BYU Ballet: Fairy Tales and Fantasy

Last night I took Olivia to see the BYU Ballet dancers perform Fairy Tales and Fantasy. For the last week, Olivia has asked me how many more days until the ballet. She was so excited to go! We dressed her up in her prettiest dress and I put her hair in an updo. I kind of rock at updos on other people. I know if you look at my own hair you will not believe me considering my hair is in the hippie phase and I never do anything with it besides throw it up in a ponytail when it gets in my way. But Olivia's hair is fun to play with especially since it's getting longer. I brainstormed for a week until I decided on what I was going to do!

I ended up putting three small piggies on top of her head and pulled them through so they look like they do. Then I pulled the rest of her hair, minus what was on the side of her head, into a big ponytail then pulled the ponytail through itself going upwards. I curled the pony tail hair and pinned some up to hide the ponytail holder. Then I curled what was in her three mini piggies and pinned those back. Finally I twisted what was left on the side of her hair and pinned those on the opposite sides of her ponytail so it kept all her small side hairs out of her face. Ta da! The only thing I would do different next time is pin a little more hair up but whatever. She got lots of compliments on her hair so she was happy!

For some reason I look like I'm in pain!

I have no idea what she is doing. She is a silly girl! And kind of naked too. I would have taken a picture of Jack too but he was too sad that he wasn't going to the ballet to cooperate.

Before the ballet started, some of the dancers held a meet and greet with the kids. This dancer was super nice and was one of the main dancers in the company. She was really good!

Olivia got really shy to take a picture with this guy. He was the Prince in Swan Lake. We took this to show Jack that boys can be in ballet too. There was only one other male in the company and both of them were super talented.

This dancer was Olivia's favorite. She is Cinderella here and Olivia loved that part of the ballet. Later she was Odette in Swan Lake (well, she was dressed as Odile who was disguised as Odette, but still). She was also a main dancer and amazing!

She danced with Cinderella although she was also a main dancer. There were 4 main dancers and 10 backup (I don't know if that is what they are called or not) and 2 males. She was really graceful and was in the Don Quixote dance as well.

Olivia was super happy to meet all the dancers. I thought it was such a treat for her to be able to see them up close and personal and it was so nice of the dancers to hold the meet and greet.

At intermission, the little boys and girls were allowed to come and dance on stage. Olivia jumped up right away. At first all the kids just stood there and then suddenly I saw movement. It was Olivia! She just started dancing behind everyone, in her own little world, and every one else followed suit. She was in heaven up there. The bottom picture is my dad, "Papa", helping her off the stage when it was over. He was there to take tickets and sell some extras so he had a lot of fun watching her up there.

Here is a video I got of her dancing. There were soooo many kids up there so I tried to catch her as much as I could. By the way, the song playing is called "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. I love it and it is already on my iPod.

Afterwards the entire cast was out meeting everyone. Olivia was done by this point. It was 9:30, she was starving and tired, but we got one more picture. She had a great time and can't wait until she can take ballet lessons again. She just loves to be on stage. I attribute that to her "This is Kirtland!" opportunity she had a couple years ago. Lessons won't start soon enough for her!

Snakes, alligators and iguanas... oh my!

I don't know how I get myself suckered into things like this. I hate spiders and bugs and slithery animals. I don't like animals that could eat my children or even look like they want to. I always keep an eye on the animals at the zoo. And the petting zoo, for that matter.

So how did I end up at Olivia's school with a man who calls himself The Reptile Man? Because I'm a pushover. Ask anyone, especially Celeste (who lovingly brought to my attention this character flaw of mine), about it. As soon as my kids cry or whine or even ask me for something, I will usually give in. I hate for them to be sad or upset or even mad at me. I really need to put my foot down sometimes! Anyway, Olivia came home with a flyer about this guy who was coming to her school last Wednesday evening to showcase some reptiles and (shudder) have the opportunity to touch and hold some of them. So despite my aversion to all things creepy and slithery, I became a pushover and said yes.

The kids had a lot of fun. We sat and listened to The Reptile Man (seriously, I don't even know his actual name) while he showed his some deadly snakes. He insisted that their venom had been removed but I was still wary of my kids touching them later in the evening. He also showed us some other things, like an iguana the size of Madelynn, a small alligator and a turtle. He even came out with a boa constrictor. I swear I read a book when I was a child about being squeezed by one. Or was it a song? Anyway, I wouldn't let my kids didn't go near that one!

Madelynn took to walking around the back of the gym while the man talked.

I know it's blurry, but it shows how BIG this thing is. SO BIG. And heavy.

He wants to eat me. He's watching me with his beady red eyes!

This guy made me the most nervous. He just sat there like he was surveying his prey. It was like he was too calm. It was very unnerving!

I like that Uncle Bryan brought them up to the back away from his head. And in the front was a super long line that we ignored.

If you can see, she is clawing the poor thing. I am surprised that the snake didn't flinch or anything. He must be used to kids and their long nails!

This poor, poor turtle. He just sat on the floor with his legs and arms and head pulled into his shell while kids drummed on him and poked his little toes. He probably has a really special happy place he goes to on nights like this.

Adam looks much too happy to be holding that thing. Is that it's tongue sticking out!? I can't tell...

Olivia had no fear. I thought that the snake felt like boots (sorry! but it's the truth!) but with moving muscles underneath. It wasn't gross, just weird enough that I was okay touching it once and then I was done.

Proof that I held it! It was heavy, not slimy, but weird and I had to have picture proof that I held a snake so I never have to do it again!

Adam's office (finally!)

When Adam first started working at his office, his boss (or soon-to-be partner) mentioned that I could also earn a little extra money by cleaning the office instead of paying an outside company to come in each week to do it. Adam and I thought it was a great idea, so every Saturday morning (or sometimes Friday nights) we go to his office with all three kids in tow to clean.

Every Saturday looks like this. Jack and Olivia either watch a movie on our portable DVD player or color while Madelynn wanders around getting into trouble (pulling all the magazines off the table, getting into Adam's sweeping pile, playing with the toilet, etc).

Adam and I have quite a routine down. It used to take us about 2 1/2 hours or so to clean. Now we can get it done in 1 1/2 hours (or 1 hour when we don't have the kids, which we finally got to do when Jack and Olivia were at a Primary activity last Saturday and we only had Madelynn to worry about). Adam dusts, sweeps and mops the hard floors, waters plants and takes out trash. I clean the bathrooms and mirrors, clean up the kitchen/break area, vacuum and organize the coffee table.

Sometimes we make it a special outing by getting a redbox movie for the kids, stopping for donuts at the local donut shop or, if we're there at lunch or dinner time, packing a picnic or stopping at McDonald's which is conveniently across the street.

Here is what Adam's office looks like:

Front office looking in from the front door. And yes, that is a water fountain on the right!

Here is the waiting area looking from the water fountain. To the left is a little children's area that needs some definite work on it, but that is the least of our worries.

The operatories. There are 4 of them, and they all look the same.

This is what they look like.

Adam's office looks down onto the waiting area. You go upstairs and the break area and kitchen and his office is up there, as well as a lab and storage. But it's open, so you can see the whole office from up there.

Like so. Here you can see the 4 operatories, the xray machine and Adam and Jack cleaning up some boxes. The kids love to help Adam bring the lighter boxes and things to the trash.

The break area and Adam's desk. To the right is a bathroom and the kitchen. To the left is all the storage and labs.

Anyway, this is what we are up to every weekend. It gets a little monotonous to know that every weekend, this takes up a couple hours of our time, but a little extra money is always worth it. If you want to know more about his practice, click here for Light Dental Studios in Lakewood.

Great Wolf Lodge again!

We went to Great Wolf Lodge again last weekend in Grand Mound, Washington. We had so much fun last time in Cleveland (click here to read about it) that we decided to do it again! It was so much fun. We went with Celeste and her family and some friends of hers from her ward, Tess and Cory Ross and their two cute boys. For those of you who do not know, Great Wolf Lodge is an indoor water park (that is always 84 degrees!) and hotel, and you can only go to the water park if you are staying at the hotel so you know it can't get super crowded. There was a wave pool and a toddler pool, plus lots of water slides that the kids could go on all by themselves. Olivia was even big enough to ride with me on the adult slides. It took a lot of courage on her part to go on the big slides but she was super brave and ended up loving them! We stayed in the same room, which is something I will never do again, at least until the kids are older. I slept with Jack and he was up all night kicking me and playing with my hair and poking me. Not fun at all!

We got there Friday afternoon, checked in and swam until dinner time. Madelynn was in heaven. It was like a huge, glorified bath tub and she could have stayed there all day and night. After dinner we ordered pizza and everyone but me took the kids down for story time in the lobby. I stayed up with Madelynn so she could get some much needed sleep (and so I could read the second Hunger Games book!).

I love that they both have pizza on their face!

This is why Madelynn went to bed instead of going to story time.

After our terrible night of sleep (well, every one else slept well besides Jack and I), we went down a played all day! Our only break was for lunch, which we brought from home. We set up a picnic in the lobby and I'm sure made a huge mess. On with the pictures!

Don't let this smile fool you. Jack hated the life jackets but he had to wear them in order to go down the slides. And it just made me feel better knowing he had one on at all times!

Olivia actually preferred to have a life vest on. On Friday evening, she was out in the wave pool and we couldn't find her. They turned on the waves right when I spotted her and she was clinging to Rix, who was wearing a life vest, and kept going under every time a wave came at them. I got to her okay, but she was really upset about it (I was a little too and may have cried a little about it) but after that she insisted on wearing a vest and I didn't argue.

Madelynn lasted until about 4pm, when she finally cuddled with me and was asleep in about 2 minutes. She was a trooper!

On our way home!

Yep, I know exactly how you feel!