Blink 182...or what was I thinking?

Remember how I mentioned that I have been winning a lot of things through the radio recently? Well one day I thought it might be fun to win a some concert tickets. I had vaguely heard of Blink 182 so I tried and won.

The concert was held at the USANA ampitheatre. We met up with Tysen who is the DJ at 101.9 The End and the other winners. The first thing we did was wait in line to meet the band. Oh...did I mention I won backstage passes as well. Security was quite tight. We couldn't take pictures, but they did give us a photo for the band members to sign. It felt pretty formal and I had no idea what to say to the band members.

After the meet and greet we found our seats and started listening to the opening bands. There were a lot!

Maybe some of the band names should have tipped us off that it might be an interesting evening for us. There was Rancid, and My Chemical Romance, and Blink 182. The music wasn't bad. It was some of the crudeness and language.

Blink 182 would have been SO much better if they would have avoided talking in between songs. The stuff they were saying was beyond inappropriate.

We stuck it out to the end and didn't wait for the encore performance. It was a good lesson in "Just because you can win it doesn't mean you should".

Magna Arts Festival

On August 27 our little family headed to the Magna Arts Festival. Lydia was out of town with her dad so we missed having her with us. This is the second year Magna has held their arts festival. It was a little bigger this year. We enjoyed stopping into the UMFA truck and looking at this marvel! Isn't it amazing!

It was a VERY warm day so the walk to and from the festival was hot, but we managed. At least Violet had her water and cereal. Adelle picked a flower on the way and shared it with her little sister.

The folks at the festival set up a table where the kids could color.
Violet and Wes hung out in the shade.

Adelle decided to draw herself as a beautiful princess!

We had a fun time at the festival. Adelle even bought some different rocks and minerals. We even put a bit of money in the jar at the Magna Museum so it will hopefully grow.

The First Day of School!

On August 22 the girls went back to school. Adelle is going to the same school she went to last year and is still in the advanced learning program. She really likes her new teacher and already knew almost all the kids in her class from last year.

Lydia on the other hand stepped into an entirely new experience. She started Jr. High. She had a back to school night the Wednesday before school where she could meet her teachers and a practice half day of school on Thursday. It is a special day just for the 7th graders so they can find all their classes and get used to their schedule.

Lydia really seems to be easing into school well. She is also involved in a lot of extra activities. She tried out for Pizazz, a singing and dancing group, and made it. She has practices very early in the morning twice a week. She also tried out for the musical "Bye Bye Birdie" and made it. She has practices for that every day after school. Despite all her business she is also keeping up with her school work and violin practicing.

Wes walks the girls to school every morning. I'm grateful for his flexible schedule that allows him to be so involved. I am so proud of my girls!

My Girls at Cherry Hill

The Saturday before school started the girls and I headed to Cherry Hills. This was another free activity. I was especially excited to take Violet since she hadn't been swimming since she was a baby. We all got our swim suits on and slathered on the sun screen.

I hold onto things for years, especially if I think there is even the most remote chance that I will need it again. That happened to be the case with this little inflatable boat that I bought when Lydia was a baby. I am so happy I did. It was absolutely wonderful to have in the lazy river and Violet had a wonderful time!

Cherry Hill has an amazing lazy river. You feel like you are floating through an old, western town. They have music going and once an hour the lazy river gets a little crazy. Water sprays everywhere and buckets of water dump on your head.

The girls headed over to the water slides for a little while and Violet and I found a wonderful wading pool with a little slide and fountains. She really enjoyed splashing and running around. I wish I had taken pictures.

We got hungry and ate our packed lunch.

We would have loved to stay longer especially since it was our last adventure for the summer. Violet was getting pretty tired. Even she didn't want to leave though and she was kicking and screaming when it was time to leave the splash pool. She totally zonked out on the way home. I think we'll have to head to Cherry Hill again next summer!

Lydia, Liz, Lisa and Linzi at Erin's Slumber Party

Listening to radio stations makes you more aware of events that are happening in the valley. When I heard about Erin's Slumber Party on B98.7 I thought it was be really fun! It isn't really an event you sleep over at, but it did go pretty late. It was just a night for girls and the only way you could get in was to win tickets! Luckily I won some :) Lydia really wanted to come along so we made it a special night for the two of us. I also invited my coworker Lisa and her sister Linzi. Lydia and I started out by getting pedicures. They had a lot of different services, and most of them were pretty cheap. They also had lots of free food including a chocolate and caramel fountain.

There was a random pickle guy wandering around all evening. It sort of became a joke for us!

I finally gave in and had my picture taken with him. I was silly enough to wear my old fashioned pajamas! There were people dressed in all sorts of different pajamas as well as regular clothes.

We loved the Twilight Moms booth. Linzi decided to get glitter strands in her hair at this booth. I felt a little silly picking up a button that said "I'm with the Vampires". I'll have to take more about Twilight another time.

There were bands playing, including on of Linzi's favorite, Parachute.

While the band was setting up Lydia and I decided to head back to the Twilight Moms booth.
Lydia wanted to get glitter strands as well. She chose gold! I, though much too old, also decided to get gold glitter strands. They can last a very long time. Lydia in fact still has most of hers. I have one lone strand that is still hanging on.

We all had a really fun time!

Todd, one of the radio hosts from B98.7, came along and wanted us to dance and sing to a Katy Perry song so he could record us and make a silly video.

We couldn't say no! We didn't end up getting home until 11:00 but it was an experience I don't think I will forget soon.