Let there be music

Post #:2
Weeks of training complete: 9 weeks, 4 days
Time until Ironman: 22 weeks, 3 days
Miles swam: 34.1
Miles biked: 399.95
Miles run: 129.8

Goal: $5,000
Total money raised: $0

I'll start you off today with a video of my kids dancing. They love music.

Tonight, I took Beckett to his first rock concert - Death Cab for Cutie at the Mesa Amphitheater. He did well - kind of.

It started out with us having to park about 1/4 mile from the venue, so I walked him on my shoulders to the gate. We had a couple extra tickets, so my friends Scott and Brad were waiting for us. We were going to give the tickets to them to give to some friends.

First off, Beck was totally stoked to see his buddy "Shock." In fact, I'm not sure what was more of a highlight for him - the music or Shock. He talked about them both the same.

After hellos, we moved into the security line. Beck got his first experience at being frisked. Hilarious, really, seeing a big beefy security guard pat down a 3' 1" three-year-old kid. After Beck was patted down, he made a beeline for the front gate. Leaving me behind. So I had to run past the security guard and go grab Beck, then go back to the security line to be patted down.

We got inside and found a perfect seat on the lawn, dead center about half way up the venue from the stage. I couldn't figure out why nobody was sitting there. Until I looked down and saw I was covered with fire ants. I sat on an ant hill. I got bit seven times. I'm lucky I didn't go into allergic shock. So we moved.

We found a new spot and Beck really focused for the first time on the stage. This was about 7:45 p.m., so it was still light out. His eyes just lit up. "Daddy," he said, gasping for air, "there's guitars! And drums! And another guitar. Wow!!! They're playin' music?" Then he danced. It was awesome - seeing him experience that for the first time.

This all started yesterday when before bed, we saw the Foo Fighters playing on MTV in a live clip. I mentioned to him that I had gone to a Foo Fighters concert. He told me he wanted to go. Wouldn't you know, the next day, my work hands me four free tickets to the show. It was like fate.

After the opening act got off the stage, we met up with a bunch of other friends and coworkers that were at the show - Ryan, Mark, Stephanie and some of their friends. Beck shook everybody's hand (I think he saw me doing it) and said hello. Shock came back over and hung out. Then, because so much attention was on him, he started going a little nuts - kicking water bottles, rolling around on the hill ... and then, well, then, the little bugger's hormones kicked in or something.

He spotted five, 19-23 or 24ish cuties sitting behind him. Let the flirting begin. Every second I turned around he was crawling towards them, talking to them, dancing for them. I asked him to stop, he pulled harder to get back. Talk about a friggen' flirt. Then last time I turned around, he was in this cute blond girl's lap with his arms around her ...

... so we moved.

We found some good seats near the entrance and I bought him an Italian Ice, something to occupy him. Night fell. The crowd grew restless.

And then Death Cab for Cutie took the stage.

The crowd roared. Beck instantly stood at attention. The instruments came to life. The spotlights went up into the crowd.

And the boy had the biggest smile on his face.

He ate Italian Ice, he danced, he jumped, he danced some more. He told me about the guitars and drums and lights. And then, about 8:45 p.m., he came and sat on my lap, played the "drums" on my legs and said he was almost ready to go home. "Just one more song," he said.

So we heard one more song.

And then we went home, where he tried to use the toilet.

Then he pooped in a diaper.