Potter Mania

I am sure we are not alone, but we are a bit Harry Potter crazed in our house right now. Up until the end of May though, we were completely out of the loop. Quinn had zero interest in the books or movies and neither did I. Keely's a bit young to read the volume of books so I didn't expect her to be into it. People have always told me to read the books saying that I would enjoy them. There's plenty else to read though so I figured that when Quinn showed an interest in reading them is the time I would read them too. We've never read anything together before so I figured that would be neat. Anyways, I still thought that time was a ways off.

But at the end of May, when the movers were packing up our house Quinn and Keely hung out with our neighbor, Mark. We also had dinner with them the night before and that's when Quinn discovered that Mark had some of the HP movies. The kids watched one movie that night and another couple of movies the next day. Now that's not my MO - I'd watch the movies after I read the books but watching the movies sparked Quinn's interest. Flash forward to our first weekend visit to NJ in early June. Quinn discovers that Grandma has a few of the books in her house, including the first 2. So into a bag they go with us back to Virginia and the rest is history.

Quinn read all 7 books from the beginning of June to finishing up on our trip to Ireland. That's just over a month of reading, and I've had to add up all the pages because I was curious - 4,176 pages! Crazy. He is a voracious reader. He loves to read and obviously has a lot of time over the summer to do just that. He is almost lost when he doesn't have a book to read. Someone recently asked me how I get him to read. I don't get him to read, he just loves it. I suppose James and I being readers is a help, but Keely just doesn't seem to have that same love of reading. He also reads so quickly that I used to wonder if he 'gets' everything...but the level of detail that he remembers is astounding so I'm not wondering that anymore.

So as promised, I am now reading the books - although at a much slower pace :( Unfortunately I just don't have the time to read like he does. I've just finished up Book 3. They are getting better with each book, and I'm curious to read the rest. It is my goal to finish up the 7th before the latest movie comes out on DVD. That's likely to be before Christmas and then I hope they will release all 7 movies in a box set. I haven't seen any of the movies...I'm not sure if I want to watch them as I read or wait until the end to watch any of them.

James took the kids to see the last movie on the big screen. Quinn loved it. Keely is now a fan by default. James has whittled wands for them, and they both have spell books with all the spells from the books and movies written down. It has taken over our house...Quinn loves to pick up whatever book I am in and start reading from wherever I am. He asks me what just happened while I am actually reading, and will tease me when I act like I know what has just happened (are you sure?!?! he will say lol) . It has given us something more in common and I am glad that I'm sharing this series with him.

This week, the mania is at a height because the kids are attending Vacation Bible School - Harry Potter style. I signed them up for this back in June - I knew Quinn would love it - and it was free so I figured even if it was bad, it didn't cost anything. It's been fun for them though. They have Transformations class, today they are making Potions, they have meetings in the Great Hall and got sorted on the first day (Keely into Hufflepuff - a huge travesty - and Quinn into Gryffindor - a huge coup). They've each made some new friends - kids that go to their school and live in our neighborhood. So far, it's a success in my books!