Audition - Sword in the Stone

Last week Shara tried out for the Easton Children's Theater production of The Sword in the Stone. It sounds like there were more younger kids trying out than parts available and she didn't get in. They offered a workshop and she was going to do it, but then that was cancelled due to lack of interest. It was also pretty late at night. She was unphased about the whole thing and will be trying out for the Spring musical, The Wizard of Oz. I'm guessing what made it such a small loss is chorus. She started yesterday at school and is so excited. She didn't like the trumpet and decided last year that an instrument wasn't for her but she really wanted to sing and now she is and loves it!

Sunday we did the corn maze at Flint Farm and made it to the exit in just over an hour! Last year we were going in circles and never got to the end. We were so happy we had to treat ourselves with ice cream, as opposed to console ourselves with ice cream. I think it tasted just as good either way.

Saturday Shara went with Auntie Chris to Frozen on Ice at the Dunkin Donuts Center. She had a great time. Maybe she'll fill in some details. All I know is they went to the show, then to Chili's for fajitas, then to Oma & Jidors for a visit and dinner.

Friday she was at a birthday party and had another fun night. Silly photos were taken, a scavenger hunt was had and truth or dare was played. There was a chocolate fountain and everyone had to have at least one strawberry and she did and also had chocolate dipped marshmallows.

Weekends of Festivals

Last weekend we participated in our third World Peace Day event by joining other First Parish friends for our walk around Bridgewater, MA, spreading peace to all. Read about it in the Bridgewater Independent and view some neat photos of us. It was a nice day and the first time Alan joined us. Before the peace activities, we had our family portrait taken for the church directory and we were able to purchase photos too. That was fun and interesting because we never sat for a family photo shoot before. It was very well done and a few came out very nice. Shara's looked great but we just ordered her school photos the day before and didn't want to go overboard.

Sunday was the Margarita Party from the church auction. We had a bunch of people over to the house who had "won" the item, which was to come to our house for a party! It was a good time, and once I was able to fix the blender and get it screwed together properly so it didn't pour all over the counter when I was trying just for the glass, it was much more relaxing. Shara provided the entertainment by creating a scavenger hunt for people to play when they entered the house. It was a fun way for people to learn the house and Shara certainly had fun directing them.

During the week we didn't do much but one day I was able to leave work early to get Shara and we ran some errands, one of which was going to Langwater and Mockingbird Music. The music shop was for me to get reeds for the clarinet that my co-worker may sell me. Then Shara and I can practice together. Langwater was a nice trip picking out lots of good veggies and getting into the Fall spirit:

This weekend we had quite a history lesson. The first was about the Civil War. At the library they had a civil war weekend that was very interesting, even if it wasn't as well attended as I thought it would be. We saw a fashion show, had some bbq, talked to the re-enactors and jumped every time they fired a rifle. Shara liked it so much she dragged us back in the evening for the lantern tour of the camps.

Sunday was also activity filled. First we went to church where Alan participated in the service in his role of ministerial search committee member and Shara had her first RE class. She seemed to like it a lot and handed me the paper that told what they're doing in class and gave us talking points for home. She also couldn't wait to show me the paper with responses to questions from the class. After church we went to King Richard's Faire. We voted between the Jubilee Concert at the Middleborough church, featuring the FPBwater choir, and King Richard's. I lost, but had a fun time anyway. How can't the Faire be fun? We did stop to eat lunch before though. Learned lessons over the years that the food isn't worth the money, except for the desserty stuff. But the most enjoyable activities are the joust, according to Shara, and the performers, according to all of us.

Quebec 2012 - Day 5

This day was a relaxing one, travelling around the I'Ile d'Orleans, the island just to the east of Quebec City. It has been the main source of produce for the city and markets the island as one for foodies. A wonderful article is available at: Taste Report. The first stop though was to check out Le Parc de la Chute-Montmorency. Shara was very opposed to walking uphill and was only interested in the lift going up the hill. We compromised and walked down the hill, but first needed to go up a couple of staircases to get over the bridge to the other side, where we walked down a large set of stairs and then got splashed good by the mist.

Our day on the island began at La Boulange, since the toasted cranberry, raisin and apricot bread and apples and strawberries didn't seem to fill us up enough at breakfast. Actually, by the time we got there it was close to lunch time. Alan and I shared a three cheese, basil and olive pizza, and a bowl of delicious and well flavored, herbie, vegetable soup. It came with a thick slice of white bread that we all shared. Shara loved and devoured her jamon and fromage croissant with cornicon and dijon mustard.

Shara's artistic interpretation of our pesto pizza

We took a little walk up the road and stopped in a gift shop of mostly pottery, another shop that had interesting wooden sculptures and some stained glass work, and a shop on the list that sold cassis products. We learned about white, red and black currants. Tasted a few vinegars and purchased a bottle of the black currant wine vinegar. We then headed back to the car, which was parked across from the boulangerie. Alan and Shara went to the car while I went back in the bakery to use the bathroom and buy some snacks. I couldn't resist a frambois danish and picked up another cinnamon bun. They were so big! They also had some imperfect breads for sale and I got a wheat sandwich bread to put in the freezer. As far as I can tell, it just has a little strip of black on the side, probably from touching the fire. When I got back to the car, I could see Alan and Shara off in the distance, down by the water. We were parked in a lot next to a beach near the river. The beach wasn't sand but looked like sandstone, stripped red and beige, and when wet, like clay. They had gotten a few shells and rocks. When I got down we switched. Shara wanted to show me the beach and we made our way down, closer to the water. It was another perfectly beautiful day. Mid-seventies, full sun, gorgeous.

We went to several but our favorite was the Chocolaterie, which we saved for the end. We all had ice cream - Alan and Shara both had a caramel toffee and I had a waffle cone of the caramel toffee and an almond. It was wonderful and refreshing and not too heavy. It was some of the best ice cream I've had, though now I'm reading the soft ice cream dipped in chocolate is what the real treat is. I assumed it was just what was available at all the other hundreds of lateries in the area - but it's not. This place makes their own soft ice cream with very few ingredients, all natural, no preservatives. And the chocolate is actual melted chocolate, not the commercial product. Regardless, our hard ice cream was fantastic too.

relaxing at the Chocolaterie

After a day of snacking, we had a light dinner and then headed back out! This time to the free Cirque du Soleil show! We wouldn't have known about it had we not taken the tour on the first day. Apparently the students at the cirque school are the performers. It starts at sundown and is right under a highway overpass. Crazy - the cars & trucks are going by as the show is running.We got there right on time and got places up at the front. Alan held up Shara through most of the performance so she could see. It was a real treat. More special than any of the ice cream.

New Year's Eve

 So yesterday we had a very relaxing morning and actually had brunch rather than breakfast. We enjoyed Beth Howell's pancakes and added chocolate chips, berries, apples, and nothing! By the time we got showered and dressed and the bag packed for our trip into Boston for First Night, it was already almost 12:30! That was ok though. We had to meet a friend who was going to buy Alan's pin from us because he was stuck home with a migraine - boo!

So Shara and I had quite an adventure in Boston. We got there about 1:20 and I wanted to get moving because a magic show started at 1:45. I didn't realize how crazy I was thinking that we could just stroll in and get a seat, etc. I didn't realize we wouldn't be able to park right away. I didn't realize how bad my directions are when I'm walking and not driving (with help from the nav system, of course!) So by the time we got parked, since we went to the Prudential tower parking first and went around, backed out, around again, no spaces, left, finally found the original garage I had wanted to go to, went in and up and up and up and found spots on the 4th level already! Left the garage and went right instead of left and oops, now we're at the chiming concert on Christian Science Plaza, which was great, but we needed to get to the Hynes Convention Center! So we meandered our way and it turned out to be just around the corner, and about 1/4 block from the parking garage. We headed to the next magician show - 3 PM now, and got in line and were told don't hold our breath getting in. We waited a bit, seeing if anyone else was going to leave and took the opportunity to have a bar so we could keep our energy up. Being the troopers we are, we ended up going to the Gerwick Puppets "Midwinter Magic" show. It's based on Debussey's Snowflakes Are Dancing. It was very lovely but knowing we needed to get in line for the next magic show, we left a little before the end and got back up to the third floor. We were in line about the same place as we were the first time, so we then decided to not wait so long and just leave for the ImprovBoston's family show. We found the auditorium and got a little confused because the band was still playing. We did enjoy listening to the music and were able to snag a couple of seats as people left. Shara was quick and popped herself down, right before another person managed to get in. Go Shara! That was a fun show and I think we would enjoy seeing them again.


After that, we heard that they were going to have fireworks after the parade in Boston Common, and decided to go closer to the Common to view the parade. Along the way we planned on getting some dinner. That turned into a hot dog at Copley and we stayed there to watch. Good thing too, because afterward we made a side-trip to Panera to use their facilities. 

Waiting for the parade to start

Here it is!

So we continued on to the Common but ended up watching from the garden. They were the absolute best fireworks I've ever seen. The only ones that come close were the ones Alan and I saw at my first and only other First Night, 11 years ago. The other activity we didn't want to miss were seeing the ice sculptures. They were much harder to find than I remembered. We made our way over to the Common and tried not to get crushed between the two little gates they had open and the tons of people trying to get through. We survived but were cold and tired (sorry, I was tired, not Shara) and finally found a sculpture and it was cool, no pun intended, but not as amazing as it should have been for the hunt involved. But, it was right near the T stop, which is where we were headed because Shara was done with walking around in the cold. We did get on the wrong T and got off at the Prudential, which was no big deal because we were able to walk right inside to get to the Convention center. We actually ran into Hannah, of all people, the person who bought our pin! We went on through to the Hynes, and back out and to the car and high-fived each other when the car was actually where I thought it should be. The garage looked a little different than it did when we left it so many hours ago!

On the way home we called daddy and put in a dinner order, since Shara's hot dog and my apple just weren't enough. We ate dinner at about 9 PM, and as promised, Shara was allowed to get in her jammies, brush her teeth, get her blanket and pillow pet and come downstairs to wait up for the ball to drop. I was amazed that she found it so exciting and she got me excited about it too. It was a great way to bring in the New Year and if daddy is sick again next year, we're giving up on him! Two years in a row is a coincidence. Three is a trend.

Justin Bieber

Today I took Shara to see the Justin Bieber movie and I was surprised she enjoyed it so much. She really liked the music and dancing. I think this just added to her desire to be a performer - too young to be one of the screaming kids, but she does get embarrassed when she sees the girls screaming, etc. and don't get started on kissing - mommy & daddy have to leave the room if there's any of that on tv! Tomorrow she's going to buy her first album and load it on her MP3 player. I'd like to say my first album was something more sophisticated, but I seem to remember the big Sean Cassidy poster on my door for quite a while.

Earlier in the day our neighbor and her kids came over and the kids played in the snow and went sledding down the mound. They had a fun time, but it was cold! Shara was getting into going fast down the hill and even took a running jump onto the tube.

Up

We went to Up today and Alan & I thought it was great. Shara sat on my lap and appeared to be liking it, but when we left the theater she got that look in her face of trying not to cry, said, "I didn't like that movie" and started to cry. It was too scary for her. There was a lot of fighting, and all the things she finds most scary - big, biting dogs and heights. She used to be scared of being carried up into the air with a kite, or balloon, but not recently. She also said the wilderness was scary. I asked her why she didn't say anything in the theater and she said she didn't want to talk during the movie. I felt so bad, but we're ok now. Told her if anytime she feels that way she should let us know. She shouldn't have to sit through a movie like that being scared. Also, she said if she has that movie at home she's not playing it, so no need to add this one to her wish list! Had dinner at Good Days and now going to read stories, so all is well.

The Nutcracker

Today we went to see the Nutcracker at the Opera House in Boston. It was great. Shara was enthralled. It was better than she thought it was going to be. She sat on my lap during the first 1/2 but then we got a booster seat and she sat in her own seat for the 2nd 1/2. It was a very nice performance and the costumes were beautiful as well as the dancers. I can't think of a better first trip to the ballet.
View more pictures here.