Bizzaro did a guest lecture for the Young Magicians Club this month and Matthew was called up to help demonstrate. He and Kaylee both really enjoyed the lecture… and it looks like the whole group had fun!
(Photos by Mark. I stayed home and took advantage of having the house to myself to get all kinds of super-productive things done be a big lump and watch a few hours of mindless TV. :p)
One of the games Todd had taught Matthew was poker, and as more family began arriving Thursday evening, an intense (and apparently very entertaining) game got underway.
Grandma Karyl brought out some (mostly costume) jewelry that had belonged to my dad’s mom to give to Kaylee this morning. She had a lot of fun exploring it all.
The green shoe box was full as well.
I think she’s set for jewelry for a while. :)
Uncle Todd spent some quality time with his nephew, teaching him card games. And then Matthew taught him one that he and his friends have played. Todd swore he was just making it up as he went along. ;)
I’m pretty sure those cards they’re using are ones my parents brought back from their Vegas trip in the 1970’s.
Kaylee was watching that TV in the background…
She looks so excited. ;)
We had another lecturing magician stay with us this weekend, Alan Sands. He had a little time off between stops, so he was able to hang out an extra day and keep Mark occupied. ;) Even got down on his hands and knees and worked on trying to refinish one area of our wood floor that is especially scratched up. I swear it was all his idea. We don’t normally put our guest magicians to work doing home improvements. LOL
He left behind a little souvenir as well. Can you tell what part of his lecture covered? :)
Kaylee had to interview a woman in her life about roles as part of a Girl Scout badge. She chose to interview Mrs. Dantzler, the school guidance counselor, who she knows pretty well from various programs she’s involved in. There was a lot of prep involved in the badge work. Kaylee had her questions all ready, and I videoed it for her so that she wouldn’t have to worry about trying to write answers down. Kaylee pretended they were on TV and did a great job, injecting a lot of her own personality. And I was very impressed with how patient and elaborative Mrs. Dantzler was. I think a counselor was a good choice for an interview subject. :)
Since last weekend was busy with magic, Matthew had to wait until this weekend to celebrate his birthday with his friends. He had his two best friends over for the afternoon for pizza, cake, video games, and general chaos. :)
The three of them have a lot of fun together, and they even got him laughing when he was trying to make his wish before blowing out his candles. :)
For various reasons, we haven’t had a guest lecturing magician stay with us in aaaages, but this weekend we had the pleasure of hosting “The Las Vegas Kid” Chris Randall and his assistant for this tour, Adriana.
Chris is one of our “repeat customers”. He was previously here in the fall of 2007 …
Welcome back, Chris. Would you like to make a reservation for 2017? :)
Quick visit from Aunt Jill and cousin Nicole, in town for a cheer competition. Aunt Jill’s visits almost always involve Kaylee curled up on the couch with her, playing games. This time it was Phase 10 on Nicole’s new iPad.
Matthew had his first paying magic gig this evening! David Blaine had an event down in Dallas tonight, and they brought in three kids to do magic in the lobby before the show to entertain people while they were waiting. I stayed home with Kaylee, while Mark and the other Young Magicians Club leader took Matthew.
Looks like the spectators were enjoying themselves! :)
Matthew’s shows went great, and he had a wonderful time performing. I’m so glad it went well for him! :)
They then got to go watch Blaine’s show, which Mark and Matthew both really enjoyed, and there was a reception afterwards, where they got to meet him.
Pretty darn cool. Congrats, Matthew, on an awesome debut! :)
There was a magic convention in town this week. While Mark didn’t attend, he did help out with a few rides to/from the airport, catch a few shows, and just go hang out with friends a few evenings. He invited a few people to the house for lunch when it was over. Here Kaylee and Matthew are dining with living legends Johnny and Pam Thompson, but all Kaylee was concerned about was Pam’s little dogs who were anxiously watching them eat from the nearby couch.
There was also just some general hanging out as Mark showed some of his prize collectables to fellow collector Chip…
and Johnny gave some lessons to Chip’s student who’d accompanied him to the convention.
‘Twas a lovely afternoon. :)
After missing last month’s Young Magicians Club meeting, Kaylee finally got her certificate! (Presenting the certificate is Reade, Mark’s co-leader of the club.)
Harry and Mark made a quick stop up the road at Southfork this afternoon (Harry’s wife is a big “Dallas” fan, and even though she wasn’t there with him, she told him he had to go), and then they dropped by the house for a bit before heading back out for the evening workshop.
Traditional shot in front of Mark’s magic library. :)
The annual magic club officers’ installation banquet. This year’s entertainment was Harry Anderson, aka ‘Harry the Hat’. (Also aka judge Harry T. Stone of “Night Court”, but that’s not part of the act – ‘Harry the Hat’ is a quite a bit more… um, crass. LOL) It was a great show, so much fun! :)
Oh, I suppose I should include a photo of the officers, since that was the point of the evening. ;) After serving as Sergeant at Arms last year, Mark was sworn in as Vice-President for this year. This is his second time running through the ranks as a club officer. :)
Guest magic lecturer this weekend was Doc Eason (left). He stayed an extra night to conduct a workshop. I snuck a quick shot while waiting for the last lingering attendees to leave so that I could snap the traditional guest book photo before heading to bed. :)
