We were able to get a great deal and reservations with the characters. These characters, like all the others we had the chance to meet… are great.

They are so patient and really make an effort to make each person’s experience special.

Suprisingly Killian would not meet any of the characters this morning. He was more shy than any other day.

That was OK though. He enjoyed waving and yelling “HELLLLLO!!” at them. I would have loved for him to get some photographs with them.

On the other hand, my neice wasn’t shy one bit! She loved meeting the characters and getting her photo take with them.

We headed to Rochester, an hour from home,where I dropped her off at a Starbucks and proceeded to the baby shower of a great friend.

The shower was beautiful. I got to see some friends that I haven’t seen in a while, although at times, I feel out of place.  I cannot explain it, but I just do.

night out with erica and the newsboys

I left the shower and picked Erica back up, then we headed to a bank and Mongolian BBQ (yum) for dinner.  After that we headed up to Flint… about another hour away.

After all that driving it was time to see the Newsboys.  They are a Christian rock band that I have been fond of for a number of years.  Their music is inspiring and positive and I like the sound.  Erica has listened to them with me in the past and was willing to attend the concert with me.  I was very grateful, I don’t think I would have made the trip alone.

We arrived to the church and there were already hundreds of people lined up around the building. I was a little overwhelmed by that, but then saw a sign that said “General Admission VIP East Doors”.  We walked over there and there was no line, just walk in.  We did so, and recieved a gift bag containing a VIP badge, CD and some other goodies.  We were excited.

acoustic performance by the newsboys

We had about 15 minutes to scope out some seats, place “Reserve” signs on them and walk around a bit.  We did that and headed to the meeting point for VIP where we were ushered into a good size meeting room.  We had a seat and the band was brought in.  Everyone that was there was welcomed to ask questions.  The guys were so gracious to answer all of them and then offered to have their photos taken with everyone.  It was a really nice experience.

meeting the newsboys

Once that was over, were headed back to our seats.  The general population had been allowed to enter while we were away, and wouldn’t you know it, someone took our seats. I was pretty disappointed because they were the best seats we could get at the time.  We put these signs up that the people gave us… It was pretty annoying.  Erica and I scanned the immediate area.  The people that may have been sitting in our seats couldn’t be called out…

We didn’t remember exactly what seats were ours and the signs had been removed from the area we were in. I was about to be heartbroken when this woman approached us.  She was an usher.  She asked us what was wrong and looked at our tickets. We had purchased decent tickets, but not decent enough to put us in front row.  She looked around herself for seats and couldn’t locate any…

amazing spinning drumset

Amazing.

I was excited and I think Erica was shocked that it happened, but also happy.

We got to enjoy an awesome show and see some great performances by other bands.  The Newsboys definitely blew it away with their performance, sound and effects.  Especially their spinning drum set.  That was crazy.

My sister was thoughtful enough to think of me when someone at her work (my old work) asked if she wanted tickets to see the Blue Man Group at the Fisher Theater in Detroit.  She called Greg and they arranged that it would be alright. Then she asked me if I wanted to go.

I have wanted to see the Blue Man Group for some years now.  Something about the rhythm, the comedy.  It all seemed to be righ up my alley.

We got down to the building a little early so we could take our time and visit a few shops.  I absolutely love the Fisher Building. I think it is beautiful and I have a lot of great memories there like getting to tour a few of the radio stations and getting to see President Bill Clinton speak there in 1996 or 97…

According to Wikipedia.org: The Fisher Building (1928) is a landmark skyscraper in the United States, located in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate building is designed in an Art Deco style, constructed of limestone, granite, and several types of marble. The Fisher family financed the building with proceeds from the sale of Fisher Body to General Motors. It was designed to house office and retail space.

The building, which contains the elaborate 2,089 seat Fisher Theatre, was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 29, 1989. It is also the location of the headquarters for the Detroit Public Schools.

The concert was at 8:00 pm.  I was very excited after watching a few Blue Man Group shows on PBS in my time… I knew to expect energy and good music.

The beginning of the concert, they get the audience excited with some interactive activities.  Then they start.  They start all out – balls to the wall energy.

The group segwayed in and out from high energy activites, comedy and audience involvement.

I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone, but they definitely left me needing to “google” to authenticity of a few of their segments because I am a skeptical person.  I enjoyed those segments no less, but I definitely left there thinking HOW DID THEY DO THAT.

My favourite piece that they perform is the Rock Concert Movement it is part of an older show that I really wish I could have seen.  We got to see them perform movements 1 – 10 which I just found hilarious.

I hope to go back again and possibly take Greg.  I think he would really enjoy it!  Killian would too when he is a little older.

We bought the home because it was a great home, in a great neighborhood and we could see ourselves raising a family in it, with having plenty of projects to work on!

One of those projects was to eventually be, downsizing the deck.

I have been very blessed over the last 5 months to be having a steady stream of website clients.  I was recently introduced to a prospective client who needed website for his cement / construction business.  It worked out nice that we were able to work out a bater agreement where we trade our services.  Of course, the website doesn’t cost as much as a small deck and patio, but it is a substantial discount that I am perfectly fine with.

That means that Greg gets to take 1 year of home owner aggression out on the piece of crap deck that we have.  I think that it is a little intimidating to him to tear this down, but I think that he is enjoying getting to use all of his tools and getting to do some really physical work around the house.

The wood for the stairway deck part was delivered and I think Greg was so excited.  He worked so hard to get the deck down in about 3 days – of 6 hours each of work.  We are trying to figure out how to get rid of all the wood, but we are so grateful to our local garbage men for taking a whole lot of the deck that Greg had already demolished.

The stair / deck building should begin in a few days.  The patio building… soon to follow after that.

I am looking forward to getting to have a larger yard to play in with the dog and Killian.  I am also looking forward to having some awesome family time on the new – soon to be – patio!

Since we moved to the area a year ago, we have had a library card.  Our library is awesome and I try to get there every few weeks to get a book or movie, even if it is just for Killian.

Killian loves the fish tank.  Forget the books, puzzles, computers, whatever else they have.  That child absolutely loves the fish tank.

So a few weeks ago the newsletter mentioned that the children could meet the local police dog and a few others, I thought the boy might like that! Why not!?  He loves police men, he loves dogs… Let’s Go!  No brainer.

Except that we have to go to the building with the fish tank.  And walk by it successfully.

We pull into the parking lot and immediately the questions start about the fish tank.  Can we see it?  Can we say “HI!” to the fishies?  Where are the fishies?  Can we sit with the fishies?

We were already running late, so I tried to just get him to walk past but he started to get angry at me.  Luckily once we got to the room where the demonstration was, he got distracted.

These were 3 beautiful dogs.  There was a dog from our city and 2 local cities.  These dogs were the most well behaved dogs I have ever seen.  We learned how they track drugs, how they can persue a suspect and what they are not able and able to do with the sense of smell.

After the session, the children got to meet, pet and hug the dogs, it was really a nice free event!

Also, after the session, we sat with the fishies for about 10 minutes and picked up a couple Thomas the Train DVDs.  I think the fishies still stole the show!

In one of the cards my Uncle got there was a “I’m the Boss” sticker.  He gave it to K, and explained to him what that meant.  Luckily he barely understood.  I wouldn’t have been able to make it all day with mr. 2-year-old thinking he was the boss of everything :)

Greg and my Uncle got ready to head out the White Sox – Tigers game and we took the kids to the park.  I don’t think there is much more that I enjoy in life than watching the little guy have fun.  He has fun with me, but it just isn’t the same as watching him have fun with his cousins out near Chicago.

My two little cousins have so much energy and love spending time outside.  They live in a beautiful area with an awesome community park.  Killian thoroughly enjoyed playing outside with them for quite some time.

They chased him. He chased them.  Even my Aunt got involved in the chasing.  Killian just laughed and laughed.

Such a joyful boy.

The boys got him to go down the larger slides.  It’s amazing what he will do when someone he really digs asks him to do it.  I cannot get him to go down the big slides at home! :)

There were some arguments over the logistics of how to get the wagon home.  In my perfect world, he would have just rode in the wagon nicely and not complained.  In his perfect world, he had to pull the wagon and stop a lot to look at the flowers and the cracks in the sidewalk.  Life went on, but those times can be challenging at the time.

It was a little chilly out, but nothing too bad.  Nothing that all that running around outside didn’t take care of!

We are on our way to a small suburb of Chicago to visit family. I am excited to see everyone and hang out with my Aunt.  I think Killian is just enjoying the ride.  We just stopped at a rest area and are stretching out legs.  So far, Killian has been a great traveller and I think he is just looking adorable today!

When my dad asked me if I wanted to go to the circuis.  Originally, I was not too keen on the idea.  Greg doesn’t like crowds a lot, I don’t like crowds a little…

But it was the circus and my dad really wanted to take Killian.

Greg opted not to go, so it was my dad, my sister, Killian and myself.  My dad made a day of it. He picked Killian and I up and drove us over to the event.

Let me tell you, the circus on Easter Sunday rocks!  No one was there.  The venue was less than half filled and my dad really did go all out for his little buddy, getting us first row seats right around the ring.

Killian interacted with the clowns and my dad got called up on stage.  It was a really fun event to be at.

I did have some issues with a few things, but I think that is just me being a square.  I felt bad for the children who were participating in the circus.  Something about seeing them perform really rubbed me the wrong way.  Their ages seemed to range from 4 – 10 years old.  I just didn’t like it.

I also want to know more about the health of the animals.  Some of them appeared to have injuries and I want to know if they were rescued from somewhere or if their injuries are from the circus.  My gut tells me it is the later.

Something my aunts would have wore in the 60′s.

I absolutely love my glasses, but I feel like my eye sight is failing me.  I learned today that nothing has changed, it’s just that my lenses are in horrible shape.

Greg and I both had appointments this morning.  We took Killian to get him a little familiar with the office. He doesn’t appear to have any vision problems yet.  Greg and I are both hoping that he doesn’t have any issues, but if he does, that they show later in life, like they did for us.

We spent more time having fun trying on the many styles of glasses. I love that there is no pressure, no impatience.  Try on whatever you want and find what you like there.

The styles they have are almost endless!

I am always looking out for new things to try.  Since we don’t really go out to eat anymore, the variety of restaurants is out of the question.  So my goal is now to find new and fun things to do with Killian.

Recently there was an offer for American Tall Tales at Meadowbrook Theatre in Rochester.  He has been to orchestra performances plenty of times,  so I wasn’t too concerned about him behaving properly.  I was concerned about if he would understand what was being talked about.

We arrived super early because it was a bit of a drive up there from the house.  He enjoyed running up and down the hallway and talking to the staff members who appeared to be college students.

Once the doors opened and we took our seats, he was very excited.  Mr. Garner approached Killian and spoke to him.  Of course Killian got shy as can be and burrowed his head into my entire torso.

Anyhow, the performance was great.  Children got to help and Mr. Garner was very interactive with the kids.  I think the adults in attendance even learned a thing or two about our countries old myths.

It was a good morning to spend with my sweet boy.