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Oops, no Full to the Brim this week! Sorry, but we've been keeping busy in other ways. We went on a little side trip this weekend to Sheboygan,WI and spent a few hours at the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival. We also toured Sheboygan's Bookworm Gardens during the grand opening.

Here's a sneak peak from the book festival. Can you guess the author's identity? (Need a hint? - This author/illustrator has published books about leaves, butterflies, snow and soup, and she lives in Wisconsin!)



I'll post more about our trip later on in the week. We had so much fun!

Warmer weather is here, so that means one thing: we are going to embark on a family trip. I always thought I did a pretty good job at planning these, but at a very informal meeting (right after I come back from BJ's with a fresh arsenal of pizza rolls the kids usually herd around the kitchen island), I discovered there may be some problems with my planning.

Before I begin, let me say that it is very difficult to plan lessons for a long time and not try to weave in some kind of theme when planning trips. I have been accused of making family vacations "like something our English teacher would force us to do" and I've been working on that. I keep forgetting that while I think it's amazing fun to go see Edgar Allan Poe's headstone, the kids are like, "Wait, did he write Twilight Zone?"

So for this year's Easter break, we came up with the idea of getting a Philadelphia City Pass that offers tickets to six attractions. Emma wanted the aquarium, I wanted the zoo, Christopher and hubster wanted the National Constitution Center, Philip wanted the Franklin Museum and everyone wanted the double decker bus tour. For the sixth, we had to choose between the National Science Museum and visiting the Eastern Penetentiary which houses Al Capone's cell. Of course, I picked the museum. They just put in a whole new butterfly wing.

"We knew you would," Christopher said, "because you want us to learn on a vacation."

"There are worse things."

"Nope," Emma said, "there aren't. You also make it so we have no time to relax. It's like every two seconds, we have to go somewhere or watch something."

"What did you want to do?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Relax in the hotel. Float in the pool. And you're like, 'Philip, show Emma how to do the butterfly stroke.' "

I do remember saying that.

"So we're going to the penetentiary," Christopher said. "It's supposed to be haunted."

I was worried this would be too dark a destination for Emma. She looked right at me. "I definitely would LOVE to see a ghost. That would be the best vacation ever. A very not Momish vacation."

Momish? I make up words, so I guess I can't say anything.

So after a consensus, we are going to visit Al Capone's cell. Here is a picture of it:


I DID find out that the Eastern Penetentiary was the first place that believed in rehabilitating criminals rather than punishing them. It was based on Quaker beliefs that if you isolated prisoners, they would be able to refect on their crimes in the silence. They even put hoods over their heads when taking them out for meals so they didn't interact with other prisoners.

In fact, I found out a lot of facts about the Eastern Penetentiary, including ghost sightings and lots of legends. I did a little research so they might learn something - a very Momish thing to do.

In July, I had the opportunity to visit Harry Potter The Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. My husband and preschool-aged daughter excitedly tagged along with me. If you have Harry Potter fans in your family, this exhibit is THE place to visit!

Like most Harry Potter fans we've seen all the movies. The amazing thing about this exhibit is that visitors can see in person over 200 props and authentic costumes from the Harry Potter films. Parts of the 10,000-square-foot exhibit feel as if you've set foot right onto a Harry Potter movie set.

Alohomora! With this one word (and a special timed-entry ticket), visitors gain entry into Harry Potter The Exhibition. The exhibit has been a popular attraction at the museum since its world premier opening in April and Harry Potter fans can purchase tickets for the Chicago attraction up until it closes on September 27, 2009.


The fun begins even before you enter the exhibit! While we waited to enter the exhibit doors, a guide quizzed us with Harry Potter questions, many of them quite difficult. For example, do you know the name of the Weasley family owl? (Errol)

In the entry area, visitors can purchase a hand-held speaker for an extra $5 if they wish to listen to the self-guided audio tour while viewing the exhibit. Several parts of the exhibit have corresponding numbers. Visitors punch the number into the hand-held speaker to hear a short blurb relating to each respective exhibit part. The museum does not allow visitors to take pictures inside the exhibit. (They threaten to set the dementors on anyone that does not abide by the rules!)

The exhibit consists of several separate settings:

Sorting Hat - The walkthrough begins with the sorting hat. A couple lucky people out of our group volunteered to find out in which Hogwarts house they belonged.

Pre-Show - After the sorting hat experience, each group enters a movie viewing area and watches a Pre-Show. Clips from various Harry Potter films are shown on eight large screens. (If you have small children, you might want to cover their eyes for parts of the pre-show. Several scary images of Voldemort and other troubling characters flash on the screen.) A train whistle blows and the group proceeds forward, walking by a replica of the Hogwarts Express.

Gryffindor Common Room - My daughter loved seeing the moving pictures in the Portrait Gallery and passing by the Fat Lady to enter Gryffindor. All sorts of costumes and movie artifacts are available to see in this area including: school uniforms, Harry and Ron's dormitory room complete with beds, Harry's glasses and wand, The Time-Turner used by Hermione Granger and the Marauder's Map.

The Classrooms - Many instructor artifacts and costumes can be viewed here including: Professor Snape's costumes and potions, Umbridge's ugly pink office, Professor Trelawney's crystal ball (I learned from listening to the audio that some versions are made of rubber not glass). The interactive Mandrakes exhibit is pretty darn neat. The Mandrakes scream when you pull them from their pots.

Quidditch - Visitors can play Quidditch by throwing quaffles through the hoops and see many Quidditch costumes and props including the Golden Snitch and the Nimbus 2000 broomstick.

Hagrid's Hut - One of my favorite characters is Buckbeak, the Hippogriff, shown in this exhibit outside the hut. What an amazing sight to see all the individual feathers on his large body. Visiting Hagrid's Hut was the highlight of the tour for me. I even sat in his oversized chair!


Forbidden Forest - If you like spiders, you'll like the Forbidden forest. Acromantula is displayed here along with life-size centaurs and the Hungarian Horntail dragon. This area even smells forbidden.

Dark Forces - Our trip through the Dark Forces was short and sweet. We didn't want our daughter to have bad dreams because she looked at a Dementor or saw Lord Voldemort’s costume and the Death Eaters’ robes and masks.

Great Hall - My husband liked the Great Hall the best of all mostly because of the floating candles overhead. He also liked seeing Professor Dumbledore's costume and chuckled when he noticed Dobby the house-elf peering out from behind his robes. Fawkes the phoenix looks splendid as expected. My daughter oohed and aahed at Hermione Granger’s purplish Yule Ball Gown. The feast of turkey and lavish desserts looked good enough to eat!

Visitors can buy all sorts of fun things in the special gift shop at the end of the tour. We ended up purchasing a few postcards, a golden snitch, and a fun palm-sized Harry Potter flip-book. I would have loved to purchase a wand or time-turner, but I wasn't willing to fork over $50+ dollars.

Overall, the Exhibition is pretty fantastic! So much consideration goes into creating those costumes and props. School-aged children will love it (I'd make them read the books before they go. Great incentive!) and Harry Potter fans of all ages will find something to marvel at. I think some parts of the exhibit were a little too scary for our preschool-aged daughter. I wish I could go back and spend a little more time listening to the audio self-guided tour. I recommend that you purchase your tickets before you visit, especially if you go there on the weekend. That way you can guarantee a specific time. (Thanks to the Museum of Science and Industry for sponsoring our trip. We had a blast!)



If you aren't able to make it to Chicago to see Harry Potter The Exhibition, don't worry. The display opens at The Museum of Science in Boston on Oct. 25 and plans are currently underway for other locations.

By the way, even though you can't ride on the Hogwarts Express, there are plenty of other train related exhibits in the museum!



Find more of this week's Wordless Wednesday (or Wordful) posts at 5 Minutes for Mom or Seven Clown Circus.

by terri_brown www.flickr.com

Well, the end of the summer is coming near, and my family and I are getting ready to go on our last hurrah!

We are going to Memphis, and my hubby and stepson will see Graceland for the first time. Then we are going on to Baton Rouge to visit my best friend, Kristin! YAY!

So, I will see you again in blog-land around August 17th.

Hope you are getting to enjoy a last hurrah, too.

Until then, check out these children’s books by Mo Willems. I love anything by him. They are a blast and perfect for the last hurrah!!

See you soon!

Tell me about your last hurrah if you feel like it. Have fun because unfortunately, summer is almost done.