Brickworld FW

For Caeden's birthday, he received 2 tickets to Brickworld Fort Wayne 2015.  Today was the day!  I got the kids in the car by 6:20 a.m. and, despite my 40 minute detour in Lafayette, we made it to my parents' a little before noon Indiana time.  Mom had packed sandwiches for me and Caeden, so we dropped the girls off and headed into Fort Wayne.

I was nervous about driving in downtown (Hey, I haven't lived around here for 15 years, and never drove downtown that much anyway!), but with GPS and Trav's parking directions, we did fine.  

We tried to take the skywalk from the parking garage, but the automatic door wouldn't open.  

So, we walked down the street and into the front entrance of the Grand Wayne Center.

Brickworld was pretty awesome!  We checked out every display and booth and activity and talked to some nice exhibitors too.  Caeden was pretty pleased with the day, and I even thought it was cool too.

There were several Star Wars displays, but this was a favorite of the entire exhibit.

Later, we saw this exhibitor changing batteries in this display and talked with him and his wife for over half an hour.  

Replica of the USS Missouri...

...and a little of its history...

Another replica...

...the details are so cool...

So many tiny details!

Pirate ships from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, including The Black Pearl!

A cool battle scene... 

Many of the displays had lists of items to look for, which made it more fun.

This young man is quite a creative inventor with his Legos.  Here he was demonstrating a functional gumball machine he built, and he also had a claw machine, a working guitar, rubber band guns, remote control cars, and many other impressive inventions he was demonstrating.

Caeden spent a little time building at the interactive table full of 2x4 red bricks. 

I had $15 cash in my pocket, and I needed $4 for parking, so I told Caeden he could spend up to $11. He found some minifigures, including a Chewbacca.

A lady saw us trying to get a good picture with this Lego Movie model, and she let Caeden inside the display area and took it off its stand so he could hold it for a picture!

Jurassic World

Lego Movie characters!

We had a good time together.

I loved seeing Caeden so "in his element," and enjoying the exhibits, talking with people, and not worrying about what people thinking about his liking Legos.

Good times!

Last Marching Band Performance

Because the teachers worked late for parent/teacher conferences the past 2 nights, there was no school today!  The kids slept in, then did homework this afternoon.

We had spaghetti squash for supper!

I forget why Sylvia was flexing, but I had to snap a picture.  She's pretty strong.

Annah was sad that this evening was the band's last performance of their marching show. She really loved the whole season.

Before the game, the band marched around the track and onto the field to form a tunnel for the football team to run through.  They played the school song, and marched off doing their monster stomp.  It was raining off and on during the evening, so they didn't wear their plumes.  In fact, they took off their brand new uniforms before their halftime show so they wouldn't get soaked and just wore RHS shirts.

Although it was a bummer not to have them in uniform, it was kind of neat to be able to see who was who during the show.  

Paige was one of my piano students from the time she was in about 4th grade or so until her sophomore year of high school, and she is really special to me.  (Her 2 little sisters are my students now, too!)  She is a senior this year and did a great job with her big saxophone solo in the show!

Although Annah looks like she was crying in this photo, she wasn't--at that time. Many of the kids did shed some tears afterwards though, especially seniors. Annah was a weeping mess then!  She can't handle it when other people cry.  I think she gets that from her mom.  

The kids performed their show very well, and Jeremy cheered very loudly all the way through.

Doing the monster stomp...

Really proud of Annah and the band for a great season!

Just a Wednesday

The kids had dentist appointments today, so I picked them up from school in the afternoon.  Caeden found interesting ways to keep himself entertained in the car on the way to town...

Pre-cleaning brushing...everyone's teeth are healthy; no cavities!

We also had parent-teacher conferences this evening.  Annah and Caeden both got great reports.  (Junior high apparently doesn't get to have conferences.  I'm not sure why.)  

Caeden's reading teacher suggested some books for him.

Sandwich Marching Competition

The RHS Marching Mustangs had their last competition of the season in Sandwich, IL today.  Jeremy went along and watched Annah and her band, and said they did very well.