Double Digits
Welcome to double digits Josh. Let’s see how you got here…
You were so anxious to join us that you got here 2 weeks early
You were so busy talking that you waited until you were 15 months to begin walking
Disney at almost 2
You’ve always been a ham
You are always smiling
You went to Preschool
And kindergarten
You are a water baby and have already learned to snorkel
Skiing has become one of your passions
and so is traveling
You have even learned to surf.
Whatever your hopes and dreams we know you will get there! Happy Birthday dude!!
A happy accident
In life there are good days and bad days. There are things that you work hard for that work out and those that don’t. But some things aren’t any of those. Some things are just happy accidents. We got up got dressed and got packed this morning with the goal of getting to the go carts in time to be first in line- no waiting. But it turned out that we were an hour early. The boys went back to the room to watch cartoons and decided to treat myself to a chai latte from the coffee house in the resort. When I got there what did I find? One happy accident… 
And by the way? They were delicious!
Raising a Broadway Boy
I am not sure how, here in the middle of a cornfield, I ended up raising a Broadway boy. I have a feeling it has mostly to do with 2 sweet little old ladies who are no longer with us. This is Grammy. 
One of Josh’s great grandmother’s on his father’s side. She was a singer and a piano player. After she began suffering from dementia, she could still sit at the piano and sing and play from memory. This is V.
She is Josh’s great grandmother on my side and she loved to go to shows. All kinds of shows and knew all the words to all the songs. So here we are far away from the lights of Broadway, with a boy who loves nothing more than to get up on stage and sing and dance. Good thing we are blessed with a dance studio and a teacher who knows how to nurture boys(Center Stage Perfroming Arts Academy), and a local theater (Center for Living Arts)that puts on amazing shows with casts of kids from the area, and finally with a boys choir (The Moline Boys Choir) that teaches fundamentals and discipline. So he sings, and he dances and he performs every chance he gets. And when we need to feed his soul? We went to New York
and saw the big guys do it for real.
Anything Goes
Wicked
The Lion King
Spiderman Turn Off the Dark. He had a blast and is already compiling his show wish list for the next trip. I’m just glad I have at least 1 kid who enjoys the theater.
But first – a look back
This is what Jack looked like on his first trip to Disney. He was 22 months old.
How to Send a Kid off to High School Day 1
There are ceremonies and rituals for everything it seems nowadays. Baby showers and graduation parties. But how do you send your oldest child off to high school? It seems like there should be some sort of marker, some way to say you are starting a new chapter in your life. Well starting with Jack we are creating one of our own. We plan to send each kid off to high school Disney style. So starting with our flight out today, this is Jack’s Hello High School Disney Tour. Stay tuned…
Jack on Buzz Lightyear at Disneyland Paris last summer
and Don’t Forget to tip your Waitstaff
Being the mother of a performing arts kid – not easy. They talk and sing and dance constantly. They are always playing for the laugh even when you are trying to have a serious conversation, and the parent teacher conferences? Oh can I tell you about the parent teacher conferences? But when your performing arts kid goes on a trip without you? You get a running color commentary that makes you spit out your water at your desk.
For example 30 minutes after pulling out of the parking lot in his bus I got.
‘Almost to a resting stop’
Why do I suddenly have visions of Forest Lawn and final resting places.
Next I got
‘At mc donalds. Yum!!!!’
What can I say? – he likes his exclamation points!!!!
That theme continued with their arrival in St. Louis.
‘Im there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
Thats 46 exclamation points but who’s counting. Dinner was next and apparently Josh feels that with all of his hours watching the food nextwork, he is quite the gourmet because this was his review of dinner
‘Just had a cheap italin dinner.’
Second part of the text
‘And got a (bad) photo of the arch while driving about two miles from it on camera’
Reminded me of this
He has a friend with him and he is sharing his phone with his friend allowing his friend to call/text his folks. When I reminded Josh to offer the phone and he told me his friend had already used it several times I sent Josh this text : ’Great Thanks for sharing with him. You are a great friend!’ and what I got back? ’(blushes)’ Blushes? I know, right?
Day 2 they actually went to the Arch and had the opportunity to take the tram to the top. His excitement was clear. ‘Im on the arch!!!!!!!!!!’ Then I had an alert that I had received a picture. I was kind of excited about a picture of the cool view from the top. Um no – not so much.
I’m considering having it printed on canvas.
He told me he would send a pic in the tram on the way down. Several minuted later I got this (Ansel Adams watch out)
Followed by this text
‘I had no service in the washing machine they call an elevator’
So last night they went to the MUNY production of The Little Mermaid. Asked Josh how it was this morning and got this summary.
‘Awesome.com’
What can I say?
Picture of the Vacation
This is my favorite picture of the whole vacation
Somewhere over the Rainbow
There are trips and then there are vacations. For us Kauai was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It was relaxed – no traffic jams and not too much hustle and bustle. There was adventure – the kinds we like to do. Water, thrills, just enough danger to make it exciting. And the people. We met so many people who were so nice. Not just the people who lived and worked there, but also the other people who were visiting there. There didn’t seem to be a lot of concern for politics or the economy. People were concerned about the environment, and the people of Japan. Anytime we were in a group and there were people visiting from Japan – everyone made a point to ask about their families and their homes. And the people of Kauai are very environmentally conscious (ie there are no plastic grocery type bags used on the island) but no one is hysterical about it.
I really think – if you are a water family – and you are looking for that once in a lifetime trip, this should be on your radar screen. With or without kids it has something for everyone. We can’t wait to go back.
There are rules and then there are rules…
We all know it is almost impossible for me to break the rules. Can’t do it – no way no how. But some rules are made to be broken. Like the rule that says no jumping off of Hanalei Pier. After all there is even an article in this month’s go!Mokulele airline magazine that lists jumping off the pier as a Hawaiian Vacation Must Do. So when you get to the pier and there is a sign that says absolutely no jumping – you know they don’t really mean it.
It’s just one of those cover their butts kind of things. And when their is a little hawaiian kid there to tell you how its done – you know it – you are supposed to jump. Scroll down for some of the worst vacation pictures we took, but they show that they got to do it…
Day 10 Pic of the Day
Double Wipe Out
Last one out…
…gets tipped over. Guess who was the last one out?
Oh and they said it didn’t count if I didn’t scream. Did I mention that I was set to be about third to last when the guide pushed me out of the line – making me last? Something about me being a smart alec – now where did he get that idea? (there is no picture as I had the camera at the time )
Seriously though, tubing was great – they take you to the top of the irrigation ditch dug over 100 years ago to irrigate the sugar cane fields. Then they put you in a tube and launch you. Most of it is in the dark but it was a hoot. The kids loved it!!
Going Up
We are going to the top!!!
The best view of Paris is from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Click Here for a spectacular 360 degree view from the top of the tower.
Good Morning
Well this is it. Our last adventure together. We are starting today with a visit to Montmartre. In an art workshop, we will have the opportunity to work with an art instructor to create our own masterpiece to take home. It is 67 degrees and partly cloudy for our last day. Viva La France!
Tour Notre Dame with Us
In the heart of Paris we will discover the most prestigious monuments of the city, including the Notre-Dame cathedral. Incredibly, construction of this fantastic building began in 1163 and took two centuries to complete!
Art Museum Extrordinaire
Next we will discover one of the most important art collections in the world at the famous Musée du Louvre. (click to visit the official site). The museum is so large it would take at least three weeks to see all the wonderful treasures inside. Therefore, you will focus on the principal parts of the museum including Leonardo’s Masterpiece, the Mona Lisa.
History of the Louvre
In 1793, during the Revolution, the first state museum was opened in the Louvre, consisting of the former royal collections of painting and sculpture. It was enriched temporarily by loot from the Napoleonic wars and then permanently by purchases and gifts, including archaeological finds. More and more specialized divisions were created.
The present Louvre departments include Oriental (ancient Mesopotamian) antiquities; Egyptian antiquities; Greek and Roman antiquities; sculpture from the Middle Ages to modern times; furniture and objets d’art; and paintings representing all the European schools. A section of the museum is devoted to Islamic art.
Universally famous ancient works of art in the Louvre include a statuette of the Sumerian ruler Gudea, a stele bearing Hammurabi’s code, an Egyptian painted stone statue of a scribe sitting cross-legged, the Venus de Milo, and the Victory of Samothrace. Among outstanding later works are two marble Slaves by Michelangelo, the treasure of the abbey of St. Denis, and the French crown diamonds. Important paintings include the Pietà of Avignon, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Veronese’s immense Wedding at Cana (which was badly damaged in 1992 while being installed in the newly renovated galleries), and Watteau’s Embarkation for Cythera.
When you see hte Mona Lisa in the Louvre, it is encased in glass and surrounded by people. Most people are also surprised as how small it is.
