Back to Hogwarts!

It is officially summer because we are reading a new Harry Potter novel! Over the weekend, we finished The Cat Who Went to Paris and The Dark is Rising, so out came Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And, with the book, my Snape voice. Since he dominated the second chapter, my impersonation got a workout, but Phoebe thought it was hysterical.

Even though it isn't exactly a kid's book, Phoebe loved the story of Norton, the Scottish Fold who traveled all over the country, and to Paris, with his human. She has already requested the rest of the books, which I have ordered from PaperbackSwap to have ready for Fall reading.

The Dark is Rising was a tougher sell, and I had to give up some of the spoilers to keep her interested. Since this was one of my favorite series as a kid, I hope she will be willing to give the other books a chance. The writing style was quite different than other things she has read, but the books do form an important link between Narnia and Hogwarts.

Speaking of Narnia, Phoebe's book club is going to attempt to read the entire series this summer. Many of the kids have read at least some of the books, so we thought it was doable. I have only read three of them, so this might give me an excuse to finish them off as well.

Movie night got moved to Monday afternoon, and that was a good idea because we watched Titanic, Phoebe's second really long movie. It is shorter than Gone with the Wind, but not by much. She is familiar with the history of the RMS Titanic; we have seen some of the artifacts recovered from the wreck, and she seemed to enjoy the film. David's opinion of the movie has mellowed a bit since we first saw it in the theater. He only made a couple of snarky comments about Leonardo DiCaprio's lines.

The Art Center's member show has come around again, and Phoebe submitted two pieces--a ceramic cup and a piece of stained glass. Both were chosen for the Fence Select, which is the juried part of the show. Go Phoebe!

Tomorrow Phoebe is off on her two-day school trip, so more info about that will be forthcoming!