Shakespearean excursion

On July 11th Faith and I headed out with Lana and Tammy on a Utah Shakespeare Festival (formerly Shakespearean Festival) excursion! This was Faith's first time there and she was so excited that she was finally old enough. Our first stop was The Red Barn in Santaquin. It's a little fruit stop that also has crafts. Faith fell in love with their darling aprons.

Next, we stopped by the Young Living Farm in Mona. They have the most beautiful grounds!

We ate lunch at the Dairy Queen in the Flying J truck stop at Scipio. Tammy and Lana ALWAYS stop at Scipio on their way down south because they have crushed ice for their fountain drinks :) We finally got to our hotel (the Holiday Inn Express) and unpacked.

After freshening up, we beelined it over to the festival on the Southern Utah State University campus.

We wanted to check out the gift shop and the cool displays.

We left to catch a quick bite at Sizzler, then came back for the Green Show.

Our first play was that evening and we were treated to a hilarious production of Noises Off. If you haven't seen this show, I strongly recommend it! It is fall-out-of-your-seat-laughing funny. I noticed that it's coming to the CenterPoint Legacy Theater in January and although I can't imagine anyone doing it as well as the Shakespeare Festival (I saw it in summer 2000, too), it would still be a lot of fun!

The next day, after enjoying our complimentary breakfast, we went shopping at Bulloch Drug and its adjoining shops. I made Lana try on this crazy cool feathered flower that matched her shirt.

We then went to one of my favorite things, the Costume Seminar! Faith loved this lion mask from Midsummer,

and even got to hold one of Juliet's dresses! You couldn't even imagine all the intricate details they put into these costumes.

That afternoon we saw the matinee of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I have seen the show before and not especially loved it, but this interpretation was very fun! I actually loved it.

I had gotten the movie (Michelle Pfeiffer/Christian Bale version) from the library a few weeks before our trip so that Faith would be familiar with the story. I'm not a fan of it and thought the kids wouldn't pay attention. To my surprise, the both loved it--especially Buddy!

Of course, between shows we had to head back to Bulloch Drug because there is so much to look at, we hadn't even come close to seeing it all earlier. Faith tried a sip of Tammy's chocolate Coke (and look, I got to enjoy a delicious protein shake for lunch!).

We got to see a different Green Show that evening. As we sat on the grass enjoying the show, I thought I would get a picture of Faith's and my glitter toes (Faith's are purple and mine fuchsia). We did it ourselves with old polish from the drawer and a multipack of Martha Stewart extra fine glitter that I'd gotten at the dollar store a few months back. This pic doesn't even do these babies justice, they were dazzlingly sparkly!

Just as we were about to enter the outdoor Adams Shakespearean Theater (which is a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre), Tammy nudged me, pointed and said, "Is that David Ivers?" Sure enough, it was and I told Faith to run over to him with me (since I'm his and Brian Vaughn's groupie at the festival). So I got a picture of him with Faith, and Tammy got him to sign her 50th anniversary program :) He was milling around because he directed this production of Romeo and Juliet.

I had to get a picture of Baby with one of her many tarts--can you see that guilty face? It's because she had several and her favorite were the summerberry ones.

This was the best Romeo and Juliet I have ever seen! It was very edgy and even kept me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew how it would end (Spoiler alert! They both die). I thought Faith might get a little bored in this one since it isn't a comedy, but she was enchanted by it as well.

On our way back to the hotel, Tammy missed the turn off the main road and onto the hotel drag. Unfortunately, the main road dumps you on the freeway immediately after that turnoff with nearly no warning and the next exit is Kanarraville ten miles down the road! We joked that we were taking the scenic way, even though it was pitch black and there's nothing between the two cities (or really even in Kanarraville, from what I could tell).

The next morning Tammy, Faith and I got up early and went to the Literary Seminar in the Grove. The discussion about Romeo and Juliet was so interesting and informative! The professor talked about how Brian Vaughn wanted to focus more on the parents in the play. How the conflict was because of them and they lost their only children as a consequence. It's amazing how different versions, using the exact same words come out so different! I also was interested to learn that playwrights in Shakespeare's time often used characters and stories that were well known (these days this might be a litigious offense) and there had been folk stories and plays about Romeo and Juliet before the one he made famous. I also loved that in past centuries directors took even more liberties with the script and at least one playhouse had different endings for the play at different performances so the audience really would be surprised by the ending!

I had Faith come with us instead of stay behind and sleep in with grandma. I had her bring art materials and thought that even though she wouldn't actively listen, some knowledge from the seminar would subliminally make its way into her head. She sat on one of the log benches at the back while Tam and I stood a ways to the side and in front of her so we could see and hear better. About halfway through I turned around to see how she was enjoying the discussion and found . . . she had her iPod earbuds in and hadn't heard a word!

We headed back to the hotel to pick up Lana and drive down to St. George. Danged if we didn't miss the turnoff again! Lana thought that was a hoot when we told her about our second incredible trip to Kanarraville :D In St. George we shopped the outlets and had fun, but didn't find much. Faith got this pack of cupcake inspired lip glosses at Children's Place for a dollar. In this picture we're at Chili's which was her pick. She loves the onion string and crispy jalapeno stack (minus the jalapenos) and the BBQ baby back ribs.

On Thursday we stopped by the Centurium, a round. open air, columned structure with bronze statues of 12 of history's greatest intellects. Here's Baby thinking deep thoughts with Einstein,

and posing with Shakespeare.

We got to attend the Props Seminar which is always fun and interesting. Faith loved this mouse covered, half chewed away wedding cake from a previous year's Great Expectations.

And here's our group bidding a fond farewell to the festival.

We passed Juliet on our way to the car.

One last stop at Bulloch Drug and Faith even got her own chocolate Coke.

Lana grew up in Parowan, so we thought it would be fun to stop by the Old Rock Church which has been made into a history museum.

I got a few photos before noticing the "No Photography" sign,

and a few after.

I don't know if you can tell, but this one was taken from upstairs on the balcony. There were the tallest, narrowest stairs up to there with no railing at the top! With all the displays it's hard to see the pews up there. There's just that little two foot ledge to keep you from ending up on the lap of a parishioner below. So, I guess no Sunbeams up there back in the day? Tammy didn't even try the first step, and I was glad when I went to head back down and realized how precarious the descent was.

Our next stop on what turned out to be "the history tour home from Cedar City" was Cove Fort in Beaver. We told them first off that we were already members and didn't have any referrals, so don't "missionary" us! This was good thinking on our part because we got an excellent, proselytism-free tour. Five years before, Tammy, Lana, and I (and Buddy in my belly) stopped by, but it was raining and we missed a lot. Faith was very interested and really enjoyed seeing the antiques and learning about how they lived.

On top of the fort wall (Tammy didn't climb up here, either).

A pioneer belly-dump wagon! We thought Tony would get a kick out of this because he used to drive belly-dump trucks years ago.

Dictated by tradition, we ate dinner at Cracker Barrel in Springville, then finally made it to my mom & dad's. Tony got off work a little early and met us there to pick up Christian. I thought Buddy would be sooooo happy to see me because he missed me so much, but instead he was sad that his "beshall (special) time" alone with his grandparents was over! He got to go to the Riverdale splash pad and the Treehouse Museum.