Hansel and Gretal - May 31, 2008

The weekend of the ballet performance of Hansel and Gretal was both fun and exhausting! It started on Thursday evening with Megan's school music concert. They call it the POPS Cafe' and served deserts and had several performances with the school band, choir and Jazz band. When we got home, Fred and Brenda had arrived from the airport to spend the weekend with us and see the ballet. Friday morning Heather enlisted the help of Fred and Brenda to finish packing up the moving POD. Then after lunch they helped move the props for the ballet performance over to the theatre. I am sure they were not expecting to do so much physical labor on their little trip. Friday at 5pm we started final dress rehearsal for the ballet. Josh,Grandma, and Grandpa Yost spent the evening together eating pizza and playing arcade games while the rest of us spent the evening at the theatre trying to work out the kinks. It was quite a long, frustrating experience. To top it off, Tracy's costume did not fit in any way shape or form (we won't go into the fact that it was the first time he finally got to try it on). To tell the truth I had my doubts about this performance actually coming together on time.

Saturday we got up early for Erica's last soccer game (which started at 6:50 AM!). Then we were off to the theater to get ready for the matinee performance of the ballet. Tracy still did not have a costume and he didn't know what he might end up wearing. I jumped in to help the seamstress literally pin the costumes onto several of the men folk dancers while she madly worked on salvaging Tracy's pants. Amazingly Tracy finally got his costume on about 15 minutes before we had to be on stage. They were a little tight, but if he was careful he might not rip out the back seam during his dance.

Looking back I still can not figure out how it all came together. The ballet turned out wonderful! It was fun to finally watch Megan perform the whole show and see how all the characters interacted with each other. Erica was the cutest bunny and Gum drop. It was very fun!! Tracy and I survived the folk dance and enjoyed sharing in the experience with Erica and Megan.

Megan (Hansel) getting ready for the show.

Erica (the bunny) and the Woodland animals.

Tracy and Heather after surviving our first ballet performance.

Erica (Gumdrop) and her Papa!

Triathlon

Tracy and I completed the Gater Grinder Triathlon on May 10th. It was my second year. I enjoyed it a lot more and was not quite so nervous. Tracy did a great job for his first time. He worked really hard at improving his swimming and I think he did a great job.

Tracy's swim time for 500 meters was 13 min 21 seconds.

His bike time for 12 miles was 46:45 min/sec., and his 5k run was 32:21 min/sec.

His overall time was 1:38:16 hr/min/sec.

Heather's times were:

swim 9:17 min/sec, bike 46:27 min/sec, run 39:07 min/sec

overall time 1:40:20 hr/min/sec

I added a few minutes from last year, but like I said, I had a lot more fun:)

Joshua's Activities

Josh turned 11 years old on April 4th. We had a wild party for him and his buddies at Safari Sam's. Here are a few pics of the party.

He also received his Arrow of light award in Cub Scouts and advanced to Boy Scouts. Josh is an awesome son and a very honest Boy Scout. We are very proud to be his parents.

Erica's spring activities

Erica has been just as busy as the rest of us. She is playing soccor, had a violin recital, and school music concert. She is also in the Hansel and Gretal ballet with Megan.

Here is a video of Erica singing her duet with her friend for the school music concert.

She also had fun at soccer. Her favorite position is goalie.

She also had a violin recital and did a great job. This is Erica with her violin teacher Anna Rapp. She is an amazaing woman and I hope I have as much energy and enthusiasm for life as she does when I am her age. She will definitly be somene we will miss when we move.

I will add a video of the recital when I get it downloaded to my computer.

We found a new house.

We are happy to announce we found a wonderful home in Gig Harbor. It is a few blocks from both the schools the kids will be attending and walking distance to Kopichuck State park for hiking and exploring. We went up last Friday for the home inspection and everything looks great. It was built in 1993, but totally remodeled last year. It has beautiful full length windows in the living room and kitchen that have a full view of Mt. Rainer(when the clouds are absent).


Here are a few pics.

This is the view of the living room as you walk in the front door.

This is the kitchen.

Here is the view of the basement great room as you come down the stairs. It has a bar area with a fridge and a sink. The office is the door you see in the middle of the picture.

The kids are most excited to have their own rooms.

Try this link for a video tour.

http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=364554

We are finally moving!

If you have not already heard, Tracy has accepted a new job in Tacoma Washington. He will start working his now job on June 1st. Heather and the family will follow after school is out at the end of June.
The day we got back from Mexico, Tracy was officially offered the job, but also was informed by his current employer they were selling the company(and ironically he would be out of a job in less than 6 months). They really need his help to wrap up the sale, so Tracy worked a deal to get a nice bonus if he stayed till the end of May. Thankfully his new employer was very supportive and understanding and now Tracy gets to do both.
Needless to say the next 2 months will be crazy!!!!!!
Wish us luck. We will actually be living in Gig Harbor. If you care to know, follow the link for a map.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Gig+Harbor,+WA&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=12&iwloc=addr

Spring Break in Mazatlan

We had a wonderful week relaxing in Mexico the end of March. It was not as hot as I had hoped (only got up to 80), but it was still the beach with great views and sparkling sand. We stayed 5 nights in a private home on the beach, then 3 nights in a motel next door and came home Easter Sunday. Here are a few highlights.

Riding Horses on the beach! It will probably be the only time I ever see Tracy on a horse. Erica and Tracy had the nice poky ponies and plodded along behind us in the surf. Erica loved getting to trot (with the help of the guide encouraging her pony with his boot). Josh, Megan, and Heather had fun running ahead feeling like real cowboys.

Erica got her hair braided by an old Senorita on the beach. She looked sooo cute and loved the new look. I loved the ease of the wash and go style. Yes, I kept her scalp sun screened very well.

Playing on the beach!!! Everyday!!!!

Jumping waves on our beach just off our deck.

Shopping in the local market for souvenirs.

The chaos kind of caught the kids off guard. Josh walked around like a deer in the headlights, but Megan begged to go back for more. So we sent Tracy, Erica, and Josh back to the house to play while Heather and Megan had a grand adventure shopping!

Walking along the 11 mile "Melacona" in Old Mazatlan. We enjoyed a fresh coconut drink right out of the coconut with a straw!

Dinner at the "Festival Mexicana". Enjoyed an all you can eat Mexican buffet and a great show of Mexican dances.

Making fools of ourselves at the Fiesta Mexicana. Josh was our Electric Cowboy and the best dancer of the "Macarana."

I love this picture of us in front of the Bougainvillea. Sorry I can't figure out how to turn i t.

Playing at the local water park "MAZAGUA". We thought we would spend a few hours, but had so much fun we stayed till they closed. I think we were the only Gringos there.
Josh and Erica really liked the zip-line and Tracy and I even gave it a try.

This is Juan Miguel, our Hobie Cat Captain, that took us to a little private beach on Bird Island.

It is actually a Wildlife preserve

We tried to snorkel, but it was freezing cold. Erica and Josh managed to briefly "give it a go", but Megan and Tracy were the only ones brave enough to stay in the water for more than 2 minutes.

Tracy's favorite activity was the nap on the secluded beach of Bird Island. He was the King of his own breach, even if it was only for 2 hours.

Another cool picture(that I can't turn) of the cactus and Josh on the rocks at the beach.

On our last evening we went to Old Downtown again and had dinner in a lovely quiet public square called Plazuela Machado. We had dinner at at street front restaurant while the sunset. It was a perfect way to end a very fun week together.

Picture of Megan as we walked downtown looking for the fresh Churro cart on our last night.

Our happy family on Easter morning waiting to go to the airport for our flight home. What a great week to just be together with no worries.

Wondering what will be our next adventure?