Stella's first tour with Clayton Productions was an awesome experience. The detail and organization that goes on to make this happen for so many kids is amazing. For me personally it was a hard trip. First of all, we had just gotten into that car accident, we were having some family drama at home with Brent and I, and I got really sick the night before we left. So I felt horrible most of the time. But I had to push through it because on top of everything else we also had another girl in our room that loved to wander off all of the time. I could not seem to connect with her and she was in tears twice before we had even been on tour four hours. However, it was full of these amazing wonderful moments. And I look back on these pictures and all I remember are the good times.
So we got to the airport early in the morning on June 12th and we were the last of the group to arrive. But we were still WAY early for our flight. Suddenly we had Elise, who I was going to be in charge of for the rest of the tour. We had to wait at the gate for a long time since we were there so early, and it gave Elise enough time to get gum stuck in her hair. We were about to get on the plane and I look over at her and she is in tears, and the gum is STUCK. Enter Christy saving the day the first of many times on the trip. She pulls out some scissors and we get out the gum. And I am realizing that I am traveling with a little girl who is way too young to be going on a trip without her mom and well...too late now.
We landed and while we were getting our luggage Elise just took off when I turned around for a second and that is where I learned that she loves to just wander off...so yeah fun times. We headed straight for our first performance at a senior center right by the water in downtown San Francisco. It was the coolest art deco building. Kim likes the kids to be responsible for setting up the stage and so we had a quick lunch and then they went to work. We had a good size audience including an older fellow with three cameras that was super into taking pictures of the kids (in a not creepy way). I found him fascinating. Halfway through our show the power went out and the show was put on hold and then canceled. The kids did their final street dance without any music and called it good. It meant that Stella didn't get to do her duet and that was a bummer. But I found Elise again in tears because she had gotten locked in some random room she shouldn't have been in and then she was crying because she didn't get to sing her solo. At this point I was already over being her caregiver. I felt TERRIBLE and I just wanted to be asleep in a bed so I was not up for it. Thankfully, Elise didn't like me either so she always wanted to go with someone else so when we got to Pier 39 for lunch she went with another group and I got a break. It was a beautiful day and I was so excited to be back in San Fran after all of these years.
We hung out there awhile and had some lunch. Then it was time to go and do our second show of the day at an old folks home. I LOVED this performance. The crowd was huge and so into it. They were dancing and smiling and loving it. It was definitely a highlight of the tour.
We got into the hotel and got all settled. It wasn't that late, but it had been a LONG day and I knew it was best that the girls go to bed. But all Elise had cared about the entire day was swimming in the pool. She had even packed a mermaid tail in her small suitcase. So we get to the room, I've already told her we aren't swimming and in two seconds she is naked and is putting on her suit. Then I make her call her mom who tells her to listen to me and asks her if she is getting ready for bed. While she is changing into her swimsuit she tells her she is getting ready for bed. So I had the be the bad guy again and tell her she had to go to sleep. Both Stella and her were out in seconds and I was almost asleep when one of the kids knocked on my door inviting us to a pizza party. It was like 11:30. Some moms are crazy, they love becoming cool and a favorite by making it a party. I'm not one of those moms for sure. It did not surprise me in the least when it was all of those kids that were too tired and sick to do all of their shows the next day....
Stella day one
I was so exited to go on tour it was a great experience. When we got on the plane i couldn't believe i was going on tour. The person how stayed with us had never been on a plane before. She was well let me just say it was a long 2 hours. Well anyway right when i got on the bus i couldn't believe it. I sat by my best friend Cali. when we arrived at our first stop we ate were the picture shows. After we ate i helped set up the fins with lily. the highlight of that performance is that when we were preforming the power went out. Also when we were putting down the fins Kim how is like 6 ft tall stepped on my hand but surprisingly it didn't hurt. After the show we went to pier 39. In one of the stores me and Cali were playing a game and i was here stylist. Cali put on a jacket and we left store and we have walked a while and realized that Cali still had the jacket on. Luckily it wasn't a big problem. Lastly we went to an old folks home nothing really big happened i was just really really thirsty and they ran out of water in the container. Then finally we got to the hotel i was so tired but our room was right next to Cali's so yay. Well Goodnight
Day two was the best. Our first item on the agenda was a visit to The Golden Gate Bridge. I've never gotten out and walked on the bridge before and I loved it. I felt like the bridge had this soul and walking on it was really magnificent. I wish we had the time to walk across the whole thing. That is one of the more frustrating things about tour for me. We would spend some much time kinda doing nothing, but I often felt rushed to do fun things like be on the bridge.
We headed to show number one which was at Pier 39. We had been there the day before, but this was our big chance to dance. The kids started gathering an audience even at the beginning of setting up the stage. Stella was in charge of the Fins (part of the mic set up) and she did a great job every time.
So this performance was one of my favorite mom moments of all time. Watching Stella sing in front of a bunch of strangers in this iconic place just about did me in. I started the show over on a bridge so I could get a nice far away picture. Then I watched her sing her solo from above and I just cried like crazy watching her voice ring out into the sky.
When it was time for her duet I got all close to watch and with tears streaming down my face I was tackled from behind by my adoption friend Julia. She lives about an hour and a half away and she had asked for our schedule, but I definitely didn't think she would actually come to see us. But she did and the gesture just made me cry even more and made the whole thing so much more special. She had her new daughter Mila from China with her and it was lovely to meet her, but I was a bit sad then that we didn't have Vivien. So we had so much time to kill after the amazing show. We had already explored the area so it felt LONG. But it was nice for us because we went out to lunch with Julia and the kids and we hung out with them for a good while and it was so fun. I was also SO CHILLY. When we said goodbye to them we still had a long time so Stella and I walked down a bit to explore. This cute Chinese family asked me to take their picture and then I couldn't help but tell them about my Chinese daughter and show them a picture...like they don't see Chinese kids ALL THE TIME. But I was missing my girl. Still the one on one time with Stella during this little bit was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
So after walking around in the cold and needing a nap like two days ago. I was pretty burnt out by the time we got to our second show of the day. It was at this beautiful retirement home. It is funny how much of an extrovert I am, but how much I also just need to be left alone sometimes. So I found a little bench and sat down to hide away. Stella came over to find me to tell me that her duet partner was sick and that she might have to sing alone and she tripped and fell and cut up her arm and leg while walking over to me. Christy to the rescue again with giant band-aids. The kids started dropping like flies and they were all barely too sick to go on. I think it was a mix of homesickness and not enough sleep since none of the kids that were sick had moms (or dads) there and they also were the party animals the night before. Stella was asked to sing the finale solo and she did a beautiful job. As we were heading back to the hotel for a pizza dinner Kim sent out a message about how if one kid gets sick then suddenly they are all sick. And turns out for the 100th time he was right about something I was skeptical about. Because every single one of those kids was at the pool that night swimming in the cold pool...suddenly...miraculously....fine.
Being in charge of Elsie was hard, but I was thankful for a room where I was the only adult. It would give me some time to decompress when both of the girls fell fast asleep. Overall, day two was my favorite day, but at this point, even though I was feeling better, I was pretty much ready to go home.
Stella day two
Golden Gate Bridge here I come!!! Walking on and seeing the golden Gate Bridge was so cool. It was windy and a little chilly but otherwise it was great. After the Golden Gate Bridge we went to pier 39 again but this time we preformed. It was probably the funnest performance I've ever had. It was a 360 adenince and a lot of people cheering us on. Something really funny that happened is that there was a old homless guy who sat on a bench that was behind us and started clapping like crazy. So a cop escortted him out. My moms friend Julia dove all the way from Sacramento just to see me preform. we had lunch with them and saw the walruses then they left back home. Of course we had to take some marvelous pictures of me before we had to get on the bus. Two things, i really had to go to the bathroom which the bathroom was descusing and while me and my mom were passing by a guy who worked at like a postcard place was sleeping. Our next stop was The Heritage Downtown. The person who i sing my duet with wasn't feeling well and every time i sing i don't have any breath and when she sings that's my break. So i found my mom and i tripped on a fence and really hurt myself. luckily Christy is the most prepared person in the world and she had big a band-ad. The girl ended up singing and i sang the finale. The whole group had pizza at the hotel and went swimming but i didn't go because of my knee.
Friday the 14th, I was done. But I tried to keep a chipper outlook. The kiddos performed at a Boys and Girls club and it wasn't my favorite show. I video messaged Vivi during the show, although I am not sure how interested she really was as Stella was very tiny on the phone. The kids in the audience seemed uncomfortable with our kids singing to them, and honestly I felt awkward about the whole thing.
We had some extra time so we were able to go and check out Lombard Street. I've seen it before, but only in passing so that was totally fun. I love walking the streets of San Francisco. It is amazing to me how the architecture is so unique to the city and it is everywhere. Like, who decided that all of the homes should look the same throughout the WHOLE city? I wish we had more time to walk around. We then were taken to the mall in the city center. We were supposed to eat in the food court, but I knew there was a Nordstrom Cafe at the top with a nice view and I wanted to eat there. I didn't want to take the Douglas crew away from the group, but either way that was where I was going as I needed a break. They decided to come with us and we had a quiet good lunch. We had laughs upon laughs as we made slow motion videos of the kids blowing their hair in the air conditioning. We honestly were not very professional and well behaved.
Stella day 3
In the morning we went to the boys and girls club. I'm pretty sure that the kids dident really like us that much. I mean it was still a good preformence but diffidently not the funniest. After that we went to Lombard Street it was so fun and cool. I loved walking down it and watching cars go down it. can you imagine our big bus going down Lombard Street. we went to a mall and everyone ate at the food court but we ate at Nordstrom cafe. It was fun and we blew are hair in the wind and we were totally not crazy. We traveled to Japan..... town and it was super cold. noyone really watched us exept for are parents. there were some teenagers who were making fun of us but whatever we were still having fun. Our last stop of the day was Gariddelli not much to say about just lots and lots of laughter. So we dident eat food at garidelli so Christy orderd pizza in her hotel room
Suddenly, it is freezing. And I am so tired and so over the trip. We get to Japan town (I didn't know this even existed) and we are way early. So we are told to walk around. This was the first time we ended up with Elise tagging along with us and she complained the entire time. I thought we should walk around and look at houses since there was NOTHING else to do. And she was "bored" and this was "not fun". I told her to suck it up. She seriously would just wander around like no child I've ever met! I don't know how she made those tiny legs move so fast when I wasn't looking. I'm so glad we never lost her. Personally, I loved looking at the houses on this quiet area of the city. Even though I was cold.
Soon it was time for the kids to set up so I went into this shopping area and walked around to stay warm. I could not find one thing I wanted to buy. I kept thinking of how I wished I was in China town so I could buy something Chinese for Vivi, but I didn't want or need anything Japanese. I stayed hidden for quite some time and it was nice to be alone, and warm. I really can't pinpoint why I had such a bad attitude at this point except that I just wasn't physically and mentally in a good place at all and I was annoyingly cold. The audience at this show was mostly the parents too so it seemed like a lot of effort for no reason.
I sat over on a bench and used Stella's sweatshirt on my head for warmth. While Stella was changing into her second outfit, she found a needle that Christy has lost in her dress. She said she had felt it a couple of times, but could never find it. Stella had worn that and danced in it at least ten times and she never could find this needle that was poking her. I thought it was so funny.
We went to Ghirardelli square for dinner and we basically all had ice cream for dinner. I really pepped up at that time and it was a fun little night. The kids had the giggles during our "dinner".
That night when we got home Christy ordered pizza because the kids were hungry for food but then Aedan fell asleep before it got there. The group of kids swam in the pool again and made a ruckus, but I was over worrying about all those kids actions at that point. We had one more day to go and I knew we could do it!
On our last morning we headed to one of the Six Flags parks for the last performance. And true to how I felt the entire trip, I suddenly got really car sick and I never fully recovered that day. I was so sad to watch the kiddos perform for the last time. I NEVER got sick of watching them dance and sing. Before they went on stage us moms gave one final push for Kim to put together a mom group and we danced for him on stage. He really was thinking about it, but apparently Chirsty and I were the only moms to said we were interested. Boo. I know for sure that more of the moms want to relive their glory days, but perhaps not enough to send an email to Kim.
I did not like this theme park at all. I didn't like the way it was set up and all of the rides were just rides designed to make you barf. We got some food and then Stella and I waited forever to ride The Joker. It was totally fun, but as we were getting off, I tripped on the seat and I had the most epic fall of my life. I back-walked like 15 feet before I fell flat on my butt. The worker on the INTERCOM: "Hey lady are you ok?" I am sure he was half laughing, half concerned. Anyway, I was bruised up pretty good after that. Then we went ahead and gave the Batman ride a try and it wasn't even fun at all and it made me SO sick. After that it was basically time to go to the airport.
Kim makes us get there really early, so I tried to hang out alone again, before joining the masses. I was sitting next to Stella's teacher on the plane and all of the sudden I felt dizzy. I had to put my head down most of the flight. I could not get over it. At this point it was almost comical how crappy I had felt this whole time. But I was going through some serious emotional stuff and I was physically and emotionally drained totally. I was so glad when we finally made it home.
It is interesting to look back on these pictures and remember what an amazing trip this was. I had kind of already forgotten how it messed me up until I went to write this post, and maybe I should have kept it out, but it was my experience and i don't want to forget it. Stella was thankfully pretty much oblivious to my attitude. She had the greatest time with her friends doing all day what she loves. The whole trip was for her, a dream come true. I am so thankful I could be a part of that and I was thankful to Brent and my mom for taking over care for Vivien so Stella and I could make these memories. Because there were some amazing memories. But tour with Clayton Productions is no joke it isn't easy. I just hope this next year my body and mind are more up for the challenge.
stella day 4
The last day of tour I was really sad. that morning kim wrote a poem or like a journal that he writes on tour. Six flags not a lot of poeple watched the rides were not that fun exept i really liked the jocker. Kind of the whole day i was sad and i dident want to leave tour at all. My mom was sick the whole flight home. and that was the end of tour....for now....
