Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tempe, Arizona...

Welcome to Tempe....right outside of Phoenix, AR
The amazing Gammage Auditorium...
...is on the grounds of Arizona State University...
and one of Frank Lloyd Wright's last designs!
Downtown Tempe
Mill Street
Cacti=Arizona, like Palm Trees=Hawaii
Our hotel
Congratulations Sheffield!  His first show was a success!
Some great fans at the stage door! 
Signing autographs
Post show celebration at Cookiez!
Sheffield chooses chocolate in chocolate chip cookies!
I tried chocolate chip cookie dough in chocolate chip cookies!
      Goofing with Tyler                          Playing Angry Birds on iPod Touch
Sheffield, Dakota, Me, Tony and Flat Stanley!                 Ouch, don't touch!!
Dakota and I won this week's Beauty Award!!               Our 5 nominations =)
Dinner at Monti's was fantastic!
Good friends and good food
Night at the movies... Alpha and Omega
Kings of Narnia?
Fun at the Rainforest Cafe!  
It's thundering and lightening...inside!
Arcade fun!
Tommy as Gandhi gives a presentation!

After a busy week in San Antonio, we spent a relaxing week in Tempe, Arizona.  It's very close to Phoenix.  The weather was nice. We went swimming once, but it was a little too cold to stay in the pool for long.  Although we did get to see some of Tempe, we also lounged around for a lot of the week!  It's been a busy few weeks so the slow pace was a nice change!
Our tour played at ASU's Gammage Auditorium.  The Auditorium was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and was his last design before he passed away. The Gammage is 80 feet high, which is 8 stories tall, and has 3,000 seats.  Our shows were ALL sold out and the audiences were terrific! Sheffield went on as "Chip" for the first time and did a FANTASTIC job.  He had a blast and wasn't nervous at all. To celebrate his awesome achievement, a bunch of us went to "Cookiez" and ate some delicious treats!
Dakota and I have been helping Sheffield with his lines and showing him the ropes of the tour.  For doing a great job at being "older brothers", we won this week's Beauty Award!  We had 5 votes and won "Dinner and a Movie".  We went to Monti's for dinner and saw the movie "Alpha and Omega"!  We also had a fun day at the Arizona Mills Mall, where we ate at the Rainforest Cafe and played some games at Gameworks.
We were also treated to a special intermission presentation by Tommy Bracco.  He taught us some history as he dressed up and gave us facts about Gandhi. It was fun and interesting =)
Next up....my last city on tour...San Diego, California!  Stay tuned!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

San Antonio, Texas...

The Majestic Theatre
Presents Beauty and the Beast
^
The Riverwalk
Enjoying the day                       Saint Antonio
Remember the Alamo!
HELP US!                          Cacti
Robyn, Jen, Dakota, Me, and Mom
Checking out the history of the Alamo
This cannon is heavy!
Meet our newest cast member, SHEFFIELD!!
Julia and Merritt's Bday Bash
Tommy, Me, and Robyn provide some dancing entertainment!
Tony and the Chips!
Me, Sheffield, and Dakota
Bday Boy, "Duncle Merritt", with Dakota and Me
Robyn's hanging at the kids table! 
Tony, Julia, and Me            Wrestling with Wade 
Seaworld!
My #1, Erin, and me
After riding the Steel Eel       Checking out the penguins
The penguins are ready for Halloween!
Texas Splash Down...with a special guest!
Playing games!
And winning prizes!
Leapin' Lizards!
BTB loves Seaworld!
Me and my #1                   Check this out!
Hello there!
This little guy reminds me of Yocco!!
The AMAZING show, Azul!
Splash zone!
Three Chips waiting for the show to begin!
Acrobats, diving, animals = amazing!
Pacific white sided dolphins
So amazing!
Human parrots and REAL parrots!
Three Cheers from Three Chips!
Great performers
The Cannery Row Caper Show
Clyde the Sea Lion
Whoa...this guy's huge!
Good bye to you!
I got this training thing down!
Shamu!
Why does Robyn always eat the raw fish?
Dolphin feeding time!
Going, going, gone. They feel so rubbery!
Ahhhh....SHARKS!
Dakota and me waiting to see sharks
Whoa!  There they are!
Sharks are everywhere!
Yellow poison dart frog
So many awesome fish
Moray Eels!
More amazing fish
What a fun day!
Me, Sheffield, and Dakota at the pool                        Acro with Ellen!

Ellen's going away party =( She's joining the circus..... Cirque du Soleil that is! 
Guadalajara Grill for dinner!
THREE AMIGOS
Our 'Mom' Sabina!  We gave her a Mrs. Potts ornament
Playing legos with Jen B at intermission!
Wall murals!
I like this Seussical one          Signing our BTB 2010 Mural
Pumpkin picking with family!
Me, Olivia, and Abbey                         Santino takes a ride!
Me, Greg, Tony, and Olivia
Abbey starting on her pumpkin        Me and Olivia are a team!
Abbey helps Greg                           Olivia is "degunking" the pumpkin!
                Greg and his "Joker" pumpkin           Esmeralda and her "R Scroll" pumpkin
Hannah and her "Jack" pumpkin
Tony and his "Baby Snowman" pumpkin
The Contenders
The Pumpkin Burger is the winner!!  Team Reelivia and our prize!
Greg, Santino, and Me try our hand at the drums
Musical talent runs in the family.  Grandpa Greg and Alex jamming away!


Our week in San Antonio, Texas was AWESOME!  It was so cool to be able to spend time with our family that live in San Antonio. We even got to stay with them, instead of in the hotel.  Thanks Grandpa Greg, Esmeralda, Alex, Hannah, Abbey, Olivia, Tony, Greg, and Antonio for your hospitality =)
The show played to sold out audiences at the beautiful, 2,500 seat Majestic Theatre in downtown San Antonio.  We were very close to the Riverwalk, so we frequented it often!  There are many great shops and restaurants all along the Riverwalk.  My favorite restaurant was Rita's which had great Mexican food. I love my tacos!  We were also able to walk to the Alamo and learn a little bit about the Texas Revolution and the Battle of the Alamo. Dakota and I got two books about the Alamo and read them both in no time at all. History is exciting, especially when you get to see it first hand!
This week we also got meet and get to know another new cast member, Sheffield, and his mom Julie!  Sheffield joins the cast as "Chip". With three of us now, we have so much fun.  We get along great and have similar interests, especially legos and Star Wars! Sheffield started rehearsals this week and did great!  At 7 years old, he is the youngest Chip the touring and Broadway productions have ever cast!  Way to go Sheffield, you're super talented!
We had two parties this week.  One was a joint birthday celebration for Merritt and Julia and one was Ellen's going away party.  They were both a lot of fun.  My mom and I are going to miss Ellen so much!  She's become my "Aunt Ellen" and I'm happy for her but I'm sad that I won't be able to see her everyday.  I know that I will see her soon.  Good luck with Cirque Du Soleil, Ellen! I can't wait to see the show.
A highlight of the week was going to Seaworld.  Grandpa Greg managed to get tickets for our cast to get into the park.  We had such a terrific time and everyone was so appreciative to have this experience.  We saw the Cannery Row Capers show, the brand new Azul show, rode a bunch of rides (including the Steel Eel roller coaster!), played some games, fed and pet dolphins (my favorite!), checked out some sharks, penguins, and other sea life, and had an all-around awesome time. Thanks Grandpa Greg!
Another fun activity this week, was being a part of the Roth Family Pumpkin Decorating Contest. Olivia and I teamed up to create "The Pumpkin Burger" which won the contest! The runners up were Hannah's "Jack", Abbey & Greg's "Joker", Esmeralda's "R Scroll", Grandpa Greg's "Metal Jack", Tony and my mom's "Snowman Baby", Santino's "Canvas", Olivia and my "Sick Bros", and Alex's "Naked Pumpkin".  The "Pumpkin Burger" team won a gift certificate to Best Buy =)
I was sad to leave my family, but happy to have been able to spend some time with them.  Thanks for such a wonderful week.  Next up is Tempe, Arizona! Stay tuned...