And the World will know...

My Operation:Adventure comes to a close this week as I return to work on Wednesday. Boy did it go out with a bang!  I was able to go to NYC with the same friend I adventured with in D.C.  I guess she is now a go-to travel buddy. Yeah!  We had two goals for this weekend adventure.

1) See her friend Austen Nash Boone in the Off-Broadway production of Skippyjon Jones.

2) See the Broadway production of The Newsies.

Everything else we ended up doing was an added bonus. And there were a lot of bonusi bonuseses extra stuff.

Here is a great picture taken by Jeremy Daniel of Austen being Skippyjon. 

Skippyjon is a Siamese Cat with an over-active imagination that takes him on many adventures.  He feels that "his ears are too big for his head and his head is too big for his body" so that must make him a chihuahua!  In the picture above he is in Mexico and is the great  El Skippito Friskito.  He finds himself up against the mean Alfredo Buzzito (José Restrepo), a giant bee, who steals the beans from Los Chimichangos, a family of chihuahuas.

Such a cute musical.  If the people of Pixar wrote plays, it would be similar to Skippyjon Jones.  Based on children's books, it is geared towards kids, but the adults that tag along will find themselves laughing out loud at the jokes and play on words throughout the production.  Congrats Austen N. Boone, José Restrepo, Veronica Reyes, Gabrielle Ruiz and Graham Stevens for an amazing performance.

Skippyjon Jones is a hour long free performance at the Lucille Lortel Theatre through August 17th. (Just in case you make it to New York.)

On to number 2 on the list. The Newsies.  I grew up with this movie and had a total crush on Jack Kelly (Christian Bale) and Spot Conlon (Gabriel Damon).  Ahhh.  Fun times.  Thankfully my friend Hannah felt the same need to see the Broadway musical and off we went. 

It was A.maz.ing. 

Here is a little taste of the talent that is in this show....Skip to 3:30 min.

The dancing was unbelievable.  This was the curtain call.  Just the curtain call, people, think about how fantastic the show must be!  So much energy!!!

Jeremy Jordan's voice is so powerful and astounding!  Absolutely beautiful.  I guess I still have that crush on Jack Kelly.  The cast was super nice.  After the show we met a couple guys from the orchestra.  We talked to them for awhile and I asked them to sign my playbill.  They laughed a little and were like "we're just in the band".  Hello!  It's a musical you are a very important part to make this magical.  They liked that, I think.  We also met a few of the stars...Kara Lindsay who played Katherine Plumber, Ben Fankhauser who played Davey, Andy Richardson who played Crutchie and Ryan Steele who played Specs.  So super nice!!!  

Thanks all for making my first Broadway experience a fantastic one!!!!  And congrats on a smashing production!  

Let's see, when can I see it again.....

Why I don't like bridges....

I can't remember how this story came up the other day, but when it did I knew it needed to be shared with y'all.  

Once upon a time when I was... I don't know... maybe 8 and my sister was 6.  We were walking in a parade of sorts through downtown.  My dad being the kind, loving and ornery dad that he was/is decided to tell me about the lady that had fallen through a bridge.  

Yes, through.  

The real life story had something to do with a drawbridge, but he didn't tell me that part.  He just said to be careful because the bridge that was in our parade route was partially grated.   So naturally I am freaking out.  

And I mean Freaking. Out.  

But I'm the big sister so, I'm trying to act as cool as possible to save face.  As we make our way closer and closer to the bridge I couldn't believe the adults weren't worried about this at all and were going to let us just walk across the bridge of death.  

Finally the moment of truth....

Oh no.  

The grated part.  

I grab my sister's hand and I tell her to be very careful to not step through the holes.  Wait a second.... our feet are bigger than the holes, and there's no way our whole body will fit through there to fall in that water.  Huh.  But dad wouldn't make something like that up, so it must still be dangerous.  Yep. Definitely dangerous.  I'm pretty sure I prayed the whole way across.  After what seemed like forever we made it across the bridge.  We lived!!  Phew!  

I'm pretty sure this is why I'm afraid of heights and bridges.  

I love my dad.

Notes from camp:

This past week I was at Kids Camp.  It was amazing!  Normally we have about 350ish 3-5th graders...this year we had about 400 3-5th graders and 65 1st -2nd graders.  I was with the little guys this year and boy did we have a blast!  

Some things you need to know from camp:

• A walk that takes you 5 minutes = 10-15 minutes when you have a dozen campers with you.
• Apparently I'm good at catching frogs that sneak into the lodge.
• Little kid hugs are the best.
• S'mores + little kids = giant mess
• It is difficult smashing a spider with the bathroom garbage can.
• "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" is a great group story.

• Playing euchre when exhausted guarantees some hysterical moments.
• Only at camp can you have 5 bars on your phone, take one step and have no signal at all.
• Camp Grandmas are the best!
• Need to spice up a game?  Just add water.

My unbirthday party

Why do you have that quizzical look?  You mean you don't celebrate your unbirthday?  Gasp!  Well you are missing out!!!  Knowing how much I love my birthday, are you really all that surprised I celebrate my unbirthday?

Disney so graciously explains to us what an unbirthday is in Alice in Wonderland. Don't freak out unbirthdays don't normally include singing animals that seem to be high on something.

Ingredients for an unbirthday:

1. Cake or other yummy dessert
2. A little present
3. A fun activity
4. A friend 

This is the third year that my cousin and I have celebrated one of our unbirthdays. 
Really its just an excuse to eat cake and do something special.  This year was no exception.  My cousin Ashley, who writes the blog  Happy. Pretty. Sweet., made little cupcakes drizzled in chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Then it was on to the festivities!  We exchanged little presents.  I am the new owner of 3 fabulous paperbacks, and Ashley is the new owner of a Star Wars Moleskine notebook and a pack of 6 famous mustaches.

We had an Einstein, Dali, Chaplin and Magnum.

After cake came the adventure...geocaching!!!  I have to reach my bucket list goal after all!

Did I mention we went geocaching with our mustaches on?  The cache sites were pretty deserted so we didn't get many odd looks. It was so hot we only went to a few and quickly headed back to the air conditioned home.  Ahhh.

To end the party we watched Mirror Mirror, one of the Snow White movies that has recently been released. I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually funny and not just corny.  I was nervous after seeing the preview, but the writers did an excellent job.

So there you have it!  The unbirthday celebration of 2012.

Did you just say it was your unbirthday today!!! No way!!!

Well it just so happens I have some gifts for you.  Remember my drive in movie experience last year? Remember I had hoped to have a giveaway?  Well here it is!!!  Field of Dreams drive in theater has given me 15 Buy One Get One free admissions!! Oh snap!  They have two locations: Liberty Center and Tiffin.  For my fellow Toledoens, its not a bad drive out to Liberty Center and they they have so many activities to do before the movie starts.

Enter using the form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The 4th of July is my favorite

I. Love. Fireworks. 

Last night I headed down to Ft. Meigs to watch the Perrysburg/Maumee fireworks show. With a 2-3 minute finale I was in firework heaven. They really know how to put on a show. 

It's not just the fireworks that make the 4th my favorite holiday, it is also the patriotism that you see everywhere. I love driving own the main street with the flags waving in the breeze.  I love the cute little USA decorations adorning the windows and porches.  Without getting too political here, I know there is a lot wrong with our country and I know this is tough time, but I feel that today is a day when we focus on the good.  That maybe for just this one day the different sides can come together and just remember how amazing we are and the challenges we have overcome.  

When I think back on some of those challenges, I become very proud.  During my trip there were a few moments that brought a tear to my eye and renewed some of that American Pride.

One such moment was at The Pentagon. 

Another moment was in a little Pennsylvania town. 

Ordinary people who took extraordinary actions to save lives.

 The field where the plane crashed.

No matter how many times I will visit DC in my life, Arlington Cemetery will always take my breath away.

Especially here...

The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier is a beautiful ceremony that I could watch all day.  To try to describe how perfect the movements were would be an injustice.  

So, to the men, women and even children that have sacrificed so much for this country, I say thank you. And knowing how cheesy this is going to sound, it is true...I am proud to be an American. 

Happy 4th of July everyone!

How to make normal things fun.

Well folks, we made it back!  It was a long week full of adventures and now you get to hear the stories.  

In case you missed the Facebook updates I was in Washington DC last week.  This trip was part of Operation: Adventure.  This summer I want to have as much adventure as possible, because that is what summer breaks are for, right? Right.  

I try to enjoy life as much as possible. That means that even the normal things in life can become fun.  Last week I told you about our first challenge: The Metro. We took the Metro many times in a day and it is safe to say that 99.9% of the people in DC find this as a chore or just another part of their normal routine.  

And then there is me and my friend Hannah.  

We made it fun.  

Yes, people, you heard me right.  

Maybe you can figure out what we did....

 

As the train pulled in to the station we would stand where we thought the door would be. The record was Hannah with 4 consecutive correct guesses.  She was good.  

This just proves that if you think a little outside the box you can have fun doing all sorts of things.

I can't be the only one out there that does this.  What things do you make fun that usually aren't?