We hope you are off to a great start on your Memorial Day weekend!
On Monday, Margie had her first rehearsal for Oliver. She expected a full read through so she could meet the cast (and gauge everyone's talent!), but it was just a meet and greet. Introductions, notes from the creative team, and passing out of scripts and scores was about it. So she doesn't really have much news to share about that. She will say, however, that the woman who got cast for Widow Corney is definitely a better physical match for the role--and a better physical match for Mr. Bumble. And, Margie had forgotten about a very funny Mrs. Sowerberry scene, so she'll have a chance to use her comedic side. It's all good.
No piano lesson for Lyn this week as her piano teacher was out of town.
Wednesday, as usual, was pretty crazy. Lyn's last ballet class before the recital, dinner at Bertucci's, then Dan took the kids home for homework (it was too late for Lyn to make it to Activity Day), while Margie stayed at the theatre for a board meeting.
On Thursday, it was Dan's turn to stay out, as he attended a production meeting for The Art of Murder, which he will be co-designing and building the set for in the fall. He stayed at the theatre to help build the set for It Runs in the Family.
On Friday, Dan and John attended the stake father-son campout. John ate half a burger bun and a whole hot dog bun. "Well," he says, "I like buns." Someone brought nerf guns, and he had fun playing with them with the other boys. "I also ate a cookie, two strawberries, and about an eighth of a watermelon."
"Then," he says, "I also ate four little slices at night."
There were two campfires, so there were two prayers at the end of the day. They didn't stay and camp, though, since we don't have a tent--and instead came home to sleep in their own beds.
While John and Dan were off bonding with other men, Lyn and Margie had their own little girls night out. They went to IHOP for their strawberry festival. They shared an order of stuffed french toast and pancakes smothered in strawberries and whipped cream--it was yummy!
Saturday morning, John and Dan headed back to the campsite for a pancake breakfast, John kicked a soccer ball around, too, and had a marshmallow fight with the marshmallow guns someone had brought. He also liked to attack (pop) the bubbles that someone was blowing.
While the boys were gone, Margie headed out for bike ride (Lyn's old enough to stay home a little bit by herself now!) and got her first flat tire ever! Luckily she was only about a mile away from home AND Dan had come home by the time she called for help.
After the bike ride, Lyn and Margie headed to Pirate's Cove to cool off from the hot sun. They thought it opened at 10am, and got there about 10:30am--but it didn't open until 11am! So they headed to a nearby playground where Lyn played and they waited for the time to pass.
At 11 o'clock they headed back to the pool and took their first swim of the season! Actually, only Lyn did (and she really swam!)--it was a little too cold for Mom, so she just sat on the edge of the pool soaking her feet.
Unfortunately, they couldn't stay long because Margie had to get back for Oliver rehearsal.
Saturday's rehearsal was again a little disappointing--the only other cast member there was her stage husband, with whom she is singing a duet.
After rehearsal, Margie went to her favorite car wash and then stopped at the Apple store to drool over an iPhone.
That night, Margie went out to dinner with some friends. It was a long day!
Today we actually made it to church on time. Woo hoo! Margie substitute taught Relief Society for a friend--something she loves to do (and it was a great topic--read about it here). Lyn said the closing prayer in Primary.
Dan spent the day at the bi-annual Bug Out. This year he chose to compete in the slalom only (and not the drag race), and he came in third place. Good job!
And that brings us to the end of the day. We don't have any big plans for tomorrow--just relaxing together as a family.
Have a great holiday!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
This Week at The Remmers
Well, Mother's Day is over, so it's back to the old grind--no rest for the weary!
This week, Margie's life was overtaken by tech week (called "hell week" for a reason). The end result, however, was a very successful weekend of One Acts. We got rave reviews and are excited to take our first place winner to the regional competition next week.
Margie also stayed busy by helping out in John's classroom with the worms for two more days. The first day we studied and compared habitat preferences. Did the worms prefer soil or sand? Soil. Did they prefer dry or moist soil? Moist. The second day, we performed some measurements. The longest worm was 11 inches! (Although that's nothing compared to the world record. The largest worm ever recorded was 11 FEET long!) After we measured them we released them into the wild so they can benefit all the plants around the school.
In Lyn's classroom, they are learning about butterflies. They started with caterpillars, watched them spin their cocoons, and now there are some real butterflies in their classroom habitat. Lyn says it's not much of a habitat--just two cardboard circles with netting around them and two sponges filled with sugar water. But they seem to be thriving.
On Saturday, in addition to the play, Dan and Lyn had the opportunity to attend a church Daddy-Daughter Dinner. It was a carnival theme. When they walked in the door, there was a big painted backdop with a piano bench in front of it. They sat on the bench and got their picture taken.
Next to the bench was a woman with a jar of candy--they had to guess how many pieces were in it. Some lucky couple won the whole jar!
When they walked in the door, they saw some tables with supplies and a bounce house. They decorated frames for their pictures (which they got copies of at church this morning), and then they had dinner. For dinner there was hot dogs (which Lyn couldn't eat) and pasta salad and carrots and nachos with cheese. There was also cotton candy freshly made onsite in the cotton candy machine! On the table was popcorn and Old Dominion root beer (one of Dan's favorites!).
They also had fun playing games like "horse" racing, ring toss, and bean bag tic tac toe. They even had a bounce house, INSIDE the church, as well as a clown making balloon animals and flowers.
There was even a donut eating contest where a pair of two people had to eat donuts off a string without using their hands, as well as a water squirt game, neither of which Dan and Lyn participated in because they didn't want to get too messy before Dan had to head to the theatre for closing night.
For each of the games, people won tickets, which they could redeem for all sorts of prizes. Unfortunately, Lyn had to leave before ticket time, but she still managed to make it home with a giant pixie stick, a ring sucker, a little animal toy, stickers, and a bubble making ice cream cone.
They had a great time!
After the big party, Dan dropped Lyn off with the sitter (John was already with her) and headed over to the theatre for closing night. After strike, Dan and Margie tried to find the closing night party, but couldn't find it in the dark and pouring down rain, so we just came home.
Today was church, of course, then Margie and Lyn had choir practice. After that, they headed over to our favorite summertime hangout, Pohick Bay (aka Pirate's Cove), to pick up pre-season discounted passes. This year we got "golden" passes, which are good at all regional parks--we're going to have a fun summer exploring!
Oh, and we certainly can't forget the most important thing that happened this week--a new addition to our family!
On Tuesday Margie arrived home late from rehearsal to find a cute little sea otter had taken up residence (a belated Mother's Day present from her mom via the World Wildlife Fund). She fell in love with him instantly and has named him Bernie (for no apparent reason other than it just seems like it should be his name). Look for Bernie's own adventures coming soon!
Well, that's it for the Remmers family. Hope you all had a great week and are looking forward to summer--it's just around the corner! :o)
This week, Margie's life was overtaken by tech week (called "hell week" for a reason). The end result, however, was a very successful weekend of One Acts. We got rave reviews and are excited to take our first place winner to the regional competition next week.
Margie also stayed busy by helping out in John's classroom with the worms for two more days. The first day we studied and compared habitat preferences. Did the worms prefer soil or sand? Soil. Did they prefer dry or moist soil? Moist. The second day, we performed some measurements. The longest worm was 11 inches! (Although that's nothing compared to the world record. The largest worm ever recorded was 11 FEET long!) After we measured them we released them into the wild so they can benefit all the plants around the school.
In Lyn's classroom, they are learning about butterflies. They started with caterpillars, watched them spin their cocoons, and now there are some real butterflies in their classroom habitat. Lyn says it's not much of a habitat--just two cardboard circles with netting around them and two sponges filled with sugar water. But they seem to be thriving.
On Saturday, in addition to the play, Dan and Lyn had the opportunity to attend a church Daddy-Daughter Dinner. It was a carnival theme. When they walked in the door, there was a big painted backdop with a piano bench in front of it. They sat on the bench and got their picture taken.
Next to the bench was a woman with a jar of candy--they had to guess how many pieces were in it. Some lucky couple won the whole jar!
When they walked in the door, they saw some tables with supplies and a bounce house. They decorated frames for their pictures (which they got copies of at church this morning), and then they had dinner. For dinner there was hot dogs (which Lyn couldn't eat) and pasta salad and carrots and nachos with cheese. There was also cotton candy freshly made onsite in the cotton candy machine! On the table was popcorn and Old Dominion root beer (one of Dan's favorites!).
They also had fun playing games like "horse" racing, ring toss, and bean bag tic tac toe. They even had a bounce house, INSIDE the church, as well as a clown making balloon animals and flowers.
There was even a donut eating contest where a pair of two people had to eat donuts off a string without using their hands, as well as a water squirt game, neither of which Dan and Lyn participated in because they didn't want to get too messy before Dan had to head to the theatre for closing night.
For each of the games, people won tickets, which they could redeem for all sorts of prizes. Unfortunately, Lyn had to leave before ticket time, but she still managed to make it home with a giant pixie stick, a ring sucker, a little animal toy, stickers, and a bubble making ice cream cone.
They had a great time!
After the big party, Dan dropped Lyn off with the sitter (John was already with her) and headed over to the theatre for closing night. After strike, Dan and Margie tried to find the closing night party, but couldn't find it in the dark and pouring down rain, so we just came home.
Today was church, of course, then Margie and Lyn had choir practice. After that, they headed over to our favorite summertime hangout, Pohick Bay (aka Pirate's Cove), to pick up pre-season discounted passes. This year we got "golden" passes, which are good at all regional parks--we're going to have a fun summer exploring!
Oh, and we certainly can't forget the most important thing that happened this week--a new addition to our family!
On Tuesday Margie arrived home late from rehearsal to find a cute little sea otter had taken up residence (a belated Mother's Day present from her mom via the World Wildlife Fund). She fell in love with him instantly and has named him Bernie (for no apparent reason other than it just seems like it should be his name). Look for Bernie's own adventures coming soon!
Well, that's it for the Remmers family. Hope you all had a great week and are looking forward to summer--it's just around the corner! :o)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
This Week at The Remmers
Ok, I think I have this working now...
Yes, it's Mother's Day, and Daddy has to do EVERYTHING while Margie gets to sit still and bark orders. (Oops, I guess she'll read this, so I better be on my best behavior.)
The week started normal: One-acts rehearsal on Monday, Lyn's piano lesson on Tuesday.
Wednesday, after Lyn's ballet class, we went to a new Indian Restaurant in Old Town called Raw Silk. Margie met the owners because they live in the neighborhood. Margie will post a review on dcfud.com. We will let you know when it has been posted. It was the best Indian food that Dan has ever had (but it's not like I've been to lots of them anyway).
On Thursday, Margie had a church meeting while Dan, Lyn, and John went to see a musical. Margie's co-worker from her SoftMed days, Amy, has a daughter, Hanna, who is in middle school. She played Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. Hanna did an excellent job, and has a beautiful singing voice.
On Friday, Margie fulfilled a promise from last year and helped John's teacher, Mrs. Miller, with the science lesson on worms. To return to more pleasant things, Margie had a 'girls night out' that night. They went to see The Soloist. Margie says it was very good.
On Saturday, Margie went out biking in the morning. It was the first time in about a week, because it's been raining for a while. Dan spent most of the day putting front rotors and pads on the Scion. For dinner, there was a pot luck at church. The theme was "a taste of home", so we brought perogies with fried onions. Those were so popular that we had none to bring home afterwards.
While Margie went to church and relaxed the rest of the day, Dan was run ragged with all the work he did on Sunday:
1) made bread
2) cleaned up the kitchen
3) picked roses for Margie
4) made sandwiches for the kids
5) went to LTA to help with strike for Gross Indecency
6) relaxed briefly by watching the Spanish Grand Prix (Go Jensen!)
7) mowed the lawn
8) changed oil in the Scion
9) put new rear brake shoes on the Scion
10) helped Lyn make dinner
11) wrote this long-winded blog
Whew!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
This Week at The Remmers
As usual, we all had a busy week. The weeknights were filled with One Act rehearsals, piano lessons, and ballet.
On Thursday, however, we had a bit of excitement as Lyn had an eye doctor appointment and got her first pair of glasses! She is thrilled to "finally" be able to see things far away and can't wait to try them out at school (though we ordered them on Thursday, we didn't pick them up until Saturday).
Here's what she looks like:
A pretty girl even with glasses! :o)
On Friday, Dan and Margie had their cavities filled (Dan was much worse off than Margie and took forever).
Also, we had someone come give us an estimate on replacing all our windows. Because of the stimulus package, we can get a huge discount if we act fast and get them before June 1. We better hurry!
On Friday night, Margie went to a friend's wedding shower. He married a lovely Brazilian girl over a year ago and it has taken this long to get her into the United States. Sheesh! Well, now she's here, so he doesn't have to make the trip once a month to go see her.
On Saturday, John went to a bowling birthday party! It was fun! They got to bowl, eat pizza, and go to the arcade. John wants you to know that, "I beat Haugen (the birthday boy). Madeline didn't try. And there was only one person who was not in my class."
Also on Saturday we picked up Lyn's glasses. It was just in time, because that night we headed to Aunt Debbie's art show at the Lorton Workhouse.
The workhouse is a visual and performing arts studio space converted from a former prison--in fact, according to their website:
The Women’s Division is known for having held approximately 168 women, most from the National Women's Party, for picketing in front of the White House for women’s voting rights. Lucy Burns, who, along with Alice Paul, founded the National Women’s Party, was one of the women incarcerated in the Women’s Division of the Workhouse.
We had fun visiting Aunt Debbie's studio and seeing her new artwork, as well as the work of dozens of other artists. And the snacks were yummy, too!
On Sunday, Lyn and Margie went to Stake Conference and left the boys at home. (John's still a little too young to make it worth attending.)
In the afternoon, Margie met with a friend's daughter, who has been cast as Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof and needed some guidance with her acting and singing. She is doing a great job and only needed a few tweaks--a good thing, since they open in only four days!
Lyn wants you to know that they had a great time playing with my friend on the DS's while I was with her daughter.
Well, that's it for our week. Hope everyone is doing well. Happy May!
On Thursday, however, we had a bit of excitement as Lyn had an eye doctor appointment and got her first pair of glasses! She is thrilled to "finally" be able to see things far away and can't wait to try them out at school (though we ordered them on Thursday, we didn't pick them up until Saturday).
Here's what she looks like:
On Friday, Dan and Margie had their cavities filled (Dan was much worse off than Margie and took forever).
Also, we had someone come give us an estimate on replacing all our windows. Because of the stimulus package, we can get a huge discount if we act fast and get them before June 1. We better hurry!
On Friday night, Margie went to a friend's wedding shower. He married a lovely Brazilian girl over a year ago and it has taken this long to get her into the United States. Sheesh! Well, now she's here, so he doesn't have to make the trip once a month to go see her.
On Saturday, John went to a bowling birthday party! It was fun! They got to bowl, eat pizza, and go to the arcade. John wants you to know that, "I beat Haugen (the birthday boy). Madeline didn't try. And there was only one person who was not in my class."
Also on Saturday we picked up Lyn's glasses. It was just in time, because that night we headed to Aunt Debbie's art show at the Lorton Workhouse.
The workhouse is a visual and performing arts studio space converted from a former prison--in fact, according to their website:
The Women’s Division is known for having held approximately 168 women, most from the National Women's Party, for picketing in front of the White House for women’s voting rights. Lucy Burns, who, along with Alice Paul, founded the National Women’s Party, was one of the women incarcerated in the Women’s Division of the Workhouse.
We had fun visiting Aunt Debbie's studio and seeing her new artwork, as well as the work of dozens of other artists. And the snacks were yummy, too!
On Sunday, Lyn and Margie went to Stake Conference and left the boys at home. (John's still a little too young to make it worth attending.)
In the afternoon, Margie met with a friend's daughter, who has been cast as Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof and needed some guidance with her acting and singing. She is doing a great job and only needed a few tweaks--a good thing, since they open in only four days!
Lyn wants you to know that they had a great time playing with my friend on the DS's while I was with her daughter.
Well, that's it for our week. Hope everyone is doing well. Happy May!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
This Week at The Remmers
Well, it was a busy week and weekend here at the Remmers' house again. Here's the scoop:
On Monday we had our ducts cleaned--yeah! Less dust for Margie to clean and for John to sneeze at. Monday night Margie also had rehearsal for the One Acts.
On Tuesday, we had our first contractor come to do a walk through so he can prepare an estimate for our home remodeling--very exciting! Also on Tuesday, the whole family went to see the dentist. It was the first real "exam" that the kids had had and guess what? No cavities! The dentist said, "Whatever you're doing--keep doing it!"
Unfortunately, the grown ups weren't as lucky. Both Dan and Margie have cavities that they need to have filled.
Also on Tuesday, Lyn had piano and Margie had rehearsal.
On Wednesday, Lyn had ballet and Margie had a Board meeting for The Little Theatre of Alexandria.
On Thursday, Margie found out that she was cast in Oliver! as Mrs. Shrewsberry, the undertaker's wife. This is not one of the roles she wanted and was disappointed because she thought there was no song. However, a friend informed her that a very funny song was added to the revival of the musical, "That's Your Funeral." So it might not be too bad. Margie's mom said, "I don't think much of [the song] but I know you will make it memorable and a hit." We'll see! :o)
Also on Thursday we had two of our carpets cleaned. We took the opportunity to rearrange some furniture. We're still getting used to it, but we like it so far!
On Friday, the second remodeling contrator stopped by--this is getting so exciting. That night, we all went to Spring Basket Bingo at the kid's school. John got Bingo on one of the rounds and won a basket full of legos! He was soooo excited--we wished we had a brought our camera so we could have filmed him jumping up and down! As it was, we had to wait and take pictures when we got home.
By the way, if you are looking at the picture of the Bingo card and thinking to yourself, "Hey, that's not a bingo!," let me explain.
Every other round was a "special" round--you had to make a special design on your card in order to win. John won the "diamond" round.
On Saturday, Margie decided to go for a bike ride at Burke Lake. It was so beautiful (Lyn says, "Hot!"), that she suggested that Dan and the kids come play at the park at the same time. Though Burke Lake is lovely, Margie did not enjoy the ride--too many people, too many potholes and tree roots. And as Lyn said, it was hot!
Still, it was fun to get out together as a family.
Saturday night, Margie went to dinner and a birthday party with a friend.
On Sunday, Dan competed in the first race of the Washington DC region autocross series. He won first place! And last place, too...you see, he was the only one in his class.
Margie headed to LTA for the annual budget meeting, and here we are.
We hope you had a great week and are enjoying the spring sunshine!
On Monday we had our ducts cleaned--yeah! Less dust for Margie to clean and for John to sneeze at. Monday night Margie also had rehearsal for the One Acts.
On Tuesday, we had our first contractor come to do a walk through so he can prepare an estimate for our home remodeling--very exciting! Also on Tuesday, the whole family went to see the dentist. It was the first real "exam" that the kids had had and guess what? No cavities! The dentist said, "Whatever you're doing--keep doing it!"
Unfortunately, the grown ups weren't as lucky. Both Dan and Margie have cavities that they need to have filled.
Also on Tuesday, Lyn had piano and Margie had rehearsal.
On Wednesday, Lyn had ballet and Margie had a Board meeting for The Little Theatre of Alexandria.
On Thursday, Margie found out that she was cast in Oliver! as Mrs. Shrewsberry, the undertaker's wife. This is not one of the roles she wanted and was disappointed because she thought there was no song. However, a friend informed her that a very funny song was added to the revival of the musical, "That's Your Funeral." So it might not be too bad. Margie's mom said, "I don't think much of [the song] but I know you will make it memorable and a hit." We'll see! :o)
Also on Thursday we had two of our carpets cleaned. We took the opportunity to rearrange some furniture. We're still getting used to it, but we like it so far!
On Friday, the second remodeling contrator stopped by--this is getting so exciting. That night, we all went to Spring Basket Bingo at the kid's school. John got Bingo on one of the rounds and won a basket full of legos! He was soooo excited--we wished we had a brought our camera so we could have filmed him jumping up and down! As it was, we had to wait and take pictures when we got home.
By the way, if you are looking at the picture of the Bingo card and thinking to yourself, "Hey, that's not a bingo!," let me explain.
Every other round was a "special" round--you had to make a special design on your card in order to win. John won the "diamond" round.
On Saturday, Margie decided to go for a bike ride at Burke Lake. It was so beautiful (Lyn says, "Hot!"), that she suggested that Dan and the kids come play at the park at the same time. Though Burke Lake is lovely, Margie did not enjoy the ride--too many people, too many potholes and tree roots. And as Lyn said, it was hot!
Still, it was fun to get out together as a family.
Saturday night, Margie went to dinner and a birthday party with a friend.
On Sunday, Dan competed in the first race of the Washington DC region autocross series. He won first place! And last place, too...you see, he was the only one in his class.
Margie headed to LTA for the annual budget meeting, and here we are.
We hope you had a great week and are enjoying the spring sunshine!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
This Week at The Remmers
Well, we're back from Spring Break and back into the swing of things.
Margie is back at rehearsals for the One Act festival, which she is producing.
Lyn had piano on Tuesday as usual, plus ballet and Activity Day on Wednesday.
The members of the chess club that are going to the tournament are still meeting on Thursdays, but since John is only an alternate, he won't be joining them yet.
Friday was pajama day at school--the kids had fun getting up and going straight to school without even putting any clothes on!
After the kids left for school, Margie headed down to the river for a 10 mile bike ride--the weather was beautiful, and the scenery was gorgeous.
Now heading into the weekend...
Some time ago, Margie was asked to put together a musical number for a women's conference at church. She and a friend chose to sing the duet "For Good" from the musical Wicked.
Friday night they got together to practice, and Saturday morning they performed as part of the program and luncheon. People later told them they had gotten "chills" from the performance. It was fun to get to sing a secular song at a church event!
The conference also included a showing of the following very funny and poignant movie about Visiting Teaching. Visiting Teaching is a program in our church that provides for "every woman to be visited in her home and to receive instruction, fellowship, and needed assistance from fellow sisters." As you'll see from the video, we don't always take it as seriously as we should--the movie was a good reminder!
Saturday night, Dan and Margie went to opening night of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde at LTA. It was VERY good, but very deep and intense--not light entertainment! We HIGHLY recommend it, though, especially if you have a passion for civil rights.
The opening night party was sold out, so we didn't get to attend and headed instead to Applebee's after the show for a little snack. Dan ordered a coconut milkshake, which was surprisingly amazing. If you like coconut, be sure to get one the next time you are there.
Special thanks to Gene and Cecile (Dan's dad and his wife) for babysitting so that we could spend a little time away together! The kids had fun with Opa and Grandma Ceci making crafts and feasting on a "midnight" snack of bread and apricot jam (which, John says, "Tasted surprisingly like cake!").
This morning we accidentally slept in and missed church--oops! Well, we had fun hanging out in our pajamas.
Lyn has spent most of the weekend working hard on her monthly school project--this time she was learning about rivers around world. For her special focus, she picked the Yellow River in China--known as "China's Pride" (because it was the birthplace of chinese civilization) and "China's Sorrow" (because of its frequent flooding).
Margie headed out to McLean this afternoon to audition for Oliver. She sang a portion of "Goodbye, Emil" from Romance/Romance and it went very well. In fact, since due to the One Acts she is unable to attend the callbacks this week, they had her stay and sing and read for "The Widow Corney," which is exactly the part she was trying out for. We should have the results in our post next week!
Well, that's it for us. We hope you are doing well!
Margie is back at rehearsals for the One Act festival, which she is producing.
Lyn had piano on Tuesday as usual, plus ballet and Activity Day on Wednesday.
The members of the chess club that are going to the tournament are still meeting on Thursdays, but since John is only an alternate, he won't be joining them yet.
Friday was pajama day at school--the kids had fun getting up and going straight to school without even putting any clothes on!
After the kids left for school, Margie headed down to the river for a 10 mile bike ride--the weather was beautiful, and the scenery was gorgeous.
Now heading into the weekend...
Some time ago, Margie was asked to put together a musical number for a women's conference at church. She and a friend chose to sing the duet "For Good" from the musical Wicked.
Friday night they got together to practice, and Saturday morning they performed as part of the program and luncheon. People later told them they had gotten "chills" from the performance. It was fun to get to sing a secular song at a church event!
The conference also included a showing of the following very funny and poignant movie about Visiting Teaching. Visiting Teaching is a program in our church that provides for "every woman to be visited in her home and to receive instruction, fellowship, and needed assistance from fellow sisters." As you'll see from the video, we don't always take it as seriously as we should--the movie was a good reminder!
Saturday night, Dan and Margie went to opening night of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde at LTA. It was VERY good, but very deep and intense--not light entertainment! We HIGHLY recommend it, though, especially if you have a passion for civil rights.
The opening night party was sold out, so we didn't get to attend and headed instead to Applebee's after the show for a little snack. Dan ordered a coconut milkshake, which was surprisingly amazing. If you like coconut, be sure to get one the next time you are there.
Special thanks to Gene and Cecile (Dan's dad and his wife) for babysitting so that we could spend a little time away together! The kids had fun with Opa and Grandma Ceci making crafts and feasting on a "midnight" snack of bread and apricot jam (which, John says, "Tasted surprisingly like cake!").
This morning we accidentally slept in and missed church--oops! Well, we had fun hanging out in our pajamas.
Lyn has spent most of the weekend working hard on her monthly school project--this time she was learning about rivers around world. For her special focus, she picked the Yellow River in China--known as "China's Pride" (because it was the birthplace of chinese civilization) and "China's Sorrow" (because of its frequent flooding).
Margie headed out to McLean this afternoon to audition for Oliver. She sang a portion of "Goodbye, Emil" from Romance/Romance and it went very well. In fact, since due to the One Acts she is unable to attend the callbacks this week, they had her stay and sing and read for "The Widow Corney," which is exactly the part she was trying out for. We should have the results in our post next week!
Well, that's it for us. We hope you are doing well!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter!
We hope all is well with everyone! We had an exciting week--Spring Break in Florida and a sunny Easter in Virginia! Here's the scoop:
We headed to Florida last Sunday. We hoped to leave at 6am, but left around 8 instead. Consequently, we didn't arrive in Florida until around 10pm. The drive down was uneventful, but we were pooped!
We settled in at Dan's grandparent's former home in Palm Coast and met up with Nancy (Dan's mom) on Monday. She moved there two years ago and this was the first time we'd been able to come and see her and her new house.
After a tour of her lovely, well-designed abode, we headed to the beach. It was the only day that it was going to be hot, so it was the best choice for our beach day.
Even though it was windy, we had a great time.
We went home, swam a little in Baba's (that's Nancy's Ukrainian nickname) pool, then got cleaned up and headed out for dinner. Our first plan was to eat at a little vegan cafe that Nancy had discovered, but they were closed. Next, we tried a Japanese restaurant that Nancy had suggested, but they were closed, too! We ended up at Thai by Thai, which was delicious--we weren't the slightest bit disappointed that it was our third choice!
On Tuesday, we decided to just relax and hang out around the house. Though it was a little chilly, Lyn and Margie still braved the pool, and Lyn and John had fun in Baba's play room watching videos. John also discovered the joys of some classic card games--War, Old Maid, and Crazy Eights! For dinner, Nancy prepared an interesting mix of Italian and Asian cuisine--a tortellini stir fry. It was yummy! After dinner Nancy treated us to ice cream at Bruster's. Double yum!
On Wednesday, it was still chilly, so we decided to find another indoor activity--this time we headed to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona. Our first stop was, of course, the cars (it was Daytona, after all). From there we moved to the Coca-Cola exhibit (the maker of the famous Coca-Cola bottle was a famous racecar owner), then a teddy bear exhibit popped into view. We even saw a teddy bear worth a quarter of a million dollars! Next was the train exhibit and we got to see inside a few luxury train cars--now that's riding in style. That was followed by an old time drug store and soda fountain. FINALLY, we headed to the hands on children's science museum.
The kids had fun playing a laser harp, building gravity tubes, turning gears, pulling a rope to demonstrate air pressure...
making pretend pizza, building electric circuits, building a race car, and pulling themselves up on a pulley system...
Dan even got into the act and built a huge tower of blocks.
Here's a picture with Nancy, who's only 5'1", just to show how tall it really is!
We were so engrossed that we almost missed lunch! We had intended to eat at the Museum Cafe, but found to our dismay that the "cafe" was just a vending machine! I guess we're spoiled by the Smithsonian... :o)
Instead, we left the grounds and stopped in at Steak and Shake, which was really good. Never doubt that a family of vegetarians can eat a place with the word "steak" in it! The kids enjoyed macaroni and cheese, Margie had a mushroom sandwich, and we all had yummy half-price shakes!
At the restaurant we ran into another family that had been at the museum and they told us that the planetarium show was starting 3 o'clock. We RUSHED back, but we were too late. Oh, well. Maybe next time.
Outside the museum was a little nature walk which we enjoyed before heading home for more time in the pool and a yummy dinner of spaghetti and Crazy Bread. Instead of coming back to the other house with us, Lyn stayed the night with Baba--it was a fun girl's night out (or in...)!
On Thursday, we had intended to have lunch with Dan's cousins in Gainesville, but that didn't work out, so, since we didn't have anywhere to go, Nancy made everyone a pancake brunch. (Lyn wants to make sure you know she watched Robin Hood in the morning before we got there and loved it!). After brunch, everyone but Dan went over to Beall's to do some shopping. John has outgrown all his pants, and we were in search of some more. Margie, who usually hates shopping, found that she loves Beall's! Not only did we find pants for John, but Margie also bought 4 dresses, one skirt, one pair of pants and a hat for herself! Lyn was also treated to a new outfit from Beall's that she loves and can't wait to wear to school tomorrow.
After our shopping expedition, Margie went on a beautiful 18 mile bike ride with Nancy's neighbor, Roger. Dan spent the day fixing things around the house, and Lyn and John spent the day hanging out with Baba. We finished off the evening with a pot pourri dinner--leftovers from everything we had had all week. Everyone got to choose their favorite!
We said goodbye and headed home Friday morning about 8:30am. Though on our side it was pretty smooth riding, there was a lot of traffic heading south--we were glad we were going the opposite direction!
Saturday we slept in and got things ready for Easter--including attending a choir practice with a potluck dinner--and here we are!
John, Margie, and Lyn got up early for choir. We discovered that the Easter Bunny had come and brought us lots of fun gifts in our easter baskets. John's favorite were the soft air darts. Lyn's favorite was the same thing. Margie loved her vegetarian Pop Tarts, and Dan will be enjoying his chocolate.
After church, we headed home for an Easter Egg hunt in the back yard! Since we don't really eat eggs, the kids leave empty plastic eggs for the Easter Bunny to fill and hide. Once they find them, we have double the fun opening them up to see what's inside.
This year, John got a DS cartridge in one of the eggs! Lyn's favorite was the Silly Putty.
Our Easter dinner was quick and easy, but it was delicious, too: Breaded "chicken" with gruyere and cranberries, rice pilaf, asparagus with dijon sauce, orange rolls, and pina colada to drink.
As soon as we finish this, we are going to have some yummy strawberry shortcake.
We hope your week and your Easter was as fun as ours!
We headed to Florida last Sunday. We hoped to leave at 6am, but left around 8 instead. Consequently, we didn't arrive in Florida until around 10pm. The drive down was uneventful, but we were pooped!
We settled in at Dan's grandparent's former home in Palm Coast and met up with Nancy (Dan's mom) on Monday. She moved there two years ago and this was the first time we'd been able to come and see her and her new house.
After a tour of her lovely, well-designed abode, we headed to the beach. It was the only day that it was going to be hot, so it was the best choice for our beach day.
Even though it was windy, we had a great time.
We went home, swam a little in Baba's (that's Nancy's Ukrainian nickname) pool, then got cleaned up and headed out for dinner. Our first plan was to eat at a little vegan cafe that Nancy had discovered, but they were closed. Next, we tried a Japanese restaurant that Nancy had suggested, but they were closed, too! We ended up at Thai by Thai, which was delicious--we weren't the slightest bit disappointed that it was our third choice!
On Tuesday, we decided to just relax and hang out around the house. Though it was a little chilly, Lyn and Margie still braved the pool, and Lyn and John had fun in Baba's play room watching videos. John also discovered the joys of some classic card games--War, Old Maid, and Crazy Eights! For dinner, Nancy prepared an interesting mix of Italian and Asian cuisine--a tortellini stir fry. It was yummy! After dinner Nancy treated us to ice cream at Bruster's. Double yum!
On Wednesday, it was still chilly, so we decided to find another indoor activity--this time we headed to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona. Our first stop was, of course, the cars (it was Daytona, after all). From there we moved to the Coca-Cola exhibit (the maker of the famous Coca-Cola bottle was a famous racecar owner), then a teddy bear exhibit popped into view. We even saw a teddy bear worth a quarter of a million dollars! Next was the train exhibit and we got to see inside a few luxury train cars--now that's riding in style. That was followed by an old time drug store and soda fountain. FINALLY, we headed to the hands on children's science museum.
The kids had fun playing a laser harp, building gravity tubes, turning gears, pulling a rope to demonstrate air pressure...
making pretend pizza, building electric circuits, building a race car, and pulling themselves up on a pulley system...
Dan even got into the act and built a huge tower of blocks.
Here's a picture with Nancy, who's only 5'1", just to show how tall it really is!
We were so engrossed that we almost missed lunch! We had intended to eat at the Museum Cafe, but found to our dismay that the "cafe" was just a vending machine! I guess we're spoiled by the Smithsonian... :o)
Instead, we left the grounds and stopped in at Steak and Shake, which was really good. Never doubt that a family of vegetarians can eat a place with the word "steak" in it! The kids enjoyed macaroni and cheese, Margie had a mushroom sandwich, and we all had yummy half-price shakes!
At the restaurant we ran into another family that had been at the museum and they told us that the planetarium show was starting 3 o'clock. We RUSHED back, but we were too late. Oh, well. Maybe next time.
Outside the museum was a little nature walk which we enjoyed before heading home for more time in the pool and a yummy dinner of spaghetti and Crazy Bread. Instead of coming back to the other house with us, Lyn stayed the night with Baba--it was a fun girl's night out (or in...)!
On Thursday, we had intended to have lunch with Dan's cousins in Gainesville, but that didn't work out, so, since we didn't have anywhere to go, Nancy made everyone a pancake brunch. (Lyn wants to make sure you know she watched Robin Hood in the morning before we got there and loved it!). After brunch, everyone but Dan went over to Beall's to do some shopping. John has outgrown all his pants, and we were in search of some more. Margie, who usually hates shopping, found that she loves Beall's! Not only did we find pants for John, but Margie also bought 4 dresses, one skirt, one pair of pants and a hat for herself! Lyn was also treated to a new outfit from Beall's that she loves and can't wait to wear to school tomorrow.
After our shopping expedition, Margie went on a beautiful 18 mile bike ride with Nancy's neighbor, Roger. Dan spent the day fixing things around the house, and Lyn and John spent the day hanging out with Baba. We finished off the evening with a pot pourri dinner--leftovers from everything we had had all week. Everyone got to choose their favorite!
We said goodbye and headed home Friday morning about 8:30am. Though on our side it was pretty smooth riding, there was a lot of traffic heading south--we were glad we were going the opposite direction!
Saturday we slept in and got things ready for Easter--including attending a choir practice with a potluck dinner--and here we are!
John, Margie, and Lyn got up early for choir. We discovered that the Easter Bunny had come and brought us lots of fun gifts in our easter baskets. John's favorite were the soft air darts. Lyn's favorite was the same thing. Margie loved her vegetarian Pop Tarts, and Dan will be enjoying his chocolate.
After church, we headed home for an Easter Egg hunt in the back yard! Since we don't really eat eggs, the kids leave empty plastic eggs for the Easter Bunny to fill and hide. Once they find them, we have double the fun opening them up to see what's inside.
This year, John got a DS cartridge in one of the eggs! Lyn's favorite was the Silly Putty.
Our Easter dinner was quick and easy, but it was delicious, too: Breaded "chicken" with gruyere and cranberries, rice pilaf, asparagus with dijon sauce, orange rolls, and pina colada to drink.
As soon as we finish this, we are going to have some yummy strawberry shortcake.
We hope your week and your Easter was as fun as ours!
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