A new tradition is born! I was so delighted to discover that there was a Wizarding (read: Harry Potter) festival in Ithaca every fall, and I set my mind to going back in August when I heard about it. And we made it! Conveniently, my kids were both planning to be Harry Potter characters for Halloween, so we just made it a cosplay. Here you may see Rowena Ravenclaw, diadem in place:
Here may be seen Lucius Malfoy, Death-Eater. He bares his Dark Mark menacingly:
And I am channeling Molly Weasley, my idol. This is also in honor of her birthday, which is today, October 30th. Happy 69th, Molly!!
It was wet and stressful and hard, but I'm so glad we went. What we got to absorb was so much fun! I taught for VIP Kid as usual, so by the time we were in costume and ready to leave it was 11. We drove in the most determined rain I've ever seen, so it took us till about 1:20 to even arrive in Ithaca. By the time we found a parking spot and arrived (with ALL our props, Miles!), it was 2. By the time we found a bathroom and had lunch, it was 3. You can see how our time slipped away.
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| Miles regards his Lego double. |
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| We met Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore in Center Ithaca. |
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| I missed this city. |
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The quidditch may have been my favorite part! Cornell played Ithaca, and won 160-80. The snitch, a neutral person wearing a yellow flag-football belt, refereed through most of the game, and then took to the field to be pursued on foot by the seekers. As Pearl pointed out, it's delightful that this actual sport with rules, played by college students, suddenly devolves at the end into a game of glorified tag! with broomsticks.
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After the quidditch, Adele melted down completely. She was not wearing enough under her costume, and the rain had only been getting colder and more insistent. She refused to move for a spell of time, and then we managed to convince her to put a foot in front of the other and go to Trader K's. I had not intended to go to my favorite clothing store that day, but there be bargains! We got Adele another coat. And I just want to point out: she brought her own coat to the van, but refused to wear it out of the van. And since I wasn't willing to carry it along with the umbrella, accident bag, purse and shopping we picked up along the way, I let her leave it in the car. This was a lamented inefficiency, but I rolled with it as the price you pay for trying to attend an event like this with kids.
They were adorable playing chess at Autumn Leaves during a bathroom stop, but I didn't let them finish their game as I was hoping to soak up some more of the festival.
At 5:00, unfortunately, the majority of the booths and tents were closing. We were able to use 0 of our game/activity tickets that we bought. Most of the time we were there we were trying to get fed, find bathrooms, or warm up, which was a shame. But we got to enjoy the quidditch, do some great shopping (I bought a robe, too!), cosplay-watch, and enjoy some entertainment at the performance stage.
We have big plans for next year.
I wasn't gonna be satisfied if we didn't get to Gro-Moore before Halloween. We juuuust made it. The weather was still utterly miserable, but we got hot cider and cookies, took in some music while sitting on hay bales, and brought home our pumpkins. Jon says they're better quality than grocery store pumpkins. I say, of course. :-)
The pumpkins are carved and are currently on our bookshelves. They'll come out to play soon, and we'll have more pictures of our first Halloween home in Henrietta.
I still can't believe this is real.
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