London

I told my sister we could travel anywhere she wanted when she graduated from the University of Utah.  After she did that in May of 2010, she informed me that she wanted to go to London.  I was not very enthusiastic about her choice because I had already been to London three times and I wanted to go somewhere new.  But a promise is a promise and Marilyn and I ended up having such a great time!  Here are some highlights.

Big Ben

Houses of Parliament

London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Royal Mews.  I loved the Glass Coach that Princess Diana rode to her wedding in and the Gold State Coach the Queen rode to her Coronation in.

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Day trip to Stonehenge

Bath Cathedral on a day trip to Bath

The Roman Baths on a day trip to Bath

Windsor Castle

Changing of the Guard at Windsor Castle

St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle

Westminster Abbey

St. Paul's Cathedral

Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace Gardens

The Beatles at Madame Tussauds

We saw quite a few shows in the West End but Wicked was my favorite!

Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.  The London HRC was actually the first one I ever went to back in college.  Now I am kind of obsessed with them.  A great trip with wonderful memories with my sister!

African Safari

Canadian Rockies

Utah Opera's The Abduction from the Seraglio

Last night I went to see the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart at the Capitol Theatre.  I have really enjoyed Utah Opera's 2013-2014 season (I had to see Turandot twice because the production was so magnificent) but I was particularly eager to see this opera.  It is prominently featured in Amadeus and I credit this movie with turning me into a fan of classical music.  I bought the soundtrack and played it constantly.  To this day, Mozart remains one of my favorite composers and I try to see any performance which features his music.  While I was very familiar with the music and scenes featured in Amadeus, I didn't expect this opera to be so funny.  There is a lot of physical comedy, especially with the character Pedrillo, and I really enjoyed it.  Konstanze, her maid Blonde, and her servant Pedrillo, are captured by pirates and sold to Pasha Selim.  Belmonte, Konstanze's fiance, tries to rescue them with a little help from Pedrillo and chaos ensues.  The scenes where Pedrillo tries to distract Osmin, the Pasha's overseer, are hilarious.  Of course, the music is incredibly beautiful.  While this is a comic opera, to be sure, the aria performed by Konstanze (sung by Utah native, and frequent Utah Opera soprano, Celena Shafer) describing her despair at being separated from Belmonte is absolutely beautiful and most affecting.  I also really loved the scene where Konstanze and Belmonte, who have been condemned to death, sing about dying together.  It gave me goosebumps!  All of the performances are wonderful, but as I mentioned, I really enjoyed Tyson Miller's portrayal of Pedrillo.  When he serenades the women, their cue that they are about to be rescued, I couldn't stop laughing.  I liked the set featuring a Turkish palace and garden but I was not impressed by the costumes.  I thought the Pasha's guard looked absolutely ridiculous with strange tunics and over-sized  handle-bar mustaches.  Speaking of over-sized, I was definitely not a fan of the Pasha's absurd codpiece.  It was very distracting, to say the least, from his beautiful jewel-encrusted robe.  I think comedic elements can sometimes be taken too far.  I did really enjoy this opera, especially when the scenes featured in Amadeus were performed, and I would definitely recommend it;  however, when all is said and done, my favorite opera by Mozart is still Don Giovanni.  I guess I prefer tragedy to comedy!

Note:  I think I will watch Amadeus this weekend!

I Love Being an Aunt

I love being an aunt!  Both Tashena and Sean were adopted when they were five and four, respectively.  When I met both of them for the first time, my heart just melted.  I had no idea that I could love two children so much.  They have both been through a lot in their young lives and I am incredibly proud of them!  Being an aunt is the greatest thing ever; you get to have fun with them and, when they get tired or cranky, you get to take them home!  I remember the first time Marilyn and I got to take Tashena on an outing.  We took her to the circus and she came home with her face painted, a hat, a cup in the shape of an elephant, cotton candy, and sword that lit up.  My brother-in-law said, "What part of no spoiling don't you two understand?"  We couldn't help it.  Spoiling is in the Aunt By-laws!  Here are some random pictures of all the fun I have had with these two kiddos!

I am so lucky to be their aunt!

Lava Hot Springs

Last weekend KOA sponsored their eleventh annual Care Camps Big Weekend: if you stayed at any participating KOA as a paying guest on Friday, May 9 you got a free night on Saturday, May 10.  All proceeds go towards sending children with cancer to a KOA Care Camp!  Win-win!  We chose to stay at the KOA in Lava Hot Springs (About 2 1/2 hours north from Salt Lake in Idaho).  It has been a rough couple of weeks at school so I was really looking forward to this camping trip!

Marilyn, Sean, and I stayed in a cabin (it's funny how each campsite has slightly different cabins) while my parents had an RV hook-up.  This was a really nice campground and I enjoyed exploring it Friday night.  Then things deteriorated rapidly for me.  I had nausea, muscle aches, a fever, chills, congestion, and a severe headache for the rest of the trip.  Basically, the flu.  I didn't get to go to the hot springs, sit on the porch and read, sit by the fire, or eat anything.  But I did have a sweet little nephew to take care of me.  He made sure I was covered by a blanket at all times (he even carefully covered me with his blanket while I was asleep) and he gave me some of his gum after I threw up!  He is so tender-hearted!

By Sunday morning I had had enough and decided to leave early with Marilyn (I had planned to stay all day and come back with my parents in the motor home).  My first camping trip of the year was rainy and this trip I was sick!  Luckily I have another trip booked very soon.  Maybe the third time's the charm!

Note:  This KOA had the best bathrooms of any KOA I've ever stayed at.  I know because I spent some quality time there!