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Backtracking a bit... While we were at LeAnn's, we dressed up a little and LeAnn took some pictures (below). On the way home, we stopped at Albany, Oregon, where I had a really fun show with a very enthusiastic group of kids. We were home for a few days, and then took a drive in the minivan with Larry and Jean over to Rexburg, where we celebrated an early Thanksgiving with Roseann's sister, Mary Jo, and her family. 9 of Mary Jo's 10 kids were there, so it was a pretty busy bunch, and we had a lot of fun. We went to see Jordi starring as Kim in her high school's production of Bye Bye Birdie, we played some games and watched Wall-E on DVD, and mostly had a lot of conversation on a wide variety of subjects.
I'm so incredibly thankful for my family, immediate and extended, and am very grateful for the love and the life that we share together. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from me and mine!
At a Playland in California...
Robot dancing in Albany...
All of the girls playing dress up: Becca, Emily, Lindsay, Evee and Ashlyn...
Playing a tight game of Go Fish with Evee, Sam and Josie...
Mmm... Thanksgiving.
Below is a picture Becca took of our second millipede, Butterfly, after she had been returned to her terrarium after a long adventure. I won't elaborate on that, but to say that we're glad she's back in her home.
Becca and the millipedes...
On Tuesday morning I had an assembly program at Slonaker Elementary in San Jose. After that, we did some shopping and had naps and then met up with Steve, April (she was back in town, after all) and Amy for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I had never had a walnut prawn dish before but it is now a favorite of mine. We talked for quite a while over dinner and then went back to their house for a bit so the kids could play together, and then we headed back to the RV park in Patterson.
On Wednesday, we drove down to Moreno Valley where we are staying with Roseann's sister, LeAnn, and her family. LeAnn's 4 year-old daughter, Catarina, was very excited to see the girls, and the feeling was mutual. When we first came in the door, Catarina said to the girls, "So let me look at you!" On Thursday night we met LeAnn and Catarina at Cat's karate class. Catarina is doing really well with that, and our girls tried their best to keep up on the side, but it was a little tricky for them. They are interested in taking karate classes of their own now, which is something we had been thinking about for a while.
Yesterday, I had two assemblies at Lincoln Elementary in San Bernardino. It was a huge group of kids in a small space, so it got a little crazy at times, but went very well in general.
From the assembly in San Jose...
Evee, Amy and Becca...
Becca and Evee playing a game of Tier auf Tier...
At the karate class...
Evee showing her "wilted flower" sign...
The first assembly in San Bernardino...
The second assembly in San Bernardino...
Evee showing off her signature and ghost picture...
Evee, Catarina and Becca...
So we're at an RV park in Patterson, California, on a three week trip for some school shows, and I figured I oughta catch up with what we've been doing lately...
Back on the 22nd of October I went out to Tigard, Oregon (suburb of Portland) and did two shows at the Pottery Barn Kids. It was an early Halloween celebration and there were some great costumes in attendance, my favorite being a group of triplets dressed as the three major superheroes (see picture below).
We went to a pumpkin patch place with Evee's preschool and that was a lot of fun... We picked out pumpkins, took a hayride, went through a hay maze and climbed on a hay bale pyramid. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, so we didn't get any pictures of that. Some other people took pictures, so I'll add some eventually when we get back.
On the Friday before we left town we went to see our good friends, Becky and Ross, and their family. They had moved back to the Tri-Cities earlier this year and we hadn't seen them since before our spring and summer trip, so we enjoyed catching up with them. Their kids call Roseann and me "Aunt Roseann" and "Uncle Eric", which is cute.
I should mention that we got a second millipede. Roseann had felt bad that the other millipede in the pet store was left there when she got Sticky. This one is a girl, so we went with Evee's original name of Butterfly. We don't know if they're capable of breeding, but just in case, we're keeping them in separate tanks, as we don't really want dozens of millipedes, just two. I'll post some pictures of Butterfly when we're back in town.
We left for California after church last Sunday and it was pretty cold the first two nights that we stayed in Oregon, but we cranked up the heat and bundled up pretty well. It got a lot warmer once we hit California. The first school I visited was on Wednesday in San Ramon, California, and on the suggestion of Tim Noah's son, Jude, I brought along my electric guitar and did some jamming for the kids, which definitely impressed the legions of Guitar Hero fans out in the audience. My assembly yesterday was in Dos Palos at an outdoor courtyard for a group of 500 K-2 kids and thankfully the weather held out just enough for the show to go on.
The girls dressed up as Violet and Dash from The Incredibles and did a great job sticking to their characters. We went to a Halloween dinner and "trunk or treat" at an area church and the girls collected a good bounty of candy.
Today, we're hanging around at the RV park and doing laundry and such, and then this coming week we're looking forward to seeing Steve and Amy (April is out of town) and LeAnn and her family.
The girls sporting their new nightshirts...
Playing a game of Hey! That's My Fish (with their own rules)...
One of the Pottery Barn Kids shows...
Villains, beware!
Becky and Ross' son, William, showing off his awesome Lego spaceship...
Becca and Evee playing with Becky and Ross' girls, Hilani and Suki...
Evee loves to show how well she can dress herself...
K-2 assembly in San Ramon...
3-5 assembly in Sam Ramon...
Violet and Dash... once again, villains beware!
The assembly in Dos Palos... I'm either demonstrating marching techniques or running from some hot sand...
Trunk or treating...
