Little Women

 

Me as Marmee, Nick Cash , Josh Egbert,  Madison McGuire, Ben Lowell, Richy Dowse,
Ellie Hughes, Lindsea Garside, Mia Hansen, Wanda Copier

I've been in rehearsal for Little Women the Musical, since March for West Valley Performing Arts Center- the old Hale center theatre.   It has been a joy!  It takes a village to put on a show and this theatre does a really nice, professional job.  The quality is excellent!  

Jim Christian is the director and I'm so lucky he cast me as Marmee the mother and not the old Aunt March.  I'm sure I'll be Aunt March next time I'm in this show since I'm the correct age for that-- but Marmee has my heart.  I love this role. I get to sing two awesome, heartfelt ballads- "Here Alone" and "Days of Plenty", plus sing and dance a polka with my daughters in the show- "Delighted" and play a Hag!   

I have a swing-- which means if I get sick or hurt, she will step in and do my part.  Out of the 16 performances she is guaranteed 2- I do 14, over 4 weekends.  

I hurt my foot!  I've gotten stuck in and stepped on my hoop skirt and too long over skirt twice now and have tumbled to the stage.  Once in a final dress rehearsal-- and I really ruined my foot- broke something, sprained something..but gratefully it's not my ankle, so I'm still getting around.  Plus I feel in front of an audience during the Polka dance-- just stepped on it, and down I went-- I didn't hurt anything the second time, just my dignity.  

The cast is a dream.  There are no weak links! The audience is loving this show-- and the simple lessons of faith, family and going after your dreams.

 

Family Spring Break

We had an amazing Beach house San Diego family vacay!  ALL of our kids made the time to make this work, and I so appreciate this.  We all rented a really fun house that sleeps 16 in beds… that was just 50 ft from the sandy beach. It had a great roof top filled with furniture that we all could gather on and one night we told story after funny story and laughed ourselves silly as we tried to catch Markus up on some of our family history.  We also taught the enneagram.  

We had two 90 degree days and then two 65 degree days.   I love the beach days– the surf and sand and reading a book and playing with and watching the grands play in the sand.  They built sand castle after sand castle and dug fortresses and then the waves would wash it away, so they would move up the beach and start again.  We found a ton of gorgeous Sand Dollars.    The first day we also went to the tide pools at La Jolla and say all of the creatures, crabs and anemones.  So cool.  On the 90 degree days Wayne went and bought a shade– we should have brought ours from  Bountiful…. Now we have two.

We had everyone take a dinner so Add and Bre did pizza one night, Buzelli’s brought in amazing bbq and nachos and peach cobbler from the Southern comfort restaurant. Money and Lexi did rice and curry and then Laila-Markus, Wayne and I did rice bowls with sweet soy glazed chicken.  We were on our own for breakfast and lunch.  Food worked out great.  We loved the breakfast burritos from Sara’s right up the block. 

We played a ton of games. I brought a new game- Sleeping Queens that the kids loved and actually Tayla and Alfie and sometimes Sophia played it for 9 hours straight– all day on Sunday in their PJ’s.  We also played  a heated code names game boys against girls ( girls team also included Monson because we are out numbered)  And Sequence and canasta.  

Truman entertained Lady, Poppy and Elsie endlessly with filters on his phone… they laughed and wanted to play that way for hours!  He also taught us a “family” hand shake from the parent trap that we all learned!

Bre took Laila and Markus’ engagement pics at the Tide Pools.  So many good ones.  They are just darling together.   We also got updated family pics on the beach.   

It’s good to spend this consolidated time together….we laugh a lot, bond with the littles, get to know baby George better–and he got used to all of us.  Have some good conversations.  And just love on each other. 

April 7

Taco shop 

Tide pools at La Jolla

Sea lions

Beach house is excellent. 

Pizza

Sunset 

Night walk 

Games - Kids playing their own rules to Code names

April 8 

Beach

Building sand castles got washed away by ocean

Southern comfort food

Puppet show

Games- sequence

Sharing old times on beach house roof. Laughing!!

April 9 

Easter coloring

Morning sand dollar find

Walk around mission bay

Finished book

Played canasta 

Taught kids Sleeping Queens

Shakes

April 10

Laila and Markus engagement shots 

Tru playing Snapchat filters with Lady, Poppy and Elsie. 

Mexican food for breakfast

Walk with the grands

Sitting on beach listening to a book 

Family pics !!

Alf and Tayla 9 hours of sleeping queens 

Game night. — Code names! 

FAVORITE PARTS:

Wayne: 

1. Everyone was there!!  
2. The roof!
3. Tide pools and ice cream. 

Melinda:

1. Watching/ Playing with grandkids on the beach 
2. Laughing. Storytelling on the roof
3. New family pictures!  Thx Bre. 

Alfie says: 

1.Seaworld - seeing the shoes and the turtles 

2.a lot of games, 

3. Going to 2 hotels (air bnb houses:)

Poppy: seeing the dolphins, seeing the fishes that they kiss your hands, and the sharks that you touch

Bre: 

1. engagement pics with lai and Markus,
2. rooftop convos, 
3. reading my book on the beach

Addison:

1. Being/playing at the beach. 
2. Açaí bowls 
3. Crabs and anemones at the tide pools

Landon: 

1. rooftop convos, 
2. sitting on the beach and finding sand dollars, 
3. new fam pics

Alex: 

1. chatting on the rooftop, 
2. having everyone together, 
3. updated pictures 

Sophia: 

1.Playing with the cousins in the sand

2.Playing new board games with the family 

3.And seeing Laila and Marcus 

Andrew:

     1.  Sitting at the beach.

     2. The tide pool/Sea lions!

     3. Hanging out with everybody.

Lexi:

1. The tide pools

2. The new dynamic with Minky

3. The Mexican food

Markus:  1. Engagement photos

2. Learning about enneagrams

3. 4, rubber ( Addison code names clue) 

LAILA: 1. Rooftop conversations 

2. Chocolate Oreo milkshake 

3. Engagement photos 

4. Being with my family again :)

Lady-

1. Making Sand castles

2. Tide pools

3. Playing with Poppy at the house 

Tayla didn’t even have to think about hers. 

1. Playing games 

2. Seeing Laila and Markus

3. The “late night” shake run with Alfie, Sof, Andrew, Addi, Lai, and Markus. 

TRU: 1. An entire HOT Beach day!!!

2. Quality time with the entire fam for once! 😜 

3.  Silly Instagram filters with the niblings