Sometimes I Think Too Much About Things That Really Don't Matter

I am going to ruin this for you right now:

Obviously, it's his favorite princess movie.

So the little girl I was babysitting wanted to watch this movie yesterday.  I put it on and there have always been a few things that have bothered me about this story as I got older.  I mean, let's face it.  When I was four, I just loved watching her dance through the forest and singing with her forest animal friends.  Glorious.  I still love that part.

Disney's version of this beloved tale is pretty simple.  I thought, the Grimm brothers might have done a better job with this, so I was bored, and looked it up.  You can find it here.  Apparently, the Brother's Grimm version is actually called Little Briar-Rose.  I did not know that.  It's not nearly as awesome as Disney's version, though.  I was a little on the disappointed side.  Who can resist the excitement of the Prince Phillip fighting the dragon?  Sword fights and dragons are cool.  Maleficent is an incredible villain.  She's just so happy to be evil.  But the witch in the Grimm tale is really just a fairy who didn't get invited to a birthday party because the king ran out of golden plates.  Really?  The king couldn't be a good host and eat off the silver plate and invite everybody?  What an idiot.  He deserved it.  Also, in the end, the prince does not cut through a bunch of thorny bushes.  By the time this prince gets there, the 100 years of sleep are over and the bushes are flowering and just let him through.  Can you say anti-climactic?  He still kisses her awake because he is so struck by her beauty.  Sigh.  But she was about to wake up any way, so it's not like he did anything special.  No true love broke that spell.

Back to Disney's version.  Like so many many stories, a lot of what goes on boils down to a supreme lack of communication.  I mean really?  Did the fairies really need to break Aurora's heart that way?  "You can't fall in love with some random guy in the forest!  You're already betrothed!"  Wait.  You mean to tell me in all her sixteen years in that forest, she never met another person?  How is that even possible?  Why didn't they simply ask what was his name?  What did he look like?  Was he handsome?  And honestly, why did she need to be hidden away in the first place.  Maleficent's curse wasn't going to take effect until she was sixteen any way.  How is bringing her back to the castle on her birthday going to protect her?  They should have arranged to bring her back on the day after her sixteenth birthday.  That would have made Maleficent really mad.  And you know, maybe teaching Aurora how to use a spinning wheel instead of burning them all so she had no way of knowing what one even was would have been a good idea, too.  If you know what you are doing, you probably won't prick yourself on it.  But in the end, the curse plays out.  Aurora is left in a room all by herself, where a green ball of light puts a spell on her and makes her prick her finger.  All the precautions in the world couldn't keep Maleficent from doing what she was going to do.  I don't really have a conclusion here.  Just thought I would mess with you a little. ;)

Next Stop? Vegas, Please.

My Memorial Day weekend this year was pretty epic.  I mean, I don't normally just pack up and leave my whole family and go off to Las Vegas for a couple of days.  It was great.  Every now and then, I just need to embark on an epic adventure.
Nicole and I have been talking about seeing a certain play that is going on there right now every now and then.  Her husband and her kids were going camping and we decided it would be a great weekend to go see the show we've been wanting to see.  Then I found out that it was also the Father and Son's Camp Out my church does every year that weekend as well.  Perfect!  So, my bestest friend Nicole and I left Friday morning and grabbed a couple frappuccinos from Starbucks.  Don't worry, Mom.  You can get them without the coffee and then they are basically just a fancy word for a milkshake.  Quit freaking out.
We drove through Arizona and into Nevada and stopped at the Moapa Indian Reservation store.  I just like to say that name.  Mow-ah-pah.  I'm probably saying it wrong.  We went to a comedy show, did some shopping (mostly browsing), and sight-seeing.  But the main purpose of our trip was to go see the play the Phantom of the Opera.  We loved every minute of that play.  The story was stupid, but the music was amazing, and I really liked when the chandelier almost hit me on the head.  That was really cool.  Then we drove home on Sunday.
Then Monday, my family and I went to my grandfather's grave and put some flowers there.  My brother Michael met us there.  Then we went to his wife, Lili's studio and Michael showed them some of the equipment.  Lili binds books and they have a big old fashioned printing press/de-embosser machine thingy.  Yeah, I really don't know what it is.  Sorry.  It was really cool, though.  Michael showed them how it worked and everything.  Then we went to lunch with them.  Who knew Crown Burger was closed on Memorial Day?  So we went to Chili's instead.  Michael hates Chili's.  :D
So let me take you on a journey.  A journey through my weekend.  With pictures!

 Somewhere along the way.  Probably in Arizona.

 Nicole.  She thinks she has a double chin to cover up, but she doesn't.  She makes me laugh.

 A factory in the middle of nowhere.  That commute wouldn't be fun.

 Oh, my gosh!  We are so funny! :)

 A night of laughter.

 Then we ate dinner here.

 We had a late breakfast here.

 This sign is just cool.  :)

 Treasure Island

 The shops in the Venetian have gondola rides.  We didn't go on one.

 The ceiling at the Venetian.

 Hee hee!

 So glad we came before it left!

 Whoopee Goldberg was just standing there outside of the Venetian.  It was so weird.

 The beautiful fountain.

 The hottest person in Vegas.

 At Caesar's Palace, there is this show about the fall of Atlantis.

This is the king of Atlantis.  He wants his kids to stop fighting about who gets the throne.

 Hey, Dad!  You should pick me because I control the water and I am so much more awesome than my brother.  He's a dork.

 Well, I am more manly and I control fire, so you should pick me!  Look at my fire sword!

 But they couldn't stop fighting so the dragon on the dad's throne came to life and buried them in the sea.  Sad day.

 We couldn't figure out who would willingly wear this shirt without getting paid to do it.

 Fountain outside of Caesar's Palace

 The ceilings in the Venetian were decorated to honor our veterans.

 Outside of the Mirage at night, there is a volcano show.

 The view of the Venetian from Treasure Island.

 Arizona border on the way home!

 The St. George temple is gorgeous against those beautiful red rocks.

 There's a rocking chair outside of this gas station in Beaver, UT.  You should totally check it out sometime.

 Memorial Day.  Visiting Grandpa's grave.

 At the cemetery.  This bird was taking a bath.  I just thought it was a cool picture.

 My brother.  He's good with kids.

 This is the giant paper cutter that will cut your arm off.

 They decided it would probably be better to just cut up a phone book instead, though.

 The de-embossing machine thingy.

 After dinner, we took the boys to see The Avengers.  Kurtis and I went to see it for our anniversary, and thought they would really like it.  They did.

 I asked them all who their favorite avenger was.  I wasn't really surprised when they told me it was Banner.  "And Hulk?" (Dramatic pause) "Smash."  Hawkeye is my favorite.  And Ironman.  Black Widow is pretty cool, too, though.

I'd Ask My Friends to Come and See

It seems that at the end of the school year, my kids go on the most field trips.  Well, amazingly, my little first-grader had one on a Wednesday.  My day off.  So I could actually go.  Hip, hip, hooray!  I told the kids yesterday that I was going to go on Kaleb's field trip, and Riley got a little jealous.  "Hey!  You never went on any of my field trips this year!"  "None of your field trips were on a day that I could actually go.  Maybe next year I will be able to go with you."  "Next year, you'll try?"  "Yes."  "Okay."  He seemed appeased, but it's true.  I haven't been on any field trips with Riley.  I can't remember one that I have gone on with him.  Yikes.
We went to Red Butte Gardens up by the University of Utah.  It's a beautiful place and I am really glad I got to go.  Kaleb is so sweet.  The whole time, he only wanted me to hold his hand and he wanted me to sit by him on the bus.  I told him he could sit with his friends if he wanted.  Or I would take the window seat and he could be closer to them, but he said he wanted to sit by me and have the window seat.  So he could look outside.
After the gardens we went to a park and ate lunch.  The kids had a lot of fun getting wet in the splash pad, but Kaleb opted to not participate because it was a cold day.  It really was.  I was glad I brought my jacket.
My battery was dying on my computer, or I probably would have taken more pictures.  But I will show you my favorites.  Get ready!  :)

 Look at those eyes!  I love those eyes.

 This is Tim.  He was the guide for our tour of the Red Butte Gardens.

 Kaleb is squeezing water out of this herbaceous stem.

 He took us through the herb garden and they rubbed their hands on the herbs and smelled their fingers.  It was pretty cool.  And smelled pretty nice. :)

 The got to take the seed pod off the seeds and see the food and the embryo parts of the seed.

 The bees were pollinating the irises.

 It's me and Kaleb in the Fragrance Garden!

 Tim had them name the moose and told them that if they gave it a really cool name, they could rub his nose and they would have good luck all day.  They named him Timmy.

 Baby ducks!

 Then they took apart a flower.  They got to suck on the nectar of the honey suckle.

 This is where the seeds of the flower are.  It's little, so he was eyeing it closely.

 Waterfall!

 Hostas.  They hold water on their leaves and sometimes the animals will drink the water off them.

 Tim and his students.  He was an excellent teacher.

 Liberty Park (in case you were wondering).

 Kaleb is afraid of heights so he only went down the little slide.

 His friends on the tire swing.

 I was surprised he wanted me to push him so high.

 This young man in the blue towel has a vivid imagination.  First, he was a leprechaun king.  Here he is Dumbledore.

 And Kaleb is pretending to be Harry Potter.

 Splash pad!

 The grass in the playground area isn't real grass.  It was weird.

I think he had a good day.

That makes the trip worth it. :)  While I was there, I realized there will be no more first grade field trips to Red Butte Gardens for me.  We will have to take the whole family there sometime because Dad has never been.