School House ROCK!!!

Well, the first day of school has come and gone.  

Ben was very excited.  I could hardly get this picture before he was running away to wait for the bus....

It it was MUCH easier to get him to pose for a picture at the end of the day after he got off the bus...

There's not much to tell about his first day b/c I still don't know much about it.  He didn't really tell me much.  

Ben is just like me.  

I get it.

I mean, where do you begin answering the question, "what did  you do today?"  

Seriously?  I just did 8 hours worth of stuff and there was something new every 15 minutes.  Too much.  Too much.

His first day and week, as far as I know, were uneventful.  

I'm glad, really.

  

It's stressful on a little person to start a new school year.  New teacher, new people to get to know, new schedules.  So, I'm very happy that he didn't come home with a look of terror on his face and that he wanted to go back the next day.  

I'm glad that he likes his teacher and being a third grader.  

I'm glad that there was no drama.  

I'm looking forward to hearing about what he's doing this year.....or not.  

We'll see how much he tells me.  

I will be finding out soon about the pilot program that his class is participating in this year, though.  There's  a lot more science involved.....that's right up his alley.  

I'll keep ya posted.

I will, however, tell you everything you want to know about the little adventure that Erin, Laura and I had in Tulsa.  What was this adventure, you ask?

Why, it was a DEF LEPPARD, POISON AND CHEAP TRICK concert!!!

Yep, that's right.  It was time to re-acid the acid wash and de-gunk the spray nozzle on the aqua net bottle.  

We had some 80's moments to re-live.

I was so excited about this concert.  It's been a long time since these bands were at the front of my cassette tape collection.

We loaded up Erin's Jetta, wished it was a t-top Camaro, and set the GPS for the BOK Center.

Now, by the time we realized that these guys were going to be in Tulsa, tickets had already been on sale for two months, so we knew going in that we were going to be in the nosebleed section.  We had no idea that we would literally be four rows down from the spot light guys and eye level with the flag hanging from the ceiling.

No matter.  Takes much more than that to keep these rocker chicks from having a great time!

First up, CHEAP TRICK!!!  

Check out how long his shoes are!!

Finally, a place where it's acceptable to do "rock fingers"!

Next was POISON!

(see how far away we are?!)

It's all good, I've got zoom!!!

I see you and your hair, C.C.  

Laura with her lighter.

And then, it was REALLY showtime!

Ladies and gentlemen (really didn't see many of  those, btw), put your hands together for DEF LEPPARD!!!!!

Now all this is fine, but I know what you really want to know.....

You want to know what kind of people were there, don't you?  I was curious about that, too.  

There were a lot of people just like us,  excited to re-live some of the glory days.  Some of them even had their kids with them...not my choice, but ok.

There were MANY people who had been living those glory days for a looooong time.  Maybe time to let go?

And then, there was this guy. 

This cat was having a GOOD TIME.  

He was more than happy to pose with his coozy when I pointed my camera at him and said, "hey"!

We also had a couple of really nice guys behind us that came down from Wichita, KS.  They were fun.  I think that were probably my age when these bands were at their peak.  

I believe I sent a picture of these two to my Facebook page from my phone.  

Not important.  

Nice guys.

Let me sum up this evening for you:  

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!  

I'm not going to lie, I was extremely excited about these shows.  I LOVED all these bands....still love 'em!!  But I expected it to be more funny than what it actually turned out to be.  

I mean, think about it:  these guys are, what, 20 years past their prime?

But listen, it rocked.  It was a blast!  Each of these bands put on a killer show and I LOVED IT!!

They sound just as good now as they did back then, maybe better.

We had a KILLER time.  It was WICKED (and all that other stuff we used to say).

 My hair is a lot less, well, permed now and I don't have bangs that stand 6 inches off my forehead like I did when I listened to all these guys the first go 'round.  My acid wash jean skirt....excuse me, PLEATED acid wash jean skirt is no longer a staple of my wardrobe (although acid wash is DEFINITELY out there.  If you don't believe me, go to a Def Leppard concert).  

I have moved on, but it sure was fun to visit.  

This guy......

...not so much.

For now, for me, the 80's have left the building.

Jump, Jump

Q:  What completely wears your kids out,  costs $7 and insists that you run around in socks?  

A:  A little slice of Heaven called... 

Jump Zone!

I'm behind on this discovery, so I have to thank Elyse and her tiny tot, Jackson, for the invitation.  For those of you not familiar, although I think I'm the only one, this is Mecca for the bounce house.  Nothing but HUGE, floor to very high ceiling bounce houses.  

Ben's eyes just about bugged out of his head when he first got a glimpse of this bouncy playground and he could hardly stand the 90 seconds it took to pay to get in.  But once we were in, I gave the thumbs up and he was off, leaving a smoke trail behind him.......

They were massive!  There was a giant Tonka truck and a Batman (I think this one had an obstacle course inside), a Spongebob house, a roller coaster and a giant gumball machine.

The biggest was a really tall pirate ship:

You can't really tell by my pictures, but this was probably 25 feet tall.  This one was a little intimidating to Ben at first, but he did it.  Then he did it again and again and again and again.  In fact, that's where I found him when it was time to go.  

He was so SWEATY!!  

Oliver and I hung out in the little toddler area.  

There was a smaller toddler bouncy area that we crawled into, but he didn't like it very much.  It was like being on a trampoline in that there was never a solid step under your feet.  Nope, he didn't care for that much at all. 

Oliver just ended up playing with the little baby games on the wall and riding the little rocking horses.  

There was a little competition at the wall, but nothing ever got out of hand.

"Dude, you don't want any of this.  I easily have 14 ounces on you."

Yes, this is a great place to take your kids.  It's safe, it's cheap, it's clean, it's fun...four things that go together rather nicely!

tomato, tomahto

I looked out the window into the backyard yesterday afternoon and Wade and Oliver were picking tomatoes, so I blew the dust off the camera and started snappin......

Oh, and Oliver had just gotten up from a nap, so that's why he's in his diaper.  I don't want you walking around thinking that I dress him in a diaper, t-shirt and crocs.

The funny thing is that not one of them likes tomatoes.  

R.I.P. P.Y.T.

My friend Laura called me yesterday and said, "Did the 80's just die today?"  

I sighed and said, "I guess so, Farrah's gone."  

Laura said, "and Michael Jackson."

WHAT?!!!

As much as I Twitter and Facebook, I had completely missed this newsflash.  They don't typically break in on Yo Gabba Gabba to report breaking news.  Note to Wade: THIS is why I'm on the computer so much.

TMZ was reporting he was dead, but please, they'll report any rumor on the hope it's true so they can be the "first" to break it.  

I got on CNN.com, NYTimes.com, EOnline.com, People.com....most were only confirming cardiac arrest and/or coma.

Then, it was true.  My pop icon was gone.  A huge piece of my history....gone.

You know, I didn't get it when Elvis died.  I remember that I was sitting on Amy Teufel's bed when I found out and I understood that he was HUGE and there was shock. But I didn't get it. To this day when I think of Elvis I think of a fat, sweaty guy w/lamb chop sideburns that wore elaborate jumpsuits (JUMPSUITS) in Vegas and lived at Graceland.  We even visited Graceland when I was young.  It was closed for renovation (bummer), but we toured the property.  I still didn't get it.  I remember thinking "why on Earth would you want a swimming pool that was that shallow?"     

I understand that when Elvis first arrived on the scene he was this new controversial pelvis shaker (c'mon, I saw Forrest Gump) and that he made his mark on rock n roll, but I will never truly get it, because I wasn't there.  I didn't experience the buzz of Elvis.  I didn't experience him only being shown from the waist up on T.V. and how even THAT outraged people.  

They were talking about this on the radio this morning:  if you are in your early 20's or younger, Michael Jackson was probably to you like Elvis was to me.  A weirdo.  A freak.  Some musician that got a lot of (well deserved) bad press. To you, Michael was just this plastic-surgeried, baby dangling, alleged child molesting, mask wearing weirdo who named his kid blanket.  Jacko the Wacko.  I get it.  He became all those things to me, too!  And you probably realize that a huge pop star is gone.

But let me tell you something, if you didn't grow up listening to Thriller on vinyl or cassette tape in the height of the hype, I'm sad to say, like me with Elvis,  you will probably never really get it.  Jacko the Wacko is just not how I will remember him.

I have so many memories tied to Michael Jackson.    

I remember Tracy Haas and I went to Willow Bend Country Club in Plano to be a part of one of the worldwide recordings of We Are The World.  I felt really close to Michael that day.

Julie Hairston Livingston and I watched the premier of Thriller on the floor in her living room.  NOTHING could have pulled our attention away from that T.V. unless MJ himself walked in.  Then we watched the making of the video immediately following thinking how cute Michael was in his Mickey Mouse sweatshirt and feeling so sorry for him when he was telling about how those yellow contacts he wore for the video stung his eyes.  Poor baby.

Not long after that, I became really close friends with a girl that liked MJ as much as I did. We'd known each other since kindergarten, but it was Michael Jackson that sealed the bond between me and my lifelong friend Amy Fry Gorman.  I will never forget her telling me that her Alabama gradma couldn't stand that she had him on her wall.

Years later, my amazingly talented dance friend, Katy McDermott Eggleton took a dance class from a well known dancer who had been one of the zombies in the Thriller video.  WICKED COOL! 

I remember when his hair caught on fire shooting that commercial....was it Pepsi?....and I remember how silly my dad thought I was being about it, but I was SO worried.   

I remember the jackets with all the zippers and the sequined glove.

I remember how badly I wanted some of those sunglasses that he wore.  Remember?  They were aviator style and they folded in half.  When I finally got some, I thought I was the BOMB!

Michael Jackson's death deserved the breaking news and show interruptions it got, but let's be honest, this news story will have a fly's life.  Next week, it won't be dominating headlines anymore (which is good, there's really only so much you can say).  But, as cliche as it is to say, his legacy will live on.  He was definitely weird and I didn't get why he did most of what he did, but he was a musical genius and a true entertainer and he paved the way for so many.

And now, I moonwalk.

R.I.P.  P.Y.T.

Monkey

For dinner tonight I made Oliver some beef ravioli and some sweet potatoes and corn.  Here's what he ate:

11 cherries

1 banana

300 nilla wafers

approx 6 bites of sweet potatoes and corn and 

1 ravioli

Hot Summer Days and Home Runs

I'm not usually a summer person.  I like the mild seasons like Fall and Spring.  I have to admit, though, that I have welcomed the last few days of sunshine and temperatures in the upper 80's. 

This past Sunday we filled up the baby pool and slathered on sunscreen for some outdoor fun.

Around 6:30 that night, Ben asked if he could get back in the pool.  Usually at 6:30pm on on school night, we are headed full speed without brakes into our evening.  Dinner, bath for Tiny, shower for Ben, bottle for Tiny, bed for Tiny by 7:00 or 7:30, bed for Ben by 8:00 or 8:30.  BUT, this is the last week of school for Ben and I KNOW they aren't doing a darn thing.   On Monday and Tuesday of this week at school, Ben has watched Shark Tale, Dumbo and Little House on the Prairie, he's had a popcorn party and ice cream party.  When asked what else they did at school, he tells me they had "free time".  hmmm  

So I told Ben he could get back in the pool.  Oliver, who was bathed and dressed for bed (yes, he can still wear his Christmas jammies) was not at ALL happy about this.

Monday night, Rodney (one of Wade's parts reps) gave us tickets to the Naturals baseball game.

These games are so much fun!  If you haven't been to one, you MUST go.  It's a great ballpark and there's lots of entertainment!

We were going to be in the stands this time, so Oliver stayed at home with Auntie Erin.

Ben spotted the misters first thing.  

Rodney is just a super guy.  So nice!  

When we got there, Rodney handed Wade thirty ball park bucks.  

Those pay for anything and everything at the ballpark.  

SWEET!

Our menu that evening was hot dogs, cotton candy, regular candy, nachos (w/jalapenos of course), ice cream, Dr. Pepper and ice cold beer.  

Well, Rodney just kept handing Wade ball park bucks.  We'd spend some and then, BLAM, they would be replaced.

By the 9th inning,  we had $50 in unspent ball park bucks.  Ben wanted some more cotton candy and I said "YOU'RE OUTTA THERE"!  That was my baseball equivalent to "no, b/c I don't want you to vomit in the car".  

The bucks are only good for that game so.....Ben and I hit the gift shop.  

In the gift shop they sell all things Naturals, including baseball bats that the players have used in previous games.  Well, Ben  thought that was the coolest thing EVER, so he picked out a bat and a baseball cap and we used our ball park bucks to pay for them.  Pretty slick!

Yep, this is the kind of summer that I can handle!

Bedside Chats with Ben: Monday - Memorial Day

Ben said:

"Have you ever tried to whistle with raisins in our mouth?  It's really hard and, most of the time, they just go shooting out...patooey."

This concludes Bedside Chats with Ben.