Elryia, Ohio

Today was a long bus ride. We left Maryland at 9am and arrived in Elyria, Ohio at around 830pm. If any one sees the tin man tell him I need his oil can for my joints! The kids worked hard in school on the bus today and then everyone watched the movie "Ghost Busters." We stopped for lunch in Cracker Barrel where Mikey bought Maria a big pink Easter Bunny that sings: I Love You a Bushel and a Peck, a Bushel and a Peck and hug around the neck...... He plans to give it to her next week when they come to the show in Reading, PA. We went through just about every kind of weather on our drive here: Hard rain, snow, sunshine, fog, sunshine and snow again. The bus stopped to gas and we went into a Pilot store where Jen pointed out to stuff animal puppets: A monkey with a shirt that said "Cheeky Charlie," and a dog that had a pirate hat that said "Captain." Since Charlie is the role Mikey plays in Oliver and Captain is the role another cast member (Allaggio) plays I could not resist buying them the puppets. They will be forming their own puppet Fagin's Gang with Missy's puppet that sings the Carpenter's hit song, "Close To You." Once we arrived I spoke to the front desk about the best place to eat at this late hour and asked how far a walk it was. We caught a huge break because she offered to use the hotel van to drive us to Apple Bees and pick us up from there in an hour and a half. I was so happy because we were tired and hungry and it was snowing. We had a nice dinner with Q and John and now are relaxing in the room. Now I am going to bed. Good night!

Hello from Salisbury, Maryland

Today we actually travelled through the Bronx on the way to Maryland. I was very tempted to hop off the bus and go home since we were so close. I am a person who never likes to break a commitment so we will finish this out. Only 10 days to go and 6 shows left! The bus ride today was longer then planned. We only had an half hour lunch and sat with Chaz (Mr. Bumble and Rhiannon.) They are fellow New Yorkers and were tempted to jump out at the Bronx too. I think as much as we all can't wait to get home everyone is getting a little melancoly about leaving each other. Once we arrived at the hotel there was only about a 45 minutes to shower and eat before bus call to the theater. Mikey at some Mac an Cheese (thank goodness the hotel had a microwave in the room.) Quentin and John were excited because Q's two Grandmothers, Grandfather, friends, and his adorable sister Reina came to the show tonight. Q's friend Eric who is also 11 years old is a member of the Virginia Opera house. Talent kids are all around! Reina was Tiny Tim in a Christmas Carol in Virgina's Regional Theater this past Christmas. Reina and Mikey hit it off at the auditions and now everytime she visits the show they are like long lost friends! They are less than a year apart so I think they think alike! She is a lot shorter than Mikey but was able to pick him up when he could not pick her up. He is so skinny! I got to meet Gayle's (Q, Mom) mother and father for the first time. They really enjoyed the show and it was nice talking to them in the hotel lobby. Well, I would really like to tell you a little about Maryland but I can't because now, I have to confess that I did not go to the show tonight because...............you guessed it....................LAUNDRY! I couldn't put it off anymore. The good news is: I think I will not have to do anymore laundry on tour. I have enough clean clothes to last until we get home. This exites me to no end, especially since I have a brand new front load washer and dryer just waiting for me at home!!!! Now those of you that read my blog know I have been traumatized by visiting certain laundromats along the way so you will know how happy this makes me. I made the most of my night getting all the laundry done and then packing my final bag to bring home. Mikey and Maria are coming to Reading, PA on February 26th to see the show and I plan to give him all the luggage except what I need for the two days in Akron where the show closes. This way we can travel light at the airport. Tomorrow we travel to a stop over in Elyria, Ohio on the way to Merrillville, IN. So we will be travelling without shows for two days and then have a Golden Day before they perfom a show in IN. Three days without shows! After that we will travel to Houghton, MI for a show. Goodnight!

Springfield, MA

On February 17th, we arrived in Springfield, MA. We joined the Nims and Araujos for our normal food mission. Luckily he was not freezing because we had to walk a little over 1/2 mile to find decent food. The walk was interesting because we had to walk under an underpass by the bus terminal. The boys were very excited because they saw so many discarded "Gin" bottles that they began to count them as we walked. ( In the show Fagin tells "Charlie" (Mikey) to shut up and drinks your gin! Mikey usually smiles and shakes his head up and down holding up the gin bottle. This always causes the audience to laugh. Fagin later gives Oliver (Quentin) gin and he spits it out.) Hence why they enjoyed counting real gin bottles. All I can say is Springfield needs to send sanitation to clean up the mess! Anyway....as usual we were not sure where we were going when we spotted a visitors center. I think the old guy in there was thrilled....it appeared we were his first customers in years. He gave us directions to a great Italian Restaurant that was only a few blocks away and a few blocks from the theater. Missy quickly called Clare the tour manager to tell her we would not be on the bus and would walk to the theater for the show. We really enjoyed the food which had huge portions. Q had plenty of pizza left over so they boxed it for after the show. Last night the parents got to meet Jen's Mom who was very excited to see Jen perform as Dodger. Colin (the normal Dodger) is this amazingly generous boy who let his understudy go on. so her Mom can see her. Jen did an amazing job and she was so fun to watch. I sat behind Colin and Missy and really enjoyed watching Colin's face watching Jen and Missy's face watching Colin. He was so happy for Jen and proud of her and I could tell how proud Missy was of Colin. After the show Colin was very sweet giving Jen a chocolate rose and today Mikey gave her the sketch he drew of her. He only has a few cast members left to sketch and he has been doing amazing work. In addition to sketching the cast in their costumes he now has begun sketching some of the ladies as "Me Dolls." Theses sketches are suppose to capture their personality. He did one of Erin (Ms. Sowerberry) and she has posted it as her profile shot on facebook. Stacie loved it so much she put a special order in and he sketched he as a "Me Doll." He put many of the themes of the tour in that sketch. (Oliver Marquee, Bail Bonds, Walmart, Drugs, Searching for cellphone signals, etc.....) Now it is off to Salisbury, Maryland

Our last day in Lowell, MA

Today Mikey and I went to the local Dunkin Donuts for "Brunch.") It is the same place we went to yesterday that has only a few tables. Apparently there is a group of seniors that regularly hang out at the tables and were not to thrilled with newcomers taking their seats. So we ate fast. (LOL) Then we shopped at CVS to get these chocolate covered pretzels that Mikey discovered yesterday and loved. After that we went to get him a haircut so his hair is nice when he returns to school on March 2nd. It was a little scary when the hairdresser used a flow-bee to begin the haircut. Never seen anything like it! Thanks goodness he looked pretty cute when it was finished. After our stroll we were going to swim and go in the hot tub but it was closed for painting. I thought they meant for the whole day but later found out from Q and John that it later opened. We spent the rest of the afternoon working on Math and Religion and then went to dinner in the hotel with John and Q. Missy and Colin enjoyed their "Golden Day" having room service delivered to the room. Today, Mike and Maria went to O'Neils to celebrate my sister's (Aunt Mary) birthday. Maria is feeling better and sounded wonderful on the phone. I hope to see her next Thursday in Reading, PA. Until tomorrow........................Good Night!

Good Evening from Lowell, MA

After sleeping a little late today we went to Dunkin Donuts to breakfast with Missy, Colin, Q, and John. We did try walking to a diner but it was closed. Then we walked to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium for the matinee show. Missy and I met a little boy named Brendan and his Mom in the ladies room. We noticed how enthusiastic he was about ACT I so I told him that we were the mother's of Dodger and Charlie. He was asking us a bunch of questions about the show and his Mom was asking us about touring life. Then we parted because Brendan was anxious to get his popcorn before the show started again. After Act I, Brendan and his Mom found us and asked if could meet the cast. We promised him that we would try to get some of the cast members to meet him. If was pretty funny because he especially wanted to meet Jack Dawkins and asked if Missy was his Mom. Missy and I were so fried that we forgot that "Dodger" is Jack Dawkins. It took us a minute. Mikey was the first dressed so I brought him up to meet Brendan. Then Brendan wanted to meet Mr. Bumble so I tracked down Chaz. He was so excited to see Colin and kept telling everyone that is Jack Dawkins. He gave Mr. Bumble a big hug. He told us his favorite part was when Mr Bumble bangs on the coffin and shouts "Oliver....are you in there." He did a good impression of Mr. Bumble. I tried to track down as many as the cast as I could for him but there was a reception at the theater so we did not get everyone. He was very happy in the end because he also got to meet Rhiannon (Nancy), Quentin (Oliver), Melissa (Bet, Charlotte), Allaggio (Noah). The cast all signed his program for him. Brendan is an awesome boy who thoroughly enjoyed the show and we were all so happy to meet him and his Mom. After we said goodbye to Brendan we went up to the reception where they had drinks and food. The cast mingled with some of the audience members that came to the reception. The boys always enjoy chatting with audience members. After the reception we went back to the hotel and did our typical "Drop and Go" routine. We drop all our bags and then go find a place to eat dinner. We enjoyed the Italian restaurant we ate in last night so much that we went back tonight. Chaz (Mr. Bumble) joined, John, Q, Missy, Mikey and I for dinner. Colin choose to chill in the hotel room. We all had fun chatting with Chaz and laughing with him at dinner. After dinner we return to the hotel where Mikey has been sketching like mad. He gave his sketches of Fagin, Mr. Sowerbury, Bill Sikes and Noah to Zac, Will, Chris and Allaggio today. He also did a phenomenal sketch of Erin shopping. The details were incredible. Tonight he drew Quentin and is working on something for Stacie. Right now we are in the hotel room and Q very excitedly just knocked on our door to tell us that Oliver Twist is on Channel 2. So guess what we are doing.................I must be out of my mind but we are actually watching Oliver Twist the movie. HELP!!!!!!!

Morganton, North Carolina to Lowell, MA hAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR.......EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK AROUND.......HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!We spent two nights in Morganton, North Carolina. It almost felt like a day off because the kids had the whole day off until bus call at 5:45pm. We were very excited because the hotel was right next to Walmart and Denny's. I bought Mikey a new Mario Party Game to replace the one that was stolen when a burglar ransacked and stole items from our tour bus. Last night Mikey and Q played little cupids on the bus for the cast: Mikey gave out crazy colored Valentine's Day socks and Q gave us all Valentine's Day hearts with candy. Somebody also secretly decorated the bus with red balloons and crape paper while the show was going on. As of last night the secret Valentine's Day decorator was not revealed. Mikey bought baby Spencer a farm shape sorter that Spencer loved. I went to take it off the bus for him to help Clare and he pointed and yelled like I was stealing his toy(LOL).....so I had to take Spencer off the bus too! He is really too cute. We also had the pleasure of meeting Missy's sister Cindy and her husband Gary who came to the show last night and stayed at the hotel. We really enjoyed our time getting to know them in Missy's room after the show, especially since Missy supplied the "Zin." LOL. Gary was doing a good job trying to convince me to move to Tennesee and I was trying to get some secrets about Missy growing up from Cindy. (Missy threw a pillow out me!) Today we flew to Boston to get to Lowell, while the rest of the cast has a two day bus trip to get to Lowell, MA. Lucky my NYPD ID got me on the plane since my license is still lost. Maria's medicine is working and she is feeling better every day. Today, I sent Maria a rose plant and Sad Sam and his girlfriend Honey. (Stuff animals.) Honey has a red bow in her hair. My Mom told me that when the florist delivered them Maria said, "This is the perfect Valentines Day present." I am so happy she liked it and only wish I was home with her. After arriving in Lowell we went with the Nims and Araujos to an early dinner at a nice Italian Restaurant for a Valentines Day dinner. The food was delicious. Then we were all full and exhausted and retired to our rooms to relax. Tomorrow they kids have sound check at 1:30pm. There is no night show and we are off on Monday and staying at this hotel. The hotel is nice and has an indoor pool and hot tub which we plan to use tomorrow and Monday. I want to congratulate my sister Maureen on passing her "Wall Street" test. Only 20% of the people taking the exam passed. I am so proud of her. Well I hope everyone is having a lovely Valentines Day! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOX

Good Riddance to Jinxville!

We had another really rough night. Maria's cough persisted even though I have been nebulizing her regularly. The cough kept waking her up. For the past couple of days she would wake up and tell me "Momma can I tell you something? I'm sick." It broke my heart. I was really upset when they had to leave for the airport and we had to get on the bus. I felt so bad. Mike and I did not get a wink of sleep, I also felt bad for him having to travel alone with Maria when she was feeling so poorly. He just told me they landed in New York and he is going to take her to the doctor. I told Maria to call Mommy to tell her what the doctor says. Jacksonville just continued to be Jinxville for me. If Maria being sick wasn't hard enough about 4am in the morning my nose started to drip as if it was a faucet. (Sorry don't mean to be gross just illustrating my point.) The misery continued this morning when I discovered my license missing this morning. The kids and parent are being flown to Boston on Saturday to avoid a two day bus trip. I am hoping I can fly on a plane without my license, if not we will have a long bus ride ahead.