SHREK

*DISCLAIMER: other people took most of these photos*
-I am ALWAYS multitasking, and if I know someone else is taking pictures, I divert my limited attention to other tasks.  If it were left solely up to me, these memories would NOT get to be so thoroughly documented.  :)  So big thank yous to my sister, my in-laws, and the KCMT photographers.


Where do I begin?

Once upon a time there was a little ogre named Shrek.  Who lived with his parents in a bog by a tree.   It was a pretty nasty place, but he was happy, because ogres like nasty . . . . wait, no no.

Once upon a time there were 2 young sisters.   Who lived with their parents in a town by Seattle.  It was a pretty rainy place, but they were happy, because they liked being in KCMT plays.  ;) 

I could go on and on and on about how great I think the KCMT organization is, and about how I am SO thankful that my kids have the opportunity to be a part of it.  But I try really hard to keep things as short, sweet, and to-the-point as possible.  So I will let the pictures lead this little journey down memory lane.

We'll start with opening weekend.

My CRAZY sisters came all the way from Utah(14+ hour drive) . . . in a mini-van . . . with 3 adults . . . a two year old . . . a baby . . . and a dog.   

My family all loved having a sweet little baby around for the weekend.  Even shortcake tolerated the competition pretty well. 

 
Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins came from Idaho for opening weekend as well.

E Mae's turn with the baby.

Yes, that's MY kid.  But the resemblance between these two is ridiculous. 

The 4-legged companion.  That sad looking puppy dog face is probably because he didn't get to come into the house like everyone else. 

Finally it was time to head to the auditorium.

 
Meanwhile back stage, the kids we're preping for their opening night performance.  Before every performance, all the kids get in a circle, hold hands, and say a prayer together.

 

I LOVE this picture. 

Hanging out back stage.

Must be a pretty good show.

  

 We had a day in between performances.  So we took the kiddos to the park, 

did tie-die with Aunt Lou,

and went for a night run!  Love my sisters!

Then it was back to the theatre the next day.

When the twins were just a few weeks old, I took an infant massage class.  One of my favorite things to do with my little nephew was to give him a massage.

While they were here, Grandpa saw a raccoon out by our front porch.  It got frightened and ran off.  But while they were waiting to see if it would come back, E Mae and Grandpa sat under the stars and read a raccoon book. 

Meanwhile, miss K Rae practised her diaper changing skills.  

(Getting your diaper changed is exhausting.) 

On their last day here, I took my sis out for one more run.  

This may look like a legit trail, having it's own fancy sign and all.  But it sure wasn't anywhere on that darn map.

Everyone sporting their finished "Aunt Lou" shirts. 

I only see my family every 6 months or so, and I miss out on a lot.  It was so wonderful to get to see them.  But they had to get back to their lives in Idaho and Utah, and we still had a whole lot of SHREK ahead of us. 

Even though we don't have any family who live near us, we have really great friends.  So many of them came to support the girls.  

Being a part of SHREK, the girls have gotten to interact and learn from lots of new friends too. 

 

The girls also got to be in our local parade with all their SHREK friends.  

 

The original plan was that Shortcake and dad would find a place to sit and watch the parade go by.  But anyone who knows this little miss, knows she will NOT be left out.  

Even though we were drawing near the end of our SHREK adventure, we still had one more set of visitors in store.  
Grandma and Grandpa Staley braved the Memorial Day Weekend traffic, and came to support the girls on closing weekend. 

The girls have enjoyed the theatre experience so much, that they planned their own little production in honor of Grandma and Grandpa's visit.  Complete with original songs, choreography, a "director", several costume changes, and bows.

 

 

 And since it was so close to the girls birthday, we couldn't miss this opportunity to celebrate it with Grandma and Grandpa. 

One of the things the girls got for their birthday: flip flop socks!

But then it was off to the theatre again!

Later that night we burned the midnight oil and worked on a couple of projects.  I wanted to make these as a closing night gift for the girls.  It's a mirror with Shrek ears.  It says, "That's Who I'd Be."  Which is a song that Shrek sings.  I'm  pretty proud of them and super happy with how they turned out.
(But do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a mirror?)

Then my sweet in-laws stayed up even later that night, and helped me make this vinyl sign to go with my "Hershey's" kitchen.  (Don't you just love that font?)

And the day they left, they also squeezed in the time to make these other signs for me too.  I think they're beautiful.

But sleep or no sleep, the show must go on!  And we were back at the theatre again the next day.

 

 And with a tear or two, our time in the swamp came to an end.  Again, I'm so grateful that this is a part of my children's lives.  They have learned and grown so much.  Not gonna lie.  It's a time consuming endeavour.  But it's worth every minute.  And as long as it still brings big smiles to their faces, we will be back to do it again every year.