about Forbidden Journey - the ride in Hogwarts - as she just made the height cut off and I knew it was kind of a scary ride but we had watched the video and talked about what to expect and she wanted to go.  I had forgotten how much you get thrown around and indeed at one point your feet are higher than your head.  There are fire-breathing dragons, spiders, Dementors and the Whomping Willow and while I was riding it I was thinking "What did I do - this is too scary!" but when we got off the ride she was literally boucing that she thought it was AMAZING.  She said "Don't worry Mom I closed my mouth when the Dementors came so they couldn't suck out my soul! I didn't even close my eyes!" I am pretty sure I closed my eyes at some point.  She loved loved loved it.  Victory!!  Before heading home for the day we rode the Flight of the Hippogriff.  We were sure to bow our heads at Buckbeak and it was nice to have a fast and fun rollercoaster to finish off the perfect birthday celebration in a magical land.  

Em grabbed a pink birthday donut at Voodoo Donut and we headed back to the hotel because she had really wanted to have a dip in the pool before bed.  I was trying to figure out how to get dinner into her and get a swim in but then we found out there was a pool bar!  We got "margaritas" (mine didn't have quotation marks actually - it had tequila) and cheese pizza by the pool which facilitated our evening swim.  It was an awesome end to a pretty perfect day. 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and home of Emily's favourite ride The Forbidden Journey

Hagrid's motorbike

Hogsmeade 

Our Marauders Map T-shirts

Before drifting off to sleep we planned our attack for the next day and Emily wanted to head straight to the Forbidden Journey so that's just what we did.  We ran to the back of the park and went through the ride twice.  It didn't disappoint and she loved it every time.  She told me not to worry we could get mom a Starbucks after we had run to Hogwarts :P.  

We took the Hogwarts Express back to Diagon Alley (the ride is different depending on which way you go).  She wanted to ride Escape from Gringotts again and loved it even more the second time.  We even ventured out of Harry Potter world a little bit.  We got the promised Starbucks which was excellent and we had spaghetti and meatballs at a nice little "New York" Italian restaurant.  Emily indulged her mom's nostalgia and we went on the E.T. ride and she was excited to get the front row red bike (Elliot's bike!) with E.T. in the basket.  We will have to watch that movie soon.

We went on the Minions ride, saw Shrek 4D and went on the new Fast and the Furious ride (I didn't think the last one was as good but she wanted to do the Mummy rollercoaster and I wasn't sure that wouldn't be scary).  Our hearts were always drawn back to Hogwarts though and we spent lots of time there checking out the shops and doing spells.

Practicing spells in Hogsmeade

Can we be in the Order of the Phoenix?

Eating Harry Potter's favourite ice cream from Florean's - chocolate and raspberry!

A real fire-breathing dragon - Emily's favourite creature

Escape from Gringotts - my little ride junkie!

Dinosaurs won't stop this girl's magic!

We were going to go to a restaurant for dinner but got caught in the rain so headed into the Marvel cafeteria area and had chicken fingers with Thor and Captain America instead and waited out the rain.

We then planned out what we still wanted to do before the park closed.   We really wanted to take in the fireworks in Hogsmeade so we got in place to see that around 8pm at the first show.  They do a wonderful job of displaying the house colours on the castle.  The fireworks were beautiful.  Em wanted to try the Pteranadon Flyers one more time before leaving and that was where we were headed after the fireworks but I could see that the Forbidden Journey only had about a 30 minute wait so asked her if she could do any ride again what would she want and immediately said the Hogwarts ride so I pointed out that we could do it before park close and she was psyched!  We ran there right after the fireworks and had our last hurrah in the castle. We then had enough time to run to the Jurassic Park area and fly on the Pteranadon flyers twice!  It was cool to be in the rock formations at night running full blast to try to get our last ride in before the park closed.  We saw the next Hogwarts fireworks show from high atop the park suspended from a Pteranadon.  What could be better?

We then had time to get souvenirs for her brothers after the rides had closed.  She picked a velociraptor cup for Cian and a Hogwarts T-shirt for Sam.  She asked for a Harry Potter notebook and Golden Snitch pen and who could resist- they were super cute.  Little did I know that she would spend the entire flight home writing in that new Harry Potter journal all about her trip so that she could share it with her Grade one class.  On the first page she wrote "I had a wonderful time at Universal Studios...." <3.   In the immense planning that went into this trip I was worried I had built it up too big but it was such a special thing to do with her.  I wanted to solidify her love of magic and reading and bravery and do something really special with her and I think that was accomplished; being a mom is my favourite adventure.

"It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live" - Albus Dumbledore

The Hogwarts Nighttime Spectacular

She wrote about her trip all the way home 

Emily's Harry Potter Birthday Party

Emily and I have been reading Harry Potter over the last year or so.  She never really wanted to read chapter books but has an incredible love of dragons and that's how I hooked her.  And once she was hooked she was HOOKED.  We ploughed through the first four books.  That's over a thousand pages and she loved every story and wants to keep going.  I'm worried that the themes are getting a little too mature so we are going to head over to Narnia for a while but to celebrate her love of Hogwarts she wanted her 7th birthday to have a Harry Potter theme and we went ALL OUT.

We spent weeks crafting.  We made wands and a Platform 9 3/4.  We painted the windows and made special invitations.  We figured out how to make the Honeydukes candies and so we made Chocolate Frogs and Every Flavoured Beans.  We figured out how to make floating candles in the dining room and our friend Andrea helped us wit that.  I did a LOT of work with the glue gun.  There was heavy reliance on Pinterest (how did people parent without Pinterest?) We had Golden Snitch cupcakes!  

My mom made Emily and I robes and I had sorted out that our house was the perfect place to recreate Hogwarts so that's why we had the party at home.  We put the Platform 9 3/4 wall outside the porch door and you had to sneak through the slit in it.  The "Hogwarts Express" (the childhood train set) was set up in the front porch and the front door was the entrance to Hogwarts.  We enlisted our friends Katie and Adrian to help fill out the faculty.  They were amazing sports and came in costume.

When the kids arrived I acted as their headmistress Rowena Ravenclaw and welcomed them as our new early first year class.  They printed their name tags and chose their wands.  We explained that I would take them around to their various classes before the banquet in the Great Hall.  The first class was Potions with Professor Snape (Keith).

Potions class was essentially fun and exploding science.  Professor Snape had labeled all his ingredients with Hogwarts names (Bezoars and Wolfsbane and Dragon Eggs, etc). He made "Dragon's Toothpaste" (common name in science experiments is Elephant Toothpaste) and had it erupt in his clear cauldron (punchbowl).  That experiment was cool but not as explosive as we were hoping.  He had an encore however.  His favourite experiment is putting Mentos (Dragon Eggs) into soda pop (Giggle Juice) and that caused an eruption that hit the kitchen ceiling and elicited 7 year old squeals of delight.  

Next was Divination class with Professor Trelawney (Katie) up in the loft.  She had combed her beautiful hair out big and had lots of scarves and colours and indeed it was the perfect set up for Divination class.  She did a great job of pretending to predict every kid's fortune.  Again thanks to Pinterest I had found a Divination potion where you put food colouring at the bottom of each glass and covered it with ice and so when you added 7 up the colour of your fortune was revealed!  She was perfect.

Our last class before the Great Feast was Care of Magical Creatures.  Our Head Hufflepuff girl Adrian and Hagrid's assistant Cian (complete with elaborate dragon "tattoo") taught the kids how to pin the fire back on the dragon.  Beware of the Baby Dragon though he is very tricky! He likes to escape and roar loudly :)

We then had our Grand Feast.  We had pretend jugs of pumpkin juice and butter beer but served water and pink juice instead.  There were "Hufflepuffs" (cheese puffs) and "Slytherin Snakes" (gummy worms) and Professor Sprouts vegetables.  They had their cupcakes and chocolate frogs and then went to play around the castle before their parents picked them up.  We even had Quidditch painted on the back window for those who wanted to try. 

Everyone was sent home with their very own (helium balloon) owl from the owlery, their wand and a container of Every Flavour Beans.  It was everything Emily hoped it would be and we had a lovely faculty dinner afterwards of amazing Indian food from Charisma.  The house elves didn't have to do a thing.   It was a lot of fun to plan this with her and to have it all go so well.  Her friend Abigail who has started to read the books too told her mom our house was EXACTLY like Hogwarts. :).