Jingle Bell Rocked

IN REVIEW: Today we were all a bit tired from last night's major shenanigans - an enormous concert that began at 4 p.m. and got over around 11. The kids and I rode the bus to the concert venue, Key Arena, so we could all ride home in one car (Christian and the car came straight from his work).

On our walk to the arena, we found a storefront with a nutcracker and ballerina. I had to get a pic of the kids with it, as CJ loves nutcrackers and Bee has a few years of ballet under her tutu. I just wish I'd had my good camera with me instead of the crappy one built into my phone.

The concert was sold out - about 17,000 people - and crowded, of course. It was an all ages show and I was surprised at the lack of kids at the show. I didn't see anyone younger than CeeJ and Bee, and only saw one other kid their age. There were a few tweens, but it was mostly older teens and thousands of 20- and 30-somethings.

Above is some band playing something, photo compliments of my crappy camera phone.

There were seven bands sharing the bill, and the crews changing out equipment between the groups did a great job. It ran like a well oiled machine. Like any show, there were high points and low points. I'll let CJ and Annabelle be the critics. ...

Deck the Hall Ball review by CJ

I think that the consert was good. Especially Foster the People because of "Pumped up Kicks." I think the worst band was death cab for cutie. Also, the consert was 7 hours long. Personally I think the best part was the food. Overall: B-.

Deck the Hall Ball review by Annabelle

Wen we were at Deck the Hall Ball we listened to Grouplove. I listened to part of Death Cab for Cutie, Young the Giant, Cage the Elephant, Foster the People and finally, Mumford and Sons. The were all interesting (except for Death Cab for Cutie) so I'll give it an A.

I was surprised the kids were up rocking through Mumford and Sons' very last strain around 11 p.m. They'd both gotten up before 6 that morning. Annabelle did power nap during Death Cab for Cutie. (Their music has the same affect on me. Not that they're bad - it's just, well, not very invigorating, IMHO.)

Here's a video of Bee dancing around the concourse (to the tunes of Grouplove) while we were waiting for Christian to show up. It's the first time I've used my camera video recorder. Who knew I had to turn the phone sideways to record a video. So, tilt your head while you watch. ;)

BUNCHA BOOKS: We've been plowing through the pile of recently acquired library books. Today's titles included "Fletcher and the Falling Leaves" is about a fox named Fletcher who is concerned by the trees changing come autumn. His concern grows into an understanding about the changing of the seasons and a tree's lifecycle. "Punctuation Takes a Vacation" was a fun read, about the chaos that ensues if there is no punctuation. The kids really enjoyed the accompanying CD with fun sound effects for the punctuation marks (naturally it reminded me of the famous Victor Borge reading punctuation marks aloud). "One Tiny Turtle" told the story of a loggerhead turtle from egg through adulthood. "Surprising Sharks" covered different types of sharks and stressed the fact that most are NOT giant man-eating creatures.

BRICKYARD: This afternoon the kids enjoyed their LEGO building class. Here, CJ works on some sort of law enforcement vehicle, while Annabelle (in the background) works on the group build - the space shuttle on the launch pad. You can see the class has the big orange external tank completed.