Aggie Ice Cream

Today we had a late practice and slept in til 8:30. It was dark and gray here because of the rain so the apartment remained dark late into the morning which may be what kept us all sleeping so long. It has become really easy to fit in scriptures in the morning because we have lots of free time here. Jace woke up the earliest because last night i issued a challenge that whoever reminds mom first about scriptures and prayer in the morning could have an extra dollar on their allowance. Three of the four kids reminded me first thing when they woke up:) The whole dollar system has been working perfectly because all of the kids have been keeping their rooms and house clean so that they can earn their dollar for the day. On Friday they get to collect and spend their money on toys or fast food or whatever they want. I'm hoping to teach some budgeting and saving along the way too.
   We took Jace to practice but Michael Ballam had another engagement so the practice was canceled. However, I did talk to the show's producer, Jack Shouse, and asked him about how he got in to the business and if he would do the same thing over again if he were younger. I wanted to hear about the pros and cons of living a theater life. He actually got 2 master's degrees; one in theater and one in designing sets and he has used his education to support his family by teaching at the college. He loves what he does and feels grateful that he's been allowed to pursue his dreams. His wife is the stage manager, who also has been in theater her whole life and has been able to work alongside her husband all these years. Jace got to go through his song "where is love" with the pianist who came for the last 10 minutes and he gave Jace some great advice that makes the song sound even better than before. Jace is learning and picking up things so quickly. The producer told me that he was "blown away by Jace the first time he met him because not only can he sing but he talks better than some of the adults here". He was impressed with his vocabulary and his understanding of the emotions they want portrayed.
   We came home for lunch and then headed to the fun castle park to play. Jace and Sierra are such good friends and enjoy spending time together and as a mother, I couldn't be happier about that. They left for the park first on their bikes and I drove the littler girls a bit later. We dropped jace off for a practice from 3-6:30 and the girls and I went to the local IFA to get some garden food. We didn't find what we were looking for but there was a beautiful nursery called "the Greenhouse" right across the street that was simply breathtaking. So much color and very beautiful displays. We also went to another garden shop on center street and finally found the nutrition for Sierra's container garden. We bought a pony pack of strawberry plants and hope to get a few berries this season. Maci, the friendliest child I've ever had, went up to a little 5 year old at the garden store and asked her if she wanted to be friends. So uninhibited! I wish I was more like her. The dad actually came back in the store and asked if the girls might have a playdate at the park tomorrow and gave us their number. It might be good for Maci to have someone to play with while we're here this summer.

   We left the garden store and set off to find the famous Aggie ice cream store and as you can see from the picture, we found it. It was good, but not as good as the BYU creamery on ninth. The scoops were huge! Jace missed out but I told him that he can take dad and go get one on Friday for boys night out.
   Sierra had a rehearsal tonight also and so we headed back to the theater to drop her off. She rehearsed her song and 3 scenes and we were all done by 6:30. In one of the scenes she gets to give Jace a little nudge to remind him to say something to their dad and she was a little vigorous in her actions. They truly look and act  like siblings on stage as well as off.
   We watched another night of "So You Think You Can Dance" to see if Wadi made it into the top 20, which he did. It is so much more fun watching the show when you know someone in it. Out of 50,000 contestants, he is in the top ten males. What a great talent he has! We went for a bike ride, played at the park closest to our house and then got ready for bed. Busy but fun day. Glad we get to have this experience.