Birthday Fun At Disneyland

Cooper the Space Commander and his little assistant
Bella in Wonderland
This pretty much sums up thier relationship
Happy Fall!  
"Gay Days"  See, they even had shirts!

On Friday, after a long rehearsal, we headed down to Disneyland to have some fun.  We didn't even arrive there until 8 and IT WAS BUSY!! Luckily, we had planned on staying overnight there and going back in the morning before heading for the airport to pick up Mimi and Papa.  We only got in one ride on Friday- Buzz Lightyear- thankfully, that is one of Cooper's favorites.  He did get a happy birthday button and he got to listen on the phone in guest services as Goofy sang happy birthday, so all was not lost.  The next morning we got up bright and early to get to the park when it opened.  In the morning, it was not busy, we managed to get in six rides in an hour and a half.  Not bad.  Maybe this was because it was early morning and it looked like it was going to rain, maybe it was because it was "Gay Days" at Disneyland and we were one of the only heterosexual families not aware of this!  The kids were oblivious, and Dave and I could care less about the theme of the day, everyone deserves to go to the "Happiest Place on Earth" (and we got to go on a ton of rides in a short amount of time).

Happy Birthday Cooper!

Cooper is six today.  Six!  It's so hard to believe that he is already this old.  He seems to grow up more and more everyday now that he is in first grade.  He is SO TALL (that's always been the case), his face is thinning out (sort of, he'll always have the famous cheeks) and his voice doesn't sound like a toddler's anymore.  Some of the things I love most about Cooper are:  his kindness, his smile and laugh, his enthusiasm about everything, his creativity and his great hugs.  Tonight we are going to Disneyland to celebrate, tomorrow Mimi and Papa arrive and then on Sunday is the big roller skating extravaganza.  Happy Birthday Cooper, we love you!

I'd Rather Eat Glass

Today was our first rehearsal in the actual theatre for Macbeth.  The lights don't work, the sound doesn't work.  I hate technical theatre, I'd rather eat glass.  That's all I have to say about that. 

An apple a day

Today we took the kids to Oak Glen, a little mountain community near Redlands that is full of apple farms.  Today it was FULL of other families with the same idea, but we still had a great time.  The highlight for the kids was running through the apple orchard and picking apples.  Sometimes the simple things are the most fun.  I know that Dave and I are looking forward to a slice of the delicious mile high apple pie that we purchased and will have tonight after dinner.

Cooper and his bushel of apples

Cooper is just a bit big for a shoulder ride

Bella is almost too big for this play house- she looks like Alice In Wonderland in the scene where she drinks the potion in that makes her huge

Bella picking the perfect apple and Dave using her skirt as a sun shade...ha ha

Shave and A Haircut

To Mohawk or Not to Mohawk....That is the Question
This style is just too silly for real life
And in the end, Cooper gets exactly what he wants-really really short hair...
Bella has recently announced that she does not like to get her picture taken, so here is the back of her new style- it's a cute picture anyway! 

After many weeks of needing to get the kids in for haircuts, I finally managed to fit it in the schedule.  Mind you, Cooper has already had school pictures when he was in great need of a haircut, but oh well, those pictures are supposed to capture your life at the moment.  And, his shaggy hair pretty much sums up how chaotic things have been around here!  At least they will look well groomed in the pictures from Cooper's upcoming birthday party.  

"Goodbye Love"..

The title of this post is not meant to alarm, it is simply one of the many powerful lines from the musical Rent.  On September 7 ,2008, the cast of Rent performed their last show on Broadway.  Sometime during the summer of 08, one of the performances at The Nederlander in NYC was filmed and on September 24, 25, 26,,27, it is being shown in theatres across the country.  Miraculously one of those theatres is right here in Apple Valley.  So, on Wednesday night, Dave and I went to watch it.  If you ever had the chance to see Rent in NYC, you know that the space it was performed in was meant for this show.  It was as much the show as the performers on stage.  Seeing it on screen it made me sad to think that I will never see Rent in that space again.  Rent is a show that has had a huge impact on my life, especially my life as a director and a teacher of theatre.  I am so inspired by the life of Jonathan Larson and the effect that he had on Broadway, bringing an entirely new generation of spectators to theatre.  As I watched the movie, I thought about all of the different times I have seen Rent, all of the different students that I have watched perform scenes from Rent, and about the fact that I have seen this play more times than I have ever re-watched a movie.  The performance of Rent always makes me emotional, but sitting and thinking about all of this at the same time resulted in quite the catharsis.  At the end of the film, the current cast and the original cast of Rent join together to sing "Seasons of Love", I couldn't think of a better way for the run of this life changing show to end.  If you know the story of Rent, you know that Jonathan Larson( the creator of Rent)  didn't even live to see his dream become a reality.  I once read that Jonathan Larson wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life, an event where people would sing and dance on tables. Every time Rent has been performed over the last twelve years that has happened.  And in that final moment from the movie, it most certainly happened.  I hope another show like Rent comes along and continues to inspire young people to see and perform theatre, I know that I am thankful for all of the inspiration it provided my students throughout the years.  Measure your life in love!

A Pit and Fumes

No these aren't the main elements of a horror movie, nor am I talking about a teenager after P.E., they are the current elements at our house.  The stain was put on the cupboards today and the pit was dug outside for the new septic tank.  The smell of the finish takes me back to my childhood when I'm pretty sure our house smelled like this for a couple of years as mom and dad built everything inside the house.  The pit....it's pretty scary--maybe the cat from a few weeks ago will find its way into it...kidding....well, sort of kidding!