Date Night With Our Granddaughters...

We had a Friday Date Night with our granddaughters to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee. This was all their idea, which made it even more special!

We picked them up at Son #2's home and proceeded to Milwaukee from there. When it started snowing mid-afternoon, I was concerned that we'd be traveling in crummy weather, but it stopped just before we left home, so the roads were clear sailing. It did snow while we watched the Milwaukee Symphony perform the music track behind the film, but again, it stopped before the end of the performance.

The coolest thing about driving there and back was that our parking spot is almost where this photograph was taken, so all we had to do was cross the street twice to get back in the Explorer!

 

 

Directly outside the theater doors was this little area with the Hogwarts School flag, so people were taking turns posing in front of it for photographs. Unlike the time when I went alone with the girls, there were no big merchandise sales areas. They had a web address shown during intermission if folks wanted to purchase any show souvenirs.

Of course, there was a butter beer (Granddaughter #1), a soda (Granddaughter #2), and popcorn for during the performance. Butter beer, by the way, isn't beer. It actually is a sparkling beverage that tastes like butterscotch candy. It's quite enjoyable!

 

 

One more photo on the way out after the performance. We had a fabulous time, and were so happy that the ladies chose to spend a Friday night with Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate my birthday. Granddaughter #1 is engaged now, and Granddaughter #2 is a college student, so it was a real treat to know that they wanted to be with us rather than the million other things they could have been doing.

 

During the movie, all four of us took turns preempting the dialogue. We've all seen this one so many times that we know exactly what's going to happen next - and who's going to say what. We laughed about that (among other things) all the way home.

We had a great time, and we all agreed that we'll make this an annual event until all four of us (with Potter-loving additions, of course) have seen all seven movies together like this. We're already looking forward to the next one!

 

I agreed to cover an early shift today, so I'll be at work by 5:30 am. I'm sure there's a nap in my future this afternoon. Have a great day! See you tomorrow.

 

Saturday Night Concert...

 

 

Saturday night was a night to remember. We scored tickets to the Vince Gill concert in Milwaukee at the Riverside Theater. First, the theater is a wonderful, intimate venue and second, we were seeing someone we hadn't seen in over forty years.

When Handsome and I were first dating in the early 1980s, he took me to a county fairgrounds north of home. There, we watched a young band perform while standing on a hay wagon as their stage. We were able to stand within twenty feet of the band (it certainly wasn't a packed venue), and we spent a memorable sunny afternoon listening to great music.

That band was Pure Prairie League, and the lead singer was a 23 (or so) year old named Vince Gill. He was already a great writer and performer, and had a voice like an angel. I remember going home and listening to a cassette tape of their music until the tape wore out.

 

 

A week ago, Handsome told me that Vince would be performing in Milwaukee this last weekend. Did I want to go? Heck, yeah! He got tickets, and we drove to The Riverside for a night of beautiful music and rekindled memories.

I will say we weren't the only ones. As we sat in row W from the front (by the alphabet, that's twenty three rows from the stage), I scanned the audience. There were a lot of white and grey-haired heads bobbing up and down to the music - just like we were.

 

Handsome and I have had a few "our" songs through the years. The Long and Winding Road was the processional for our wedding. Mel Torme's What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life is another. Then, there's always Anne Murray's Can I Have This Dance. 

Saturday night, Handsome and I looked at each other as we listened to another song. One we hadn't heard before. Sunday morning, I asked him if he remembered the title of "that one song", and sure enough, he did. It struck us both the same way, and our newest "our" song is "Look At Us". 

I brought it up on my iPad, and we ran the music through our little Bose speaker for better sound. We both stood looking at each other with tears in our eyes. If you know us, you know it's a perfect song for the two of us - even after forty four years together, married forty one of them. If you're interested, you can Google Vince Gill "Look At Us", or pull it up on iTunes to listen to it. You may even find it's a perfect song for you and your sweetheart, too!

Our musical taste runs from jazz to pop to country - and a lot in between. The only requirement is that it be "good music". Vince's concert was filled with just that. You know it's good when the band is having a great time, right along with the audience.

He told great stories (mentioning more than once that he's sixty eight years old now), has a wonderful sense of humor, and writes the best music. It was like seeing an old friend again, except that he has no idea who we are. All I know for sure is that he's a part of Handsome's and my story, and it's a concert we'll never forget.