Last night Amanda and I went to see Cirque Shanghai-Bai Xi at the Hippodrome!  This was the most entertaining show I have ever been to, hands down!  These people were simply amazing with so much acrobatics, strength, choreography, daring stunts that defy gravity, and stunning costumes I still can’t believe they were able to do it all on such a seemingly small stage.   They are all Chinese and wear Chinese costumes and have Chinese props on stage and music to match.   They are all over the place with balancing acts, swinging from ropes,  juggling and tossing Chinese yo-yos, flipping and tumbling, unicycles, magic tricks, and  everything requires such extreme concentration and fine muscle control.  I thought the most entertaining act, if any one is actually better than the others, was the  yo-yos.  They are called diabolos and they aren’t actually attached to a string, instead they ride on top of a string stretched between two sticks,  so they can do all kinds of great tricks!  There were also some human pyramids and flexibility stunts that make you wonder if some of the girls on stage had their spines removed at some point!  It’s really rare that a show like this actually stops here so we didn’t think twice about buying the tickets, and it was well worth it!   On the way out I bought a diablolo and Amanda bought a decorative paper and bamboo umbrella for the baby room.  I’ve been playing all morning, and now I don’t know if I’ll ever pick up my old yo-yo again!  In fact, I’m going outside right now to practice some more.

We carved a pumpkin this weekend!  We used  a pattern that is supposed to be a cat staring at a little spider hanging in front of its face.  I’m not sure it really needs the spider.   Maybe we’ll do another one without the spider.

First we cleand out the inside.

Then I was feeling hungry.

Then we taped the pattern onto the pumpkin.

And punched holes all around the pattern. Excellent work Amanda!

Using a small carving tool we connected the dots.

Finally we punched out all the pieces.

Here it is in the dark!!

This past weekend Amanda and I joined part of her family for the George Strait concert at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. We arrived over an hour early for the concert, which started at 4:30, so we could find the names of Amanda’s grandparents on the “Legacy Walk” outside of the stadium.

The first ever concert, or any event for that matter, at the new Stadium was sold out! To think George Strait almost did not agree to this concert because he was afraid the turnout might be poor! The stadium holds 100,000 and every seat except those behind the stage were filled.

The show was opened by Lee Ann Womack and Blake Shelton, who both put on a great show. Even though we were 100 yards away, they appeared larger than life thanks to the 160 foot HD screen, imported all the way from Nagasaki, Japan, by Mitsubishi Electric (my favorite brand of HD TVs). One screen faces each sideline and to slightly smaller ones face each end zone.

Reba and George also put on an amazing so of course! Reba finished her set with 30 second back stage costume change into a bright shiny red dress before coming out to sing “fancy.” George probably sang for 2 or 3 hours of the 6 hours event and covered just about every song I know and then some. At one point he got the crowd to starting chanting “Jerry, open the roof!” until finally the worlds only curved retractable roof started to crack open. 12 minutes later we were listening to the best of George Strait under a cool night sky. I think the A/C was still on too. HA!!

The stadium is really amazing. Amanda’s dad recorded an episode of “Build it Bigger” that featured the stadiums construction challenges so we watched it before heading out so that we could better appreciate the engineering that went into this peice of art. From the color changing glass to the largest domed structure with a curved retractable roof, to the worlds largest retractable end zone doors to the worlds largest HD video board to being the largest single span structure in the world, it is a testament to modern engineering. The two arches that support the dome span a quarter of a mile. I’m sure many of these feats will be surpassed in a short time, maybe some are already being built, but I am always impressed by something that reaches out and touches the limits of current technology.

This past weekend Amanda and I took our nieces to visit the Mayborn Museum, which is currently hosting the Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion exhibit. This exhibit showcases 40 life size machines built according to Leonardo’s drawings. Some of them where set up so we could turn gears and pull levers ourselves while others were demonstrated by a museum guide. The ceiling was also hung with many of his flying contraptions. Some of the more intricate inventions included a concave mirror grinder, battle tank, a column lifter, and a water powered saw mill. I thought this was a great experience, so definitely take a look if it comes to a museum in your area.

Our nieces were mostly excited about the Discovery rooms in the museum, but I have to say I was a little disappointing this time. Some exhibits weren’t well maintained that day. The bubble room was going to be the most exciting for us because we were all looking forward to being enclosed in a giant bubble, but it was not in good repair or the bubble solution was mixed wrong so it just wouldn’t make a bubble at all. We still had fun in the sound room talking through tubes and whispering into giant concave dishes. We took pictures with some animals, played in the physics room, and got some good pictures of the girls in the costume rooms. There was still more to see but all of us were really getting hungry and we also had to hurry to help set up chairs at church that evening so we said goodbye to da Vinci and put our Japanese robes on the hanger, funny hats on the rack, and our clogs on the floor and headed to Sonic!

This was the second year for Sharefest in Waco.  Last year I think there were 6 churches participating and this year I think a dozen or more participated.  Our fellowship family signed up as a group and were assigned to help with a painting project over at one of the government sponsored housing developments.  Our job was to paint the iron railings around the entry ways and plant flowers in front when the painting was finished.  I scraped the old paint while Amanda and Ashley and her children following behind with paint.  We were also joined by Deloris who help paint and also brought some garden tools for the flowers.   I think everyone had a lot of fun working together for the good of the community and I know Amanda and I are looking forward to next year’s Sharefest.   This wasn’t the end of our day though.  When all this was over, it was coincidentally our turn to set up chairs at church on Saturday for Sunday morning so we all set off to our next task.  It was our first time and I think we may have set up a few too many chairs. But oh well, we’re always talking about growing and stuff, so let’s just say we are helping to facilitate growth!  It was a busy day today so we are really looking forward to a good day of rest on Sunday.

This past weekend was the annual gathering, Trapnic, of the Traphagan and Graham families at the Lake Limestone Running Branch Marina.  A fun time was had by all despite some threatening weather.   Amanda’s step mothers maiden name is Traphagan, so that’s our connection in case you were wondering.  We decided to only go for the day this year instead of staying in a cabin or taking our tent, and it was still tons of fun!!   Champ went with us and kept some of the children entertained while the adults participated in the annual horseshoe tournament.  Of which yours truly and his throwing partner, Tonya, are the new champions!  This was especially exciting for me becuase until now I was the only brother-in-law who wasn’t on the plaque.  To be honest I think Tonya scored the most points so I’m just lucky to have drawn a good partner out of the hat.  Saturday night we lit our traditional bonfire and after it died down a little began the hot dogs and smores followed by some old campfire songs.   I have been to Trapnic every year since I started dating Amanda and since we got married and I always meet someone new or find out a little bit more about the folks I don’t know very well yet.  Both of us look forward to the event next year!

Amanda warming up.

Champ had some fun digging up the volleyball pit.

Jonathan threw against Johnny in the finals.

Jonathan and Tonya show off the winners plaque w/ runners up Johnny and Jan.

How many people actually know anything about this St. Patrick person anyway? For me it was always just a day for wearing green and having an excuse to pinch people and color pictures of leprechauns and four leaf clovers. Well it turns out that as an adult I finally learned St Patrick was a real person!! I even read a historic novel about the man last year but I never made the connection until today. Yeah, I can be pretty slow sometimes. It’s a book by Stephen R. Lawhead called Patrick: Son of Ireland, and I highly recommend it. The book follows his enslavement in Ireland and escape back to his home country of Scotland, his adventures in the Roman Empire, and eventual return to Ireland where he receives the more familiar name of St. Patrick. But there is more to his story. The History Channel has a nice site dedicated to St Patrick’s Day. Check it out.
History Channel