Be the One They Look Up To

Cooper spent Wednesday through Saturday of last week camping with the Young Men from our Stake.

They were divided into three groups based on activities: rock climbing, biking, and hiking/fishing. Cooper wanted to join the rock climbing group (that was comprised of older boys), but there was a younger boy in our congregation that was concerned about being on his own. Cooper and three of the other older YM signed up for the hiking/fishing group so he wouldn't be alone.

Those older boys were all given mentor roles. This included having Cooper and his friends teach the younger boys how to fish.

Did Cooper know how to before last week?

Not really.

He'd only been once, but that didn't stop him from demonstrating how to cast his line.

This same group of boys helped give a devotional the first night of camp. They'd been given the assignment a few weeks in advance and decided to write a song and perform it for all the YM. Over the last few weeks these four boys have gotten together several times to work on their song. I don't know many teenage boys that use their free time to write songs about Jesus with their friends, but that's exactly what they did. I've only heard a snippet of the song, but one of the dads who went on the camping trip told us that he overheard several of the younger boys sing the song over the next few days of camp.

Part of Cooper's camp experience included visiting Gettysburg. The leaders shared this picture with the parents. We had to really zoom in to find Cooper. He's in the red shirt in the middle in the picture below.

Cooper had a wonderful time and came home with only a little sunburn from the white water rafting they did on the last day, an improvement over last year's all-over sunburn.

Seven Eleven!

Love Language

"I'm a cry baby. No, I'm a love baby." -Topher, to Phoebe this afternoon, while snuggling her arm.

The Early Bird

Topher was the lucky kid that went with me to drop Cooper off at Cross Country this morning. Why was he lucky? Because we had to be back to pick Cooper up in an hour, so we didn't go home. Instead, we stopped at Walmart (which has an in-house Dunkin') and then an elementary school playground near where Cooper was working out. Topher got a treat and park time, all before 9AM.

That sounds pretty lucky to me.

Brotherly Love

Missing Pieces

Suddenly, all those times I asked if everyone was wearing shoes as we left the house don't seem so ridiculous.

We discovered the missing footwear about five minutes from the church building yesterday. Topher got to attend our Sunday meetings in his stocking feet.

Go Fourth

Our Independence Day started with a ukulele orchestra performance for the city (we've already been invited back for next year),

continued with a (not pictured and very populated) trip to Walmart, then a few hours at a party with some friends

who have a zipline,

then a (not pictured) delicious dinner at home and the first half of National Treasure,

and finally: an evening walk and fireworks.

Helpful Accessories

"Topher, wanna go on a walk with me?"

Birthday Fun, Day 2

A few weeks ago my friend Jill texted and said she had an extra ticket to see the Broadway musical MJ, did I want to go with her?

Yes!

Because she was rescheduling the original ticket (she had needed to move it to accommodate graduation when it got rained out and moved), she could use it anytime in June. The only day that really worked for me was the day after my birthday. I told her I would consider it part of my birthday celebration. She also has a June birthday, so we were both celebrating.

We got up bright and early and drove to New Jersey, then took the bus in to Manhattan.

We had tickets for the matinee, but we were so early that we had time for an extra adventure. Based on a recommendation from another friend, we went to the JP Morgan Library and Museum to see a Jane Austen exhibit. The ceilings in this building were gorgeous. This wrought iron ceiling was covered in birds and each bird had a unique beak.

We spent too much time at the exhibit, so we had to book it to the theater. We planned to grab lunch on the way, but kept going to eateries that were closed on Saturday. We finally stopped at a little restaurant next to the theater. When they found out we had tickets for a show starting in 40 minutes, they told us the fastest options and rushed our food out to us in 5 minutes. It was delicious.

Before:

This show was AMAZING!!! I had no idea I would love it so much, even after another friend raved about it. I want to take my family to see it, it was so fantastic.

This is the fellow that played MJ. He was an understudy and we were totally blown away by his performance.

As soon as MJ ended, Jill turned to me and said, "Should we go to the TKTS booth and see what tickets are available for tonight?!" After a text to Bryan to make sure everything was still going well at home (and a text back from him saying we should absolutely go see another show), we got tickets for an evening show!

But first, dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner.

There were several options available for Saturday night. When I saw that Gypsy had tickets left I told my friend, "I don't want to see Gypsy, but I really want to see Audra McDonald's performance in Gypsy."

Guess who saw Gypsy?

Audra McDonald is stunning in the role. And her voice is person is astounding. Gypsy isn't my favorite show (and one musical number had me paying close attention to the ceiling and my program), but I'm so glad I got to see Audra play Mama Rose.

We didn't go to the stage door (as much as I would have loved that) because we didn't want to miss our bus back to New Jersey. Jill dropped me off at my house around 1AM. We were exhausted, but it was a wonderful day of Broadway with a great friend.

Birthday Fun, Day 1

On the morning of my birthday I got to exercise by myself (mostly) and then I got to shower without anyone yelling for me. And while I did those things, Phoebe inspired her siblings to clean the house for my gift.

In addition to that present, Topher made a card for me.

And Sophie learned to play and sing Count On Me by Bruno Mars and performed it for us.

Bryan gave me a bread maker with a gluten free setting, because homemade gluten free bread has proven elusive thus far.

Then we took the kids to see the live-action How to Train Your Dragon. It was excellent!

We finished the night with dinner at Red Robin. It was a wonderful day!