I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In....

Today marked the beginning of the Martime Festival in Duluth. Quite a beginning, as three "tall ships" came into harbor this afternoon at about 5:00. We've known about this for quite some time, but did not tell Aidan, because we wanted to suprise him with the arrival of "Pirate Ships" in Duluth. So at about 4:00 I took the boys on a bike ride in their trailer down to Leif Erickson park, 2 blocks from our house, and there the ships were, all congregated and ready to sail in. I was expecting Aidan's excitement, he was instantly talking in his grovelly pirate voice and off in "pirate land" his latest favorite pretend place in his head. It was great. I was not expecting my own reaction. I got all teary and goosebumpy. What a sight. The ships are so elegant, yet powerful; graceful but HUGE. I know at some point these ships were a normal sight in Duluth Harbor, but I'm sure at the time the sight of them was taken for granted. They are just so very beautiful. Their arrival into the harbor (and under the lift bridge with what seemed like very little clearance) was accompanied by cannon salutes off the ships and everything! We didn't make it too close...too many tourist bodies, but we hope to make it down to where they are docked before they depart on Monday. I asked Aidan if he was afraid that the pirates might steal his treasure and he replied, "Nope, they're my friends." And that's that.

Ships on the horizon, Leif Erickson Park

Lining up to sail in. (Niagara)

Sailing in! (Pride of Baltimore)

Cannon salute! (Pride of Baltimore)

The Niagara docking

Ode To Lake Superior

This is the reason I live here. Sucky job market, expensive housing, cold winters...so what? I feel blessed just to have this. Thanks Gitchee Gumeee.

Sad, But True #1

I have a feeling there will be more of these, so I'm putting a #1 next to the title. A little anecdote of my parenting experience. A sort of Wow-these-kids-ARE-really-different-from-each-other moment.

Yesterday morning, Rowan figured out how to get the cabinet lock off in the kitchen where the garbage is. Truly, a monkey that child. Five minutes later Aidan went to throw something away and started freaking out because he couldn't get the cabinet lock off. Should I be concerned?

Ahoy

So most of you know how Aidan is so into Pirates. His pirate name is Pirate Captain Aidanringo. A couple of weeks ago he started doing these super detailed drawings of pirate captains and pirate ships. Thought I'd post two that he did this morning. Being the art teacher that I am, I think they are super cool.

Notice the "Jolly Roger" flag on the ship and the hook hand, peg leg, eye patch and feathered hat on the captain.

Ants & Turtles

We are sorry to inform you that Rowan has been kidnapped by an army of oversized space ants. He actually befriended them, and they made him their king.

And coincidentally, Aidan woke up this morning as a turtle. He loves the coziness of his new home, but is having trouble adjusting to the vegetable/fish diet.

By the way, if you have kids and you haven't been to the Children's Museum in St. Paul, you should go. It's fun.

Starr-y Night

Yes, folks, the long awaited Ringo concert arrived!




As if the day of the concert wasn't exciting enough, we had some more excitement added to it. First, we received a phone call from Non and Bop, letting us know that one of their friends thought it was so important that Aidan's MOM got to go the concert that she would help purchase a ticket. Purchase a ticket for a sold out show? After lots of begging and pleading with the Mystic Lake Box office and I was in! We all sat together (Aidan in our laps - actually standing up in front of the seats and dancing/drumming...but more on that later.)

And no, we didn't get to meet him, but there was some excitement on that front too. At about 5:30 a friend of ours who had been trying to get us some face time with Ringo called and frantically said "I need the YouTube link! He wants to see it!!!" I replied. "WHO wants to see it?" She said, "RINGO!" Turns out she got one degree away from him, to his publicist, who was pushing for a meeting. He was interested enough to want to watch the YouTube footage of Aidan drumming. The publicist said we had a 50/50 chance depending on a lot of things. We never got the phone call, which we don't take personally seeing that 1.) The poor guy has been chased (literally) by fans for 50 years 2.) He is 68 years old 3.) The band was on its fourth night of touring in four different cities 4.) He's a Beatle! He did no meet and greet whatsoever. I am happy enough knowing that the Big Guy himself has seen footage of my son drumming. Aidan was fried by the end of the night, so if we'd had a meeting, I don't think it would have gone well anyway. I like to just imagine Ringo watching it and saying "How cool is that?" with his cute Liverpudlian accent the way he does on his video updates on his website. Aidan has no idea we were trying to meet him, but does know that Ringo watched it. And that seems to be enough for him.

So we suited him up and drove to Mystic Lake.
























The costume was a hit with everyone. We got a lot of compliments and questions about it.











The concert was AWESOME. Ringo had a great band, including Billy Squire, Colin Hay ("Land Down Under") and Gary Wright ("Dreamweaver"). He didn't steal the spotlight, but gave everyone in the band a chance to perform their hits as well. Ringo picked songs to please the crowd, including lot of his solo stuff and a ton of Beatles songs, including Yellow Submarine. He sang, and played drums and also did a few songs where he did both at the same time. He was funny and talked to the audience a lot and joked around.

The best part of course, is when Ringo first came out. The band played a little riff and sang "Bill---eeee Sheeaarrs!" and he came out on stage. The smile on Aidan's face was priceless. He was more excited than I have ever seen him. I know I was in tears, I'm pretty sure Fitty was too.

Another great thing that happened was that sitting right behind us was this adorable four-year-old girl and her dad. She was wearing a Yellow Submarine shirt and clutching a Ringo doll. We got to chatting about our kids and turns out Aidan is not the only little Ringo fan out there. The two of them were discussing the Beatles and their favorite songs, in that four year old sort of way. Of course SHE wanted a Sgt. Pepper's suit too! Aidan way outlasted her during the concert though. He was drumming along and dancing and singing to the bitter end, and was pretty dissapointed when it was over.







Our view from our seats...a nice venue!

















RINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




















And yes, he finally did tire out....

Thanks AGAIN to Katie, Phil, Cris & Harri; Rob & Lenora; Chris & Michele; Grammie & Ken; Kevin & Tara; Nora & John; Tim, Terri, Halle, Taylor & Anna; Nonnie & Boppa; and especially to Ramona, who we hardly even know but gave mom and opportunity to go. And let us not forget Julie: thank you thank you thank you for all the hours you must have spent on the phone trying to get to the Big Guy. I am so happy that Ringo knows that Aidan exists and that he has seen him drumming!

It was an unforgettable night!

Happy Birthday Rowan!!!!

Whew! That was one quick year. Our little leprechaun turned one on July 13. We had a small party at Nonnie and Boppa's with Grandma & Grandpa Fitz, Oma and Grammie and Ken. Rowie dug into his cake with his usual zest for eating, entertaining us all. He received several wheeled gifts, including Grandpa Fitz's "Wheel Station" which has kept him busy for hours. We finished the party with a jam session.

Here's some pictures of Rowie digging into his cake:

MMMM...Frosting!

Hey, this is pretty tasty!

Oops, guess my brother needs some attention.

Anyone else want a piece???