I can hardly believe how quickly this spring has flown by. Byron and I have been lucky enough to have two get aways this spring. (Thanks Mom!!! Best Grandma of the year award goes to the lady who watched our kids twice in two months!!!) First we visited San Francisco which was yes a treat. We enjoyed every minute of it. We had a blast in the city and then got snowed out of our trip to Yosemite. Fortunately we had run into a college student on the trolley and she had told us about how charming Carmel was and she said warmer than San Fran so we canceled our trip to the mountains and headed to the wonderful city of Carmel. Really if I had an extra two mill I would buy a house there and live the life of a painter.....the poor painters there all going bankrupt but it sounds charming. Seriously Carmel is high on my list for a repeat visit or a long term retirement!!!
This is our princess Ali on her way to a princess party. She was out enjoying my garden and since she matched so perfectly with the pluthera of purple flowers I have out in the rocks I had to snap a photo. She met Aeriel at her princess party and was very excited to tell us all about it.
Tyler's class is taking their final stage call after their Egyptian opera. Tyler was an egyptian and did a fantastic job singing all of his lines. The kids painted their own scenery and did a smashing job acting out the opera they wrote themselves. They sent the words to the Utah Opera and their musical genius turned it into music and sent them back a recording and score for their opera. They studied Egypt and tomb raiding which was the theme of their opera.
This is Carter or Jedediah as he is known in the mountain man community. Carter was the lead role in his opera. He did an amazing job trying to convince his friend to sew his ear back on after he was attacked by a bear. Yes, he did this all while singing and in front of a live audience. Watch out Broadway....here he comes. It was good and he loved it. Can I tell you again how much I love our new school? Carter's class also painted their own scenery. I helped on both paint days and let me tell you it was a challenge following the rule given the parents not to paint on the scenery. We could give verbal instruction and encouragement but not paint ourselves......somehow I managed to not paint on them myself...it was hard. But if you look at the background they turned out really really great!
Windy City....this was our second get-away this spring. Byron had a conference in Chicago and I tagged along. We stayed in an opulent hotel with a view of both the Lake and the River. We ate pizza and more pizza and had an amazing time. I had pizza three days in a row, Byron only two but it was definitely worth any calories. Seriously though I walked enough to work off anything I could have eaten. The Chicago Museum of Art is amazing. I spent the entire day in there studying the art. They have the second largest collection of impressionist art, second only to the Louvre. Maybe someday Byron's company will pay for him to go to Paris but until then I was more than pleased to spend the weekend in Chicago.
Byron and I at Gino's East....we loved the sauce on the pizza here. It was deliciously sweet and deep....ohh so deep. Then we ate at Lou's and the crust was so delicious and perfect there.....if only you could mix the sauce from Gino's with the crust from Lou's....Both are fantastic and must be experienced. This was the first time I had ever seen Byron eat pizza with a fork and knife but really there is no other option.
So, our Carter has gone off and turned 10. Really now how has this happened? Just yesterday..... We must have done something right in the preexistence to have gotten sent a spirit like Carter to us. He is as good as they come. We are still diligently trying not to wreck him. He teaches us everyday what we ought to be doing and how we ought to be doing it.
The photo above is his birthday party. Byron, the genius that he is, suggested we have a take apart party. So seeing his genius I quickly agreed this would be way better than a Mad Science party which is what Carter really wanted. Once we had Carter on board with the take apart party idea we headed for the DI. They gave us broken electronics and home things that were donated to them but were not functioning. So with our stash of broken goods we were set. Byron gathered together the screw drivers, wire cutters, pliers, etc... and the boys had fun disassembling cell phones, remote controls, laser printers, waffle makers, vacuums, etc. It was a GREAT party!!! I had no idea how much 10 year old boys like to see what's inside stuff. They got a motor out of something and wired it up to a battery and made it run. Yes, that was excitement. We also did the diet coke and mentos experiment which turned into a running through the spraying coke fountain game.....sticky!! Then we used vinegar and baking soda to put out a candle by pouring the carbon dioxide onto the flame. It was sweet.
And then there was the puppy!
Our neighbor is a dog rescue worker for the pound and she has recently been fostering a litter of puppies and their Mom. They are so cute!!! Will we get one....stay tuned, we dont know yet. Out of the five the one on Carter's lap named.....Chewy, Brownie, Boots, etc....depending on who you talk too is the favorite of our family. Dad is skeptical of the whole situation....The kids are desperately trying to raise $150.00 in the next three weeks so they can buy it themselves. I have mixed feelings.....at least we haven't repaired the house from the last puppy yet. But seriously, how can you resist those puppy eyes. It is a mutt...mix of terrier, poodle and who else knows what else.
This weekend the kids school had a 5K Fun Run Fundraiser. We all got in our matching racing shirts and off we went. We were going strong and then the course veered right by the finish line so the kids decided we had done the whole 5K. Byron and I were not going to correct them so we ran through the finish line and everyone was happy with our 1K race.
We have been having a wonderful spring....really wonderful!!! There is nothing like getting away from it all to make you feel refreshed. I highly recommend it as the best couple time that is available. Oh and I am now a strong voice in favor of the Apple iPhone!!! It mapped us through San Fran and Chicago using buses, metros, walking paths, etc. etc. from wherever we were to wherever we wanted to go to. Amazing!!! At one point Byron and I were huddled under one umbrella in a San Fran downpour studying his i-phone to find the closest bus stop.....get us out of the rain!!! It would have made a great commercial. We were very wet by the time we got to the bus stop but laughing. It was a fun trip!
