Brother Sister Day

It rocks that Mac Em and Silas take Brother Sister Day very seriously.
They "bonded" on the Coronado ferry, hunted for Green Day CD's and proudly turned Silas into a "Green Day Nerd", sang "bullfrogs down by the banks of the hanky panky" while they waited in lines, decided on sweet stuffed animal gifts to each other, played guitars together and Mac and Em watched Silas' first swimming lesson with great interest ("he's sooo cute") and concern ("he's scared to put his face in") and cheering all around ("yay Silas!").
There was a lot of love in this day and I was happy to watch it happen.

Nana Love at the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park

Safari Sleepover: A first time for Silas!
Roar and Snore: A 7th for Mac, a 4th for Emmett!
Thank You Nana for giving these kids such great experiences that will grow into
a life-long love and appreciation of animals! xoxoxo

yes!

Interesting

The caption under the picture cracks me up. The article is interesting too.

The Elbow!

Robo Cast



Inside my elbow. 4mm and 2mm pieces removed, bone spur ground down, various particles cleaned out


Arthroscopic surgery gone wild!


What was supposed to be 1/2 hour surgery turned into 2 3/4 hour surgery. Arm pumped full of fluid! Stitches everywhere!


The original cast, happy on Norco and looking forward to physical therapy


and I still have that funny little torn labrum in my shoulder I need to fix.
2011, the summer of the elbow.

wedding candids

I am really lame about sending thank you cards and I have been seriously schooled in the coolest of all ways to send them.
Check it out...not just a thank you for participating but these completely awesome candid shots.
Mike and Em sure know how to throw a great wedding!
I
(hava nagila, silas as flower boy/"ring bear", emmett and his guitar, mac catching the wedding bouquet!)

My New Silas Favorite

Thank You Lauren! What A Great Picture!

how to choose where to go....

...I like the idea of picking by interesting name...

(in order of photos) yelapa, zanzibar, timbuktu, madagascar, crete, machu picchu, lake titicaca, chitzen itza, istanbul, ephysus, corsica, bocas del toro, patagonia...

...any more ideas of places with cool sounding names? it seems like most of them are tropical/beachy but that was unintentional.
the when and how doesn't matter either really.
we'll just call it a dreyer family bucket list.

...we already got constantinople with istanbul but, hmmm,...dardinelles...figi...mozambique....

A Tree in A Storm

Here is painting number two by Emmett and Mama.
The tree is actually from the first painting and Emmett painted a beautiful rainy, stormy background. We like the idea that every painting we do will have parts of the previous painting in it. (I love you Emmett.)

Long Live Harry Potter!

Last night we went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. The last one. Where it all ends.

I was with Emmett and Noelle and Mac and all of her friends were about 10 rows behind us after a Harry Potter marathon where they tried to get through all 7 movies before the midnight showing of the last. They also arrived at the theatre at 6:00 to stand in line.

It was very emotional. Everyone was crying. Mac was sobbing in a big friend huddle.

I loved the movie of course and thought it was so well done. Practically perfect.

(except...slight spoiler alert: I wish there was more Hagrid and, after all that Hogwarts destruction, I wish there was one last scene of Hogwarts whole and glowing again. Maybe as the credits were rolling...a shot in the dining hall with everything all lit up and sparkly with a bunch of first years looking scared and excited. sniff sniff.)

It's no secret that these books are tied up with our family history. I remember lots of snuggling and late nights and coffee shop reading and trying to sneak in chapters wherever we could. And it was great to sit in a crowded theatre for hours getting to know the Harry Potter addicts around us. So many people of all ages! Many college students fully bedecked in red and gold...a few green and silver. I love to hear others Harry Potter stories! I know of one married couple that started reading the series to each other when they were dating and say that reading to each other is a big part of their marriage "glue" (you know who you are).

Truly the world created in these books is the only one I would willingly give up my kids for at eleven years old so they could go have adventures. This probably has something to do with the general lack of technology (no cell phones, ipods, computer games and real big old dusty books, not kindles!)...and is complete sweet fiction... but it's also because it is friendly. No one is at Hogwarts is mean. Evil yes, but not mean. Very little snark or drama besides the real sort and lots of faithful friendship and love.

One of the many articles I obsessively read over the past couple of days said, "Like the snitch, we "open at the close." The advent of the seventh movie is not an ending, but an opportunity to take what we have learned at Hogwarts into the world."
So...another milestone. I will miss all the unfolding in real time...and truly look forward to sharing it all over again with Silas! We open at the close!
Harry Potter, the next generation!

idy is always good