Family Field Trip!

 Today we decided to go on a Family Field trip before we all have to go back to school next week. My honey decided we should go see the USS IOWA. We got a great deal on a family pass and decided to go today! It was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Southern California! We headed out early this morning and made it to Long Beach in record time!

We were able to tour the entire boat and learn a lot about Navy ships and they way the Sailors live.  Weegie and Speedy really enjoyed it and took a lot of pictures. Squiggler didn't enjoy it as much, so I didn't get as many pictures since I was watching her so much.  It was a great way to spend the day as a family. There were quiet a few people there and the boat has only been there for a few months. They are hoping to pick up on attendance. Afterwards we went to eat lunch at Ports O Call at a restraunt that one of my honey's friends recommended.  We were very hungry at this time and the food was absolutely scrumptious and they gave big portions.  We all shared everyone's meal.  This may sound crazy, but that is one thing I love about my little family, we always share our food and taste everyone's meal. It's a great way to taste a lot of different food.  (I have cousins that do not share food and so I'm glad we do.)

We walked around a bit and Squiggler wanted to ride on the little rides they had.  I love the outfit she is wearing! She is such a fashionista! Hello Kitty, Leopard, boots and shades! What more could a girl ask for?

 I love my life!

Happy 4th Of July 2012

Here's little Miss Squiggler in her Patriotic outfit. She took off the bow and kicked off her shoes and wouldn't stand nicely so I could get a good shot of her! This was the best I could do, but it still shows off her wild personality. We spent a nice day at home. My honey grilled outside. We made potato salad and Weegie baked up a storm. She made brownies using diet coke, they were yummy, cupcakes and banana ice cream that is very good! We went outside and watched the neighbors shoot off fireworks and Squiggler loved it. She is not afraid of anything, which scares the beejeebers out of her dad and I. Weegie has summer school tomorrow so we didn't want to stay out to late and I think that is why we ended up staying home. We were invited to a new place, because my aunt and uncle weren't feeling up to partying. It was still a nice 4th!

Vancouver, Canada Day 2

 Day 2 started bright and early! The kids had to have their daypack packed with their jazz shoes, black socks and jazz pants and anything else they were going to need for the day by 7:45 AM. We were ready too! The kids really respect and listen to Dr. M. Our first stop was Capilano and the suspension bridge. Okay, I am afraid of heights, but I conquered my fear and did it as well as the treetop bridges and the rim walk.  It was very beautiful, but I didn't look down much. Speedy spent most of the time with her friends and didn't really pay attention to me. I was with the other moms and we had a good time. We got to go shopping a little there, but I didn't find anything for me to buy for myself. I found a little something for my mom, Squiggler, my honey and Nessa.

 They call their "Indians" First Nations and there was a lot of history there. It was really cool and I would gladly go back.

 Dr. M and his wife Melodie, they are the cutest couple! She is the sweetest thing and I think she really balances him out. I really got to know him this weekend and he really loves what he does! He really cares about the kids and how he handles the kids is really top rate! He yells a lot, but he wouldn't if he didn't love them so much. This I am sure of!

 The group picture! I know I have a lot of pictures, but it really was an amazing place. I can't decide if I like this place better then Grouse Mountain. I wish we would have been able to explore this place a little more.

 This is the tram that took us up to Grouse Mountain. We went straight there after we left Capilano. They are really close to each other and we were able to get on the tram as a group. I had no idea what we would see over the mountain and trees, but it really reminded of me of where Heaven and Earth meet.

 I had the pleasure of sitting in the front thanks to my new friend Lynne. She was so funny and I could see us being really good friends if we worked in the same place. She was the official photographer of the weekend and has passed the job on to me for next year.  The company makes a video for all the kids of all the pictures she took of the weekend. I think she took close to 600 pictures and she was very good about getting everyone and everything.

 The kids couldn't believe that there was snow up there! Some of the kids had never seen snow and they had a ball throwing it at each other!

 Dr. M does this everytime he visit Grouse Mountain. He tells the 8th graders to get into this tree stump statue so that they can take a group picture. He then whispers to the 7th graders  to pelt them with snowballs. The 8th graders are kind of trapped in there and it is hilarious to watch. It's funny because he tells them to do it and they always do and fall for it.

 There were two grizzly bears that have been raised at Grouse Mountian and they are sooooo cute! They put on a great show for the kids of wrestling with each other.

 This is as we were leaving on the tram. I had the pleasure of sitting in the back so we could see how far we had been. It was cool.

 Our bus was the blue one and said Noah's Ark on it. We were next to a red one that said Where Heaven Meets Earth. I thought that was so cool because it was Dr. M's description.

 Speedy and her friend Tiana, her mom was my roommate Teresa, and she is also a kindergarten teacher. T is kind of a free spirit and keeps everyone entertained.

 After Grouse Mountain we went to the University to get ready for the competition. The kids had to change and had an hour to prepare themselves. Dr. M had them do warm ups and gave them a pep talk. He had me almost crying.  I was very sentimental this whole weekend and had been the week before because of Weegie. (That's another story for another time.)

 The kids did awesome even though they were really tired from the morning activities. They did very well and Speedy did an amazing job on her solo. She really gets into it and often people tell me that you would never guess she has the voice that she does.

 After the performance one of the judges gave them commentary and feedback on how they did. He was so positive and singled my baby girl out to congratulate her and he said that if he didn't know better he would easily mistake her for one of the actresses on Glee. She was beaming from ear to ear! She was so happy about all the nice things he said to her.

 They won Gold and had the highest scores. We don't attend the real awards ceremony because we are traveling and aren't able to stay for it. They understand and gave us our own little awards assembly.

 Afterwards we went to the Science Center in Vancouver.  It was very similar to the Science Center that we have in Los Angeles and the kids had fun. They had a really good exhibit on DaVinci and I found it to be fascinating. The kids liked playing with all the different stuff and didn't even bother to go to the exhibit.

 For dinner we went to Granville Island Market which is like a smaller version the Grove's Farmers Market. There were a lot of little booths and places to eat. I wasn't impressed with the food, but it was fun to walk around and see all the cool things they had.

 From there we went to an Improv Comedy show and we were asked not to take pictures there so I don't have any, but I did snag a pamphlet.  It was so funny and they had audience participation. They had a lot of the kids and Dr. M come up in different parts of the show. For one skit they had everyone come up and it was hilarious because the kids were suppose to be in the way and they were, just like in real life.

After the show we were supposed to go to Stanley Park, but Dr. M decided to take everyone out for ice cream because of their success. The kids are not allowed to have dairy up to a week before their performances because it causes flem and it 's not good for singing. The kids really enjoyed their ice cream and the adults got some too! We then went back to the hotel to pack up and get some sleep. We were going to have another early morning for our journey home. Dr. M keeps them really busy and they definitely get their moneys worth.  I think he keeps them so busy so they never have down time and can't get into mischief. We never stayed at one place too long either for the same reason. Dr. M has been doing these trips for a long time and really knows what he is doing. Day 3 tomorrow!

Vancouver, Canada Day 1

 Friday morning we had to wake up bright and early! Luckily we both packed the night before and had our clothes laid out. We just got up and were pretty much ready. My honey took the day off so that he could drive us to the airport. It was my first time ever traveling without him and of course I was nervous and scared. Speedy on the other hand would have been just fine even if I wasn't there. Dr. M (the teacher had asked if either my husband and I could go to because he wanted another credentialed teacher on the trip with them. My honey picked me because I had never been out of the U.S.) We got to the airport and everyone was arriving at the same time. We followed all of Dr. M's instruction and it was time to say bye to my honey. We had left Squiggler at home sleeping because I couldn't stand the thought of saying goodbye to her. It was the first time in her 3 1/2 years that we had been separated. We checked in relatively easy and had an hour to kick back at in the airport. We grabbed some waters and Dr. M made a seating chart of where are seats were. He asked me if I wanted a window seat. I said sure! He let the kids sit next to their friends and Speedy sat next to her besties. The blonde was her roommate in her room. The flight left at exactly the right time and I sat kind of by Dr. M, there was an empty seat between us and that was nice. The kids sang for the plane while we were going up there and it was really nice.

 I love how this picture of California shows so much brown compared to the next picture that shows so much green when we arrived in Washington. We arrived in Seattle and our tour guide Leslie was waiting for us with our bags. She had been the tour guide last year and everyone raved at how wonderful she was, they were not kidding!

 We got on our bus and our bus drivers name was Gary. He was the best too, but I don't have picture of him until the last day. We got on the bus and headed to a Private Christian high school were the kids were going to perform. They did a great job and the kids asked them questions that they all got to answer and then they performed one of their favorite songs for them that has a lot of hand movements. I got to check out the Kindergarten class there because it was a small Christian school from K-12.

 Before going to the high school we stopped off for lunch at a nearby mall. We were able to eat anywhere we wanted in the food court and the other chaperones and I tried a sandwich shop we had never heard of . It was okay, but not as good as Jersey Mikes that we have here close by. Speedy had chicken strips of course and they were not allowed to have dairy. The Singers are not allowed to have dairy a week before their performances and the kids take it very seriously!
 
 Afterwards we got back on the bus and drove to the Canadian border. It was about a 2 hour drive and it was very beautiful and scenic.  When we go to the border we reminded the kids to be respectful and professional. The bus in front of us was taken off their bus and had to go inside with all their luggage. Dr. M and Gary thought the same was going to happen to us just from the greeting and posture of the Patrol officer, but luckily that didn't happen. The officer we got was very nice and young, he came on board greeted the kids and told Dr. M he was glad he wasn't one of the chaperones with 25 middle schoolers, then he waved us through. Thank you Lord! I had been praying for a good outcome during all of this and God heard my prayers.

 We then drove around Vancouver and ended up in a section called Gastown. It seemed to be a really old part of Vancouver and had some interesting buildings and a good place for sightseeing. We took a pictures with Gassy Jack, one of the founders of the section and then had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. That was interesting and to be honest, not very good. Dr. M was disappointed because he had been going there every other year for the last 12 years. He said after our visit that he won't be returning in 2 years with his new group. (One of my nieces might be in that year.)

 We walked around and ended up in Canada Place where they held a lot of the Olympic ceremonies. It was really beautiful and we all noticed that it was 9:00 pm and it was still light out. It was very cool! We took some pictures and admired the view before heading on the bus to our hotel. We probably got to our hotel around 9:40 and Dr. M told the kids that they were unpack and lights out would be in 40-45 minutes. He doesn't mess around and the kids know this. He reminded them that they had to compete the following day and he wanted them to be prepared. I roomed with Teresa and we were in charge of two rooms, the boy's room and Speedy Cheetah's room with her friends. The girls seemed easy and quickly turned out their light when asked. The boys were funny and totally oblivious to anything.

Speedy took these pictures of her room and roommates. I loved that she did that because I wasn't with her all the time and so she got some good pictures that I didn't. Parents had a meeting after the kids went to bed to catch up on the day, reflect, offer suggestions or voice concerns.  There were 8 chaperones, Dr.M, Ms Bitter his wife (she is also a teacher), myself, Lynn an 8th grade mom that went last year, Sheila a 7th grade mom and the kid's favorite, Leti was the aunt of Speedy's BFF, Claudia the aunt of an 8th grader, and Teresa was a 7th grade mom and teacher in a different district. 

Everything seemed to go pretty well and he reminded us what was on the schedule for the next day and we all went to sleep exhausted. We were suppose to be out of the hotel the next morning at 7:45 for our very busy day! I survived my first day without my husband to hold my hand. :) By the way the last picture is of Leslie our wonderful tour guide. Not sure how it got deleted since I'm still learning how to play with my pictures on here.

Mommy/Daughter Date Part 2

Yesterday was Christmas at our house again because Speedy Cheetah got her big present! We went to see Wicked!!! It was her first time see a "big" play at the Pantages theater her in LA. It was just the two of us and my first time driving to LA by myself at night! To say the least, I was nervous and did research on all the available options. We could have taken the Red Line down there since it is right across the street from the Pantages, but I didn't want to be waiting around for a subway with my beautiful 12 year old daughter.We decided to drive and I prebought our parking pass to a lot that was right across the street from the theater. This proved to be a really smart move because by buying ahead of time we got premium parking!!!! We arrived about 6:00 and went down to Hollywood and Highland to eat dinner. It was a nice walk, but a little scary. Thank goodness there was a lot of tourist around. We had a nice dinner at CPK and then were able to walk back at a nice pace to enjoy our time together.

We got back at 7:30 on the dot and decided to go in and find our seats. The Pantages is on a small incline and we were in the Orchestra Center, but towards the back on the hill. We were able to see everything very clearly! The above photo is Speedy with the actress that plays Glinda. We then went to look at souvenirs since it was part of her Christmas present. I told her she could have anything she wanted. It took her a long time to decide. My Speedy is not like most kids, she really takes her time and puts a lot of thought into what she wants. She finally decided on a flying stuffed monkey and a poster. The kind girl at the souvenir stand mentioned to us that maybe we could have it signed after the show. She told us where to go and I had no idea that in her smart little brain, my daughter had already been planning this. LOL!

The above picture is with the actress that plays NesaRose. We settled in our seats and the show began! It was absolutely amazing!! I had seen it before about 4 years ago, but it was as good if not better then I remember!! My Speedy loved it and was just captivated the whole time! She took it all in and I could see her up there someday!

At intermission she made me laugh because she darted to the ladies room and made it there before the mad rush. I stayed behind and bought a Wicked cup for soda. I didn't want to drink the soda, but I did want the cup! It's so cute!! I'm going to take it to work! We found each other again and went back to enjoy the second half. The above picture is with the actor that played Fireyo.

After the play she asked if we could find the stage door and we did. There was only a few people ahead of us. I told Speedy had I known we might come to the stage door then I would have brought a Sharpie. She said not to worry that she had one in her purse!!! I couldn't believe how smart my girl is. She told me that she had secretly hoped that we could get the cast's autographs. I think this is because her Music teacher gave her a special gift of a Playbill signed by the cast of Sister Act from New York. We were able to get all the main characters to sign her Playbill and poster. Everyone was so nice and even took pictures with her. Speedy says it was the best night of her life! I love to see my children so happy! We are already planning to try to see another play sometime this year. The above picture is with the actress that played Elphaba. When we were done we didn't have to deal with traffic and were able to get on the freeway with no traffic at midnight and we were home in less then 20 minutes!!!! I said a special prayer last night because everything turned out so wonderful and I got to share such a special moment with my baby! Thank you God!