SwagBucks

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Wiggly Circus

String Bean has been beside herself all week long waiting for today: the day we were to go to see the Wiggles in concert!

Upon arrival at the Rosemont Theater, Mr. Bean and I quickly figured out we had made a huge mistake by not bringing cash for parking. Seriously. Who runs a cash-only business in 2010?! So, after I made a quick dash over to the hotel nearby, we were able to park legally.

We managed to make it in time to check out the merchandise table briefly and take a photo or two before finding our seats and waiting for the show to begin.

Our family waiting for the show to begin.

Of course String Bean's favorite songs were done: Big Red Car, Do the Monkey, Music Box Dancer, Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy, Rock-A-Bye Your Bear, Shimmy Shake, and many others.

Someone is excited!

Jelly Bean was fixated on the glow from the stage and the crazy dancing that String Bean was doing at her seat.
Jelly Bean's reaction to the concert starting.


Anthony welcoming us to the show.

Toot, toot, chugga, chugga, big red car!

By the last couple of songs, String Bean had lost her steam from all the jumping and dancing so she curled up in Mr. Bean's lap and enjoyed the show with her thumb in her mouth.

Following the show, we took a bathroom break and then went back to the merchandise table where String Bean hemmed and hawed over her choices. She narrowed it down to a Wags the Dog hat or a Dorothy the Dinosaur Hat. When she realized the Dorothy hat was reversible and became a Sam Wiggle hat, that eventually won her over.

String Bean wearing the Dorothy/Sam hat in front of the Wiggles sign.

We posed for more pictures in the lobby and headed out toward our car. We had parked relatively close to the Wiggles' tour buses so our walk to the car took us past them. We noticed a small crowd of 30 or so parents and kids crowded nearby and found Jeff in the midst of the crowd! String Bean enjoyed meeting him and he signed one of the swag promo materials that were available for free at the merch table.



Shortly after signing our poster, Jeff hopped on his bike and went for a ride. We heard from someone in the crowd that Anthony had ridden off on his bike and avoided the crowd. Since the fans started to head toward their cars, we assumed Sam was already on the bus. (Murray was away on a "family commitment" and Ringo [who?] was filling in for him.)

We walked to our car, put the kids in their seats and went to drive out. We saw only one car exiting the same way we went and they had stopped a pedestrian and were talking to him through their car window.

We quickly realized it wasn't a pedestrian, but Anthony on his bike...carrying all his luggage. We asked him why he was carrying his luggage and he said, "Well, this was our last concert so we are going to the airport and...its a long story!" He was kind enough to sign our poster and pause for a photo before riding off into the sunset (aka-behind a nearby building where Jeff was riding his bike, too).

Anthony with all his luggage signing autographs for the people who flagged him down. Thanks, people in the black SUV!

Who knew Anthony had a tat?

String Bean was thrilled to have met 2 of the Wiggles! I suspect she will be talking about this for weeks and months to come.


Monday, August 16, 2010

Fame in Philly

We travelled to Philadelphia this weekend to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday which happened to fall on Friday the 13th this year. He was born on Friday the 13th as was his wife, my aunt, one of his great great grandchildren, and me. (My father-in-law was also born on Friday the 13th.) My grandfather could have had an entire hour dedicated to his life story about how God has taken care of him over the years, but you'll catch just a brief glimpse of that here.

This is not my television debut in Philadelphia. My photo has been on the news twice before when the reporters covered the same story with a different angle. This is, however, my first interview on the news in Philadelphia!










Happy 90th Birthday, Pop-Pop! Proud to be one of the fellow Friday the 13th-ers in the family!

(Print version can be found here.)