In-Between-Week

We had one of those in between weeks. Hello, Dolly! had it's last show on Monday and school is starting for Ruth and Jared this coming Monday. Chuck painted the bathroom and we spent Wednesday at the water park. We also went to the float preview for the Days of 47 parade.

Here are some pictures:
This picture epitomizes my experience with Hello, Dolly! There I am standing back stage, checking over my lists. I'm standing in front of the scene change posters and diagrams I made for the cast.



Another cute picture of Chaz in Hello,Dolly!

Kaitlin in our new kayak. This is taken at the little beach and reservoir by our house.

This is just a cute picture of Jared at the beach.

We had the best time at the Days of 47 Parade preview. For those of you not local, the parade is the largest in the west outside of CA and the parade prides itself on creative amature floats. If you haven't guessed, we tried to make the same face as the characters faces on the floats. It was so funny, we had a hard time not laughing. (look over our shoulders for character we are imitating)

Goodbye, Dolly!

Chaz and I have one show left of Hello, Dolly! on Monday. We've had a good time doing the show, though it has been busy and stressful. The shows have mostly run smoothly and seem to get better every night. I admit that I will not be sad to see the end of the show, however, I feel very satisfied that I made a meaningful contribution.

Guest Blogger: Kaitlin

Hello, Dolly is awesome. I love watching it over and over and over again. On Monday, I will have seen the show a total of 5 1/2 times, and I would continue to see it, except the show isn't going to be running anymore. :( I realized last night that I can quote almost the whole musical. I am addicted to the songs, the many amazing singers and dancers, and Chaz's giant grin the whole time. (the scene changes are really good too, Mom) I still wish I was actually in Hello, Dolly, but I guess my time will come.

Guest Blogger: Chaz

Hello, Dolly! has been amongst the greatest experiences I have had in my life. I have made really good friends, and learned that performing musical theater is WAY fun! I will be really sad when the show is over.


We Build this City on Rock and Roll!

Guest Blogger: Ruth

Guess what i tried out for the kids play this year and i got a part! A lead part!
Isn't that awesome? Ok so my part is Ruthie. Its soo close to my name! I can't wait for the 27th. That's the first practice, how cool!
Jared is in the chorus he gets to sing. The show is called WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROLL! It's an awesome show. It is about a girls chess team and a boy chess team who compete
and pull silly tricks on each other .
If you are wondering the show is on AUGUST 26-29.



Scout Camp

Guest Blogger: Chaz

For scout camp, Dad and I went to the Teton High Adventure Base. There we participated in many AWESOME! activities. The most fun and exciting activity that we did was whitewater rafting. There were some rapids that when you hit them, the water completely rushes over you head and you see nothing but water. The first day I had a nice relaxing float down the Snake river through the Teton National Park, where we had a nice scenic view of the Tetons. We also participated in a Lower and Higher C.O.P.E. course. These basically were team cooperation tests. The high course was a bit nerve racking, because it looked poorly maintained and we were about 25 ft. in the air. The zip line at the end was really cool, though. Scout camp was a really good experience. I would do it again anytime.


Guest Blogger: Chuck

Scout camp was great fun. The white water rafting was wet and cold but we had a good time. Blah Blah blah. I got to sit in the front of the raft, and as Chaz said, when you hit the waves it's nothing but water. With the COPE course, I found that the high COPE was the most exciting as I got to live up to my Barnum name on the high wire. On the last day, I was able to go to canoeing for 22 miles down the Snake river. It was the first serious canoe trip I've taken in 20 years. It was pretty country and I have to redefine my opinion of Wyoming, as the west side is much nicer than the central and the east.


"What do you do in a little canoe, when the moon is shining all around?"

Well, not a canoe, a kayak. We bought a used one this week, and took it up to our little reservoir, for a test run. We are lucky to have this little pond only a few minutes away from our house. It isn't Clearwater beach, but it's something and it's free!

Click on any photo to enlarge

Chaz is in the middle of the back row in this picture from the song "It Takes a Woman". Notice the nicely painted shelf on the left - I designed and painted that, along with every other piece on Vandergelder's shop platform.

Chaz is fourth from the right in this photo from the song "Sunday Clothes"

Chaz is the one in the red vest.... just kidding. He's the waiter dancing second from the left dancing the "Waiter's Galop"

Chaz is 4th from the right singing "Hello, Dolly"

Hello, Dolly!

We had an exhausting week with the opening of Hello, Dolly!. Chaz and I were busy with dress rehearsals Mon-Wed and then we opened with a Family Preview on Thursday. Our big opening was Friday, and then we had another show on Saturday. Unless you've been a production it's hard to explain what it is like.

For me back stage, I have a 7 page typed list of every piece that needs to be set and when. I'm on a radio with my crew of 5, and the sound, and the director. I run the back stage, making sure pieces and props are cued, and that the actors are all in their places and keeping quiet. I deal with all emergencies, including curtain collapses, dead microphones, scenery breaking/malfunctions, and injuries. In the two hours of the show and the hour of set up before, I rarely sit, and I try hard to remember to drink and eat (if I don't I get faint as I learned). A few minutes before a scene change I get on the radio and tell the crew to get ready, then I go around to the cast dressing rooms and solicit as much help as I can get. I stand right behind the curtain and at the cue I yell "go, go!" in the radio and then I wave my arms wildly at the 20 or so people standing back stage getting ready to move. What ensues is 30 to 90 seconds of controlled chaos with as many as 28 pieces of scenery moving at once. Often at the end I take a quick visual sweep of the stage to make sure all is in place and then dive behind the curtain just as the lights come up. We have seven major changes like this. After the show when the cast is taking their flowers and praise, my work continues as my crew and I stow away the set and the props. Then exhausted, 30 minutes after the show, we shove the 17 foot rolling platform (it's kind of like giving birth in reverse) into the back stage, swing the gate closed and give each other high fives. Another night of Hello, Dolly! completed.

We have four more shows to go. Monday the 12th (Chaz will be at scout camp) and then Friday, Saturday and the following Monday, the 16, 17, and 19th.


Chuck on Sabbatical

Every five years at Chuck's job he gets a four week sabbatical that he started this week. He has been busy getting ready for scout camp, and he also started work on a new sprinkler line across the flower beds against our back and side fence. He is almost done. He has also been watching the kids a lot as I've been so busy.

Cow Day

On Friday, the kids and I made make-shift cow costumes and went down to the local Chick-fil-A for cow appreciation day. We all felt a little silly, but we got a free lunch.

A Camping we will go!

This week Chuck is taking his Varsity Scouts to scout camp, and Chaz is also going to scout camp with the Venture Scouts. They are going to the same camp but will be doing separate activities. Kaitlin also is off for a week of camp with the girls at our church.

Happy Birthday Chaz!

Chaz turned 17 on Monday. We had a family party and ate Chaz's favorites, burritos and brownies. Afterward we played some games.







4th of July: Adventure and Blood

As is our tradition we headed up to my parents small town for 4th of July. They have one of those wonderful small town parades that goes one way, and then turns around and passes you going the other way.

We were a little too late to make it on the family float this year, but my mom & dad and 90 year old aunt and my sisters and their families were all on it.

After the parade, a local crop duster drops candy in parachutes over the park and baseball field for all the children. During the drop, Chaz saw that Ruth and Jared weren't catching any candy, so he decided to run out and get them some. He ran through a gate, that unbeknownst to him, had a wire stretched taught across the top (we assume to keep cows out of the field). The wire caught him right across the nose and eye and sent him flying.

When he got back to us blood was streaming down his face and we caused quite a stir in the little town as we took him to the bathrooms to get a towel and clean him up. My cousin came towing a man saying, "I've got a doctor!" A nice bone surgeon who happened to be at the park that day took a look at Chaz. He pried apart his eye to see if the eye had been punctured or damaged. After a good look, he said that "if it were his boy" he would just take him home and bandage him up. The cut across his nose just took a chunk out, and there was nothing to stitch, the cuts across his eyelid, and the edge of his eye were in such a tender place that stitches may do more harm then good. So we took Chaz back to grandmas and bandaged him up and gave him an ice pack. He had a bad headache and his eye did swell.

The good news is that his eye turned out not to be nearly as bad as we first expected. It took a couple of days for the swelling to go down, and he had a little purple ring around his eye, and a dime sized scab across his nose. Good thing scars are manly.

In retrospect Chaz was very lucky that the wire wasn't barbed, he has good eye sockets (it's cool that your bone structure can protect your soft tissues like that), and we had a doctor on site to assuage our concerns.

On the way home from grandma's Ruth was eating some of her parade candy when she felt a crunch. You got it, Ruth lost a tooth. So our 4th was a day of adventure and blood.

Hello, Dolly!

The last couple of weeks Hello, Dolly has totally taken over my life. I designed the scene changes (6 typed pages worth) and painted all the details on one side of our 17 foot rotating platform. We've had some rough practices and it's been a real challenge. Last night was much better, and I was able to remain cheerful for most of the night. It is coming together, and I think it will go fine. Sometimes you just have to go with what you're given and make the best of it.

Hello, Dolly! opens with a dress rehearsal on Thursday that our immediate families are invited to, and then we open this Friday night. Shows are the 9, 10, 12 (Chaz is missing this one), 16, 17, & 19. All starting at 7:30 pm.