Winter Escape, Getting There

Two and a half weeks ago, Miles and I, along with Amy, and my parents took a quick trip.  We went on a 4 day Catalina/Ensenada cruise.  Miles had been looking forward to the trip because he wanted to go on Jet Blue. To add to his excitement, I bought him a model Jet Blue plane.  He had it in his hand when he boarded the plane and proudly showed it to the flight attendant.  Well, the flight attendant was charmed by Miles and  asked if Miles would  like to sit in the cockpit when the plane landed in Long Beach.  Miles didn't care about that, he just wanted to show everyone his airplane.  After an uneventful flight to Long Beach, the flight attendant motioned to Miles to come up to the cockpit.  The pilot greeted Miles by name and sat him in his seat.  I think Miles was a bit perplexed.

My parents picked us (me, Miles, and Amy) up in Long Beach and we drove to the port.  We stood in line for a while and then were checked in by the slowest agent ever before heading to the ship.

We boarded, dumped our junk in the stateroom (look what was right outside our room window... Queen Mary! and according to Miles, it's "stuck"),

then went and got lunch, attended the muster drill, registered Miles for Camp Carnival, then waited for sail away.  While we waited for sail away, Miles wanted to go on the waterslides.  Well, it was a gray, breezy day in Long Beach, but Miles was insistent, so I let him play on the slides.  He had the entire waterpark completely to himself.

Finally, Miles was cold,

so I got him dressed while we continued to wait for sail away as we were delayed due to work being done on the tender platform which was taking longer than supposedly anticipated.  We watched the sunset,

Long Beach. CA

walked around the ship (and Miles decided to play Dominoes with the giant chess set),

then got dinner.

Miles was tired, so after dinner we went to bed.  The ship finally set sail around 10:30 p.m., five hours later than scheduled, but since we only had 26 miles to travel to Catalina, the delay was insignificant.

Being Creative

Valentine's Day is tomorrow.  Miles is excited to give Skittles valentines to his classmates.  He was also excited to make his own valentines.  I bought some doilies, cut-outs, and stickers, then handed Miles a bottle of glue and told him to "have at it."  Miles enjoyed making valentines; he was hard at work for about an hour and a half.  In the end, he made 14 valentines.

Qualified!

Okay, I think there needs to be a Nolan post about now.  Last week was solo/ensemble at THS.  Nolan was allowed to participate because 9th graders are considered high school kids even though they attend a junior high.  Confusing, right?  Since 9th graders can participate in any high school event, club, or sport that isn't available at their junior high, Nolan participated in solo/ensemble as a preparatory event to the Utah Percussive Arts Society's Day of Percussion where he will play both a snare and a marimba solo.  The high school solo/ensemble was intended as a way to get an evaluation of his solos from someone other than his teacher.  Well, Nolan played well and qualified for the regional round of the solo/ensemble festival on the marimba.  Good job, Nolan!  Now the question is "Will Nolan be allowed to participate at the region level?"  The answer to that, because he's a 9th grader, is unclear.  He was initially told, "no", but now that policy is being challenged.  For now, he waits, and practices, and practices, and practices.

Miles' Prize

A few weeks ago, Dan bought Miles a fife instead of a harmonica because Dan thought the fife would be less annoying.  He was wrong.  There isn't anything more annoying than the piercing, shrill sound of that fife.  Last week, Dan took Miles swimming and Miles excitedly came home with a prize.

What did Miles have to do earn this lovely, shining harmonica?  Well, he did 25 bobs in the pool.  I have never appreciated what a lovely sound a harmonica has when compared to a fife.

Sillines

Just because sometimes he does something silly and says, "Take a picture" and actually looks at the camera.

Jonathan's Winter U of U Conert

Last night was concert night and it was so much fun.  I didn't know the pieces that the orchestra was playing, but I didn't care as I was there to see and support Jonathan.  I wasn't aware that he had solos.  After Jonathan's first solo, Dan caught my eye and we both were impressed.  Before Jonathan started lessons at the U, I thought he was pretty good on the clarinet.  I liked his sound and he could play anything he set his mind to.  Well, last night I heard a new sound, and it was amazing.  Good job, Jonathan!  Below is a long video of the Grieg piece they played- Symphonic Dances.  It's a long video, but Jonathan is the solo clarinetist, so turn up your computer speakers and go clean the windows while listening to the University of Utah Campus Symphony Orchestra.


Last time I attended one of Jonathan's concert, there was this annoying camera man... the guy with a lens strong enough to take a clear picture of a mountain goat on the top of Mt. Timp from my house.  Anyway, once again, Mr. Noisy Lens was there.  Seriously, I think using this lens is overkill.

Prayer Time

Tonight Miles got to say the family prayer.  Since we ate dinner at Smashburger, I told him to say a "Smashburger prayer."  He took my prompt literally and said, "Thank you for a Smashburger day.  Thank you we eat.  Thank you for french fries.  Amen."  Then he wanted to say a "Walmart prayer" which was followed by a "DI prayer."  I know prayertime isn't supposed to be amusing, but it sure was tonight.