Fathers Day 2015

My three kids were together on Fathers Day 2015. We took a family bike ride through the trails at Monument Valley Park and Creek and went to Colorado College to ride and also went to Downtown Colorado Springs on our bikes.

The 5th bike was folded and in the trunk!

Colorado Springs Conservatory Senior Recital - 6-25-15

Rebekah was AMAZING at the Senior Recital for the Colorado Springs Conservatory which took place on Thursday, June 25, 2015!

She sang a really funny song called "I Could Be Jewish For You" and also did a duet where she sang "Fly Me to the Moon" and a trio of "Anything Your Can Do, I Can Do Better."

At the end of the recital, all the seniors and alumni came on stage together and sang "Seasons of Love" from RENT which is a Conservatory tradition.

I cried of course.

Enjoy the video playlist below!

A Parent's Review of Working - A Musical Put On By the Colorado Springs Conservatory June 18 through June 20, 2015

Each year, in June, the Colorado Springs Conservatory has put on a wonderful musical production.  I have said in the past that their musicals were almost as good as Broadway shows, and I've looked so forward to attending the Conservatory's productions.   

Last year, my son, Joel, was in the ensemble in the Conservatory's musical Oklahoma, and in 2012, all three of my kids were in the ensemble for the Conservatory's production of Fiddler on the Roof.  

My daughter, Rebekah, has been part of the senior company at the Conservatory this past school year. The senior company's students are expected to take part in the annual June production.  Rebekah had a wonderful role in Pirates of Penzance earlier in the school year, and she's also been in recitals and even performed for the Colorado Springs mayor in her year with the Conservatory.  I've been so proud of my daughter.   

After Rebekah auditioned for the Conservatory's summer production, I was very excited to hear that Rebekah would be in a musical play which would show off her year in the Conservatory's senior company.  I looked so forward to seeing my daughter perform.

What I did not know was that Working: A Musical is for mature audiences, and I'm not sure if I had known in advance that so much foul language would be used, would I have approved of her participation in this particular musical.  I do not believe approving the use of foul language, especially for young people, should be encouraged at all.

I guess I am not sure I approve of the Conservatory's choice or wisdom in putting on such a musical that included explicit content.

I am so proud of Rebekah (she did an amazing performance today), but must state that I am also disappointed and embarrassed that my daughter was given a role of a prostitute in a musical that was put on by a school of performing arts that advertises that its programs are for teens and children. 

(It should be noted that I was not prepared or told in advance that Rebekah would be performing that role.   I admit that it was uncomfortable for me and my family, and the friends we invited to see the production, to see Rebekah in that particular scene.  We were caught off-guard.)  

What Rebekah was wearing, her costume for that "call-girl" scene, was not "appropriate" and really upset me.  Why would the Conservatory encourage or endorse such a costume for a young woman of Rebekah's age?  This was not a paid job.  I really am upset that my child was asked to dress like a prostitute! 

It is my opinion that the prostitute-call girl role should have been taken out of this local production, and also the foul language throughout this production of the Working musical play should have been also removed from the script.        

On a positive note, what the kids in the Working production did today was excellent. The cast sang, danced, and acted.  They were all amazing and so very professional! 

Rebekah seemed to sing or act or dance and be in almost every scene, and also sang in a duet about the life of a caregiver to a child in addition to the call girl role that was in a scene earlier in the play.  When the musical ended and as the kids performed in the final number, I was in tears since the facts that were shared about life and working were and are so true.    

Also, the musical ended with a great message.  That message is that every job is important and each person's contribution to this world makes a difference.

My Three Kids Annabelle, Rebekah, and Joel Smile Together After Rebekah Performs In Working: A Musical 6-20-15

Brown Bear What Do You See? I See Jo Ann and Her Dog Looking at Me! YIKES!

Oh! I forgot to share the story of what happened before the flood the night of 6-15-15...

We were celebrating Joel's homecoming at our family's vacation home in Colorado, and after dinner, I decided to take a mountain dog scooter ride with our dog Duchess.

Anyway...as I was getting near the house and about to enter the garage, a brown bear and her cub greeted me and the dog...."OMG!"

These words came to mind:

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?
I see Jo Ann and her dog looking at me!"

"Jo Ann, Jo Ann, what do you see?
I see a brown bear about to go for me..."

I promptly scootered away to another entry door of the house and began pounding a locked door trying to alert the family to save me and Duchess....we are still here and not eaten by bears, so they did finally come to the rescue....

June 15, 2015 - Flash Flood!

Last night there was this horrible flash flood in Colorado Springs. Our entire family was on the road in three different cars in the worst of it.

Annabelle was holding our dog tightly and was helping me navigate and tried to keep me calm. I could barely see the road on the I-25 highway. Water was everywhere and cars were going out of control.

I got off at Circle, but cars were stalled in water all the way home. I couldn't recognize the streets.

I stopped at the Target parking lot for about an hour hoping the rain would cease, but the rain just kept coming down and down. I wondered if Noah and an ark was built somewhere nearby.... 

Joel and Dan made it home before us. Dan warned me in advance on how to drive past cars that were stuck in water. 

When Annabelle and I and our dog finally got to the house, Rebekah called and told Dan she was trying to get home from the South Academy freeway exit. We were so worried! When she finally did enter the house, she told me that cars were stuck everywhere and some were stuck in water and as she drove she felt like it was the "end of the world," but she was determined to make it home. 

A few minutes after she arrived, the power went out in our house. We lit candles and flashlights and the kids played a board game and cuddled with our dog and finally went to sleep. Joel said his first day home in Colorado was certainly not ordinary. Dan and I went to bed around midnight I think. 

This morning, the sun is shining, but we will never forget the night of June 15, 2015.

Joel Made It Through the Rain!

My son, Joel did it! He came home today to beautiful Colorado, June 15, 2015 for a 3 week break after his first year touring with Disney On Ice: Frozen...he tells me he has skated and performed in 443 ice shows since he left home on July 21, 2014. The Frozen show was and is so popular that he and the cast and crew worked so hard and traveled and traveled and skated and skated and made thousands of people happy! The west coast Frozen tour is next. He returns to work on July 5. 

Our whole family is so proud of you Joel! "You made it through the rain!"

There's No Place Like Home!

This past year has included much traveling for me and some of the other members of my family, but there really is NO PLACE LIKE HOME.....especially when Colorado and Shangra La have so much in common!