Caleb performed "
Strega Nona" in the Lone Star Storytelling Festival in October. The festival included about a dozen youth tellers who trained for five months to be the opening act for the professional tellers. Caleb was the youngest teller, but it didn't seem to make him nervous training with middle and high
school students. Since he thrives on having an audience, I was pretty confident he would do a fantastic job performing, but I must admit I got pretty nervous when he accidentally belched in two of his rehearsals. (Guess he got carried away in the story and forgot his manners.) Thanks to Gas-X on the day of the festival, he hit his performance out of the ballpark when it really mattered. The day before the festival, Caleb gave two performances for a few hundred Frisco fourth graders who came out to see the story tellers on a special field trip. The day of the festival was rainy with a smaller crowd, but it was still great to see him perform. He even got in a few extra performances at his elementary school since the 3rd grade teachers happened to be studying "
Strega Nona" and several asked him to come perform for their classes. Caleb had such a great time he's already searching for
material for his audition for next year.
Our whole family has "
Strega Nona" memorized
Working the audience
Big Anthony after eating too much pasta
Caleb on stage with his coach, fellow student teller, and professional teller
Uncle Danny got to perform with an Emmy Award winning musician
This man made Caleb's day by asking for his autograph
Ted wanted to see Lubbock, TX along the way, since it was the biggest TX city he hadn't seen. Here we are at the Buddy Holly monument.
Petrified Forest National Park--I was surprised to learn that Arizona once was positioned in the same place Panama is today. That explains how there used to be a forest here.
Madeline exploring the petrified wood
Sierra took her oath to become a Junior Park Ranger very seriously and wore her badge each day of the vacation.
We stayed in beautiful red rock Sedona for a couple days. We loved the SW decor of the timeshare.
Ted and I hadn't taken a picture with just the two of us since we went to Maui five years ago, so we thought it was about time for another one. Maybe I should have tamed my crazy hat hair...
Hiking in Oak Creek Canyon--Madeline didn't want to wear her jacket, so I talked her into wearing Caleb's old Monsters Inc costume that we brought as a hand-me-down for her cousin Joey.
Ted talked me into connecting with my childhood by posing on the natural water slide that we used to visit when I was growing up. It was too cold to go in the water, but the canyon was much prettier without the summertime crowds.
Caleb, Sierra, and Monster Madeline at Slide Rock
Caleb enjoyed holding a snake and tarantula at a desert wildlife talk.
After a gorgeous first day of hiking in Sedona, our second day we were snowed in. We were disappointed to miss time outdoors, but the snow was lovely to look at.
Visiting Aunt/Dr. Jennifer in Phoenix at her clinic--we had to reassure the kids that they wouldn't be receiving shots. 
