Skiing at Snow Summit

The boys and I enjoyed one last ski trip with my Dad for this ski season. We are very blessed that my Dad is able to take us skiing because of all the volunteering he does for Ski Patrol. Our usual spot, Bear Mountain, was closed so we ventured to Snow Summit. I've never been to Snow Summit, so it was nice to check out another hill.

Bode and Grampa, ready to ski

Cole and Ian, poised and ready

Ian and Cole had a great time trying new trails and working on their ski form. They have been improving each time we ski. Although this is our last ski trip until next winter, I hope they are able to pick back up where they left off next winter.

Ian hitting the slopes

Cole cruising the slopes

My Dad helped Bode work on skiing by himself, but only on the flatter slopes. He's not great at stopping yet. But when he wasn't skiing alone, he was strapped in his ski harness, which is such a great device and makes skiing with him so much easier.

Looking good, guys!

My Dad had him skiing by himself in the morning, but after lunch they closed the run Bode was working on. I took him in the afternoon and had to take him on runs with fewer "flat" spots, so the video I got of him wasn't as great as it would have been in the morning. Oh well. He still has a great time.

Go Bode!

The boys love to ski! We had a great time skiing and look forward to hitting the slopes again next season.

Big River

Four generations attended the musical Big River at the Glendale Centre Theatre on April 9th - my grandmother, my mother, myself, and my son Ian. It was a nice evening out with Ian as our date.

Big River is a musical based on the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. We thought they did a wonderful job. I love the in-the-round theatre, where everyone has a nice seat and you feel like you're right in the action. Ian discovered that he isn't a big fan of musicals ("they sing too much"), but he loves opera. Go figure.

Ian with Huck & Jim's boat

With Ian in the theatre

Then we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Don Cuco's Mexican Restaurant, with good food and pleasant conversation. It was a nice evening to spend together.

My Granny, My Mom, My Ian, and Me

Quotes from Bode #1

Bode: One of the kids at preschool called me stupid.

Me: Did you tell him that wasn't nice?

Bode: Yes. I told him it was a bad word.

Darin: Why did he call you stupid?

Bode: I guess he was confused.

** So cute. Gotta love that Bode! **

Macbeth

Ian had a great time being in Much Ado About Shakespeare's production of the tragedy of Macbeth this year.

Ian was lucky enough to get his first choice role. He played the nobleman Macduff. It was an exciting and challenging role for him to play. He had to stretch himself to act out some big emotions on stage, which pushed him out of his comfort zone. But come performance night, he was great! Plus, he had to wear a kilt (being that they were in Scotland), but he wore it like a true Scot.

Ian's bio

Ian (as Macduff) started the play with a bit of dancing. But this happy moment wouldn't last long.

Oh, what fun to dance in a circle

Ian would then go to visit with King Duncan at Macbeth's house. He did not know that Macbeth had already met with the witches and heard their prophecy. And he had no idea that Macbeth and his wife had already killed the king in their lust for power. What a shock to be the one to find the king's bloody, dead body! "O horror, horror, horror!"

"Awake, awake! Ring the alarum-bell. Murder and treason!"

"Our royal master's murdered!"

Of course, everyone except Macbeth and his wife are shocked at this "most sacrilegious murder" (although they act shocked just the same).

Macduff learns that Macbeth killed the suspected murderers (aka, patsies).

But Ian is not fooled for long. He suspects something is up with Macbeth, especially when he is already being crowned king after King Duncan's sons have fled, although he hasn't figured it out yet.

Macduff meeting with Angus and Ross

 Once they have figured out Macbeth's bloody deeds, Ian has no idea that the witches have prophesied to Macbeth that he must beware of Macduff (Ian). While he is in England meeting with Malcolm, the deceased king's eldest son, and gathering an army, Macbeth sends murderers to Macduff's castle to murder Macduff's wife and children.

"Be not lacking in your speech: how goes't?"

"He has no children. All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam at one fell swoop? "

When Ian learns of this horror, he is stricken with grief and vows revenge upon Macbeth and to "feel it as a man."

"But, gentle heavens, bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; Within my sword's length set him; If he escape, heaven forgive him too!"

Ian gathers an army with Malcolm and they approach Macbeth. After Macbeth kills his last (Young Siward), Macduff is ready to put an end to him. Now the witches had prophesied to Macbeth that no one born of woman could kill him, so he was feeling quite invincible. But he soon learns that Macduff is an exception to the rule, and Macbeth has finally met his match.

"Turn, hell-hound, turn! I have no words. My voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out!"

"Despair thy charm; Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripped."

"Then yield thee, coward!"

Ian wounds Macbeth and they finish their fight offstage. Ian (Macduff) was the victor, and to be sure Macbeth was dead, he brought his bloody head for proof. (This was the main reason Ian wanted to be Macduff...to get to "chop off" Macbeth's head.)

"Behold, where stands the usurper's cursed head."

So Ian (Macduff) had his revenge, although once the adrenaline high of beheading his enemy wears off, he will have no wife and children to return home to. Hopefully the new King Malcolm will have better intentions than tragic Macbeth.

Bravo! Huzzah!

Bravo! The kids were fantastic. I was so proud of Ian. He did so well bringing emotion to his character and his lines, which did not come naturally to him. A couple people even told me they got a little verklempt during his speech about his murdered family, so that made me happy. Way to go, Ian!

Romeo and Juliet

Cole loved being in the Much Ado About Shakespeare performance of the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet this year.

His part was just big enough to be in some good scenes, but not so big to overwhelm him with too many lines. He had a blast playing Abraham, one of Romeo's friends and a Montague servant.

Cole's bio

Cole loved being in the beginning of the play where he got to say his favorite line, "You Lie!" really loudly in response to the Capulet servants biting their thumbs at the Montague servants and saying their masters were better. And a fight resulted...

If you bite your thumb at a Montague servant, be prepared for a fight.

Apparently, Cole even fights with Friars.

Cole (as Abraham) also enjoyed hanging out with his buddies Romeo, Mercutio, Balthasar, and Benvolio. Here he said another of his favorite lines: "On, lusty gentlemen." Leave it to the little guy to get things going.

Hanging with his Montague buddies

Cole had a blast getting to sing at and tease the Nurse of Juliet: "Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell. Lady, lady, lady" with raspberry sounds at the end. She should have known better than to interrupt their male-bonding time.

Here's comes the nurse...hope she's ready for some teasing.

Unfortunately, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. The hurt begins with the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt. After Mercutio is stabbed, Cole's character is quite sensitive and says,"Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much" to Mercutio. If only that were true. But Mercutio dies, and Romeo ends up killing Tybalt. And it's all downhill after that.

Mercutio has been stabbed

After Romeo is banished, it appears that Juliet and the Friar have come up with a plan to get them out of town, but Romeo doesn't get the message of the plan. Cole has to be one of the guys to break the news to Romeo that Juliet has died (too bad she hadn't), "Her body sleeps in Capel's monument."

Romeo, we've got some bad news for you...

Of course, Juliet was not dead, but he and his friends did not know that. Unable to live without her, Romeo kills himself. And as you know, she then has to really kill herself because she cannot live without him. Oh the tragedy!

Poor dead Romeo

At least after all this tragedy, the Capulets and Montagues learn their lesson, albeit too late for poor Romeo and Juliet.

Bravo! Huzzah!

Bravo! The kids did great. Cole was terrific, if I do say so myself. He spoke clearly, loudly, and knew all his lines and cues. Plus, he's so stinking cute! It was definitely a treat seeing my little man on stage, being the Rockstar that he is.

Much Ado About Shakespeare

We enjoyed a wonderful night watching Ian and Cole in their Shakespeare plays this year. This is their second year participating in the Much Ado About Shakespeare program.

Last year, they were both in The Comedy of Errors for their acting debuts. This year they were in different classes: Cole's class doing Romeo & Juliet and Ian's class doing Macbeth. The classes started at the end of October and continued until their performances at the beginning of April. It was quite a treat watching them learn about these Shakespearean tragedies.

Ian and Cole in costume

Even Bode has been enjoying Shakespeare from afar. He'd like to be in it, but for my sanity I'll wait until he's at least 5, since I'll be the one helping him memorize his lines. (But he'll look so cute on the stage when he gets to do it!) He sat through 3-1/2 hours of Shakespeare plays and scenes with excellent behavior. He even had a smile on his face at 10 pm when the show was finally over (although looking forward to cookies at the afterparty certainly helped).

Bode supporting his brothers

I'll follow this post with individual posts on each of the boys' plays.

Warrior Dash

Since parents are supposed to lead by example, we decided that we needed to have fun (and exercise), too. This weekend, Darin, my Dad, & I raced and survived the Warrior Dash, held at Lake Elsinore.

The Warrior Dash is a "mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run from Hell," or at least that's what they say. The course is basically a 5K with obstacles. So we arrived happy and ready to go.

Jack, Jenny, & Darin - Before the Dash

Since we weren't in top shape and trying to win, we had a great time. Besides, we were standing at the starting line with hundreds of people, many dressed in crazy costumes, so it was hard to be overly serious. After the start, we ran for maybe a mile until the first obstacle, and then the obstacles continued to come with a stretch of distance to run/walk between them.

The obstacles we experienced were:
* Tower of Hay Bales (climbing over giant steps of hay bales)
* Junkyard Challenge (over old cars and high-stepping through tires)
* Warrior Wall (climbing over multiple wooden barricades)
* Over and Unders (over walls and then under barbed wire)
* Walk the Plank (balancing over planks and then up a hill)
* Giant Warrior Wall (climbing over a 10 foot wall)
* Cargo Climb (climbing over a 25-30 foot high cargo net)
* Deadweight Drifter (trudging through waist deep water and climbing over logs)
* Arachnophobia (threading through tangled ropes)
* Chaotic Crossover (crawling over tangled cargo nets)
* Warrior Roast (leaping over fire)
* Muddy Mayhem (crawling through the mud under barbed wire)

When we finally got to the finish line, we were nice and muddy, but still smiling.

Darin, Jenny, & Jack - After the Dash

The next step was to attempt to get some of the mud off of us. This proved to be another obstacle as the rocks were a bit slippery and there was a drop-off that my dad found.

Attempting to clean off some of the mud

Honestly, this was a ton of fun and I'd love to do it again next year. (And next year, I'll bring my camera with me to take pictures on the obstacles.) When you're running alongside guys in kilts, girls in cheerleader outfits, guys and girls in tutus, guys in barely-there warrior outfits, blue avatars (yes, I said avatars), indians, and a myriad of vikings, you just can't take yourself too seriously. Good times!