Alex's Holiday TV Appearance

Alex is in the 3rd-6th grade choir this year and they went to a local TV station and were recorded singing a song that aired after a newscast. They had been practicing with a piano, but found out when they got there that they had no piano in the studio.  They sang it a capella for the first time and did pretty well.  The TV station has made it available online at

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video?id=6516614

if you want to check it out.  Look for him in the lower left of the screen at 37 seconds into the clip.

Mario Bros Drumming in the Cemetery

Aaron and Alex debuted this year's Halloween costumes at a cemetery bash set up by my medical assistant, BJ.  She sets up a spooky cemetery in her front yard every year to enhance her neighborhood and this year she had a fun party to kick off the season.  It was a cold night, but the boys were reasonably warm in their chosen costumes.  As you can see, they are still very much into the Super Mario Brothers - Luigi and Mario.  This year Aaron got to be Mario and Alex chose Luigi because he's taller.  They worked out this pose almost organically whenever we asked them to pose for a combo shot.  BJ made the little sign between them that reads "SUPER MARIO BROS IN PERSON".  We also got to enjoy snacks and cider and a small fire inside a cauldron on their driveway, which helped with the cold.

Her daughter came over and played the drums while she sang the witches' song from "Hocus Pocus".  The boys each took a turn at the drums.

To anyone passing by, it had to be a little surreal - The Mario Bros rocking out on drums in a cemetery.

Yard Sale Day

For the first time in years we decided to hold a garage yard sale.  Some other families in the neighborhood advertised in the paper for a community wide sale and we just chipped in for the ad.  We were able to get rid of a few things and packed the rest up for donation to charity.  The boys took advantage of the traffic to set up a snack stand with bags of popcorn or cups of lemonade for 25 cents each.  50 cents would buy you a juice pouch.  We totaled it up at the end of the day and subtracted expenses for supplies.  They got to keep the rest which went toward a handheld videogame system Alex had been saving up for.  Aaron was a persistent and tenacious salesman. He'd get very excited as people would approach, and then shout loudly at them "WE HAVE LEMONADE AND POPCORN!" repeatedly until we shushed him.



Becky set up a little stand selling handmade jewelry.  She had several interested people come up, but no takers today.  Garage sale bargain hunters just weren't interested in new custom made items.  She had at least one person tell her that they'd look her up at Christmas time to order some gifts for friends.



My medical assistant, BJ, came by with her husband to check out the boys' snack stand and were good customers.  As a reward for their patronage, the boys played an air guitar concert for them to the soundtrack of The Rolling Stones' Paint It Black and Dragonforce's Through the Fire and Flames that they learned from Guitar Hero III for the Wii.  They rocked out the neighborhood - next time we'll have to sell tickets.

Alex's Spring Concert

Alex took a larger role in this year's Lower School Spring Concert.  He'd been telling us about a part playing one of the seven dwarves for over a month, but we just found out recently that he had a secret role.



Early in the fairy tale themed concert, several princesses were struggling with what they were looking for in a good man.  Alex came out with a crown and proclaimed that he was a prince and therefore the man of their dreams.  They turned up their noses at him (in song, of course) and he stomped off for a quick costume change.



Soon thereafter he came out as Happy the dwarf.  They had their own song, and the chorus had been echoing through our heads for weeks from impromptu practice sessions at home: (To the tune of Heigh Ho) "Don't mock, Take stock. It's true, we really rock. We're Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Doc."

Alex promised us that having his shirt half-tucked into his pants was an intentional choice, important to the motivation of his character's personality.

Aaron's Winter Concert

This year's Preschool Winter Concert was a big treat. Aaron had been practicing in class and did a great job. His P-3 class sand several songs with their teacher, Mrs. Meinecke, by themselves. Then they joined the 4 & 5 year olds for another couple of songs. The older kids finished out the concert, and we had a nice reception in their classroom that Becky helped plan as Class Mom.

Alex's Winter Concert

Today we got to attend the Lower School Winter Concert which had a very nautical theme. The Primary classes had been studying the ocean this past semester and the music reflected it. Alex and his classes got to dress up like fish and act out one of the songs, "Swimmy", onstage. The older students took turns playing Christmas bells between acts and when they took the stage they sang a medley of songs about China because of the School's international focus and adoption of Mandarin as the additional non-Western language that they're teaching the older students. The Lower School Choir finished with a holiday medley. Alex really gave it his all this this time and it was fun to see him have this much fun, especially with his favorite song, "Nautical Bash". Splish, splash, splish, splash...

Maroon 5 at the Palace

OK, this is Maroon 5 on Saturday Night Live last year, but tonight they played for us. And a few thousand other folks. With a great babysitter watching the kids (Becky's mom), we made our way up to the Palace at Auburn Hills where the Detroit Pistons play. We liked the pre-opening act show by Sara Bareilles, but we couldn't stand The Hives who were the official opening act. We spent their set hanging out on the concourse, scoping out souvenirs and eating what had to be week-old popcorn (or else it was very fresh popcorn-flavored gum). Then Adam Levine and the rest of the band came out and rocked the house. It was a great concert and we had a great time jamming to music we both enjoy. Their songs are like poetry in their lyrical forms and musically they make you dance. We had a great time. We'll be there the next time they're in town.

SchoolHouse Rock, Live (Jr.)

We were looking up local activities online and stumbled upon a live production of a Kidz Theater production of Schoolhouse Rock, Live. It was a great stage show performed completely by kids. The kids knew all of the songs from our DVD set, but it was great to see it up on stage. Alex even mentioned that he might like to try something like this someday. "And, But, and Or - they'll get you pretty far."

Rockin' with Patricia at the Rib-Off

We chose a great night to go to this year's Rib Off. No we didn't. OK, yes we did. We tried to beat the heat by heading out for the evening instead of the usual lunch crowd. We lured the kids because they had a great kids' area last year. They probably did this year also, but they had shut it down for the evening. Cue the sad, hot and cranky kids. We found a patch of ground and set up our picnic. We feasted on some great barbecue and refreshed ourselves with waffle ice cream sandwiches, dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts. That significantly improved their mood, as you can see.

To top the evening off, we were entertained by none other than Pat Benatar. The kids got "All Fired Up" as we all danced the night away to some of her greatest hits. The hot night was redeemed after all.

Craig's Cruisers and Musical Fountains

We really like the kind of vacation where nothing is rushed or highly scheduled - especially with kids. We slept in and went to a late (for us) breakfast in the hotel. It was raining this morning so we started looking for alternatives to the beach. No one was too disappointed as we had a great day at the beach yesterday. I was looking around on the Grand Haven, MI website at area attractions and found Craig's Cruisers just down the road from yesterday's beach. We packed a lunch and spent the afternoon there. Just to warm up I modeled good batting posture for Alex and smashed a few 50 mph pitches in the batting cages. I was mildly affronted when Becky suggested I used to show off for her as a teenager by doing that, until she added that it really impressed her at the time. Then we all got in a round of minigolf on one of the best designed outdoor courses we had ever played on. It spiraled around a Island Mountain in the middle of a pond and spiraled down again without crossing your path. Our favorite feature was that most of the holes were shaped in a gentle cone which drew your ball in if you hit it close by. Subsequently, Alex beat us and got the Hole-In-One award with 4 total. Aaron got frustrated at the skill level minigolf requires, but amused himself by hopping all over the course's rock gardens and near the waterfalls.
Next we tried the bumper boats, and Alex and I got in trouble for bumping Becky and Aaron into the spraying water from the nearby bridge. We made up after racing on the go-karts - our favorite event of the day. Someone else bumped Becky and Aaron (a big no-no on the track) and we got to be indignant at him instead.
After pizza, Alex raced on the kiddie track by himself. He was hesitant to go fast at first, but that reluctance soon disappeared. We finished up with a rather successful run in the game room, racking up almost 300 tickets to spend at the toy & candy counter.
From there we drove to the Boardwalk at Grand Haven - much less crowded today now that the Coast Guard celebration was over. We strode along the public marina admiring the sailboats, yachts and quacking at the female mallards. We hoped there would be cute shops and sights along the beachfront when we decided for a little stroll downtown. There were quite a few – and most of them were closed on a Sunday evening. There was a cute little Italian boutique (in Western Michgan - go figure) that served gelato, of which we all took advantage.
We went back down to the river and attended a performance of the Worship on the Water, featuring a full band (including an amazing horn section) and a large choir belting out modern and classic church songs. The clouds that had been threatening us all day started to spit on us, which was a little risky for the musicians playing electrical instruments, so they ended a little early.
Finally at 10 pm the rain let up enough for us to witness the performance that we can to the marina for in the first place. Across the channel on the hillside, Grand Haven has a wide fountain that has articulated nozzles that are lit and choreographed along with a musical tract. The Grand Haven Musical Fountain was a big hit, and unlike anything we’d seen before.

Theatre Kidz

Tonight we got to see a community kids production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. We won the tickets at a charity auction benefiting Alex's school. It was a good show and featured several kids from the school. Alex was interested in doing the Theatre Kidz production next year. "I am handsome; I am smart. I am a walking work of art."

STOMP!

After scooting out of Sauder Village a little sooner than we wanted, we drove back in time to change clothes. At the Stranahan Theater, we took the kids to see Stomp! This is a muscial/dance experience where the music is performed onstage by dancers/performers using household items to tap our percussive musical rhythms. Heavily used are push brooms, trash cans, plastic brooms and Zippo lighters. The latter were used on a dark stage so we could only see the flames from the lighters and hear them opening and closing. The kids had a great time and I think we may be back their next time around.

A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small

As we left Suessical, The Musical a few weeks ago, Aaron was singing this refrain from the show. It sounds beautiful coming from a small person, so today I got it on video.

Alex's Native American Presentation

Tonight we were entertained by Alex's Native American performance at school. The entire Primary has been working on this for weeks months. In art class they made sculptures (like the bison on Dad's Day), parflesh pouches like the one on his belt, and other drawings. In Social Studies, they learned about the tribes of several different regions and tonight they took turns reading passages describing the lives and cultures of these tribes (Alex did a great job with his).
In Music class they learned and performed several Native American songs, dances (pictured here), and games.

After showing us his artwork, and that of his classmates (and a snack with juice) we all gathered back in the Resource Center and learned a game that the kids had demonstrated earlier that night. Aaron did a good job sitting through the performances and enjoyed the game at the end. The only sad note was that Alex's teacher had been instrumental in putting this all together, but was unable to attend tonight; albeit for a good reason. She's still on maternity leave for the birth of her new son.

Suessical The Musical

Today we went with some friends to see Seussical the Musical with the kids. It was a really neat show. They took a couple of Horton stories and combined them with a Cat in a Hat narrator and a few other side stories pulled from Theodore Geisel's children's books and set it all to music. It worked well because the books are already very lyrical.

This was also the first time that we got to see a show in the recently refurbished Valentine Theater which features this gorgeous chandelier. After the show the cast was standing in the lobby signing autographs, but the kids were too shy to approach them. We bought a couple of the kids favorite songs from iTunes tonight and we've been singing along with the chorus. Our favorite is little Aaron singing "A person's a person, no matter how small." - showing me a level of meaning from Ted's writing that I never really got before. We'll try to get it on video and post it here.

I Am The Champion, My Friends!!!

Winter Concert 2006

Today was Alex's winter concert at his school. It involved the whole primary school and each grade level had several songs so it was a long concert. Aaron came and enjoyed Alex's class's performances which were thankfully first and watched an iPod movie for the last 30 minutes. Alex did great and is getting more comfortable up on stage. We think he's got a great singing voice and his music teacher agrees, but he's not entirely comfortable singing in a group on stage, but this year was the best.

As part of the concert, he got to play a part on the xylophone and did a great job. (Our best camera angle included the cymbal covering his face, sorry.) In between taps on the xylophone bars he swished the hammers back and forth like windshield wipers to the beat of the music. If I can figure out how to isolate this on the video we made of the concert, I'll post it because it looks great.

Attack of the Blue Sesame Street Sno-Cone

To reward the kids with a fun night out after a hectic week of doing the single parent thing, Becky took them to the latest Sesame Street Live show. They wore appropriate shirts we picked up at Sesame Place this summer.

They really enjoyed the show, which featured all of their favorite characters.

The real adventure began simply - with a request for a Sesame street Sno-Cone. We don't know if they were designed this way or mixed up badly but there was WAY too much blue food coloring in Aaron's. He kept grabbing handfuls of it and of course, stained his hands and tongue. But the fun didn't stop there. Within 24 hours he had a neon blue diaper deposit that stained his tuckus as well. It would not come off in the bath and had to wear off over the next few days. In addition to the program and concert CD, this was one more thing to remind us of the trip to Sesame Street.

International DInner 2006

Tonight was out second International Dinner at school. The dinner is meant to highlight the many cultures that are represented in our student population. We come from all over the planet and have the chance to get a glimpse of each others' worlds, culture, and of course food. While we were waiting for the potluck meal to begin, Alex completed a map of the planet and won a book about Peace on Earth.

Dinner was interesting - the kids ate mostly American kid foods like hot dogs and food that we brought for Aaron. Becky has always had a deeper palate than I but I did try some new foods - though I passed on the haggis. Mostly I dined on Becky's Chili which was a hit for the 2nd year in a row. After dinner we enjoyed the Talent Show. The most memorable moments included a recitation of Ode to a Haggis by a Scottish parent, a traditional Indian dance by about 12 students, and a participatory polka in which Alex first encouraged Aaron onto the floor and then joined his music teacher to finish out the dance. This is something we'll try to do every year - maybe we'll even get the kids to try the food - someday.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Becky and I went to the Stranahan Theater to see Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber today. It featured Ted Neeley as Jesus - a role he portrayed in the movie 33 years ago. This was Becky's first time to see it and we both thought it was really good. The only major problem was that Ted Neeley is 63 years old now. His voice - while way better than mine - is starting to crack. He looks like the middle-aged man he is, but he's portraying a man in his 30's, so it took you out of the production a bit. The actor that played Judas, Corey Glover - the lead singer for Living Colour, is almost 42 and was cracking a bit also. They both gave very emotional performances, however. We want to rent the DVD of the 1973 movie now to see Ted in his prime.

We weren't quite ready to pick up the kids just yet, so we chilled out for a few more minutes with a venti (large) chai frappicino (Becky) and a tall (small - go figure) double chocolate chip toffee nut frappicino (me - whew!) from Starbuck's. OUt next show in the Broadway series isn't until March 2007. This will have to tide us over.