Oh Wow! What an incredible week I have had(plus I managed to squeeze in my birthday this weekend!). As part of my birthday gift, Tom bought me tickets to The Blue Man Group last Sunday night. He wasn't interested in going though, so I took the kids. I must say it was one of the best shows I have ever seen! I laughed so hard(of course the kids were embarrassed). But everyone else was laughing and cheering too. That's the whole point of their show. I thought they did more percussion type music(banging pipes and drums), but it is really quite a mix of humorous skits, including making fun of all our technology like cell phones and IPADS. I just wish I would have brought my glasses-I couldn't read all their text on the giant IPADS(we sat way up in the balcony section). So I missed out on some of the jokes, and the kids couldn't read it to me fast enough. I told Tom if we are ever in Vegas or on a cruise, he will have to go see the show-it was a lot of fun. And two hours long with no intermission! I did manage to get a picture with the kids and a blue man along with an autograph(a big blue painted thumbprint!)
Tom did join me however for a night out on my birthday to see the accopella singing group Straight No Chaser. I saw this group two years ago on the Today show and have been trying to get tickets to see their show ever since. The group consists of 10 college buddies from Indiana, so the the Indy Seitz family is very familiar with their talent. Most of the guys are from Indy, but there was one Michigander and a few from Pennsylvania. The intros went well until one of the Indy boys mentioned the Colts(as you may know, the Indy Colts used to be the Baltimore Colts!). We gave him a bit of a hard time. And the theatre had some trouble with their lights which gave us all an added laugh. I was just happy we got to see the group since they were only in town for one night. When they came through on tour last year they were performing in Alexandria, VA so we couldn't get down there to see them during the week. We even got the group to perform one Christmas song for all of us at the end of the show. Tom just couldn't believe how many people came to see them-the concert was sold out. They didn't even have to advertise-Tom just heard about them from some people at work.
Before the show, the whole family went out to dinner at the Crab Shanty(they already have the place decorated for Christmas!). Then we came home for cake and presents(yeah).
Today we have been spending most of our time at Church. Scott served his very first mass as an altar server at the 9am mass with Allison helping out. Even our Msgr acknowledged Scott at the end of the mass as serving for the first time with big sister Allison! Scott did a terrific job(with a little coaching from mom and Allison). Afterwards, we were busy selling Girl Scout Cookies at the noon and 5pm mass. We also sold cookies Friday night at Qdobas mexican restaurant. It was a bit too cold, but Sunday was a beautiful day to sell cookies.
Of course, it is not like I had nothing to do last week. As you may recall, I spent the week camping (in cabins) with Scott and his entire 5th grade class at Northbay. The camp is situated at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. I was responsible for 8 girls along with another terrific mom. We spent our days from Monday to Friday eating way too much terrific food(yes camp food), attending outdoor education classes-I now know a whole lot about deer poop and vultures, clams and pollution. We also had lots of opportunities for outdoor skills including zip lines, a giant trapeze swing and the high ropes course. I opted for the high ropes course and was very proud of myself for not falling. Scott had an incredible time. He even got to hold a snake which he really enjoyed. At night the camp ran shows talking about the evils of bullying and how hard it is to be a kid. The camp is offered to lots of inner city schools, so they usually get into heavy discussions about teen pregnancy, gangs, drugs and guns. Our school opted out of those discussions and instead went on night hikes to search for deer and astronomy lessons. Camp pretty much ran from 8am to 10pm. Needless to say the kids (and adults) were all pretty exhausted. I think I must have taken over a hundred photos all posted on snapfish. If anyone is interested, go to www.snapfish.com, user name grade5@resstpaul.org and the password is grade5 to view all of our photos. I myself have not had an opportunity to sit down and view them. I had more photos to download from my cell phone since I exhausted the camera battery after 4 days. And then I had to forward them to the teacher. I also forwarded a photo of Scott on the ropes course to put on his birthday cake for his upcoming roller blading birthday party.
Tom and I did manage to get a bit of yardwork done-cutting the grass and raking those darn leaves that keep piling up in the front yard. And I managed to get Cookie out for a nice long walk and a few playdates with fellow neighbor dogs(while I chatted with the fellow neighbors). Not to mention some homework that needed to be squeezed in. Allison finished her first semester and they did not skip a beat on getting started on the second semester. Scott is wrapping up his first semester. He was working on an extra credit science project on bats.
So now it is back to the usual busy work schedule. We just enjoyed birthday cake with the neighbors(can't eat it all ourselves). Thanks for all the birthday cards and well wishes from friends and family!