Crazy Girl Scout Weekend...

I had a crazy Girl Scout weekend this weekend...with activities every day of the weekend.

On Friday night, we had Thinking Day...a world-wide celebration of the Girl Scout/Girl Guide movement where girls think about and celebrate their "sisters" all over the world. This year, our troop had a booth...we represented Spain (gee...wonder who picked THAT country?).

Our board for Thinking Day...

Other troops made booths with other countries, and the girls traveled around from booth to booth with a "passport"...they got stamps in it from the various countries represented and had the opportunity to buy SWAPS and food samples and learn about Girl Scouts from the country being represented.

My Daisy World Travelers...

My Junior World travelers...

That night, the girls also participated in a massive service project assembling hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to distribute to our local homeless community.

It's a PB&J mess for a GOOD CAUSE!!

The next day, my Juniors visited Old Davie Schoolhouse to get started on their Bronze Award project...helping Old Davie identify and correctly label several fruit trees they have planted on property.

Can you guess the  trees just by this blossom?

We were lucky to visit during Davie's Orange Blossom Festival and Rodeo, and get to see the schoolhouse in action...serving the community by offering educational experiences and allowing people to learn about what it was like to live in Florida during different time periods.

The docents taught the girls about pioneer life in Florida...

...and prepared delicious food for them to feast upon!!

That evening, my Junior troop attended a big council activity called Mall Madness...a lock-in at a mall.

Ready to shop till we drop!! (literally)

 It's attended by 2,500 Girl Scouts of all ages (yes...that IS NOT a typo...two-thousand-five-hundred)...stores stay open so the girls can shop all night long (it runs from 10pm until 5am), there are DJ's, bounce houses, rock walls, bungee jumpers, craft tables, henna tattoos, face painting, games and scavenger hunts...and did I mention the shopping?

Getting our shop on at ALL the little girl favorites...Justice, the Gap, and Claires!!

 I had a cancellation at the last minute, and so I took Nicolette as a replacement. She had a BLAST...and kept up with the big girls. In fact, some of my older girls passed out...but Nicolette never slowed...she had her ears pierced at Claires at 3:30am, and could be found dancing ON THE STAGE at 4:40am.

Nicolette holds my hand in anticipation of the pain...but she never cried or yelped!!

Look at my big all-grown-up girl with PIERCED EARS!!

 We had a lot of fun...it was better than I expected...although still too expensive for my tastes...but I imagine that we WILL be doing it again...

Now it's early Sunday morning...and I have to get ready for church, come home and bake cakes and clean, and then attend a Missionary Homecoming Open House. I haven't slept in 24 hours...and it doesn't look like I'll be sleeping anytime soon...

No rest for the wicked?

Well...if it's wicked to be a Girl Scout leader...then the answer is: "YES!!"

SO EXCITED!!!

Yeah!!!

 

 

Today I had a present in the mail...

My passport!!!

I feel so special...like I belong to some kind of exclusive club. Like I am, only now, an official citizen of the United States.

Unfortunately...Jasons' passport wasn't in the mail. I hope that's not a bad sign...

It won't be any fun in Madrid without him!!

I feel more excited than ever...now only 75 more days to go!!!

Brighams First Blue and Gold Banquet

Brigham started Cub Scouts just as Joseph graduated to Boy Scouts...

The night of our Belated Valentines Day Bike Ride, we had Brighams first Blue and Gold Banquet. It was important because he was awarded his Bobcat (hurray!!)...

I had such an amazing day on this day...but at the Blue and Gold I was in a terrible mood. There was some internal drama on my part involving Scouts, and I'm sorry to say that I am not a strong enough person to have let it slide...it ate at me and festered inside me all night...and I'm afraid it shows in the photos, because although I am there to support Brigham and am happy for him and proud of him, I am overall upset and cannot manage a smile.

*sigh*

But I AM proud of my Briggie-buddy...and love him so very much...and am glad to know that he is doing Scouts correctly and with honor.

Brigham helped with the flag ceremony...what is that face he is making?

Brigham invites me up as he is awarded his Bobcat badge...he STILL has that face!!!

The new CubMaster, Bro. Quinton, explains the badge...

This was cute...as a "Bobcat"...he had to "bob" for apples...

My "Thank You" for being a Cub Scout leader...biggest slap in the face ever...aaarrrggghhhh...forget it...it's really not worth this angst on my part...

Finally!! A smile from mom!! See? I AM proud of my guy!!

So, all in all, it was a good night for my Brigham...and despite everything else, I am happy to have shared it with him...

Belated Valentines Day Bike Ride

My Valentine...

We can't celebrate Valentines day ON Valentines Day because my poor hubby has to work...so we have to make arrangements to do something a different day.

This year, Jason really wanted to go for a long bike ride, so we choose to have our date at Shark Valley Nature Preserve in the Everglades National Forest because they have a 15-mile bike loop.

We were really excited...and we had a GREAT time. No...an AMAZING time. I honestly can't remember when I had that much fun.

Well...I can...but it was awhile ago, okay?

Here are some of the highlights of our adventure:

This is the very first gator we saw on our ride...there were many, many more...

This is a cool pic...these giant clover-type flowers were blooming and the insects were going CRAZY...bumble bees and butterflys were highly attracted to them...

This was our beautiful surroundings...

I love my own scenery ;)

Ugh...I really DO want to take good pictures...I always look chubby and goofy...

A big, beautiful Great Blue Heron

This was SUPER cool...we happened upon a clutch of newly hatched alligators. We stayed back from the SUPER aggressive momma...but got some pics of the babies!!

The view from the Observation Tower

A Rosette Spoonbill...I've never seen one before!!

So...we WERE gonna take a short excursion hike, buuttttt...

Yeah...gator wins...

I really did have a great time...it's my favorite date we've had in awhile...and I hope we can go back and do it again.

I love my husband...he's the greatest guy in the world. He really has his hands full with me...yet he sticks around...and makes me happy...

You make everyday like Valentines Day, baby...

Renassiance Festival 2011...Part One

I took my cutie little Daisy Scouts to the Ren Fest today. It was their first time...

...can I get a collective "awwwwwwwww"?

We got to do all the cute little girl things that my bigger Junior Scouts are "too cool" to do...like attend "Princess Lessons"...

Meet the newest Princesses in the land...my Darling Darling daisy Scouts...

 I even brought Brigham along, because he's a Cub Scout now and has never been to the Ren Fest, either...

Brigham didn't WANT to go with the Daisies at first, but ended up having a great time...

We did the activities that are ALWAYS favorites...like visiting the Games Field...

The biggest Jenga game EVER...

Playing Giant Chess...

 Of course, we met LOTS of interesting characters...

The Catepillar/Butterfly Guy...

Urinia and Excretia, who clean the privies...the girls were grossed out and fascinated all at once...Brig thought it was genius!!

Fashion divas who sell their wares to the Duke of Bloomingdale and Lord Taylor...love the tongue in cheek humor around here...

We saw some great shows...the joust, the sword swallower, the parade, and a beautiful glass-blowing demonstration...

Kids...don't do this at home...

We cheered for Sir Roderick...the BAD GUY...although his squire kept saying he wasn't BAD...he was simply "morally grey"...

My little Daisy Scouts had a GREAT time...and enjoyed the food, fun, and merriment that goes along with the Renaissance Festival...and were innocent enough to not register the bawdiness...

Invest in the Ren Fest...their stocks are sound...

Or maybe it was just all the orange soda that kept them so happy?

Hehehehe...

 Either way...it was a good day!!

I'm INTERNATIONAL, Baby!!

I never blogged about our trip to Maui.

That was back when I was in my blogging funk.

See, my hard-working husband Jason runs a restaurant. A BIG restaurant. It's a lot of work, and a lot of sacrifice...not only for him...but for us (as in his wife and kids), too. He never has weekends off...or holidays. He works Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Fourth of July, Easter...he only has Thanksgiving and Christmas off...and on Thanksgiving he goes and feeds the homeless at the shelter...and on Christmas he's usually so tired that he barely makes it through the opening of presents before he goes back to bed.

And even on his upposed days off, he still has to go in, or take calls, or solve problems.

His days start early...and end late. He usually works about 12 hours a day when it's slow. In season, he pulls, 14-16 hour days. Back to back. There have been weeks that he's clocked in 150 hours over a 10-day spread.

Plus...there is the stress. Don't even get me STARTED on the stress.

Anyway...it's not always fun. And quite honestly, it hasn't always been rewarding either.

But last year, after almost 4 years of struggle, Jason did something amazing. He got his store running SO EFFICIENTLY that he won a prize.

See, every year the company the Jason works for, The Cheesecake Factory, awards it's top performers with an all-expenses paid trip. On even years, you go somewhere in Hawaii. On odd years, you visit some other exotic locale.

It's not just any trip, either. They REALLY take care of you...you stay at luxurious hotels, get preferential treatment, have your choice of amazing excursions, eat at amazing restaurants...I mean...it's EXCLUSIVE.

Well, last year he made the cut, and was one of the top 10% of the company to be awarded this trip.

We got to go to Maui, Hawaii...and stay at the Four Seasons at Wailea.

Everything we need to go to Maui...

It was AMAZING. The hotel was gorgeous, everyone was SO accommodating. Jason and I would be up at, like 4:30 am (darn East Coast internal clocks), so we'd head down to the gym and the gardeners would be out watering all the beautiful flowers, and they would say: "Aloha, Mrs. Johnson. Aloha, Mr. Johnson. Can I get you anything?"

I mean...they were the GARDENERS!!! And they knew our names.

Jason with King Kamehameha

We had an incredible time. We ate at Spago and David Pauls Island Grill. We had room service breakfast every morning on our lanai. We went on amazing and exclusive excursions...

A little fella I caught on film while on our Eco Hike...

...like Eco Hiking up to the waterfalls along the Hana Highway...

Jason jumped off at least 5 waterfalls on the hike...this was the smallest...

...and taking a private charter out to snorkel in the Molokini crater...

The private charter with exclusive beach-side boarding we took to Molokini crater...

and going on a gorgeous sunset sail out of Lahiana. We ate at FABULOUS local eats...from the fun and casual Paia Fish Market in Paia to Mamas Fish House just outside the quirky little surfer town...

Me and my baby at Mamas Fish House just outside Paia...

We drove around in a Mustang convertible all week. And I learned to say humuhumunukunuka'pua'a...

Outside Mamas on our romantic dinner out...

We also got presents delivered to our room every day...a bamboo surfboard cutting board with local fruits and cheeses, a beach bag cashmere cotton towels, a basket of luxurious bath salts and soaps, and a Maui cookbook signed by the author and chef...

It was the honeymoon we never had...13 years late.

So, of course, when we got back, I told Jason that I DEFINITELY wanted to do that again. And he had to work hard to get it.

He gave me  a look.

It became kind of a joke...not only between him and I...but also within his company.

If he got home after a grueling 14 hour day, I would look at my pretend watch and say: "What are you doing home? You've still got, like, 3 more hours to put in if we're gonna go to the next trip!!"

And when his Area Director or Vice President would call or stop by to go over his numbers, they'd say: "I hope you've done well this quarter...you know how badly Shannan wants you to go on the next trip."

So at the end of the year, I asked Jason: "How'd we do?", and he answered: "I think we've got it...but lets wait and see."

So I (rather impatiently) waited. I went over in my head how last year, we had barely made the cut...squeaking in by a mere half of a point. Jason said his numbers for this year averaged over 100% (which is remarkable)...but what if that wasn't enough?

Well...I really had no need to worry. No need to doubt my husband.

Because if there's one thing about Jason...when he sets his mind to something...he ALWAYS gets it. Doesn't matter how long it takes...he WILL achieve his goals.

Jasons' Area Director called last week. He said: "I've got some good news for Shannan..."

And today we got our official invitation to register for this years Presidents Circle trip.

Oh? The destination?

Barcelona and Madrid, Spain.

Excuse me...but every time I see this I feel the need to jump up and down and clap my hands...

O.M.G.

And you should see the itinerary...

We arrive in Barcelona to stay at the Hotel Arts...a Ritz-Carlton hotel right on the Mediterranean. We spend 3-and-a-half glorious days touring Barcelona, going clubbing, and attending Galas. Then we take a train to Madrid, where we get to spend another 3-and-a-half days staying at the Westin Palace RIGHT in the heart of Madrid. There are day tours to Toledo (located in La Mancha, and home to famous sword makers), Flamenco Dinner Shows, Bull Fights, and tours of the Prado art museum and Royal Palace.

It's going to be HEAVEN.

I've never been out of the country before. Well...I once went to Canada...but I'm not sure that counts.

And the best part of all is the company I'll keep...my best friend, and the guy that has been through it all with me...and still has the guts to stick around.

Thank you, Jason. I love you, darling.

Now...about next year...