Rockin' Out Hillbilly Style

Three years ago (before he was the mega-star that he is today), Adam and I went to a Trace Adkins concert in Grantsville, Utah. It was awesome, so I was thrilled to learn that he was playing in Lansing at the Common Ground Music Festival. I bought us tickets for my birthday present to myself, and yesterday we loaded up a blanket, the stroller, and the young 'uns and headed downtown to Adado Riverfront Park (by the way, the girls were stoked to hear that they were going to watch a real cowboy sing "Slap Your Grandma" aka "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk", which is one of their favorite songs).

The gates opened at 5:30 p.m., so we were there right on time to stake our claim on the best lawn seating we could get (which actually turned out to be pretty good). We helped ourselves to cotton candy, hot dogs in scones instead of buns (it sounds gross but it was actually yummy), licorice, fresh lemonade, freshly cut french fries, and a host of other horrifyingly non-nutritious-yet-delicious fair food to pass the time. Karli even enjoyed two tubes of complimentary chapstick and had minty-fresh breath and lips for the duration of the evening. Finally, around 7:00, we wondered if the concert would ever start. Adam spotted an usher and asked him what time it was supposed to get under way, and found out we still had two and a half hours left to wait!

With three kids under three, any period of idleness longer than 30 minutes can turn into a disaster at the nod of a head, so my internal panic mode immedately switched on. I didn't bring warm clothes for anyone, and our kids had only eaten junk food. I figured Rex would need to eat at some point so I took my nursing cover, but started to feel totally awkward when I actually had to breastfeed him while sitting on a blanket, surrounded by drunken people of all walks of life (it was more wierd for me to breastfeed in front of the white trash instead of the gentry...crazy, huh?). Adam and Amber left for a while to print some cases at Adam's school, and Karli helped herself to the $2 bottles of Pepsi and water, dumping them out all over the blanket, herself, and the neighbors while I was helplessly bound by humiliation to Rex until he finished eating. Add to this about seventy-eight comments by everyone around us on the size of our family (and ages), and I didn't know if I'd be able to make it.

I remained calm, though, determined to have a rockin' time, and everything miraculously worked out (can I say "miraculously" when I'm talking about breaking the Sabbath?!). Remarkably, Karli sat on the blanket and entertained herself and didn't even try to run away, and Rex didn't make a peep. Adam and Amber came back just in time for the warm-up act. The sky was cloudy but no rain fell, the kids didn't cry or whine until we were on our way to the car, and Trace Adkins played all of our favorite tunes. We even had a little swarm of lightning bugs right in front of us, which was charming beyond words. It was one of the most fun times we've had as a family and was definitely worth the money I didn't know if I should spend on myself.

A photographer from a local magazine asked if she could take our picture for the next issue, so that was flattering and kind of fun. My favorite part of the concert was the song "Arlington". Representatives from the Army passed out small, American flags during the waiting period before the concert, and everyone stood up and waved their flags during the song. It was a beautiful sight to behold with beautiful music playing. I hope we get to go to another Trace Adkins concert; it was grand!

Tales from the 'Hood, Vol. 186

We made plans to occupy our whole weekend, so we were sure we'd be able to avoid the weekly visit from the police or episode of domestic violence. Unfortunately, fate found us only moments before we walked out the door on our way to Don and Joan's:

As I put shoes on all six little feet (right in front of our door), I heard a frantic pounding. I looked out the peephole to see our neighbor, Adria (14years old) cowering by our door and sobbing. I let her in and she immediately ran into our bathroom, choking out "Don't let her beat me anymore!" I asked her to calm down and tell me what was going on, and she said her mom was beating her. Nicole (her mom) knocked on our door and Adria started sobbing again, whispering "Don't tell her I'm here!" Adam explained to Adria that we couldn't hide her in our apartment without criminal penalty, so he let Nicole in.

At this point, Adria was calling her grandma on our phone (we said she could), and Nicole took the phone from her hand and commanded her to "hang up that (expletive) phone and get your (expletive)-ing (expletive) outside this minute!" Adria screamed back, insisting she wouldn't leave our house without police presence, so Nicole and Adria stood in our entry way screaming four letter words at each other, wrestling and struggling in front of our kids (and Nicole's other two kids who are 10 and 3 years old) for about five minutes while Adam and I stood next to them in utter disbelief and shock.

Finally, the drama had gone far enough, so Adam told them it had to stop. I said we couldn't have that happening in front of our kids, so Nicole apologized and asked (aksed...ha ha ha, just kidding) Adam to please tell Adria to leave our apartment. Adria didn't look like she was wounded, but we didn't know for sure because she has really dark skin. I wasn't sure what to do, so Adam offered to call the police and told Adria she could wait by our door until they came. Adria finally went outside, where Nicole was waiting (right in front of our door) to rail on her for disrespecting our house and embarrassing her mom in front of neighbors, using the f-word more frequently than any gangsta rapper I can think of.

It was quite the spectacle, and a very, very awkward situation. I never imagined we'd get to witness the infamous Arbors-at-Georgetown-Ghetto-Action right in the comfort of our own living room! Needless to say, our poor kids were utterly traumatized (I was, too). Only six days left...hooray!

Saturday at the Holmes Home

My husband's step-grandpa's brother and his wife (how's that for a Mormon association), Don and Joan Holmes, live in Howell and have us over once or twice a semester. They have an amazing yard, are magnificent cooks, and live in the most beautiful, quiet neighborhood we've seen in Michigan. We went to their house on Saturday for a barbecue with Don, Joan, Jennifer (their granddaughter) and her husband Tom, and Jacob and Joshua, their kids. It was fabulous to be able to escape the drama of our neighborhood (well, almost...a post is coming about the weekly episode!) for a day and enjoy some peace, quiet, and normalcy. We will miss Don and Joan immensely when we move!

Amber and Karli loved to play and find frogs, lightning bugs, hummingbirds and chipmunks in the yard. They even asked Don if they could swim in his waterfall. Amber said it was a perfect slide and that it would be so fun! Don very politely declined. :)