Friday, March 13, 2015

Not So Hometown Theater

Small town theater isn't so small town anymore. There is a beautiful new theater just minutes from our home and it's nothing short of glorious. To get to take Abby at reasonable prices? It's such a blessing.  In the past we collected pixie dust after Peter Pan and danced in our seats along with the Nutcracker. Last fall, Aladdin came to town so we grabbed lunch with a few pals before hand...

Abby, Zoe and Ella...


And made a day of it!


Getting ready for the show!'

Afterward, you can meet the cast on the way out. And I'm realizing that when I say, "Do you want to meet Jasmine?" that she has absolutely no idea what gracious thing to say when she does so. "Well? Did you tell her she did well, Abby? Did you tell her you enjoyed it?"
"No, mom. I just smiled."
Ahhh. Hoping a smile's worth a thousand words.


The "magic carpet" was our favorite part - and she was a pint sized kid to boot!


Doesn't Aladdin look like a 3rd grader?
He was probably an 8th grader. But still. 
Still. 
He killed it.


But not like the genie. He was definitely channeling Robin Williams.
(On stage the make-up was fabulous. Up close, a little scary!)



This time, when Singin' In the Rain was coming, Grandma and I wondered whether Abby would be interested. 

Perusing the program...



Grammy gets the best seats...


Get set....


3 generations of entertainment fun...


Snack time at intermission...


Meeting "the star!"...



She left tap dancing, singing "Good Morning" and making sure we did not forget her program. 
Voila. She'll be asking why Cats left the stage in no time.

1336. printing out from the kitchen computer
1337. ford's workbook for "homework" with sissy
1338. new dresses that "work"
1339. an unbroken bow and arrow


Sunday, March 8, 2015

Pumpkins, Strawberries & Apples

Since I recently covered last Halloween ... might as well continue with last fall and our antics.

There was pumpkin picking at a local farm... 


(the kids each searched for the most absolutely perfect, tiny pumpkin)


...which we'd never done so close to home before.
In LA it was a drive to hit a pumpkin patch.


And to boot, we picked strawberries.


Buckets of strawberries.




And the next week, Abby's Daisy troop took us to Apple Hill.
We'd been meaning to visit and we just hadn't gotten to it. 
It's a thing here.
Picking apples at Apple Hill. 
Apple donuts.
Apple pie.
Apple cider.
Apple gloriousness.

First, Abby was matched up with an older Brownie Buddy, Raina.
She was enamored.


Then our little Daisy got to peel her picked apple with this cool peeler...


While Fordy and Grandma hit the orchards.



Abby and Raina settled down with dough, cinnamon, sugar and apples.
Making apple pie. An individual apple pie.


And while they were baking, the girls ran in the orchards as the sun set.


With Fordy racing to catch up.
Soon, he'll be leading the charge. Just you wait.


1332. a few more apples to pick
1333. grandma coming to play
1334. a close drive to another world
1335. finding our home at church

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Dressing Up Now and Then

These two have been switching clothes lately. 
Down to their undies.
Even with booboos...



Or dressing each other in "matching" outfits. Here are their soccer uniforms:


I gotta say, when they disappear for 10 minutes, whispering, and I don't hear fighting and arguing up there ... and they come down kissing and hugging each other -- whew. We might as well head off to bed. The day can't get any better than that. 

There was also some dress-up time a few months ago...
Halloween!

We had ourselves a Rainbow Dash pony and a Spiderman.


 I mean, of course.


Ford's little class...


Abby's sass at her Halloween parade...



And the night before, we had a cousin-fest covered in pumpkin goo.



Aunt Stacey. The party-leader. The best.
"Raise your hand if you need a flashlight to go outside and see your pumpkin."
Look at cousin Sloan's little hand....


Voila! 



And at our neighborhood Halloween party, we reached a melt down point ... 
with Ford dressed as a Packer. I'm not exactly sure how he heard that word.  Packer. 
But there he was. A melting down Packer. And this was after he won "cutest Halloween costume."


Yay for Halloween! 

1328. no rain during trick or treating
1329. no noise machine
1330. dogs sleeping through the night
1331. Ford loving eggs again