Week six was a little weird since Pearl and I were out of town for a good chunk of it. You can see our adventures in the previous post. We had a blast. And even though we were gone for a good amount of the week, we still managed to fit in a ton of fun when we came back. (That is just how we roll.)
First up was the Hugh Jackman concert! June, Robyn, and I bought tickets for this back in December and have been looking forward to it ever since. The big day finally arrived. We were so excited. I packed the girls up in the afternoon so we had plenty of time to ignore traffic or other hiccups and we were on our way to Salt Lake. The Gateway mall was right next to the venue we were going to attend, so it was a great place to park and hang out until show time. I have not been to the Gateway in years. It was a very hot afternoon, so there weren't a lot of people around, but we still enjoyed the art. (Imagine us enjoying art?) Check out these fun inspirational stairs.
These two girls are great company. I could go on and on, but blah-blah-blah...
Stair vortex. I'm digging it.
We found the food plaza and had to choose where to go. I convinced the girls to try California Pizza Kitchen. Great choice. One of the things I love about the older kids is that they eat real food. No offence but if I go to a restaurant, I don't want to pay money for mac and cheese that may end up being too fancy or different for my kids to eat it anyway. Hence, we don't eat out often as a whole family. But it is a treat to take kids who will try something new and probably like it. June is checking out the menu. So many choices.
That gave us time to snag a selfie on the other side of the table.
We ended up choosing a carne asada pizza with some killer fancy drink on the side. Oh my deliciousness. The girls loved it and so did I. Food can be so amazing.
We stopped somewhere else to grab dessert after, but it was a bit of a letdown after the pizza.
Then we were headed over to the show. We found a bit more art on the way. I love these pictures.
I don't even know when Robyn took this picture? It must be when we left the parking garage. Sneaky little thing.
Now for the main event. Can you believe we saw Hugh Jackman outside and took a picture with him?? He was a little two dimensional, but we weren't complaining.
The arena for the performance is quite large. By the time we got online to buy tickets (back in December) the only seats together were out of our price range, so we bought three tickets near each other. June and I were actually only two rows apart and Robyn was a bit farther away. It was fine. It meant we all had an individual experience at the concert. And we all had our own binoculars, so that was fine.
It is hard to explain how amazing the concert was. The show actually started almost 20 minutes late. No biggie. It gave time for those few stragglers to come in. I would hate to miss part of the concert because of traffic or something. The concert was so fun. Hugh Jackman
loves to perform. He literally is a showman. He dances and sings and play instruments. I loved it all. The Greatest Showman songs were the best. The Les Mis song was the next best. He even had tears in his eyes and a quaver in his voice. He did a tribute to his wife Deb which was really cute. He seems like a really committed faithful guy. He told funny stories and sang more. Keala Settle (the bearded lady) came and sang with him. That was cool. There was this whole section about Peter Allen, who is apparently a Australian performer who Hugh Jackman portrayed in the play
A Boy from Oz. I didn't know much about him before. Robyn bought a program and in it were all the movies Hugh has been in. Now we have a list of things to watch. Hugh Jackman is really good with numbers. He remembers a lot of facts too. He took dance classes and did a whole section where he tap danced. He started tapping to the classics and ended up tapping to rock/pop songs. It was so awesome. The only part I didn’t love was the ethnic music with the didgeridoo but mainly because Hugh wasn’t in it at all. But the girls loved the concert and we all thought it was totally worth it. Whew, that was a lot of words, but it still doesn't do it justice.
Needless to say, we had an amazing night and we were all a bit tired by the end.
The movie for the week was
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and I have no idea if the kids watched it while I was gone. Perhaps. We made our treat when I returned. The girls are so great at whipping things up. We made Nutella Rice Krispie Treats. I put half in charge of the krispie part and half in charge of the topping. They are sharing the stove so nicely.
If it involves Nutella, you know people are going to lick the spoons. I heard of licking the pan, but not quite like this...
These are really yummy treats. They are not too rich because the krispies balance the topping, but you'd better LOVE Nutella. There are 2 cups in this recipe.
This week brought a fantastic fireworks show. I didn't feel bad doing less on the 4th because I knew this was coming. Tyler's Real Estate group, the HIVE, puts on a show that rivals the best. We had front row seats saved for us. This event started small, but now it draws almost 15,000 people. Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband played and they were amazing. Janille brought spikeball and we were able to play in a tiny space for a while. It was a busy. I got some selfies with some of the girls. June was working and the others were playing somewhere.
The fireworks show was one of the best I've ever seen. A lot of time and effort went into it. There was fog and lasers, and choreographed lights and music. The end was so bright and crazy that I almost had to close my eyes. Here are a couple pictures I liked.
Then Saturday brought another Spikeball tournament. June's partner, Mahonri, couldn't make it, so at the last minute, we grabbed Eli. Randomly, Radi also signed up with Kaden to play. So we had a great group to cheer for.
Janille is a great teammate and we did a good job this time around. We won 3 out of 5 matches in the pool play, but by elimination rounds, we were slowing down and Janille pulled a muscle. (This is what happens when you play people half your age.) We didn't make it far in elimination, but we did give people a run for their money.
We almost played June and Eli. Instead, they played the guys who beat us and they barely lost. As always, I just enjoy playing. Win or lose, it is a good time.
Finally, the art show. The theme this week was WOOD.
As always, I'm super impressed with what people come up with. There were a few group projects this time around. Let's see if I can get everything straight. First up is Robyn. She made these cool Labyrinth stairs.
She also did this little wooden princesses that are adorable. Which is your favorite? I love Tiana and Mulan.
On the bottom they have little symbols that go with the princess.
June and Robyn got together to make story dice. On each side there are different pictures. You roll them and then make up a story. Their little pictures were so cute.
June also did a group project with Pearl. They did memory on little wooden squares, but it was sea themed. I like the puffer fish.
Pearl also did a tie-dye block. I love the colors.
Daisy got this cute turtle and painted him. He did have a little tail, but Nova chewed it off. Apparently, Nova likes wood. The turtle wasn't the only casualty. One of the story dice was chewed up as well.
Daisy also made this very interesting interpretation of Jean Val Jean's number. It looks like spaghetti to me.
This clock won't tell you what time it is, but I think Daisy did a fantastic job painting it.
I am not sure I'm supposed to admit this, but I collected some driftwood from my trip. Then I made it into a driftwood chime. I really like it.
I also made this! The kids wondered all week what it was for. It was driving some of them crazy. Can you guess?
Bet you didn't think it was this. I love this thing the most. I called my art 'Peace of Mind'. I am always losing my phone. This week I've been better about putting it on the holder.
Ivory made this fun scrabble tile style board with all our family names.
And she entered this picture of Nova titled 'Need a Pillow?'
I had one leftover piece of driftwood that was too big. Robyn took it and named it the Shusher. I'm not sure that counts as art, but there you have it.
The best thing was that Jeannie joined us this week and made an art piece. I saw her start it in CA, but the finished product was amazing. The roof is made with wood and don't you love the fence? I think she did such an fantastic job.
We had some miscommunication with the judging. I invited Eli and Danja thinking only one would make it, but they both came. So we let them both judge. Here were their picks.
Did you notice the turtle was both judge's favorite?? I'm still thinking the Shusher should not get an award, but art is art. Or something like that.
Another incredible week done. This summer has been so fun. I don't want it to end.
