Vacation Bible School or Comedy Show? One Cannot Be Sure...

This week Tink attended his first ever Vacation Bible School at our church.

He just turned four, so this was the first year he was old enough.

And, the theme was "Operation Overboard", meaning 

it was all about the ocean.

Could that have been any more perfect for the boy and his mama who is 

currently obsessed with everything ocean?!

I think not.

Tink spent every evening this past week at VBS and he loved it.

He made some type of ocean-themed craft every night, learned bible 

stories, had snacks in the "Under The Sea Cafe", and sang songs.  

Here is a picture of some of the things he made:

They even had a big whale.  

Check this guy out!

Every morning I asked if he was excited to go back that 

evening and he always said he was.  

After I asked him, he'd always start talking about whatever 

they'd done the night before. 

It was really sweet.

At the end of the week, all of the kids put on a performance for 

the parents, grandparents, friends, and members of the church congregation.

The only problem was that it was at the end of the last night.

It didn't start until 8:00pm.

That is WAY past Goose's bedtime.

He tried to be a trooper, but it was rough.

This was the beginning of the performance:

And this is at the end:

Game over for Goose.

Anyway, it is possible that this performance 

is one of the greatest things I've seen.

Ever.

Why, you ask?

Because my child (the one who was terrified at his school's pre-k graduation, clung to his teacher, and had a complete meltdown because people were looking at him) decided to make himself the star of the show.

I have pictures of the pre-k part of the performance, but not video. 

However, if I can get it from another parent, I will post it.

To say he was hysterical was an understatement.

Let me show you.

Just check out my child and what he is doing in comparison to the other kiddos.

Things were as they should be in this picture.  

All they were doing was walking up to their places.

Tink followed the crew just fine.

Uh, wait, sir.

You are not suppose to sit down...

And you are suppose to be facing forward...

At least now you are doing the routine, even if you are a bit aggressive with it.

No, really... You are suppose to look forward.

And you should be singing.

(At least he isn't the only one looking backwards at this point)

Ok, this is definitely not in the script...

Nor is this, my friend.

And you are now flopping back and forth, side to side, so quickly 

that Mama can't even get a clear photo.  

This is no bueno.

Still flopping.

And still not singing.

Dude, song is over, but we aren't ready to sit.

Stand up, friend.

Yep, that is Nana Crippen telling you to stand and pay attention.

And that is you giving Nana Crippen a look that says, "Yeah, right."

Here is my favorite part.

This happened after every song.

The song ends, he looks at everyone else, and...

He bows.

Repeatedly.

Nope, you couldn't see him in that last one, could you?

That is because he was busy touching his forehead to his knees.

*sigh*

He made it through the pre-k part and headed back to his 

pew to await his return to the stage.

In the meantime, he flirted with the girls.

I can't blame him.

They were super cute.

As he went back up to participate in the songs with all of the VBS attendees, I had my fingers crossed that he would "blend in" a bit more than he had the first go-round.

Glad I crossed my fingers and didn't hold my breath.

He began the finale really well.

See?

 And then we begin to lose focus...

What is going on back there?!

It must've been super interesting, whatever it was...

Now you are helping TayTay lose focus, too.

And we are back on track!

Or, at least we were on track.

Then you hit this poor girl in the face.

After assaulting his neighbor, Tink began to make it very clear 

that he was finished performing as they'd practiced.

It appeared, instead, as though he preferred to freestyle.

A very, very fast freestyle.

Hence, the blurry pictures.

And the tongue is back.

Awesome.

Although I didn't get video of the pre-k part, I do have a bit of video 

from the performance by all of the VBS kids.

It isn't very long, but I think it is pretty funny.

Enjoy.

Here is one final picture from the performance.

This should be a pretty good indicator of Tink and his personality on Thursday night.

Country Music On A Summer Night

Last night we (MaMaw, PawPaw, and me) headed out to Walker's Bluff to 

see Montgomery Gentry.

If you have never been to Walker's Bluff, or, more specifically, if you've never been to a concert at Walker's, you may not be familiar with their set-up.  

Here is how it looks from behind the stage:

It is pretty nice.  

The area is beautiful and serene (until you get a bunch of rowdy people drinking and singing along to the band rocking on the stage.  "Serene" is probably

 not the best descriptor at that point...)

It is a rather intimate kind of venue and there really isn't a bad seat in the house.  

That said, I think we had one of the best spots.

We were sitting roughly 15 feet away from the stage.  

If we'd gotten any closer, we probably would have needed to stand to see onto the elevated stage.  

I have to admit that it is pretty cool to be close enough to see the sweat dripping down the performers' faces.

Here is the view from where we were sitting:

The folks in that picture are the guys from Russell Dickerson.

They were really amazing.

I mean, Russell Dickerson has a great voice and the three of them just seemed to gel so well together on  stage.  

They give off a vibe of being totally cool and relaxed.  

Kinda like they are a group of guys who've been friends forever, used to jam in their parents' garages, and probably won their high school talent show.  

They are just easy.  

That is the best way I can describe it.

Mind you, that is their chill vibe.  

Don't let my saying that they seem like a bunch of long-time buddies reflect negatively on their talent level, because they were really good.

See the guy in back, the one sitting down?

He sat on that thing throughout their entire show.

When they were finished, they came out to watch Montgomery Gentry perform.  

The guy who'd played the guitar was standing to the side of the stage, so I took the opportunity to ask him what that thing was.  

He said it was called a "cajon" and is a South American instrument.

I told him it looked like he was playing a cooler.  

He said that if I could manage to invent a cajon that 

held beer, I'd be a friggin' millionaire.  

I think I am going to put that on my list of things to do...

I asked him if they had a website and he said no, they didn't, but they were on Facebook.

I found them on FB and went back to sit with MaMaw.  

I was telling her the story of my conversation with the guitar player and she said, "They have a website.  I looked them up before they came on stage because I hadn't heard of them."

Too funny!

So, I took her phone back to the guitar player to let him know that 

they do, indeed, have a website.  

If any of you guys want to visit their site and check them out, the link is here.

I just wouldn't let it slip to their manager or booking agents or really anyone else that they don't know they have a website...  

Anyway, Montgomery Gentry was up next and they were great, just as I expected them to be.

They put on an energetic show and they, too, work really well together.  

I mean, look at how much fun they seem to be having.

They smiled like that for pretty much the entire show.

Must feel like a pretty great blessing to make a living doing something you love.

I have to admit that I am a bit bummed that they didn't perform Lonely and Gone.  

It is definitely one of my favs.

To be fair, I would guess it is hard to cover everyone's favorites when the number of Top 10 Billboard Hits under your belt is in the double digits.  

Tough problem to have, you know?

There were a couple of things I noticed during their show and throughout the night.

1.  Eddie Montgomery has some of the whitest teeth I have EVER seen.

I'm not sure this picture does them justice.

They were almost blinding.

2.  I love that country music now means cowboy boots and Chuck Taylors.

These ain't your grandma's country singers.

The country wardrobe is rockin' tough.

3.  I could never be a roadie.  

Especially if being a roadie means doing this:

I am not referring to the guys on stage.

In case you missed it, here is a closer look at what I'm talking about:

No sir.  

That thing was swinging back and forth as he walked across it.

I don't think you could pay me enough to get up there.

4.  It has to be weird to drive down the road in a vehicle bearing 

your much-larger-than-life likeness on the side of it.

Even if your likeness is a whole lotta sexy.

Ahem.  

Hey, Gentry.

5.  I love my dad.

I didn't need a concert to remind me of such, but MaMaw did 

take a pretty good picture of me and PawPaw.

Oh, and she caught a couple a randoms in the background. ;)

6.  If you appreciate someone, let them know.  

If a person left a lasting impression on you in any way and they aren't here 
for you to express your gratitude, tell the people who loved them.

I met a woman last night who reminded me of the importance of doing such.

It was a somewhat brief interaction, but it left me thinking of life, 

a person's place in this world, and what happens when they are gone.

I think I'll save that bit of my night for its own post.

I hope you have had a weekend as wonderful as mine.  

We're off to take Tink to Vacation Bible School.

This is his first time attending, so we are crossing our fingers with the hopes it will go well.

Say a prayer for us.