MxPx in St Louis! Our 24th Anniversary!

We went to St Louis to see MxPx for the first time in years! This was part of our 24th anniversary/my birthday celebration and we had to do it right.

The venue (The Pageant) was right next door to the Moonrise Hotel where we stayed, which was nifty because we could just walk next door to see the show and didn't have to deal with the mess of traffic or finding parking.

I got a picture of the lobby the next morning when the light was better:

The hotel had a rooftop bar, so we had some drinks up there while we waited for the show to start. It was low 70s and there was a light breeze, it was perfect. You couldn't ask for a better fall weekend.

Our room was super cool; the moon and stars theme is obvious throughout the hotel and we even had some Georges Méliès framed stills in our room.

Waiting for the show to start!

The only video my dumb blog will allow me to post, but it was an amazing show!

These dudes had as much energy as I remember from the last time we saw them, years ago. Fast-paced, blazing riffs, and great songs. They were a blast to watch and I like shows like this where the entire crowd knows the words to every song. And they even did the bass/guitar toss across the stage to each other, just like back in the day. Only difference is the mosh pit is full of blue hairs now. But so what, it was a lot of fun!

Got a picture of The Pageant the next morning as we took a walk to explore the neighborhood:

On the way home, the odometer hit 123456, so I had to capture that:

Ah well, I suppose. All good things come to an end...

Yoshimi

The Flaming Lips toured playing their entire 2002 "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" album as well as the "Soft Bulletin," "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart," and "Clouds Taste Metallic," so we couldn't pass up on that. They used all the same props and costumes from the original tour and even brought back the two-story tall pink robots! The show was a blast and they did not disappoint.

The laser light display was awesome:

The robots (with people in them making them dance)!

Bubble boy:

The balloons he's holding up say "Cedar Rapids'" but they kept falling over:

So much fun!

December 2023

Christmas! That's mostly what I think about when I think about December and in the spirit of Christmas here are pictures from Emily's winter orchestra concert. She's a very talented kid and plays multiple instruments, moving back and forth between marimba, vibraphone, bells, drums, cymbals, etc. throughout the songs. It's so cool to be able to hear her playing, especially when we don't get to hear her playing at home.

Decorating the tree! Fern came over to help and they did not skimp on the decorations.

Done!

Cynthia making cinnamon rolls for our Christmas Eve celebration:

Each year we have our own family Christmas celebration at home before we celebrate Christmas with our families. This year we got to do that on the 24th. 

Emily drew that color pencil portrait of Cynthia:

Then on Christmas we drove to the Conrad's. Remember when they were little and they used to ask us if we were there yet? Maybe that wasn't so bad after all.