NYC Getaway:)

So it's no secret that May kicks my butt EVERY year!!!  This year was no exception!  Honestly, I can't just blame the month...the entire spring semester about does me in every year.  So after months of Chris being gone/kid's activities/piano stuff, etc...Chris mentions to me that he was going to NYC at the end of the month with an easy-going group and wanted to see if I wanted to come.  HECK YES I did!!!  I'm facing a crazy busy summer so I figured a quick getaway would be just what I needed!  Little did I know that I was embarking on a grand travel adventure across the U.S.

So Chris left on Wednesday.  I stayed behind one more day to get my kids all squared away with my mother-in-law and to get all my piano students through their lessons this week.  No biggie.  I was taking the exact same flight that Chris did, just a day later.  What a difference 24 hours makes!!!  My flight left Phoenix at 6:20 am on Thursday, all was perfect.  I had a stop in Nashville, all was well, ahead of schedule, great!  Well, New York was experiencing a down pour of rain and that was really messing things up!  My flight from Nashville to Newark was delayed for 2 hours, then 3, then 5, and then CANCELLED!!!  UGH!  What was I supposed to do?!  As this was a weather issue, the airlines were not putting us up in hotels or anything and what was I going to do in Nashville anyways???  Well, I know Heavenly Father was watching over me as I was next to a very nice lady in line to re-route my ticket.  Between her (and Chris on the phone) I decided to re-route my flight to Baltimore, MD and then catch a train.  There was a flight leaving immediately to Baltimore and so they quickly printed me a new ticket and I RAN from Gate 4 to Gate 29!  I made it!  All was well again!  Well, this flight to Baltimore had one stop in Raleigh, NC.  No problem.  We arrived on time, I stayed on the plane, new passengers came on, we made it up to the runway JUST about to take off when...we were NOT cleared for take-off!!!  They kept us in the plane for about 2 hours before letting us off at the terminal again letting us know that our 6:05 pm flight to Baltimore was definitely leaving that night but NO promises as to when!  Once again, bad weather was backing everything up!  UGH!!!  So I waited...and waited...and waited...until FINALLY at 12:30 am they loaded us on a plane.  I arrived in Baltimore, MD at 2 am.  My next journey was to the train station where I was to catch a 3:30 am train into Penn Station, NY.  So I sat outside at the train station--dark and cold--but I was surrounded by some of the nicest people I have ever met.  We were all in the same boat together and we were all exhausted and absolutely worn out--which is what I guess made everything SOO FUNNY!!!  We talked and laughed at everything for the 1.5 hour wait!  Again, I know Heavenly Father was watching over me because being at a train station at 2 am is NOWHERE I wanted to be:)  The train came (on time--HALLELUJAH!) and I got on the train for a 3 hour trip into NYC.  This was the only place I got a tiny bit of horrible sleep.

So I was in a twilight/dazed state when I arrived at the NYC Penn Station.  I'm honestly not sure if I was awake or asleep when I received a VERY timely text from my hubby asking, "HEY!  Are you here yet?!"  It was then that I realized that I was FINALLY in NYC and that my train had been parked for who knows how long--I think less than 10 minutes but who knows?  I was completely FREAKED out for about 3 minutes as I realized that I almost slept through my stop so I grabbed my suitcase and got off that train before it went back to Baltimore.  My contacts were TOTALLY dry in my eyes so I must have looked ridiculous blinking and blinking because I couldn't see anything!!!  I got my eyes working again, went to the lovely bathroom in the train terminal to run a brush through my CRAZY hair.  I then looked at my watch, I had left Phoenix at 6:20 am the day before and finally arrived in NYC at 6:40 the NEXT morning.  So my 6 hour flight turned into a 24 hour adventure!!!  And it STILL wasn't over yet--almost!!!  From there I bought a subway ticket into the city where I finally found Chris and the group.  Everyone was well aware of my travel woes and were sooo nice and understanding as I ditched the group to go to my hotel room to shower and take a short nap!!!

So I was THERE!  YAHOO!!!  I had already missed one day (and one show--Phantom boo woo!) but I still had 3 days left so I was going to make the most of them--and we did!  I hit the ground running and didn't stop!  Chris and I broke away from the group on Friday night to go and see "Pippin."  OH MY HOLY HECK!!!  The most AMAZING show I have ever seen!!!  I was really worried about falling asleep if I sat still for too long but there was NO falling asleep in this show as it has been re-vamped into a circus-themed show.  The stunts they were doing on stage were breath-taking!!!  My eyes were WIDE open as I watched these crazy-talented performers--contortionists, trapeze tricks, etc...and the singing was of course amazing as well.  Crazy good!

We also did alot of the touristy things with the group--NBC tour, Top of the Rock tour, 9/11 Memorial tour, Intrepid tour--where the group actually performed--this was a high school group from Florida made up of their Band/Orchestra/Choir programs.  The directors of these kids were so much fun to be around.  Thoroughly enjoyed this group!

The Group in Rockefeller Center


Rockefeller Center

Central Park--Belvedere Castle

View of the park from the castle

So this was definitely one of those times that I'm so glad that I DIDN'T know what was ahead of me because I probably would have never left Phoenix!  But what an adventure it was!  I feel so much more like a "seasoned traveler" now!  I never would have thought that I could do something like this but I did!  I had a fantastic weekend and am now trying to catch up on my sleep just in time to go to Girl's Camp next week!  Sleep is SOO over-rated!  WOO HOO!!!

Spring Piano Recital 2013

Here are my kiddos Achievement Day/Recital songs for Spring 2013!  SUPER proud of these guys--Tatum and Ethan were 2 of my 5 students who scored straight 100%s at Achievement Day!!!  Carlie finished the piano series as a Level 12 this year--she scored a 100% and a 96% soo close!  And Max did a FANTASTIC job too (92% and 96%)--he just chose to look like a zombie when playing his songs for me--because he DIDN'T want to play them:)  Too bad Max:)  Love you anyways:)

Tatum playing "It's a Small World" & "Quiet River"

Max playing "On the Bridge" & "Alouette"

Ethan playing "Gypsy Dance" & "Space Shuttle Blues"

Carlie playing Chopin's "Fanatasie Impromptu" (this song was actually a Level 13 as it has the right hand playing 4 notes against the left hand playing 6 notes--REALLY HARD!)  Just a sample of the entire song which takes over 5 minutes:)

Outstanding Musician:)

So Carlie has been in the East Valley Youth Symphony this year.  This is an audition-based group made up of mostly high school students (about 90% are 9th grade and up).  I wanted her to experience a challenge and truth be told, I wanted her to get her butt "musically kicked."  Sounds like I'm a horrible parent but with this child I am always looking for a challenge--something that will require her to work harder.  Well, she showed me:)

So we are at the end of the year concert for the Symphony.  I'm sitting there with Ethan and Tatum who were both getting a little restless towards the end of the concert--Chris and Max were recording the concert for Chris' company.  Right before the last song, they give out awards--Most Improved Musician and Most Outstanding Musician.  So I'm just sitting there waiting for the last song definitely NOT expecting Carlie to get any awards because usually the Concert Master (the 1st chair violinist) gets the top awards.  Well MUCH to my surprise, the conductor announced,  "This year, the Outstanding Musician Award goes to our Principal Oboist..."  HUGE PAUSE.  Okay, the pause was probably like 10 seconds, but in those 10 seconds, my thoughts were, "WAIT!!!  The Principal Oboist....that's MY daughter RIGHT?!  She IS first chair oboist BUT she is 12!"  Then then conductor continues, "Carlie Meeker" and then went on to say some awesome stuff about her that I don't even remember because I was in total shock!

So she was the one doing the butt-kicking this year which leads me right back to the question I ask ALL the time..."NOW WHAT Heavenly Father?!  You sent this child to me and I am constantly wondering if I'm pushing her hard enough/not enough!  Now what..."  But I figure it's a pretty wonderful burden to bear.

The concert was Saturday night right before Mother's Day so I'm thinking this is the BEST Mother's Day present EVER!!!  So proud of this girl:)

Cool Cub Scout Field Trip

The Wolf den got to take the COOLEST field trip into Phoenix to tour the CBS 5 TV station.  It was a TON of fun and the funnest trip we've taken thus far.  The boys had a great time and I was MOST impressed with the staff there.  They really took the time to talk to the boys and answer any and all questions--and there were  a TON of questions:)

TV Anchor--Sean McLaughlin talking to the boys:)

The boys with Chris Dunn (Weatherman) and Sean McLaughlin

The boys FAVORITE part!!!  The GREEN SCREEN!!!

 

So the boys had the BEST time and we really well behaved--probably because the whole tour was super intriguing:)  I sure learned a lot myself!  

Rocco's obsession:)

My beagle puppy Rocco LOVES his Shamu stuffed animal--that he stole from Max.  What's soo funny about this is that he normally tears anything to shreds that he gets a hold of but NOT Shamu!!!  It's kinda like his "blankie"--a comfort item for sure.  He cracks me up with this thing!  So I had to take a few pics of it:)

"What's soo funny?!"

Where all my time and efforts are going....

So May has been CRAZY BUSY like always and I have lots of catching up to do.  But just for today, I thought I would write a post about what is consuming most of my time and energy.....GIRL'S CAMP 2013!!!  It's only 3 weeks away!!!

This is one of the HARDEST assignments to get through--SKITS!!!  In the olden days, we just made up and performed a skit AT camp.  But OHH NOO!!!  We are all high-techy now so they have to be pre-recorded, edited, and uploaded onto an acceptable device:)  THANK GOODNESS for my husband!!!  There is NO WAY I could have done this on my own!   He's a SUPER GENIUS:)

So our skit is based on our assigned YW value--Divine Nature.  Not a whole lot to go on so THIS is what I came up with!  (YES!  I have a HUGE Dr. Seuss obsession!!!  I own every book that man ever wrote--LOVE HIM:)