Alice in Wonderland

The kids just finished their spring session of Stage Kids with their performances of 'Alice in Wonderland: A New Musical.'  The entire show was written by Ms. Taylor and Ms. Kelleen, so it was all original music, dancing, and dialogue.  The kids always enjoy performing, but they tend to like certain shows more than others.  This one was one that all 3 kids said they really enjoyed.

Because of scheduling, my kids had to be in 2 separate casts for this show.   Adelie and Briggs performed with the Eureka/Peoria cast while Staley performed with the NTA Center Tuesday cast.

For their show, Briggs was a Wonderland ensemble and Adelie was the duck.  She had several lines in the caucus race scene.  Both Adelie and Briggs did a great job knowing their songs, knowing their dances, and knowing where they needed to be throughout the show.  Adelie keeps getting better and better at projecting, creating her character, and displaying confidence on stage.  During the first night, Briggs was the only one in his group that knew when they needed to line up for bows, so he got everyone else where they needed to be.

Staley worked on the backstage tech crew for the Eureka/Peoria cast and the Bloomington cast.  For these casts, they put her in as a card dancer for the Queen of Hearts song and the 'Tango Flamingo' song.  The dances and costumes were really cute, and Staley did a great job performing.  I do feel like her dance team training has improved both her dancing skills and her dancing performance.  And how often do you get to say that you danced with an inflatable flamingo???

Grammie and Grandpa were out of town during the Eureka show, but Uma and Papa came to see Adelie and Briggs perform...

as did Aunt Jan and Aunt Sandi.

Staley loved being a part of the NTA Center cast as this is the cast that many of her NTA friends are in.

For Staley's cast, she was Tweedle Dee.  She and her Tweedle Dum had a fun song that they sang together that also included a little tap dancing.  Staley captured the fun-loving, energetic vibe of the Tweedles perfectly in her performance.

Grammie and Grandpa were back in time to see Staley's show...

and Uma and Papa came to see Staley's cast too.

My kids are so invested in NTA.  They have found a home in the theater and a family with all the people who we've gotten to know through our years with NTA.

I love these opportunities my kids have and all the friends and memories it has given them.  It's not all roses, but we are so thankful for NTA.

April and Beyond...

We are in the midst of the craziness that encompasses the end of the school year.  There are performances and concerts and activities and projects and track meets and special days and SO MANY THINGS.  Our schedule is full.  My mind is awhirl.  The to-do list is long.  And although blog about all the things might not be the top priority on the to-do list, it's what I feel like doing this morning.  So here it is...

Throwing it all the way back to the beginning of April, we got home from our spring break trip just in time to celebrate Easter.  There was church brunch and Easter baskets (with Legos for Briggs, a bathing suit for Staley, and a shirt for Adelie), and then lunch/play time with my side of the family at Aunt Bonnie's.

Briggs was very sweet about our Easter plans.  After getting home from our week away, he asked if we were going to do an Easter egg hunt the next morning.  I told him that I just hadn't planned for that, so we would just do our Easter baskets and not an egg hunt.  Briggs took it upon himself to wake up early, make and hide pieces of paper around the basement with letters that the girls had to unscramble to make a phrase, and then he made them each an Easter present.  (Bookmarks for Staley and an original Lego set complete with a homemade instruction book for Adelie.)  It was a very sweet start to the day!

The girls and I went with Uma to the Barn Theater to have dinner and see McKinley in her country western musical show called "Chaps."

We enjoyed our evening out and always look forward to getting to watch McKinley perform.

The girls and I also went to Bloomington with some of the other people from their theater group to watch the musical "On Your Feet", which was the story of Gloria Estefan.  It was great!!  After the show, 4 of the cast members met with the kids to talk about their theater journey, offer advice, and answer questions.  It was a late night for a school night, but a great show and a great experience.

I enjoyed a day at the Shedd Aquarium with Adelie and her friends for her 5th grade field trip.  We took charter buses, and my group was just Adelie and Stanley.

#winning

#bestfieldtripever

Our group spent the day with Sadie, Melody, and Melody's mom.  We all had a great time!  I love Adelie's sweet friends, and being on a field trip with a group of 4 and 2 chaperones is about the easiest task ever.

We have spent many evenings and Saturdays at track meets over the past month and a half.  The track season is winding down, and it will have its own post soon, but we can't talk about all the busyness of this season without mentioning track.

Staley and I also attended the Barbie Cabaret that NTA put on.  Some of Staley's friends were performing, and she enjoyed hanging out with her NTA friends at the show and then at Culver's afterwards.

Uma and Papa took Adelie and Briggs to the grade school carnival while we were at Staley's track meet one Saturday morning.  They had a great time playing games, winning prizes, and eating.  I think the balloon animals were a highlight.  (The highlight for me was that I didn't have to go.)

Adelie enjoyed a special day of shopping and crafting with Uma and Papa for her birthday.  She also got to celebrate her birthday with Grammie and Grandpa with a cousin sleepover and outing with Caroline.  It's good to have a birthday that keeps on being celebrated long after the day is over.

Staley enjoyed an ice skating party with friends for Kaitlyn's birthday.  

Apart from NTA and Kids Connection at church, Briggs' schedule is primarily filled with getting dragged to track meets/activities or staying home with Daddy when the girls and I go out, so we've found a few opportunities to have friends over to play.

Briggs got to participate in the 3rd and 4th grade track meet.  He ended up getting 7th place in the 800 meter run.  We joked that he was running an 800 fartlek run because he kept surging and then slowing down throughout the entire 2 laps of running.  He did a great job, ran the whole way, finished in around 3:30, and seemed to be really enjoying himself the whole day.

Briggs also participated in the long jump and got 6th place.

Adelie and Staley participated in their last band concert of the year.  They both did really well.  Staley has decided not to do band next year, so this was her last band concert of her middle school career. 

We squeezed in a few orthodontist appointments so that Briggs could get his braces off.  His teeth look great!!  And he is finding it much easier to brush his teeth well now that he doesn't have all that metal in the way.

Staley's quiz team had their last quiz off of the season.  They ended up in 2nd place in the tournament.  Staley quizzed out in all but one of her quizzes.  The group did really well, but also just had a lot of fun together.

They finished off the season with a bowling and pizza party with all the other FEC quizzers that they faced throughout the season.

We've also spent ample time at the theater over the past few weeks as all 3 kids performed in 'Alice in Wonderland.'  Of course, that will have its own post soon too.

April and the start of May have just been FULL.  It's all fun and good, but it's been a lot.

We've enjoyed the nice weather and the start of spring while we've been fitting in everything that is on the calendar.  We're staring down another week and a half of all the rest of the things that get crammed in during the end of the school year, and then summer will be upon us.  And I, for one, am ready!!

Our Family

Briggs made this little book for Zach's birthday about our family.

Should I be concerned that my son spelled our last name wrong??

This was my favorite.  I do love "unkle Bobs".

It looks like he remembered the 'c' in our last name this time...but maybe after the fact as it looks like it had to be crammed in.

I love seeing our family through Briggs' eyes.  And even though I think there is way more to us than a writing, hover boarding, phone wanting, Uncle Bob's eating family, it's a solid start.

She Writes...

Staley wrote this essay for one of her English assignments.  It made me laugh out loud.  All 3 of my kids love to write...and they are so creative in their writing.