Kid Trips

A few years ago I started a tradition of taking one of my kids on a one-on-one trip each year.

This year it is London's turn,  and I just booked our trip today.  We're pretty excited about it,  but I don't know if I want to unveil it yet.

Here are some pictures of previous trips.

Two years ago Raven and I went to San Antonio Texas.  We remembered the Alamo, and looked for the basement.   There wasn't one.

We went to Six Flags theme park.

We went to Sea World, where we had lunch with Shamu and swam with Beluga Whales.

It was a great trip!

Last year Nathan and I went to Washington DC.  We got a tour of the White House and the Capitol.

 I got to stop at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

An the highlight was Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally.   We got great seats thanks to Nathan asking some people who were camping out if we could sit by them.   It was an amazing experience to see so many people come together from all over to share and support these values.   It was a very peaceful and inspiring gathering of at least 500,000 people.  And when we left, the place was spotless.  Not trash anywhere.  It gave me hope for America. 

Before this I have taken each of the boys to Boston.  They were each only 8 at the time, so I think we all need to go there again.   I think I have stored those pictures somewhere else.

Look for pictures of this years exciting adventure coming in September!

Much Ado about Nothing

One of our big adventures this year wasn't really about traveling, though it did involve some.    I have been teaching a couple of Shakespeare classes for the past two years.   This year for my teen group we did a production of 'Much Ado about Nothing'.   It has been an amazing experience!   It is a year long class and we learn about Shakespeare the man,  Elizabethan and Jacobean England,  his works etc..   After actor's training we produce a play!   It is a lot of fun!   This project is an amazing amount of work, but it is a labour of love,  and I truly love every minute of it!

I made all of the costumes.  I started in September.  Here are the gentlemen's doublets and hats.

And the dresses for the lovely ladies.

Our advertising poster and shirts drawn by Jennica

I love working with this amazing group of youth!   They are truly inspiring.   Their performances were fantastic and their ability to memorize and bring the characters to life was fantastic!   We get to go to Shakespeare Camp next week,  so we are not quite done for the year.   I am looking forward to a small break,  but it will be small because I'm excited to start planning next year!

New Goals

This blog is for recording our journeys and adventures,  of which we have many,  but I am not very disciplined about blogging about them.   I will try to improve.  I have a friend who does a beautiful blog about their family adventures and has a great way of recording even the normal every day life and making it magical.   I love to read her blog and and I look for it everyday.  I am sad when she skips a day.   She is my inspiration and I am going to try to do better.   However,  don't look for this every day.  My goal is once a week.  If I decide I enjoy this as much as she does it may become more frequent,  but if you see how often I have blogged in the past you will appreciate that once a week is a vast improvement.

Here goes.