St George Birthday Road Trip
Back in February, L and I decided to splurge on tickets to the Little Mermaid show at Tuacahn theater (the best seats in the house- Front Row center!) and do a little road trip for our birthdays this year in lieu of a party and presents. I have tried to take L to this show since she was a little girl! We had tickets but I ended up in the hospital while pregnant with F. Almost 10 years later, L doing this trip was what she really wanted, and it was such a blast! We share a “love language” of Quality Time (and musicals, and traveling) so this was our gift to each other haha. The drive was so fun with singing the whole way there and back, yummy snacks, and laughing so much.
L said her favorite parts were the funny Chef song “Les Poisson” with the special blacklight effects, and the characters Flotsam and Jetsam (evil sidekick eels) who did an amazing job with their movements and costumes. They had a wall of water and flooded the stage, I was at the exact spot where I could see the stunt doubles after Ariel rescued Eric, or when she magically transformed from a Mermaid to a human with legs. We were so close to see the line of where their headpieces ended, and the special shoes or wheels the actors wore. It felt so amazing having characters sing right up front to you! I loved the colorful joyful flair of “Under the Sea”, and the design choices for the costumes and makeup. Ariel has been my favorite Disney Princess since childhood, and it’s funny to me how over the years I’ve grown from relating to Ariel all the way to understanding her father’s and Sebastian’s guardian perspectives. I definitely cried at and squeezed my L tighter at all the parts about not knowing what to do as a parent, or wanting to wave your hand and make your girl’s dreams come true, or realizing that loving means letting her go even though you want to keep her close forever. Becoming a mother and growing that special relationship with my daughter has really been such a gift and blessing in my life!
Spending Time with Family
I called up my family in the area to see if we could meet up, and my parents went and spoiled us at their house with comfortable beds, karaoke every night, and more gourmet food and treats than we could have imagined. Jer and I were a bit concerned how the trip would affect our high risk pregnancy, so I took lots of breaks and made sure I hydrated and only planned on one thing at a time. L was very flexible and thoughtful, always encouraging me to rest. I loved staying up talking with my folks until 2 or 3am, hearing of their travels in Europe on their favorite river cruise, eating from Dad’s 2,000 year old Japanese pottery he keeps his saffron rice in, checking out Mom’s flavored soda collection (I think the chocolate one blew my mind), hilarious things my Dad did when he was in high school and in the military and more details about his conversion, and swapping stories I’d never heard of with my Mom about pregnancies.
We also got to visit with my sister and her kiddos while in town. I got to meet my latest nephew for the first time; he’s 7 months and an absolute cutie pie!! L and I couldn’t stop holding him. He fell asleep on me in the glider, and I think I definitely need to get me one of those. My sister gave us a tour of the lovely home they are building that I’m so excited for them to start a new chapter in. The kids were excited to show us their rooms and I can tell how happy my sister is to have lots of storage and all the hard work they’ve put into the construction. I’m very proud of her and her husband and all their supporters for doing such an amazing achievement!
I asked L about the trip, and with a bunch of teenage enthusiasm she said it was the BEST! Grandma gave her a new very comfortable pair of sandals that she was able to wear to the theater. Grandpa spent one on one time with her showing her how to mess around on the electric guitar (which he had us bring home for W to start lessons on if I can find a teacher). Her cousins drew with her and wanted piggy back rides. Not only that, for some reason we were getting discounts at unexpected places like McDonald’s for the one time we stopped to eat, and a random free month of Spotify when we remembered to treat ourselves to “no ads”- it honestly felt like winning!! We felt very safe and loved, and it was a visit I’m glad we were able to go on!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!
Love, Kat
