Phish and Friends

Oh my, oh my. Last Friday was bonkers. It’s been a while since I’ve written a non-running post, and since Friday was so crazy, I thought I’d fill you in on my happenings.

As some of you know, my son was in Safety Town last week and the week prior. Safety Town, for those of you unfamiliar, is basically a camp of sorts for children entering kindergarten in the fall. They teach about road safety, police, fire safety, and stranger danger, among others. In general, it’s a really unique and fun way to get kids engaged and retain knowledge. I remember doing it when I was a kid, and there are some things that even to this day have stuck with me. Particularly the fire safety – we have a fire action plan in our house, so that just in case the worst ever happens, we know what to do. I’ve also heard that you can arrange to have Fixed Wire Testing done in your home to check for any wiring which could potentially cause a fire. Safety measures like this can make all the difference when it comes to protecting your property. A friend of mine who owns a small business has had a fire alarm system, sprinklers and even fire hydrants around where he works. Although we both agree that fire safety is important, it is hard work for him when its time for an inspection. He could have used Inspect Point software or a similar company, to help him keep on top of all the different equipment he has to inspect. In our home, we don’t have all the fancy system my friend has, but we do have the essential basics like smoke detectors. We also have a couple of fire extinguishers as well. It’s sensible for every household to have at least one, so if you don’t have one then you might want to look into purchasing one; you can find more here. It could save a life!

I used to joke around about all the “graduations” kids these days get to partake in. Pre-K graduation, First Grade graduation — who knows what other graduations are coming my way. Subsequently, there’s also Safety Town graduation… I personally think it’s ridiculous, but the kids get so darn amped up and it’s just so cute that deep down I’m a super proud mama. 🙂

My husband, daughter and I arrived at Safety Town graduation, took our seats, and waited patiently for Boo to arrive. And once he did, my daughter went crazy. She kept yelling his name over and over again. It was like the scene in Parenthood [Steve Martin] when the little brother thinks the big sister is really getting hurt when she’s in the school play. Know that scene?

Yeah. Like that. It wasn’t that bad, but it made me worry that it could end up as such!

Thankfully she settled down and graduation could proceed as planned. The first half of graduation we were inside and heard about all the things the kids learned about (so we could practice at home.) The second half of graduation was outside where Boo showed off his ~~running amok~~ driving/pedestrian skills. Good stuff!

Receiving his “diploma” from Officer Jackie.

Congratulations, graduate! Lol

After graduation, we headed home for some outdoor playtime, celebratory lunch and then nap.

Speaking of Safety Town… safety first!

On Friday evening, hubs and I headed to see Phish! Admittedly, we haven’t seen live music in years. The first two years we were together we traveled to 10,000 Lakes Festival, which was awesome, but is now defunct.

We arrived with plenty of time before the show but we were both famished and we parked miles away from the entrance. And when we got up to security after our tour of Shakedown, he made me unroll my blanket! I swear I was one of the least offensive people there with literally no contraband on me whatsoever. Gah!

I have one major complaint about shows. Or carnivals. Or pretty much anywhere that isn’t a permanent establishment such as a restaurant or bar. Beverage prices are OUT. OF. CON. TROL! We got two beers. Granted they were both craft. But TWO BEERS. Guess how much? No, really. Guess.

TWENTY-THREE DOLLARS.

$23.

TWO. THREE.

For two beers. Are you out of your damn mind?! Maybe next time I will bring contraband and hide it in my bra strap so I don’t get robbed at the beer stand. Yowza.

Meanwhile, while waiting for said $23 beers, we met this girl from Chicago who was super awesome. No clue what her name was, but I swear it was Kristen Wiig. My husband confirmed he had the same suspicion later on at the hot pretzel cart.

Anyway. She has two kids, an older son and younger daughter, and is originally from the C-town but has since moved to Chi-town. (Seems like this happens a lot. Although I’ve noticed a lot more people coming back from there as of late. Hmmm…) We chatted for a while and then parted ways.

After the beer guy took all our money, we headed to find some grub. And grub we found. It was delicious.

Finally time to chillax on the lawn! This is the part I had been waiting for all day. We spread out our blanket, took off our sandals, and chilled out while listening to some awesome tunes.

What happens when a fit-hippie goes to a live show with plenty of green space? Why, planking, of course!

We joked about how we are so old and were too tired to dance, but it was honestly such an amazing evening. Gorgeous weather. A beautiful sunset. Plus there were plenty of other ‘old folks’ around us doing the same thing.

Oh, and there was this guy.

I kinda felt bad for this guy. People kept coming up to him and messing with him. Not in a mean way. More of the “are you okay, man?” kind of way. But I know if I were him, I would want to be left alone! We did keep a close eye on his breathing though. Because I’m pretty sure we were among the most sober there. Plus how much would that suck if a guy died in front of us at a Phish show? Notgonnahappen.

Turns out glowstick throwing is a thing now. I wish I had gotten the memo because I totally would have brought all my glowsticks I have sitting around doing nothing. Would have been able to put them to good use. Next time. 😉

It was a much needed, totally relaxing night out with great tunes. I think my husband and I both realized how much we miss live music. We’re gonna have to change that in the near future. After the move and upcoming hibernation season and all that.

We even got Boo a souvenir. He hasn’t taken it off since Saturday.