Father's Day Fun

Father's Day was just as sunny as Mother's Day, but we didn't take these in the shade. Doesn't everyone look sunny? *squint*



This was Andy's first Father's Day in Primary, so he got to go up on the stand with the other kids to sing in Sacrament Meeting. He was pretty stage-struck, and didn't actually sing, but seemed to get a kick out of the experience.

Kate had a present for Dad that she made at school:



Yep, ice cream, Toys R Us, and playing Wii.  That's what Dad's all about. 

Happy Father's Day!

Kate's Owl

Kate made this cute little paper owl. She said she got the idea from Ramona the Brave. (I think she copied the design off the owls on her pajamas.) Fun!

Saturday Downtown

Kate made 100% of her A.R. (Accelerated Reader) goal, so we thought we should get her a little treat.  We made an outing downtown and went to Learning Sprout so she could pick out something.



Riding the Link is exciting! (And free!)



Chalk art.



At Learning Sprout.  Andy was having fun with this gear toy.



The last stop on the Link is in the area called the Theater District, so the stop has these theater seats. Notice the middle seat, which is permanently in the up position. It's not an actual seat--it's a referential seat. This is art.



After the Learning Sprout we stopped by the Children's Museum. Kate was there on a field trip recently and thought it was great fun. The rest of us hadn't seen their new facility, so we thought we'd check it out. It is a lot bigger, and there are lots of windows all around so the lighting is nice for taking pictures.




Andy spent most of the time in the water play area (and got a bit wet).







Kate at another Link stop (Union Station) on the way back.

We have our little downtown outing traditions--we always park in one of the parking garages across the street from Freighthouse Square, ride the link, and then have lunch at Freighthouse Square before going home. Kate gets fish and chips.

This was a nice day for it.  The weather was cool but clear, and Mama was pretty happy with the lighting, which is always a good thing.  Everyone had a fun time and Andy conked out in the car on the way home.

(Dead) into the Fire Swamp

We didn't have any big plans for Memorial Day (Doug had a lot of grading to do), but we did take a walk over to China Lake after lunch.  There's one section with twisty, mossy trees that reminds me of the Fire Swamp in The Princess Bride. I've been wanting to go back and get some pictures. 



We took a friend along--a classmate of Kate's who lives in the complex across the street.



"I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely." 





I am happy to report that we did not encounter any Lightning Sand or Rodents of Unusual Size on our journey.

The rest of the (non-Fire-Swamp) pictures:







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Back home in time for Andy's nap!

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

Reading with Daddy!



"Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum!"

Mother's Day Sunshine

  

Mother's Day pics! We had a lovely sunny weekend, which makes the picture-taking a little tricky. We found some shade. (Those are the neighbor's flowers in the background.)

  
  

Trying to get Andy to look at the camera, I asked him, "Where are Daddy's eyes?" so then he had to point out my eyes. Ack!

  

Kate made this for me at school. Laminated for longevity!

After church and pictures I called my own mom, and then I had a nice long Mother's Day nap!

Castle Set Painting

I got to help with some set painting for the production of "Beauty and the Beast" at Curtis Jr. High. Sylvie Hillsberg, the choir teacher there, is the sister of Patrick Watson, who puts on the multi-stake productions like the Broadway Revue and Savior of the World (with his wife JoLee). I went over to the school and met with Sylvie and got measurements, then went home and designed this on the computer:



The blank spaces are for a staircase and platform. 



Sylvie got the outlines traced on the cardboard and I was able to help with the painting over two afternoons.  There were other people to help too, so I didn't have to do it all myself.  We got the base colors down and then I slapped some quick shading on the columns and railing.  I used the biggest brush they had and was proud of myself for not letting it take too long. 



I took Kate to the 1:00 matinee performance this afternoon.  Here she is playing Triple Town on my kindle while waiting for the play to start.



The backdrop was on six four-by-twelve panes of cardboard, with the castle on one side and the town scene on the other side. The panels were suspended from the ceiling so they could turn them back and forth quickly.



They used Fiona's library, too!



The kids did a great job. I especially enjoyed Lumiere's performance.   Kate was a little less engaged in the whole thing, but she liked the big group numbers. This was the Broadway version, so there were some songs that aren't in the movie, that I hadn't heard before.



I got a line in the program. (They spelled my last name wrong--eh, it happens!)

I've been saying I needed a project.  This was a fun thing to work on for a few days, and fun to see the end result in use!