The Sweetest Place on Earth

Disneyland, located near where we live in Southern California, claims to be "The Happiest Place on Earth". I'm not going to debate their claim, but I will say that I have stayed away for about a decade, give or take a few years. Whatever you do, NEVER go there on the 4th of July!

After spending most of Friday stuck at O'Hare Airport in Chicago due to multiple United Airlines flight delays and gate changes, I finally arrived at the Harrisburg, PA airport to visit Clayton and Katie May and their family in Hershey, Pennsylvania where he is attending medical school at Penn State. Yesterday their family and I visited the Hershey company sponsored "Chocolate World", whose motto is "The Sweetest Place on Earth". As good as Hershey's chocolate is (and I definitely consume my share), I think that spending time with Clayton and his family will definitely be the sweetest part of this special long weekend. I am proud of Clayton for his success with his family, his hard work and perseverance in his career preparation, and the compassion and caring he demonstrates through giving service to others. Here are a few of the photos I've taken so far.

I have enjoyed two different light shows. First, on the flight from Chicago to Harrisburg we flew above and around some lightning storms that were very entertaining. Here is actual video of that flight.

http://www.jumpcut.com/view?id=9975A40C3BF811DDBC35000423CF4092

Secondly, I was pleased to once again see some fireflies around Clayton's home. We enjoyed chasing and trying to catch fireflies as kids when we lived in Michigan and Ohio. If was fun to see them again. It brought back pleasant memories. I wanted to videotape them, but there weren't enough. Here is a link to somebody else's firefly video:

http://www.fireflymagic.com/fireflies/firefly_magic_fireflies_video.htm

On Monday, Clayton and I drove to Gettysburg to tour the National Military Park there. We got an early start and after a drive of less than an hour we arrived shortly after it opened. Their new Visitors Center has been opened only about 2 months and it was very, nice. Lots of displays and several videos. The museum is composed of 3 sections: the first about the causes of the war and the part of the war prior to the battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Gettysburg itself, and the part of the war after Gettysburg and the post war era. We completely or partially skipped numerous exhibits and still spent four hours in the museum. Then we drove around and stopped at various parts of the battlefield while reading about them from a Visitors Guide brochure. We gave ourselves a 2-1/2 hour limit to view the battlefield and had to skip some sites and hurry at the rest. We returned back home by 4pm and enjoyed some dinner with Katie May and her girls.

Here are some photos I took during out trip to the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
http://picasaweb.google.com/CameronHess/June2008GettysburgTrip

OCMCO

A friend who sings in the relatively new Orange County Mormon Chorale Organization (OCMCO) (http://www.ocmco.org/) gave Kim and I tickets to attend their 1st annual patriotic concert (Land that We Love) held last Wednesday night at the relatively new and fabulously beautiful Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Complex. This concert hall is the kind of venue I would expect in New York or Vienna. It is amazing. It has four wavy balconies and a very high ceiling from which are suspended 3 sets of adjustable acoustic baffles that look like giant curved xylophone keys. Even the lobby is a work of art. I have included a few of my own low fidelity cell phone camera photos, but be sure to checkout the photo gallery on this webpage: http://www.ocpac.org/home/Content/ContentDisplay.aspx?NavID=546#
The concert was first rate. One of the co-conductors, Dr. Brett Stewart, supervised the Newport Beach Temple dedication choirs 3 years ago when Kim was asked to direct one of the choirs. He has established choirs for different age groups, with the youngest being young Primary-age children. All the choirs performed during the concert. The other co-conductor, Brandon Stewart (brother) is completing a Masters of Music from Julliard School of Music and is a world class pianist. Accompanied by the Orange County Mormon Orchestra, he thrilled the audience with a wonderful rendition of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". Kim and I enjoyed a wonderful evening of world class music in an world class venue.

OCHSA Class of 2008

Its official. Kim and I are now "middle age". Our youngest child has graduated from High School. Gulp. With Fathers Day a little more than a week away, I'll probably be receiving gift certificates and two-for-one discount coupons for the Old Folks home...or maybe a layaway plan for a cemetery plot.

Tonight we attended the graduation ceremonies for the Orange County High School of the Arts- Class of 2008. When was the last time YOU attended a High School graduation where members of the faculty played guitars and sang?! The school meets a converted 7-story bank building. Many of the Conservatories rehearse across the street in a converted church. Only at OCHSA!

Here is a clip from Zach's graduation.



P.S. CMD stands for Commercial Dance, the Conservatory he's been a member of during his junior and senior high school years at OCHSA.