Weekend Happenings

So, we had a pretty eventful weekend. The biggest plan was for yesterday, and was in the planning for several months.

As I have told you in the past, Steve is lifelong Barbershopper. (Click on the word if you are unsure what this means). He has been singing his whole life. He and three of our friends from college actually sang two songs at the beginning of our wedding ceremony. We have been to many shows together through the years and I have attended many in which he was performing. He has always had favorite performers, as all people do within any music genre.

This past Saturday, one of his favorites, Power Play, gave their farewell performance after 20 years of singing together. They also had several other great quartets performing. So we bought tickets with the help from Steve's mom and planned to find a babysitter and drive to Detroit for the concert and come home. Over the last few months , we toyed with other ideas: leave the boys with Steve's parents an hour north of here, hire a babysitter, call Steve's brother who lives nearby, etc. But every idea seemed to have a snag in it. So finally I said, "Why don't we just take them with us?" Steve has been playing BBShop music for them on You Tube and the CD he copied (shhh, don't tell anyone) So he called and got us two more free tickets for the kids and we decided to try it.

The drive ahead was about 2 and a half hours between home and Detroit (actually St. Clair Shores, for those of you who know Detroit) so we tried to plan accordingly. When would Aaron get the best nap, when should we stop for dinner, etc. We finally decided that if we left too late, Aaron would take a nap too late and be a mess. So we decided to go do lunch somewhere and then hit the road.
We ended up at Chuck E Cheese because we had a ton of tokens from previous visits and the kids played hard for about an hour and a half.














Then we still had to go to Art Van to complain about the crappy bed we bought last year (which is going to be replaced later this week...yea!). The kids love playing at the "castle store" as they call Art Van because they have a big Kids Castle play area while the parents shop.

So it was finally about 3:00 O'Clock and we figured we might as well hit the road. The trip went SOOOOO well. We are still in shock. Aaron fell asleep almost immediately and between Color Wonder markers, a Leap Pad and a used Leapster I got on ebay, Noah stayed pretty content.
He did start to rest near the end. We stopped for dinner where the kids were REALLY well behaved and ate great and then they watched a movie for the last hour of the trip.














We made it to the concert location with 45 minutes still left and the auditorium was getting crowded. Steve wanted to sit up close and I worried a bit but I understood. This concert really meant a lot to him.

The concert started around 7:30. Let me just insert here....my boys' bedtime IS 7:30. The kids were amazed at first. The first group, Rural Route 4, was one of the first groups Steve ever played for me and they are HILARIOUS. They did a very entertaining version of Old McDonald which was perfect for the kids.

After the first group the kids started getting restless so I took them up to the top of the auditorium where they could move around a little without disturbing others. Aaron snuggled into my lap for most of the time.

At intermission, we took the kids out and got them into their pajamas and Steve ran out to the car to get their blankies. They looked so cute walking around in their sleepers.

Then the concert started again and they did better but I still wondered just how the rest was going to play out. By about 9:30, there were still two groups left to perform and Noah was begging to go to sleep. So I picked them up and headed for the car.
As we were heading out, one of the members of Rural Route 4 came walking by. Aaron was SOOO excited. "You're one of the barbershop guys!" He couldn't stop talking to him...it was like he was meeting a celebrity. He talked about it for the next ten minutes and much of the day today.


















I drove around and they fell asleep in the car and Steve came out about 45 minutes later.

The drive home was pretty difficult because I swear my eyes closed at least a half dozen times. We got home around 1:00 AM and fell into bed.

I know this was a long post...sorry. However, I needed to share the whole experience so that we can remember when we look back on it. The kids were so good, so excited, and both want to go again.

I think my favorite quote of the night was Noah's. The reason I liked it was because it was the EXACT same feeling I had after the first barbershop event that I attended and I remember it so well.

"Mommy, even though the songs are over, I still hear the music over and over in my head."

Thank you, God, for sensitive little boys. I love to share new things with them and getting the chance to experience things again for the first time.