U2 360 Tour

The drunk girl next to us took this picture. I hoped for the stage in the background. We got the open roof instead.

I am so glad we decided to go ahead and see U2! We had not been planning on it but Molly suggested we try to see if tickets were available. I ended up going to the Stadium ticket office the day of the show and I don't know if me carrying baby Kate in my sling made me look like I needed some killer last minute tickets for a screaming good deal or if they just had adjusted some pricing at the last minute on unsold tickets. Either way I ended up buying $35 tickets that Steve said when he looked online the day before were in the section that was $95 tickets. WOW! Whatever it was, we sat in first level about 2/3 back from the stage. Great seats.

But the real adventure was getting there. I had my babysitters worked out and met Steve at work. We grabbed a couple quick tacos across the street and jumped in the car, knowing we would probably miss part of the first act, The Black Eye Peas. 2 hours later, for a 24 mile drive that should take 25 minutes no traffic, we arrived. We crawled there. They say they even ran out of parking! An officer said they never run out for Cardinals games! (But mysteriously another lot opened up...) We finally were able to park AND they stopped taking parking $20 - so we waited forever but it was free. Ended up being easy to leave from as well because it was the closest lot to the doors and the freeway.

Completely missed the Black Eye Peas.. Kelly texted several times during the whole mess me and said they were super fun. Oh well. The radio in the car was fun too I guess. But we got there 5 minutes before U2 came on - good timing.

The whole stage was a pretty fantastic set up and it would have been extra cool if it was truly in the round like it is designed but it was about 270 degrees and looked pretty amazing; I read one review that called the set "part insect, part spacecraft, part cathedral".

The big screen above? It eventually opened up, stretching downward and apart. It was really cool.

My personal notes: Bono announced we had "greatness in the house" with Mohamed Ali in attendance and he used that as a chance to introduce the band like introducing a fight - "In the black corner weighing in at 116 pounds..." it was hilarious! Larry Mullen Jr. keeps his typical low profile on the drums...until "I'll go Crazy" and he walked the round platform with a bongo drum - pretty cool. Adam Clayton changed his shirt about as often as a roadie handed him a new guitar and he can really rock the gray hair look. The Edge - his falsetto in the acoustic "Stuck in a Moment" was beautiful and he too changed a few times, even his beanie. And Bono - I don't think there is a better Rock Star anywhere! He was of course all in black so it was hard to tell if he changed as often as the other guys except for when he wore the light up jacket. When he pulled 3 women on stage and danced with each of them, my goodness! He then invited them to stay for another song and while they sat on the drum platform he lay down across their laps. WOW. Ever the showman and activist, we was able to weave the themes of AIDS in Africa, The President of Burma Aung San Suu Kyi and her unfounded and inhumane detention over the past 20 years, and even remained politically neutral when mentioning the election and thanking Obama and the McCain's for not forgetting the world's poor - Cindy McCain also was in the audience.


Where the Streets Have No Name - point and shoot video

The play list, if anyone cares:
Breathe
Get on Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Stuck In A Moment
No Line on the Horizon
Elevation
In A Little While
Unknown Caller
Until The End of the World
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy - Remix
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On
One
Where The Streets Have No Name
Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Thanks Mr. U of P - all your millions of hours of work help pay for this stadium. Just let someone know to work on the parking situation, would ya?

And so break goes...part 1

My house is quiet for the first time in days...Hayden and Bryn are off to a play date and Lindsay and Caroline are quietly playing dollies. We have 3 extra kiddos this week while Molly and Andy are off to Houston to visit friends and see U2. We weren't planning on it but I think we may try to go ourselves next week when they are here in Phoenix. It has been 13 years since I saw U2 in concert. It may be time again! I haven't blogged in a while. I have jumped on Facebook a few times here and there but this week has not allowed for serious blog time so I am taking advantage of these 2 hours. Not like I can use this time to get a shower - Zac is napping in my room! (But he has been a great sleeper this week so I can't complain too much! He is just too cute!)

Oh well....on with it.

I always look forward to our awesome October break -2 weeks, 2 days, no school, just play, sometimes bonus vacations (not this year - too many already) and hanging out with friends and cousins. Nothing earth shattering has occurred, just a whole lotta nothin'! And it is fun! Shelly and Joe were here for a few days of our break time so that meant sleeping over with Aunt Shelly. watching Uncle Joe start his model train set up in the garage (pretty cool!) and lots of swimming - they got the pool heater cranking and we had a couple afternoons spent lazily in the pool.

I will consider ourselves to be very blessed to not be spending our Fall Break sick - luckily we got our Ellie fix early in the break last week because now she is the sole member of her family without Swine Flu. The girls made their own doll house with a piece of 20"x20" foam core cut in half, notches cut to slide together and doorways cut out too. They used scrapbook paper to wall-paper and magazines to decorate. This was a super fun project that kept them occupied for hours. The real instructions can be found HERE at Cookie Magazine.
They had so much fun tearing apart American Girl, Land of Nod, PB Kids, Ranger Rick, whatever, to decorate their rooms with mini posters, chandeliers, and even a refrigerator for the kitchen.

Caroline played some more soccer....
...and I think we have discovered her favorite position - bench! She did get up and hustle a bit more because Aunt Shelly was there to watch - it was good to see her move!

Before Molly left we took all the kids to Mother Nature's Farm "pumpkin patch". This is not your typical Oregon or Colorado or Utah pumpkin patch but they don't know that. It is just not the same as back home but still a lot of fun - hay ride, meeting the farm animals, picking a pumpkin (from a scattered pile, not a field) and decorating said pumpkin with foam craft stickers. My battery died while we were there so I don't have a lot of pictures.

We had an alien invasion on tuesday and sadly this is the only picture I got of it. 4 aliens landed on the swingset and came into the house with their best alien voices saying they required alien antenna so I obliged and busted out a craft supply tote. Pipe cleaners, feathers and sparkly fuzz balls made instant aliens and they ran outside to ride their "ships" up and down the street.

Remnants of an alien invasion

Loaded up the wagon with the babes and the big kids rode their bike to the park down the street. The babies are now big kids because they went down the big slide by themselves.
Caroline does not often let me do her hair but currently she is favoring a high side ponytail. What? She looks like Deb from Napoleon Dynomite!


It is going to be around 100 degrees today and tomorrow. I had wanted to go to one of the fun pools this week but not with all the kids. Maybe Monday or Tuesday. We did get our Halloween costumes all planned - the kids are so excited! Maybe Monday or Tues we can work on them some more. Stay tuned - the girls really picked things that are right up their alley personality wise.