Whirlwind

This past weekend I had the chance to pop over to California and back again in 48 hours. WOW! It was fun but rough. That's a lot of time for these old bones and crooked back to sit in a car. We really only had Saturday to do anything, so that day was quite loaded!

First that morning, our reason for going, was my SIL Lindsey's baby shower. It was beautifully decorated, had great activities planned, and the refreshments were lavish! We laughed our heads off cutting up photos of Lindsey and Malcom (the parents) to morph them into what the baby would look like - hahaha! Then she opened a truckload of fabulous gifts for a new little BOY in her house!

Upon returning to the apartment, we spent the afternoon re-arranging furniture and setting up for the new baby's arrival. Nice. and. Sweaty.

Almost immediately after that, we had to dash off to our evening's activity: The Sound of Music Sing-Along! This was an absolute riot. We joined 18,000 people in this massive outdoor amphitheater.

Here's what I saw when I looked in one direction.

and the other direction.

Told you it was massive!

We take our seats and get full instructions in how the audience participates throughout the show. We are to boo at the Nazi's, cheer for Maria, sway to Edelweiss, ALL sorts of stuff! Then the costume contest begins. It's very popular for people to come dressed as characters and things from the movie. Each and every one of them got 10 seconds on stage to show off and be judged. HOLY COW that took 2 hours - no exaggeration - to get through all the costumes. Far too many of them were lame.... but the winner was a darling little 3 year old. She was "Ray, a drop of golden sun" (basically looked like a yellowish stuffed fuzzy hershey kiss.) Adorable! Oh, and she won a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise! Not too shabby.

By this point everyone is nicely liquored up (not us, of course) and the sun has set. The movie begins! It was quite entertaining to sing all the songs and see everyone goof off. I wish this video could fully portray it.... but it probably doesn't. Either way, I tried to catch a fun part of the movie. This is the end of the song "My Favorite Things" when Maria gets the idea to use the curtains to make play clothes for the children. (I kindly spared you and did not sing along while I recorded, but hopefully you can hear everyone else having fun.)

We got home at midnight, and were out the door by 6 the next morning to make a mad dash for home!!! We had to attend a baby blessing for ANOTHER baby in the family. CRRRRAZY!

And when I got home from that, I slept for about 12 hours. My poor sweet mother-in-law did all that driving. I sure hope she got a nap, too.....