Shakespeare, Baby!

For those that don't hail from our part of the country, you might be interested to know that there is am annual Shakespearean Festival hosted in Cedar City, Utah (that's about 4 hours from anywhere and 2 hours from nowhere). Natalie and I headed down there this weekend to make sure that she got her yearly dose of thespian theatrics. The kids got to play with their grandparents (three sets of them) while we saw the plays.

First up was the classic ladies' favorite, Pride and Prejudice. Yeah, I know, not Shakespeare, but I'm not in charge of the festival. The performance was pretty good, only slightly ruined by the fourteen-year -olds sitting near us making gooey wimpy noises whenever Darcy and Lizzy held hands. I'd probably also change the casting of Lizzy, cause when Darcy talked about her not being handsome enough to tempt him, I was thinking "Yeah, I understand."

That evening we caught Macbeth. Nat was really excited because she's been teaching it for years and never had a chance to see it. The costumes were great, the swordfighting was exciting, and the guy playing Macbeth did a straight-up-awesome job of looking crazy. It was pretty much awesome all around.

Did I mention the tarts? The tarts are probably just about as good a reason to attend the festival as the plays. They had a killer mixture of blueberry and blackberry in one of them that they called Summerberry. I need to learn how to make those. The cream cheese ones were also stellar. The raspberry, lemon, and apple were tasty but didn't quite keep up with the other flavors. Following Natalie's tradition, we got a tart at the intermission of each play, plus a couple extra at the start of the festival or when we had some free time and apetite between plays.

The second day, we watch Much Ado About Nothing in the afternoon. I liked the live version better than the movie, there were some funny kids in that cast. Natalie still thinks Hero should have ditched Claudio, but I figure the poor kid meant well. Anyway, off to grab some barbecue (wouldn't recommend doing that again where we went) and back to see The Merchant of Venice. Shylock was great, and the crazy Macbeth guy was back again as Bassanio. I liked Portia, as she seemed to be the only character in the play who wasn't a complete jerk.

Anyway, if you haven't ever been (like I hadn't) and you happen to reside in the great state of Utah, I'd recommend taking a day or two and heading down to catch some shows.

Shower the people you love with love

This week brought a whole new adventure in being a mom. Christian went out of town for work for the first time since we got married. He took Laine with them and I stayed home the week with Eve and James. We had a fun a busy week with a family reunion at a water park, two sleepovers with grandmas, a trip to the park, a movie, cousin outings, and just fun all around. Though I have to admit it was a relief when Christian got home, this job is much easier with two around.

So being a mom now means that I get to do things that I wouldn't have done a year ago. I love it though. I like visiting places that I hadn't gone before and seeing things that I hadn't seen in years. This week we took a Bellamy Cousin outing to Wheeler Farm. The last time I visited here it was years ago. Twenty, maybe. It was nice to see that some places never change. We fed the fish, laughed at the pigs, took a hay ride, then participated in about an hour of hide-and-go seek.

Eve and Lu after their spaghetti lunch.
We took about five pictures. Even though James isn't sitting down I think this one is my favorite. I love Boston and Lu mimicking Hilary behind me.


Lu and Eve discover the joys of a dual potty outhouse.Wonder where they got that idea from.
The four of them loved the tree house. We had a hard time getting them down to explore the rest of the farm.



One of the highlights of the week though was I finally got to see Carole King in concert. Carole King has been my favorite artist since I was a little girl. My mom and dad played her music constantly and it got to the point that I was personally offended if anyone did not know who she was or thought Aretha sang a better "Natural Woman" than she did. For my birthday my awesome husband got me tickets to see both Carole and James Taylor in concert. A dream come true. Unfortunately, Christian was gone, meaning my friend Darlene got to attend in his place (Darlene is beginning to like when Christian goes, this is the second time she has benefited by his absence). The concert was incredible and I loved every second. It was even better that I got to see it with my parents. We even took a few pictures! Really it was the best birthday present ever.


Singing "Up on the Roof"

Coming back for their second encore.
Ah, James Taylor. He has the honor of being the first person I ever saw in concert.
Darlene and I ready to enjoy the concert.

Zoo Trip

Growing up I remember going to the zoo most Saturdays. We had a family pass and we would go in the morning. Dad would rent a wagon or borrow one from Aunt Val and then he would take us on wagon ride through all the wonders. He would also get in the front of the wagon and "drive" us down the hills why my mom looked on in terror. The zoo was a fun and happy place that I loved going. But as I grew up we visited less and less. I had not been to the zoo in over 11 years. In fact, the last time I went I was chaperoning my little brother's fifth grade class. There was just no reason for me to visit.

But now I have kids and kids mean you get to go to the zoo. So this last week Grammy (my mom), Aunt Amy, Boston, my kids and me made the journey up to the zoo.

Wow it has changed. I am forever grateful that the big cats are out of their concrete cages and are now able to lounge in size and habitat appropriate enclosures. I am grateful that the rhinos and the elephants now can live in happy elephant land. But what has happened to everything else? The hippos are gone, the bears have been moved until they make them a new place to live. There are no zebras or lions. All the things that made the zoo fantastic just seemed to have disappeared. Even the stuffed Shasta the Liger is gone. What will kids fascinate about now that they can't read about the amazing liger?

All this aside, my kids loved it. They didn't know what was missing and what there used to be. They got to see a baby elephant and got to pet an oversized beetle. There were train rides and carousel rides. Really, they just had a blast. So I guess that means I will be heading back sooner rather than later.




Playing in play land. Laine decided that she wanted to hatch.
both girls decided they were happy to be larger than and female orangutan
The kids, loved these bronze statues around the zoo. Every time we saw one they had to have a picture sitting on it.

See look, another one.
waiting for the elephant show to meet the 800 lb. one year old.