Luckily, after the 10 minute drive down the hill, Walgreen's is only another 10 minutes or so drive and thankfully they had exactly what I needed. Back up the hill, I made a very late breakfast, and the girls and I discussed what we should do for the day.
Bailey mentioned that she'd been playing on the 'rides' all day on Thursday. She had a full-event wristband for the rides and was planning on going back today to play some more. A and K really wanted to go with her, so I agreed we'd go look at the prices and try to make it work. To be fair, these aren't exactly real rides. It's actually a series of the really big bouncy houses that are shaped like slides and obstacle courses, but the chance to play with the teenagers was definitely the draw here, I think.
Surprisingly, this morning A had been playing with Grace and Gabriel and decided she wanted to spend the day with them today as much as possible. So, K went off with Bailey and A stayed behind with Grace's family. I only had C with me because she had gotten in trouble and refused to make it right - otherwise, I might have been all alone!
While we were at the ticket booth yesterday, I completely forgot to redeem the Facebook prize I had won about a month back. I'd won $20 at the merch tent and I needed to claim the gift certificate at guest services. Even though I'd already bought my SWC t-shirt, I knew there'd be something else I wanted to buy, so C and I headed back up that hill to pick it up.
Once we got inside the event gates, I pulled out my calendar and noticed that Jeremy Camp was playing tonight at the K-Love stage. We'd just seen him at the Rock 'N Worship Roadshow, and I was kind of in the music for some rock music, so I made a last minute change and decided to sit at the Air1 Stage tonight. Unfortunately I'd already told Bailey's family and Grace & Gabriel's family that we'd meet them at the K-Love concert lawn, but we got it all settled after a few phone calls. Bailey and K met C and I in the bounce house area and I bought them unlimited ride wristbands for the day. A was in Veggieland on the bounce houses there, so I just pulled the wagon next to a big bounce house, set up a chair and chilled out for a few hours while they all played. I spent much of that time working on C and K's crocheted hats, especially since C's yarn was knotted to death.
Although we could hear the concerts at the Air1 and Rally stages, we actually didn't go to any concerts or do much of anything until after dinner. None of us had eaten much for lunch, so I decided we should head back up to camp to have an early dinner of hamburgers before the evening concert. We abandoned the wagon near the bounce houses and headed up the hill to our campsite. While we were walking, it suddenly dawned on me that I had packed the charcoal, the lighter fluid, the lighter itself, the hamburgers and all the fixings, but I didn't remember actually putting the barbecue in the back of the van. Darn it! Our neighbors had a little tabletop bbq, but they weren't around to borrow it, so I just made do pan-frying the hamburgers and turning them with a plastic slotted spoon (apparently I'd also forgotten the spatula).
After dinner, the kids were a little upset when they found out we weren't going to the concert lawn where there friends were, but they amused themselves playing on the bounce houses while I sat and watched Manafest. I even let A go ahead and get a wristband for the big bounce houses. They gave it to her for half-price since it was so late in the day, which was very nice of them.
I only recognized a couple of Manafest's songs. Turns out they are from Canada, just like the headliner Thousand Foot Krutch, and it almost seemed like they had gotten their break from TFK, too, or were trying to be like them, or something. I felt kind of bad for the guys from Manafest because apparently they'd left their lead singer's guitar at the car rental shop when they'd picked up their car, so they had to borrow one from TFK to do their show. How embarrassing!
Sadly, the Thousand Foot Krutch show started so incredibly late. I think maybe a speaker didn't show up or something, but I would say they were probably about 30 minutes late by the time they finally started. By then, the bounce houses had all shut down and the girls had curled up under a blanket on the asphalt. Mike had made his way to the concert grounds, too. I'd hoped he'd be able to make it for Friday night and Saturday, although I wasn't expecting him to be able to come into the concert area on Friday night with just a one-day ticket for Saturday, but he said there was no one around anywhere so he just walked in. Weird.
After A got tired of her sisters kicking her under the blanket, I decided to take her up front near the stage to show her what it's like up there. I remember taking Jessey near the stage of a rock concert here when he was just a couple years older than A, so I figured she'd enjoy it. Being smaller than I am, she managed to push her way through the crowd all the way to the front until I couldn't see her anymore. I told her I'd wait at the back of the packed area for her when she came out.
She emerged several songs later and asked me what a mosh pit was. I explained the concept to her and she told me she'd been told by some guy up front that she should move because they were making a mosh pit there. Mosh pits aren't allowed at SWC and are usually diffused verbally, by shining flashlights, or by spraying water, if needed. The thought of water being sprayed on those guys was pretty funny to her, but I'm glad they make an effort to keep things under control here. I was passed by several security guards making their way through and around the crowds at that stage in that front area. It's certainly not dangerous here, but the Air1 stage is always a little more rowdy and 'active' than the K-Love stage.
Have you ever seen a mosh pit up close? Maybe you should try it once! One of my earliest memories of Mike was when he was protecting me from the people inside of a mosh pit. (Note: Although most mosh pits are safe, please visit them with caution. The mosh pit at Woodstock '99 was definitely not safe, although it was funny to walk through the area later and see hundreds of unclaimed shoes left behind once the crowd dissipated.)
Because this concert had been delayed so much, we only got to see part of it before the girls were too exhausted to stay anymore. Originally, it was only supposed to go until 10:30, but additional delays had put it way past then, so we packed up and went back to camp, hearing TFK's most well-known song "Rawkfist" on our way out. I like Rawkfis, but I now have a new favorite song by the band. It's very Metallica-esque, and it's a pretty awesome rock song.
Let The Sparks Fly
We were at the Cactus Club for an Osmium concert and you wanted to see what a mosh-pit was. That was a long long time ago ... =)
ReplyDeleteGetting there that night, I also found out why you decided to go with the wagon ... those hills can be tough, especially when carrying exhausted kids!