The Acting Bug: The Emerald Orb

 Oh boy! Oh man! Did we ever find a cool place! Right in our neighborhood, there's a little place called "East Dallas Arts." We'd seen it right across from Kroger for over a year, we didn't realize what it was. But your friend Ellie's mom told us about it...it's a theater...for kids...and they're doing acting camps all summer long!

You had never done formal acting before, but we've had plenty of experience in the Purple Curtain Theater. 

We asked you guys if you wanted to do an acting camp, and before we even finished the question you excitedly said YES!!

So we signed you up!

We walked there every morning!

During this camp, you and your friends came up with a story and characters for a play. Mr. Tom (the director) took your ideas and  turned it into a script.

Julia, you were RUBY, an elf princess (very on brand!)

Aidan, you were GOODAN, a goo-based warrior (very on brand!)

You guys practiced your lines every night and built your costumes!

You were having so much fun and the week went by in the blink of an eye. 

Lines were learned and practiced and perfected. The audience filed in, the lights went dark, and then it was showtime.

It was time for THE EMERALD ORB!

The show was amazing because you all worked so hard on it and had so much fun! Wow! Bravo!

Amazing!

You guys had SO much fun that you didn't want it to end. 

At East Dallas Arts for the next TWO weeks of FULL day camp, they were putting on a musical... MADAGASCAR JR.

We asked you guys if you wanted to do it... and before we even finished the question you excitedly said YES!!

Get Medieval

In May, Uncle BJ and I bought Medieval Times Groupons.

So you know what that means? In July we got to get Medieval again! This time with Asher and Sawyer, Aunt Kari, and Uncle BJ!

We hooted, we hollered, we cheered on our YELLOW knight until he was decidedly executed in his first battle. Then we cheered on whomever was left, and whomever was winning.  

There were three Lords, who picked a fight they definitely won.

There was a regal lady who CAUGHT the carnation thrown to her by the Yellow knight (pre-death).

And there were goofballs, jesters, chicken on a bone, and a LOT of fun!

The pageantry continued at home, where the royal lifestyle suited us medievally. 

Julia Princess Fairy Cooking Lessons

Julia, we went to the bookstore over the weekend. You had been talking about buying a cook book for a couple of days. You know, so you could read the recipes, and cook the recipes, and learn to be a princess. When we got to the store, you couldn't decide on the Princess Cookbook or the Fairy Cookbook....so you bought both!

When we got back, you and I ventured out on making the first recipe: Princess Fairy Marshmallow Pops. 

There were three ingredients: marshmallows, sprinkles, and icing. 

We didn't have any icing, so we made our own. That had like 5 ingredients: powdered sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, and a little bit of salt.

You and I worked as a team from top to bottom on the recipe. 

You mixed the icing, added the food coloring, did all the prepwork and sprinkling of sprinkles...

And...man oh man... did they look good!

You, me, and Aidan did a LOT of taste testing along the way. The sugar intake probably lent themselves to the super smiles.

...and the yummy taste led to a LOT more taste-testing.

We froze the marshmallows, and waited for EVER (7 minutes).

Finally, when we sat down to taste, I decided to video the tasting.

The verdict: "These are Sweet. TOO sweet. Can I have another?"

THEN, after seeing the video, you decided you wanted to make an entire Cooking Show! So we ret-conned some footage, and you and your brother stickily hovered over my shoulder as you guided the creative edit of the video, including musical choice and sound effects.

The video turned out super sweet!

I hope this week goes by fast so we can get on to the next cooking lesson, sweet treat, and video!

SUPER FAMILY- Comicon 2018

We'd been talking about it for a year. We got our costumes all figured out. We got all dressed up. And we got a new recruit.

That's right...the Weinsteins SUITED UP... Mommy, Daddy, Julia, and Aidan transformed into Jessica Jones, Tony Stark, Harley Quinn, and Iron Man...

...and we HAD A SUPER TIME at Dallas Fan Expo, which we call COMICON!!!

EXCELSIOR!

We had such a fun time dressing up, riding the train downtown, checking out all there is to see, and taking pictures with all of the amazing cosplayers and displays.

 Aidan you got to take on Darth Vader:

Julia you got to hang out with Ariel:

But...more on that later!

First we boarded the DART in a last-minute ticket buying down-to-the-wire performance. True Heroics!

And then we arrived among the skyscrapers of Downtown, where heroes truly belong! 

From there it was magical, including a magical unicorn:

Look! It's Jodi Benson- voice of Ariel and Barbie! No...not her...the one next to her. 

Of course, we had cotton candy!

We found our mini-fig family: 

...and before we knew it, this incredible hero family headed home and off to our next adventure. 

I am so honored to be part of this super squad, this elite fighting team, this fantastic family.