Happy New Years from Wisconsin and Happy Birthday, Missy!

Schmeil, Schmazzle, Hots and Pepper Corporated! We're gonna make it after all...........We landed in the land of Laverne and Shirley! Unfortunately I forgot my winter coat in sunny Florida. It was almost cruel sending us from Florida to here. We went from 80 degrees to 3 degrees. I was silly enough to leave my winter coat on the tour bus in Florida. So here I am in fridge temperatures without a coat. (Can I get credit towards my Polar Bear membership.) We landed here about 4pm on New Years Eve. We are staying in a beautiful hotel with real comfy beds and have two days off without a show. For New Years Eve we went with our tour families (Missy, Colin, John and Quentin) to a nice Italian Restaurant right across the street from the hotel(Thank God, since no coat!) We were amazed that we got seat right away since when we called around they would not take any reservations. The food was delicious and then we went back to Missy's room to celebrate her birthday and New Years. We celebrated NY Time and then Wisconsin Time. Missy's husband Steve sent her a bottle of Champagne which she so kindly shared with John and I. (Thank you, Steve) The kids had a fun pillow fight which can be seen on facebook. There are other interesting videos on facebook from the night which I will not describe! Let just say the Champagne got to me! I presented Missy with her birthday present....an official Morley Polar Bear shirt. She is now an honorary member until she really joins us, hopefully, next year. Mike gave us a full report from home and sent pictures of the Polar Bear party. He said it was really freezing and his thumbs hurt for two hours after the swim. We have been doing the Polar Bear party for the past six years on New Years Day since we live right by the beach. This year Mike bought two big polar bear statutes to put on the stoop to welcome those that came to the party. This is the first year it has been so cold. This year separated the men from the boys and the woman from the girls. In my house the teenage girls went in while the teenage boys couldn't bring them selves to jump in. GO GIRLS! (Kasey, Jessie and Mariah) Maria told me she was very cold just watching and that Daddy thought she went in because JoJo wrapped a towel around her over her coat to warm her up. Mikey and I really missed being there today. Missy and Mikey both wore their Polar Bear shirts today. I guess if we wanted to show Mike up we could have jumped in the Great Lake nearby the hotel but that just would have been crazy! Tomorrow the boys don't have a show until the evening so it is like having another day off. We really look forward to down time, especially when we are in a nice hotel. Now that I have caught up with all my posting...........my fingers hurt! Happy New Years to All and to All a Good Night! Love, Sue and Mikey ....P.S. Don't forget to scroll down and look left at all the new pictures I added!

Hello from Sarasota

We were sad to leave home but Sarasota, Florida was a great first stop to help cheer us up. It was sunny and in the 80's. The Sarasota Marina Hotel had a beautful pool with an outdoor Tikki Bar. I finally got a Pina Coloda in the sunshine. We had a round to celebrate Missy's upcoming birthday in the sunshine. The sun really felt good. Mikey enjoyed the pool, especially after Ashley joined him. It was so nice beside the pool that we (Missy, John and I) decided to have Pizza delivered and eat right there before the show. Our room had a little terrace that looked out at the water inlet and the beautiful boats. We were happy to have Mike's Aunt Eunice and family come to see the show. It was great seeing them. On December 30th we were really happy to see Uncle Charlie. He lives in Sarasota and joined us for breakfast. We then sat by the Marina and Mikey and Uncle Charlie walked on the dock looking at all the boats. Uncle Charlie really enjoyed the matinee and then we went to Apple Bees for Dinner. We really enjoyed our day together and then Mikey had to go an perform in an evening show. Uncle Charlie was very sweet when he called me later to tell me what a nice day he had with us. We are happy he has decided to join us for a day in Disney when we are there next week. I really like Sarasota, especially how warm it was in January. I procrastinated packing for our trip to freezing Wisconsin. But the show must go on...................

Home for the Holidays!

Mikey and I were thrilled to go home for Christmas. Maria and Mike picked us up at the airport on December 21st. There were tight hugs all around! We knew it would be a crazy fast week but we were determine to get the most at of it. On Monday we went upstate to see Grandma and Aunt Eileen for Christmas. We had a lot of fun exchanging presents and catching up with each other. On Tuesday I visited the beauty parlor to get rid of the "Skunk" look! Wednesday I shopped, wrapped presents and then the family went to Aunt Mary's for Christmas Eve dinner. It was delicious. Christmas morning opening the presents Santa left was so much fun. Mikey pretended to faint when we told him about Disney and of course Maria had to do the same. The kids loved all the presents. Daddy made us some waffles for breakfast and then we had to clear the presents out of the living room to make room our guests. On Christmas the whole family came to our house and at some point I stopped counting how many seats we need for dinner! The little cousins had lots of fun opening presents and playing in Maria's room. Nana made delicious spiral hams and Uncle Artie contributed by making a leg of lamb which seemed to disappear quickly. Thanks Mom for all the wrapping and cooking because I could not have survived without your help. It was fun tell cousin Johnny that he was going to disney with us. I wrapped a shirt I bought for him in Mt. Rushmore. I told him I know you wanted money but I thought this shirt was better. You could tell as he looked at the shirt that he rather have money. Then I told him to read the note I wrote. It said" You will need to wear this shirt in a very special place in two weeks. See below for clues. On the paper was stickers of Mickey Mouse. His face was priceless. He seem to be afraid to guess so I finally told him it was Disney. He did not believe us at first and kept asking "Are you serious." The day after Christmas we took Mikey and his friend Reilly to see "Young Frankenstein." Before the show we ate at Ruby Tuesdays. The kids absolutely loved the show and Mikey has not stopped singing the songs. I apologized to the cast in advance! Some of them are verrrrrrrrrrrry interesting and not necessarily age appropriate! LOL. The next day was his actual birthday and we had a few of his friends and family members over to celebrate. He really enjoyed playing with his cousins and Will, Michael, Brandon and Caroline. He misses all of them while he is away. It was so good to see Mary who shamed me into updating this blog. Maria enjoyed playing with Alex. Sunday was our day to pack again. Maria and I stayed in our PJ's all day. It was hard leaving Mike, Maria and Nana again. Knowing I would be home in a week to take Maria to Disney got me through it. Not sure what will get me through when I have to come back after Disney. I guess I'll take it "One Day at a Time."

Hello from Melbourne, Flordia

Okay sorry I have not written but so much was going on. The next few posts will be catch ups. We were in Melbourne Florida December 20th and Lakeland, Florida before that. During that time the Cast made time to rehearse Christmas Carols. They made time in their busy schedule to go Christmas Caroling at a Nursing Home for the residents. John was so happy to be part of the Choir! The residents seemed to really enjoy it. When the cast was done with Christmas songs they decided to give their audience a taste Oliver. They really enjoyed hearing the cast perform a few numbers. Mikey, Colin and Q were happy they could finally participate in Oom Pah Pah! (LOL) On December 20th, Mikey and I were so excited that Uncle Bill, Aunt Loretta, and Aunt Loretta's sister Dolly came to see the show. Aunt Loretta surprised Mikey by visiting him in the dressing room. It was so nice to have company on the road. We had great seats and then Uncle Bill treated us to a nice dinner in a place near the theater that looked like a tikki hut. Mikey really enjoyed the chicken wings. Aunt Loretta and Mikey had great dessert with bite sized brownies and banana fosters. Unfortunately, we really had to rush dinner because Mikey had another show to perform in that night. Since this was our last night before going home for Christmas all the Secret Santa's were revealed and the gifts given out. Mikey's Secret Santa (Clare) gave him his current favorite movie S.T. and some yummies. My Secret Santa was Ashley and she gave me some of my favorite things. She along with Erin also had the most festive and creative outfits for the holiday party at the pool after the show. Mikey was the Secret Santa to Erin and he really was so happy he picked her. He had so much fun buying presents for her. I had Adam and had fun leaving him presents I thought he would like. Colin had Chaz and tortured him by making him read clues that led him to other people who had the clues that would reveal his final present and secret santa. We all had lots of fun but were so glad we are going home. Zac, Chaz, Ashley, Mikey and I all had a nice lunch at the Outback while we waited for our return flights home. I was very excited to be proofed when I asked for a Bloody Mary. I don't think I have been proofed in 20 years. I was so excited I called Missy to tell her. Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday season!