American Idiot Leaves Broadway

Sadly, the musical American Idiot just ended it's run on Broadway after about a year.  I was fortunate to see it 3 times including twice with Billie Joe Armstrong playing the character of St. Jimmy (even saw him perform it on his 39th birthday which was fun).  The good news is, it will now go on tour so people that couldn't make the trip to NYC may now be able to see it.

For the last performance, Green Day did a mini-concert at the end of the show.  It looks like it was a total blast from the pictures and news stories.  Indeed it looks like they had "the time of their life"!

http://www.broadway.com/shows/american-idiot/buzz/

http://www.greendayauthority.com/news/2322/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgejW9v7Jbg

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Easter Festivities 2011

We had a fun, fun Easter today!  We started out with a really exciting Easter egg hunt.  There was a little confusion on how many eggs the Easter Bunny had hid in our backyard but I think the kids managed to track them all down.  And after watching the Easter Egg hunt video again, I have to say I am so very proud of how Lindsey and Sammy helped their little sister out. 

Then we had Oma, Cindy and Brian over for a delicious Easter dinner.  Afterwards we visited, played and drew chalk art on the driveway.  What a great day with family and friends.

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Sammy's Kindergarten Roundup

We went to Sammy's Kindergarten roundup today.  We got him officially registered, then saw his classroom and met one of the Kindergarten teachers.  They even gave him a treat of crayons and a coloring book.

Lindsey came along as well to see the school because we've decided to pull her out of the charter school at the end of this school year that we had her in for Kindergarten and put her for first grade in our local district school along with Sam. 

I  had always assumed charter schools were automatically superior to non-charter public schools.  Plus I got so caught up in the whole lottery system on getting into one.  We struck gold with the charter school we got in because it's an "arts academy" and the most sought after charter school in our area.  Just wish I had that kind of luck when playing the slots in Vegas!

The Arts Academy was an okay school but overall I expected so much more and I was disappointed.  So for next year I did a little more research and found out that our local elementary school ranked in the top quarter in the state in both test scores and parent satisfaction while the charter school was right in the middle of the pack.  In other words, we were driving across town for a mediocre school while we lived 5 minutes away from a great school in our own district!  Plus they can ride the school bus which will pick them up a block away instead of us having to drive them back and forth through rush hour traffic.  For next year with one child in half day kindergarten and one child in a full school day, we would have had to go to the school 3 times daily and that would have been over 60 miles total and about and hour and a half out of the day.  In the end after I had found out our district school was better, basically it was a no brainer to switch. 

Gymnastics Lesson

Lindsey started five weeks of Saturday morning gymnastic classes and today was the first day.  No surprise, she loved it!

Zoo Field Trip

Today was Lindsey's spring field trip at her school and I was a volunteer chaperone.  We went to the zoo.  It was so much fun and I'm so glad I was able to join her today.

 

 

 

 

 



Crystal Hot Springs

Yesterday Lindsey, Sammy and I joined Cindy and Brian at one of their favorite local watering holes, Crystal Hot Springs, http://www.crystalhotsprings.net/.   There were both hot pools and cold pools and according to their website it's one of the few places that has both hot and cold springs in the same area.  It also has a very high mineral content which from the taste of it was mainly salt.  The kids tasted like very salty pretzels when I kissed them!  I didn't have my camera, but here's a picture of Cindy and Brian on an earlier visit to the Crystal Hot Springs.

Hop

I took Lindsey and Sammy to see the new kid's movie "Hop" today.  We met up with Cindy and Brian and we all gave the movie a big thumbs up!  It's a feel good movie with a happy ending and plenty of laughs for kids of all ages.  And what better time of year to see a movie about the Easter Bunny. Then we went out to lunch and did a little shopping together at the mall where I bought some new earrings for all the girls of the family (myself included).  Another fun Saturday, especially considering Sammy's soccer game was canceled because of snow.  This has been one long winter!

Doctor Appointments

With 3 young children and 2 parents over fifty with various health ailments, it's a rare week that we don't have at least one doctor or dentist appointment.  And every once in a while, we'll have two in one day.  Today was Sammy's postop doctor visit in the morning and Lindsey's six year old annual checkup in the afternoon. 

Sammy's recovered well from his surgery.  No problems, no fluid in his right ear anymore and they even retested his hearing in the right ear which was not normal before the surgery because of the fluid.  His hearing in that ear is still not completely normal yet, but it is much better and hopefully will continue to improve.  They said to come back in six months to be retested.

Lindsey is doing great.  She is now 43 inches tall and 41 pounds which puts her right between the 10 - 15 percentile for both height and weight.  No health problems at all and she didn't even have to get a shot.

On Wednesday I have my first colonoscopy which I'm not looking forward to at all, but it needs to be done and I'm overdue to get one.  Aahh!  Wish me luck!

Another Fun Saturday

Sammy's Saturday soccer  league started up this morning for the spring season.  We had some play time before his game started at the playground next to the soccer field.  Then this afternoon we helped a friend celebrate their fifth birthday.  Sometimes if feels like the fun never ends!

Guess What Color the Cake Icing Was
It Matched the Wall Perfectly