Mission (sort of) accomplished

August 14, 2010

Well, we did it! Three Weird Al concerts in two weeks while also visiting six different families in five states who are either relatives or close friends. Add in the two other states where we didn’t visit anyone, and we have completed our 7-state / Weird Al summer vacation.

We went over to Becky’s sisters Kaye’s house and hung out with her and her two boys, Robert, age fifteen, and Cameron, and Cameron, age 11. The kids ran around outside, played video games and went swimming all afternoon. Becky and I visited with Kaye except when I snuck for a little while to do some shopping.

As some of you may know, I am a big Lakers fan, and this is the first year that the kids really got into watching basketball. Alex actually followed how the Lakers were doing, Zac watched a little and cheered when he did see a bit on TV, and Katie joined in the excitement when she saw Alex and Zac getting into the last minute or two of a close game. The kids’ Uncle Mike got Kings vs. Lakers tickets from his boss for the day after Christmas this season, so he and Aunt Dee took Alex and I to her first game. The seats were awesome, and Lakers were down most of the game, came back to tie it on a Gasol put-back of a Kobe miss at the buzzer, and then won in double overtime. There was definitely some celebrating in our house when the Lakers won game 7 over the hated Boston Celtics to win the championship this year.

I had told the kids that on this part of the trip to Southern California we would be able to find some Lakers championship shirts. I know we could have ordered some from the Internet, but I wanted getting the shirts to be a part of this trip since we would be in Lakers territory. I was almost disappointed because I didn’t find what I was looking for in a couple of stores near Kaye’s house so I drove a little farther to a mall. I hate malls – this place was a maze, and even the sports stores were sold out of a lot of the championship shirts they had carried. I thought I would only leave with one shirt for me and an adult small of an okay shirt for Alex, but then I hit the jackpot.

The guy from one of the sports store suggested I try JC Penny. They not only had a bunch of shirts, but they had just been discounted to 50% since most people in the LA area had already gotten their championship gear. On top of that the guy at the register had a $15 coupon I could use because I bought so many shirts. I’m not sure how many I got. I know I have one for Katie, at least two each for Alex and Zac, and two more for me. However many I got, I know that I only bought the last one because it put me over the top so I could use the coupon. I ended up taking back the shirt that I wasn’t thrilled about for Alex and got her a banner instead.

I made it back in time to swim with the kids a little, and then we all went over to the Fairgrounds together for one last Weird Al concert. We grabbed some dinner at the Fair, and then we headed into the concert. We didn’t get to sit with Kaye and family since they had just bought their tickets yesterday. We were way up front in the third row of permanents seats – about 8th row overall. That made the concert even better being really able to watch Weird Al the whole time instead of the video screens to get a close look. Even though this was the third concert, the kids seemed to enjoy this one the best. You should have heard Katie screaming along with the Yoda song (sung to the tune of Lola if you’re not familiar with Weird Al’s work). The lady in front of us got a kick out of watching a little four-year old dancing on her chair and singing with the chorus at the top of her lungs. It was pretty darn cute. Alex and Zac were really into all of the songs waving their arms back and forth, singing and even waving cells phones at the appropriate time. We had a blast, and Kaye and her boys did too as the kids chatted excitedly about the show all the way home.

In seeing Weird Al, Alex had really hoped to get a chance to meet him. We tried getting back stage again tonight, but like last night, it was by invitation only for people that knew the band. Still, I know that Alex really wanted a picture with Al, and since we were so close this show, I was able to get a couple of shots with both of them in the picture during the song where he comes out into the crowd. Of course, since he’s dancing around and moving so fast and my camera is not the best (nor am I a great photographer), the pictures aren’t amazing, but one of them isn’t too bad. Al was right next to Alex a couple of times during the song, and Robert and Kaye told us that they saw her a couple of times on the video screen. I tried to get her to stand up next to him, but I think she was a little timid because there was some security nearby. The shot where they are the closest, you can only see the back of Alex’s head, and I got another shot where you can see Alex well, but I was too slow and only got half of Weird Al’s face. The best picture that I did get was not when he was right next to her, but when he was in the row in front of us.

So even though she didn’t get a chance to officially meet Weird Al, she did get a picture with him live during the concert. She has his autograph as well since a few months back we bought on eBay a concert shirt signed by Al and three out of four of his band members. She had a great time and was thrilled to see three Weird Al concerts each one a little better than the last.

Well, that about wraps it up. We’re going to catch some sleep, pack up in the morning and drive home. We had originally thought to hang out a little more on Sunday, but Becky’s best friend from high school, Marie, is in Sacramento right now visiting her parents. She lives in Utah, but ironically, she was here in California while we were in Utah. Marie and her family are leaving to go home Monday morning so we are going to try to make it back to Sacramento so Becky can get a chance to visit with her for a little while. Unless there’s some unexpected excitement on the road (knock on wood), this will probably be my last entry. Thanks for following our blog, and we hope to see you all soon. On behalf of Becky, Alex, Zac & Katie, this is Pete signing off!

Back to where we started - the Circle of Al

August 13, 2010 –

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Time is running out on our family vacation. It makes me a little sad, but a part of me would like to sleep in my own bed again.

Today was the day that started this all. Way back in January (or maybe even December, I can't remember anymore) I ordered tickets to this Weird Al concert, and here we are.

Our last stretch of driving (with the exception of homeward bound) is behind us. We left Vegas around noon, and it took around 4 ½ hours to get to Costa Mesa. I’m glad we were heading in the right direction because traffic on the way out of town on a Friday afternoon didn’t look too fun at a few spots. We made it to the hotel and got a chance to rest for a little while, and then it was on to the Orange County Fair Grounds.

The kids used some of their souvenir money from Grandma Kit, and they all bought Weird Al t-shirts (Zac and Katie just put them on over the Weird Al shirts they were already wearing), and Alex even bought a set of trading cards.

The concert was again INCREDIBLE!! I have no idea where Weird Al finds so much energy. We were able to enjoy this concert even more than the first one because we were able to sit down. If you remember, the venue in Redmond was very unorganized with people standing in front of us even though we had seats. Alex, Zac and I watched most of that show from a ramp. Today’s concert had assigned seating so that allowed us to relax and enjoy the show more. There were a few surprises this time like quite a few extra Star Wars characters that came on stage when he sang The Saga Begins – Zac got a real kick out of that.

Of course, we tried to hang out afterward to try to meet Al so the kids could get a picture and autograph, but it didn’t work out again. I think that because this is a home concert for Al, there was some kind of invitation-only after party for friends and family of people in the band. Oh, well. We’ll try again tomorrow.

After the concert, we did let the cat out of the bag about tomorrow’s show. When I got Alex tickets for her birthday way back when, I didn’t get them as soon as they went on sale because I figured there would be a concert closer to home for us. As this was the only concert that was announced in time for me to get the tickets for her birthday, I went ahead and got them, but by that point, there were only okay seats left. When they added a second concert at Costa Mesa, I went online the second pre-sale tickets went on sale and bought them through the Weird Al fan club.

Our seats for tomorrow’s show are much better. They have an area called the pit where I think they put maybe 5 or 6 rows of temporary seating. To make sure to get one of those seats, we would have had to purchase VIP tickets, and those were quite a bit more expensive. The tickets we got are in the third row of permanent seats called the circle, just behind the pit. I think they’ll be great seats. Since Alex didn’t even know we were going to another concert, needless to say, she is now very excited that we’ll be sitting so close. There is one point of the show where Weird Al comes down into the audience. If we could somehow get a picture of Alex with him, I know it would make her year. Either way, tomorrow’s show will be a blast.

Becky’s sister Kaye, who lives in Orange County, also got tickets for the show for her and her two boys. We were already planning to hang out with them during the day tomorrow, and now we’ll be able to go to the fair and concert together even though our seats won’t be together. Stay tuned – only one more day of fun and zany adventures left.

We meet a star & a magician

August 12, 2010 –

What a roller coaster day, both literally and figuratively. We all had a lot of fun, even Katie, but she had a hard time too. It’s very difficult for her to accept that she is younger than her siblings, and her four-year old brain just can’t understand why she can’t do everything they can do. This issue reared its ugly head, not once, but twice today.

The day started out really great. After breakfast we headed into Downtown Las Vegas and found the pawnshop from the show Pawn Stars. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you a quick (by my standards) rundown. Most anyone reading this blog probably knows that I am a history teacher, and I do keep an eye on what is coming on the History Channel both because I enjoy a lot of the shows and I’m always looking for something I can use in my class.

A little over a year ago, I started watching a new show on the History Channel called Pawn Stars about a three-generation family who runs a pawnshop in Vegas. Becky describes the show as Dog the Bounty Hunter meets the Antiques Road Show. Because it’s Vegas, they get some pretty interesting things that come into the shop. They never show the run of the mill stuff like jewelry and iPods because they’ve had in historical artifacts like documents with George Washington and Andrew Jackson’s signatures, treasure from a shipwreck, etc. They also get in antique collectibles of Americana such as old Coke machines, jukeboxes, etc. They always give some historical background for the piece and sometimes bring in experts to help evaluate some items. With some of the things they buy, like the old Coke machines, they show the transformation once the item has been restored.

Within the show, they also always have some kind of contrived (or maybe sometimes they’re real) storyline that creates some drama. They use the characters of the grouchy grandpa, lovingly called the Old Man, the son Rick, who is trying to run the business efficiently, the grandson Corey, who will have to take over the family business but still has some things to learn according to the other two, and the son’s friend Chumlee (not making that up), the village idiot who somehow manages to come through on occasion.

Anyway, it’s a pretty entertaining show, and they actually do have some really cool historical pieces that come in along with pretty good background info. After Becky and I stared watching the show, eventually Alex and then even Zac got hooked as well. Okay, so that was not a quick rundown, even by my standards, but now that I’ve written it, I’m not going back to change it.

Back to the point – We went to the Pawn Shop, and it really has become more of a tourist attraction (I’m sure a big chunk of their profits now come from signed t-shirt sales), but they are still a working pawnshop. The kids really wanted “to try to get on the show”, so Grandma let us bring in a few of her more interesting antiques although we didn’t intend to sell them. The problem is that the store was packed with tourists (us included), and none of the stars of the show were even working the counter, and they probably don’t very often in tourist season anymore. Wait, when is it not tourist season in Vegas?

The kids did get to see the Old Man behind a window in the back while we were waiting in a line to get into the shop (see what I mean about tourist attraction). After we had been there for a while, spoke with pawnbroker about our Nazi helmet and Japanese wood-block print that we really had no intention of selling, and bought a couple souvenirs (like I said, we admittedly were among the tourists), the kids were disappointed that we hadn’t met any of the stars of the show. As we were getting ready to leave though, Chumlee came through the store from the back and gave Aex and Zac knuckle high fives and stopped so they could get a quick picture with him. It was the highlight of their day.

So that is not all we did today (in fact, it probably took me longer to write about than the whole experience actually took). The kids decided to go to Circus Circus because there would be rides that Katie could do, and I think that even fearless Alex was a bit nervous about the Stratosphere rides. This is when the problems began though. While there were plenty of rides that Katie could do, she was not tall enough for most of the ones she wanted to do. We were all able to go on the Sponge Bob 4D Adventure and a Dino Island simulation ride together, but when the older two and Becky wanted to go on the roller coaster, Katie became distraught. After crying through a “baby ride” with me, we met up with Becky again a found a swinging pirate ship that Katie could go on. The problem there was that it made both Becky and I sick. Our salvation came when we found a frog hop ride that Katie loved and could go on by herself. She probably went on it 20 times, and Becky was able to sneak off and do some of the bigger rides with Alex and Zac while I watched Katie.

We eventually went back to the Stratosphere and caught a short rest in our room before going to dinner. We tried the buffet at our hotel because we had coupons, and it was okay but not great. We probably should have gone over to the Rio, but we didn’t know if we’d have time before our show. They did have some good brownies though.

Tonight we went to see a smaller, family-friendly magic show called Superstars of Magic starring Chris Best and Cassandra in Downtown Vegas. We got there early and the crowd was small on a Thursday night so we got to sit in the front row. With us up front and Zac being the perfect age, he got called up to assist on one of the tricks. This did not sit well with Katie who was heartbroken that she never got to go up on stage. She liked the show, but it put a cloud over her whole evening. Zac was really cute, but a little shy up on the stage. He was embarrassed because the pretty assistant kept flirting with him, but he enjoyed the attention too. The show was great, and I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you go to Vegas with kids. We really liked the smaller venue with more interaction compared to the huge theaters for some of the big shows.

After the show we decided to drive down the strip to show the kids some of the different themed hotels. Katie was overtired and not in a good mood, but she fell asleep before too long. The rest of us enjoyed the lights and being able to see Paris, Rome, New York, Egypt and Camelot all in a twenty-minute ride. We had a fun-packed, action-filled day, but if anyone is looking to adopt, we have a blond-haired, blue-eyed four year old that we might be willing to take offers for.

Peaceful Provo & Lavish Las Vegas

August 11, 2010 –

This morning we once again packed the car and said our goodbyes to some really great friends who opened their home to us. I know the kids are sad to leave; every time I tried to get Katie ready to go, she kept yelling, “No, not yet!” We stopped on the way out of town to buy gas, and we went through a car wash as well. You should have seen Katie; she laughed and laughed and wanted to go through again. I think it was the highlight of the trip for her. Eventually, we hit the road and drove about an hour south to Provo. For anyone who doesn’t know, Becky and I met while we both attending BYU, and for me at least it was my first time returning to the campus since I graduated (not that we actually attended the graduation ceremony) in 1996.

Now I have to give a little bit of a disclaimer here. From comments that I have made, it seem that some people are under the impression that I do not like BYU. That is not true. This is where I met Becky – my soul mate even if she does roll her eyes at me too often. I have great memories of BYU and Provo hanging out with Becky, Seth, other friends and my two brothers whose own time here overlapped my own. And of no little importance, this is where I went to the best haunted houses around Halloween that I have ever been to. Plus, I truly did love wrestling here under the coaching of Olympic gold medalist Mark Schultz.

The only issue I have with BYU is with their sports program. I no longer consider myself a fan of their sports teams because whole situation was not handled very well when they dropped their wrestling team a couple years after I graduated. So while I love the memories I have of BYU, I do joke with people that since they dropped their wrestling program, I don’t feel the least bit guilty throwing away unopened any Alumni requests for donations to the school. From the looks of the beautiful campus and all the changes they’ve made in the last 14 years, they don’t seem to be missing the contributions of schoolteacher in any case.

So we did the whole drive-around-Provo thing – “Look kids, this was our first apartment after we got married. Look, this is where I lived when I met your mom. This is where she lived. There’s the Brick Oven where I used to get free meals after weighing in for wrestling matches. Alex, take your headphones off and listen to me! This is important stuff! Look, there’s the MTC. There’s the Provo Temple.” All of you who have been back to Provo with your kids know the drill.

We did go on campus as well. Of course, we bought a few souvenirs in the BYU bookstore, ate lunch at the food court in the Wilkinson Center and had ice cream from the BYU Creamery. We took pictures with the Brigham Young statue and commented on how different the library looks. We even showed the kids the bowling alley where Uncle Paul became a bowling hustler and I used to play Ms. Pac Man. Of course, now they have one of those new commemorative combo Ms. Pac Man / Galaga games where the Ms. Pac Man is slowed way down so you might as well be playing Pac Man. Just goes to show that change is not always for the better, and just one other area where the university seems to be slipping. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

After our stroll down memory lane, we got back in the car and drove another five hours south to Provo’s sister city, Las Vegas. I had forgotten that leaving Utah we pass through Arizona for 15 or 20 minutes before getting into Nevada so that makes a total of 7 Western states we visited on the trip, not 6. Of course, we never even got out of the car, but since the canyon you drive through is among the most spectacular views of any I have seen, I’m going to count it anyway.

We got into Vegas at about 9 o’clock – just when the town’s coming to life. I have been here a couple of times, but this is the first time I had arrived after dark. It’s a very impressive sight to see all the lights as you get closer and closer to the city. We are staying at the Stratosphere, and because it’s mid-week I got a screaming deal on the room. Becky and the kids waited in the car while I registered, and the hotel had another deal going on so at check-in I decided to splurge and upgraded us to a suite on the top floor of the main rooms tower – that would be the 24th floor, not the 100+ of the observation tower. I parked the car while Becky and the kids went up to the room, and they were all very surprised that I had upgraded the room (see, I’m not always cheap).

We grabbed something to eat, and then we headed up the huge observation tower that overlooks the whole city. The wait was about a half-hour, but we could go up to the 109th floor observation deck for free because we’re staying at the hotel. The view is very impressive, but it’s a little scary to look down from that height. At the very top of the tower, they have these three insane thrill rides – one of them shoots you up over the tower, and the other two dangling you off the edge of the tower. From the observation deck we were able to see the two that go over the edge of the tower, and we are currently considering whether we want to try any of the rides tomorrow. The only one of the kids who seems really convinced that she wants to do it is Katie who, of course, is the only one too short to go on any of the rides. Oh well, we’ll play it by ear and see what looks fun tomorrow.

A little break and great cake

August 10, 2010 –

Today was a great turnaround day. It started off kinda iffy because of the lack of sleep the night before, but we slept in a little to try to catch up. Once we were all up, the kids seemed like they wanted a day off from touring. Since this was the first time on our trip that there were other kids around their same age, we decided to just let them play. Alicia’s parents live right up the hill from them, and they have an indoor pool so between that and the trampoline, I think the kids were just fine.

Becky and I took the opportunity of pawning our kids off on Alicia to go back to the Salt Lake Temple. Because we didn’t have the kids with us, we were able to go inside and do some work in the temple. What a cool highlight! It was beautiful inside, and although there are many Mormon temples in the world, the Salt Lake Temple is a unique experience.

Afterward, we ate lunch at the Lion House Pantry, part of a building that was once home to Brigham Young. The cake we shared for dessert was so good that we bought a whole one to bring back to Travis and Alicia’s house to share with everyone. I wish we could bring one home to California so all of you could try it too. I can’t remember for sure the exact name, but it was something like Chocolate Cream Cake. If you ever find yourself in Salt Lake City, go to the Lion House and try this cake. By the way, the rest of the meal was great as well. Although I love our family vacation, it was nice to have just a little time away from the kids after a week and a half and nearly two thousand miles of togetherness. Thanks, Alicia.

The rest of the day we spent just hanging out with our friends and catching up on laundry. We are leaving tomorrow, and the last four nights of our trip will be spent in hotel rooms so this will be our last chance to wash any clothes until we make it back to our own homestead. We’re heading into the home stretch!

Trampolines & Temples - different kinds of adventures

August 9, 2010 –

Travis and Alicia’s kids have their own thrill ride at their house. Their home is built on three levels with a back deck built onto the second level. On ground level right next to the deck is a big trampoline. Dee and Kit – you may want to close your computers down so you won’t read this, and Brian – I’m sure we’ll be seeing you for adjustments as soon as we’re home. Tanner, Marshall, KJ and even Kennedy love jumping off the second floor deck onto the trampoline below. Alex got to be pretty good at it too, and Zac and Katie wanted their turn as well although they were both a little nervous.

Zac built up the courage to jump a couple of times; the jumps were fine, but then he had a hard time controlling the bounce afterward. The first time he did a face plant after the bounce, and the second time he kind of landed on his side. Katie really wanted to go but was scared to jump. So I did a Michael Jackson and held her over the side. I lowered her as far as I could reach and then dropped her. She landed fine, but then bounced forward and did a belly flop. Once was enough for her.

Although the daring plunge off the deck was very memorable, our real activity for the day was going into Salt Lake City to see some of the Mormon Church sites there. We had intended to start the visit at the This Is the Place Heritage Park at the site where Brigham Young looked over the Salt Lake Valley and reportedly said, “This is the place,” referring to where the Mormon pioneers would settle after their journey westward.

Our friend Travis has apparently never been to This Is the Place Park but had recently taken his kids on a hike to Ensign Peak. A couple of days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and others hiked the peak and began planning and laying out the city. Travis mistakenly gave us directions to Ensign Peak, and that’s where we ended up. Since we were there, we decided to hike to the top. It wasn’t long (maybe a mile or so round trip), but it was fairly steep at some points and didn’t have a lot of shade. Alex was fine, but Zac and Katie needed some encouragement. Just when Zac was ready to turn around, a big cloud blocked out the sun for a while and a cool wind even started to blow. He and I agreed that it was a miracle (although of a minor scale), and he then made it to the top. The view of the valley was pretty amazing, and the exercise did us all some good.

We considered trying to go the This Is the Place Park afterward, but we decided that could wait for another trip. We then went down the mountain a short way to visit Temple Square. There are two visitor centers as well as several historic buildings that people can tour around the Salt Lake Temple. The giant statue of Christ in the North Visitors Center is definitely a highlight, and both the old Tabernacle and new Conference Center are well worth touring. From the roof of the Conference Center, you see an awesome view of the Temple and the surrounding area. I think the whole family enjoyed our tour of Temple Square.

This evening, we hung out with Travis, Alicia and family. Travis, Tanner and I started doing some prep work on Tanner’s Eagle project that he is doing for Boy Scouts, and the kids played together. Tonight the kids decided to have a campout on the trampoline. Our kids didn’t really make it the whole night though. Katie loved the idea and hung out for a while, but then came into our room when it was time to sleep at around midnight. Alex couldn’t fall asleep after all the other kids were all out, and she ended up coming in around 1:00 or 1:30. Zac then woke up around 4:30 and found his way in too. Between kids coming in and out, I think I woke up at least three times. Finally, I just went into the playroom and slept for a couple of hours on a giant beanbag. One adventure right after another – aren’t family vacations great? I wouldn’t trade them for anything.