A Story from Daddy

I'm off in Iowa visiting a friend and this is a story that Daddy emailed me:

This morning Averi poked Taylor in the chest this morning and in response he told her "Averi, don't touch my bosoms!"

Lilith Fair - The Pics

Remember that I won these tickets... We sat in a place that we dubbed the cattle pen or stock yard. We also called it jail. Or the mass of commoners. Basically, we were stuck in a pen with no chairs. Everyone just staked a little claim with mats, towels and blankets. At least we were on the stage level. We did move around a bit later in the evening.

A pair of girls sitting behind us were kind enough to take pics and email them to us, since neither of us had brought our cameras for various reasons. There's me wearing my new Lilith shirt. After going to my one and only concert in 1999 (won tickets to Cher!), I learned that a shirt with tour dates is mandatory.

Here's our best pic...

This is us singing to Sheryl Crow... You can see a glimpse of one of our camera-toting neighbors.

Stef and I posing in front of the stage:

The traditional concert beach balls:

Posing Already!

Look at this sweet little smile!

Ella Testing the Waters

Ella's walked on a couple of occasions now. About 5-6 steps. She hasn't decided to make it permanent yet. Just little teases. I'm not anxious, though. Once she's up and running, my energy expenditures will increase exponentially...

Precious Baby Girl...

This is when you love 'em.

Ella's First Word

Well, she's kinda said Mama but her first official word is: Hi! She loves to wave and say Hi to all she passes. I'm a little late in reporting this so I'd say she's been doing it for about 1-2 weeks.

She also waves and says Bye.

She's so sweet!

Lilith Fair - The Reality

Hm.

I enjoyed myself but I can't say that it was stupendous or amazing. My dad and I were discussing this and my conclusion is that I'm getting old and my dopamine-releasers are becoming more selective as I age.

I think the biggest disappointment was that Sugarland, a country band, got WAY more time than Sarah McLachlan! Sarah didn't get on stage until late and then had to quit early due to Calgary curfew (10:30, apparently)! Nothing short of tragic.

I think the best time I had was listening to Sheryl Crow. Not because I like her more than Sarah, but because her music is more upbeat. It was fun to groove along with the tunes. At one point, her 3-year-old son was shaking maracas on stage with her and someone was holding her newborn (Sheryl called him/her "fresh out of the packaging"--so cute!) on the side of the stage. How sweet!

Sarah was a terrific performer. I've always considered her the personification of a true musician. She was the only person who had more than pleasantries to say to the audience. She had wonderful presence. Before she came on, we were able to get really close to the stage, but right before her entrance, the aisles were cleared by security and the police, at least as far as possible, so we stood back.

Now, the "incidents" of Lilith. What I will recall as my experience of Lilith.

The line to get into the stadium was long and winding, however, once the doors were opened, it didn't really take too much time to get in. We had, unfortunately, brought folding chairs, which we learned at the entrance to be not allowed. We had to leave them at the entry way, outside of the stadium. Stefanie was understandably concerned that they would be stolen. We were pleasantly surprised to find them immediately following the concert. :D

I'd say that was sort of the recurring theme of Lilith. The people there were terrific! At one point before the Main Stage performers started, I dropped my can of Sprite right behind a fellow Lilith-ite, seriously splashing her and soaking the corner of her mat/blanket. Without a second thought, she shrugged it off, commenting that it was clear and not wine so there was no reason to fuss! Stefanie, the prepared wonderwoman that she is, had a couple of paper towels that she used to clean up the mess. She did mention later that I should try not to spill any more drinks since she didn't have any more paper towels. Ha, ha. ;)

The 2 young ladies sitting behind us, quite congenially agreed to take pics of Stef and I since we had not brought a camera (Stef was understandably concerned with confiscation). We had much fun chatter with these girls and took pics of them, as well (of course!). When they left early (gasp!), they left us their water spray bottle. It was a hot day and the gesture was very appreciated. (We did have sunscreen and umbrellas, Dad!)

The least favorite aspect of Lilith, was the line up for food. :( We had brought snacks but decided something more serious was necessary. I missed part of the first act, Colbie Caillat, while waiting in line. Nothing serious, just disappointing.

Will post pics when (if?) we receive them!

Thanks for returning, Lilith and Sarah!

Lilith Fair - The Anticipation

As many of my Facebook friends know, I won tickets to Lilith Fair here in Calgary! It's a concert involving many female musicians who rotate between different sites. The one constant musician is the celebration's coordinator, my favorite artist, Sarah McLachlan. Ever since I'd heard of Lilith Fair, back when I was single, I'd wanted to attend, so this is super exciting for me! My friend, Becky, and I listened to Sarah constantly in those days and if she were here, I would have invited her to join me! Since she is still far, far away, in the outer reaches of Iowa, I've invited my neighbor, friend, partner-in-crime, Stefanie to attend with me and she didn't disappoint me in her reaction to the news!

And so, we anticipate. Tomorrow is the day! We're bringing folding chairs, as it is an outdoor affair and we have general standing tickets, bottled water and snacks.

There are many artists participating, but not all of the ones I would love to see will be at the Calgary performance. Those artists include:

• Meaghan Smith: She is a friend of my sister-in-law, Ariel! When Norm was visiting last, he played some of her music for us and we quite enjoyed it! Even Lindsay, another sis-in-law, was asking if I would be seeing MS. It's disappointing to me, but Linds wasn't nearly as jealous of the whole Lilith thing since MS wouldn't be there. ;)
• Chantal Kreviazuk: A Canadian artist known for many songs, especially her rendition of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" from the Armageddon soundtrack.
• Kelly Clarkson: American Idol's first winner has been it's only major success! I really like her peppy 1st album, her grunge-ish 2nd album and her single "Breakaway" from The Princess Diaries II (I think).
• Norah Jones: The new queen of jazz.
• Other familiar names such as Rihanna, Queen Latifah and Tegan and Sara.

That being said, here are the artists I'm super excited about that WILL be there!

• Sheryl Crow!!!!!
• Colbie Caillat
• and, of course, Sarah McLachlan!!!!!!

Will tell all after the show!

I told Shawn I AM getting a T-shirt and he didn't even say no, even though we have NO money. He KNOWS. :) Thanks, honey!

Good Day for Shawn!

Shawn is in the midst of sectional finals, with his "final" final on Monday. Today, he received a 98%, his highest mark ever and the highest mark in the class! Looks like reading blueprints is his thing!

A moment of truth: On a different test (math-related), Shawn had left an entire section blank. He had been unable to study enough due to illness and other tests (they usually have about one a day!). The fellow student who was grading it, filled in the answers and marked them as correct, giving Shawn a mark of 95%! He didn't feel right taking the grade and told the teacher about (not disclosing the student who graded it). Shawn was still happy with the 65% that he received since math has never been his forté and he'd been unable to study adequately anyway.

I'm so proud of Shawn on both accounts!

Taylor Writes!!

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the bathroom and Taylor had not only drawn a picture with recognizable people in it, he had signed his name to it!! Pretty close, anyway.

Unfortunately, he'd also drawn on each of his peripheral appendages...

Ella on the Tramp

Ella is on our neighbor's trampoline with their son, Seth. There are also a bunch of the neighbor kids involved. They absolutely adore Ella and they're mostly all boys!

Pleasant Park

You can't tell unless you zoom in, but Taylor's tongue is hanging out!:

Update on Avi's Eyes

Avi had an appt where it seemed that her eyes had worsened. At her next appt, her eyes were back to their usual measurements. So Avi is set to have her eyes corrected in September. They could have done it during the summer, but the disadvantage to that is that she would not be allowed to go in any lakes for a month afterwards. The likelihood is, considering that Grandma/Grandpa and Aunt D both have lake access, that she will be going to the lake.

Also, this July we head down to the Bullocks lakeside property near Barnwell again! Hooray!!

Circus!

Don't get too excited--I didn't take pics of the show. I should have but unfortunately, I misunderstood them to say they were not allowed. Near the end, I realized that they had only prohibited recording. Some of the acts included were trickster dogs; 6 horses--each dressed as a pegasus--performing with only the direction of a whip; 2 elephants; that rotating wheel that someone runs around the outside of (this one actually made Shawn and I quite nervous!); contortionists who did everything from spin plates and umbrellas to amazing feats with hula hoops; and so on.

Taylor's first cotton candy:
Avi and Mommy:
During intermission, we tried to keep the kids busy going for a bit of a walk. As it was Avi's naptime, she kept wanting to go home. I believe Taylor wished to go home as well. So, while trying to keep them distracted while waiting for the second half of the show to begin, we gave them each a baby wipe to clean off their hands and faces. Since it was warm in the tent, they found another use for them... Cooling off! They took turns placing their wipes on each other's faces!



Avi, Taylor (making a grumpy face) and Daddy:

The Princesses

No story with these... They're just adorable!