One EskimO, Great Guys, Great Show

Recently I was offered the opportunity to review a band called "One EskimO" at a local venue in Kansas City called Crossroads.

I'm going to be totally honest for a minute here. I had no idea who this band was. I sent my littlest sister-in-law a message on Facebook to see if she knew of them and I got the response back, "Oooh I LOVE them" so I immediately agreed to do the review.

Here's the band on the stage at the Crossroads. They are an indie rock group from London (except for Pete Rinaldi, the guitarist, he's originally from Australia) and according to Pete, he's known Kristian Leontiou (the lead singer) for about nine years and the band has been together for about four years. They have a bluesy, acoustic blend and sound fantastic.

Let me give you some advice, if you get the opportunity to see these guys live, definitely go! They are extremely talented and they write really great music.

Here is my littlest sister-in-law (she's 14) anxiously waiting for the concert to start. I was pretty excited about this too because they were nice enough to give me a photography press pass for a "no cameras" show, which I thought was really nice of them. I called ahead to confirm with the tour manager that it was okay to bring my DSLR and received a text from him minutes later saying, "I'm getting you a photo press pass, bring the camera, no problem." What a nice guy!

I love this picture I got of Kristian Leontiou. He has a really unique voice and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him.

This is Jamie Sefton, bass player and horn player. This guy is extremely talented.

I also can't say enough nice things about Adam Falkner, drummer. He rocked it on the drums throughout the show and it was great to meet him. He even offered to make us a cup of tea on the tour bus, how sweet is that?

This particular tour they are opening for Michael Franti and Spearhead, who apparently have a running joke to run onto the stage during One eskimO's performance and do something crazy.

Here's Pete Rinaldi, the guitarist. He is so talented and such a nice guy. We got to interview him on the tour bus after the set and he answered all of our questions and even got me a copy of the setlist for the evening. I also purchased a CD for my sister-in-law at the show and he was nice enough to walk it around to the guys and get it autographed for her.

Michael Franti on the stage with One eskimO in a chicken mask...hilarious!

Pete told us that they originally came to tour in the United States a year ago opening for Tori Amos. He said the most memorable place for him that they have played was Radio City Music Hall in New York City, for two reasons; he said that seeing the band name on the marquee at Radio City Music Hall was surreal and also his sister from Australia happened to be in New York City at the time so she got to see him perform as well.

We asked if the band has anything new in the works and he said that having the tour bus is a nice opportunity for them to be able to work on new music, and one of the songs they played during the show, "Hurricanes", was something new that's not on the current album but will probably be included on the next album.

Setlist for One eskimO at the Crossroads, Kansas City, MO 06/13/2010:

"Giving Up"

"Astronauts"

"Simple Day"

"Amazing"

"Hometime"

"Chocolate"

"Kandi"

"Hurricanes"

"All Balloons"

"UFO"

I can't stress enough if you get a chance to give these guys a listen, you won't be sorry, and if you ever get the opportunity to meet them, DEFINITELY do it - they are some of the nicest guys in the music scene and they were so gracious to me and my sister-in-law, answering all of our questions and letting us hang out with them in the bus after the show. Thanks again, guys!

P.S. You can also find them at www.oneeskimo.com

I was given the opportunity to review this show by the One2One Network. I got 2 free passes to the show but I was not compensated in any other way to do this review. My opinions are 100% my own...and my sister-in-law's. :)

Wordless Wednesday - Full Fledged Pout

How I Know it's Summer...

I can tell it's summertime at our house because my house looks like a tornado hit it with the little cyclones I have running in and out around here. :)

I also know that it's summertime because of the amount of towels that we're going through...
Another clue that it's summertime in our house is that it seems like the grocery bill DOUBLES!!
But I'm really loving every second of it...
Summer is my favorite season of the year!

Memorial Day Weekend

My birthday always falls on Memorial Day weekend, which is kind of depressing I guess but I went up to north Missouri and put flowers on all of the graves last week and so this weekend was for food, family and fun. :)

When you have five kids (plus 2 additional friends of the oldest) the best things in life ARE free, so we headed down to Union Station in Kansas City yesterday for "Celebration at the Station".

The Kansas City Symphony plays a variety of patriotic music at Union Station with Liberty Memorial in the background with an awesome fireworks show when it gets dark.

We packed the kids all up in a couple of cars and headed downtown...Here's my friend Sherri with my daughter on her shoulders, my friend Bryan and his girls came down and met us too.
The littlest in shades...hilarious...
Bryan and his girls, aren't they pretty?? My middle child has a big crush on the one on the left and he would love it even more if he knew I put that on here. :)
Here is what a pile of boys looks like sprawled out on a picnic blanket.
Miss Priss was loving the music and the crowd and all the excitement.

Brotherly love...

I played around a little with my camera once it got dark and we got the kids all those glow in the dark necklace things....I thought this one turned out kind of cool with the flash off.
Liberty Memorial, the only WW-I memorial in the nation...you can see the eternal flame lit at the top.
Union Station with stars and red white and blue...so neat!
The fireworks show with the Memorial...so pretty.
I had a great time with my entire family together and we really enjoyed the evening. When they played "Taps" towards the end of the concert, it made me a little teary remembering my dad, uncle and all of the other veterans in my family who have passed on; however, this was a celebration of their lives and we enjoyed it to the fullest.

We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. ~Francis A. Walker

Kansas City Dinosaurs Unearthed!

We were looking around last Sunday afternoon for something to do inside that was out of the rain. We got together with my friend Sonya and her boys and headed down to Union Station in Kansas City for their current exhibit "Dinosaurs Unearthed".

These things were awesome and they moved and growled and had placards with information on them. It was a great learning experience as well as fun!
Here are the kids in front of the t-rex outside.
We got our tickets, had some lunch, checked out some other parts of Union Station (coming to a later blog) and headed downstairs for the exhibit starting at 3:00 pm. Here is "the talk" from Dad a/k/a the hubs. "No running, no acting like fools, stay together, keep your hands to yourselves..." all that good stuff.
This is one of the five fully articulated skeletons in the display. Sooo cool!! The kids thought they were awesome!
Here they had a panel of all sizes of dinosaurs. Here are my two middles with the Stegosaurus.
And my littlest testing out his "dinosaur stomp and roar".
Here are my friend Sonya's boys, all smiles over the dinosaurs.
Here's Sonya's oldest next to a leg bone. Yikes! This thing made me feel tiny!
They had a stand set up where you could use paintbrushes (or your hands) and sift out the dinosaur bones underneath.
The littlest hard at work with his brush and the daughterling checking it out too...
She was not so much a fan of the 24 animatronic dinosaurs and spent most of the exhibit roaring back at them from the safety of Daddy's arms. :)
This triceratops looks like it's about to chomp the 7-year-old's head off. He doesn't seem to mind...strange, isn't it?
I will admit I'm not much of a dinosaur guru but dinosaurs with fur? Bizarre...
I had to practically bend over backwards to get the shot of this tall guy.
The exhibits were very kid-friendly and interactive and the boys all loved them.
This is the face we got...
...when this bad boy growled at him! PRICELESS!
Another one of the cool skeletons.
Union Station is a gorgeous old building and holds much history in Kansas City. I got some more cool pictures and info that I'll post in a later blog. I think I'm on picture overload as it is.

The kids all definitely gave "Dinosaurs Unearthed" at Union Station in Kansas City 12 thumbs up (we took six kids)!

Delaney's First Baseball Game!

At Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals, twice a year they put on an event called "Girls' Night Out at the K". It's a great way to get ladies out to the ballpark and a portion of the proceeds from the evening goes to charity, usually the first event of the year goes to Susan G. Komen Foundation and the second goes to the American Heart Association "Go Red for Women" campaign. Since Miss Priss is now 3, I thought we would try to take her and see how she did trying to sit through a baseball game. Here's the color guard for the National Anthem:

Wrong hand on the heart there, Sis. :) Hey at least she was being respectful and paying attention to what was going on.
In the first few minutes we were there, we had to make 2 trips to the bathroom and as soon as she sat down she said, "I'm hungry and thirsty, Mommy." So here she is enjoying some "machos" (which is what she calls nachos) and watching the game.
They handed out free bunny ears at the game. Also the first 10K in the gate get a free t-shirt but we were running a bit behind so we didn't get there in time, darn it.
When Alex Gordon isn't playing, our favorite player defaults to Billy Butler. She was into it too, she was singing the "Let's Go Royals!" chant and everything.
We went to walk around the stadium to burn off some energy when she started getting restless. Thankfully at the K there is a ton to do and see. I really love it since they have redone things out there. Here she is checking out the letters outside of the Royals Hall of Fame exhibit - really cool inside if you have time to check it out.
They also have a section out at the K called "The Outfield Experience" specifically designed for kids. Kind of pricey but fun for those "once in a while" times...You buy tokens to do the specific activities and I think they are like $2 each but taking into consideration what it is to ride things/do things at other parks I guess it's really pretty comparable. Here is my little future softball player in the making:
And we couldn't pick the cool baseball themed carousel spots to sit...we had to pick the "pretty horse, Mommy, with pretty flowers on it!!" I might get her to play softball but she's a girly girl through and through...
Every Friday night at the K after the game is over (we won by the way, 6-1!!) they hit the lights and turn on music and up in the sky....
It's FIREWORKS FRIDAY! I was a little worried about this, because my daughter tends to be kind of a chicken when it comes to EVERYTHING and I was scared to death of fireworks when I was little.
However, as you can see, she thinks they are "Just booooo-ti-ful!!" She didn't want them to be over.
And on the way home, I had one tuckered out little girl who thoroughly enjoyed her first baseball game and first time out at the K.
Oh and as a side note, if any of you here in KC or the surrounding area bring your little ones to the K for their first game, if you take them to the Guest Services office in the stadium and tell them, they print out a certificate with their name on it and the date saying that they are an "Official Royals Fan" and thanks for your attendance at your first game. This is a free service that the stadium provides and is really a neat keepsake to have. I wish I would have scanned it but I forgot...

Random Thursday Thoughts

• I typed this entire post, decided to add a picture to it, and then accidentally deleted everything I had just typed. Super.
• Here's the random picture I wanted to add to the random post. It made me laugh when I took it because it looks like a 2-headed giraffe.

• The terrible three's are way worse than the terrible two's ever thought about being.
• I'm paranoid that my camera battery is going to run out when I'm out somewhere and want to take pictures and probably need to think about picking up a spare.
• My hubby will be happy that I ordered the daughterling a one-piece swimsuit for this year.
• I wish if people wanted to know things about me, they would just ask me instead of trying to put someone else in a bad position. However, just because you ask, doesn't mean you're getting an answer, some things just aren't anyone else's business.
• Saturday is Rockfest and I'm afraid it's going to just be one giant mud-pit. I'm still super-excited to go though.
• My daughter should have taken a nap today and didn't and now is a complete bear to deal with.
• There is a door-to-door salesman wandering the neighborhood. I'm going to let my dogs out on the porch so he won't knock on my door.
• Tomorrow night is Girls' Night Out at the K. I'm bummed because it's going to be too chilly for my daughter to wear the dress I've been making for her. Guess she'll have to wear it to a warmer weather game.
• I'm still getting used to wearing glasses. They feel weird on my face.
• Monday is my hubby's birthday. He doesn't like cake.
• I won a giveaway on Twitter MONTHS ago and never got what I won. I've even asked the person about it. I ordered a product from someone else's website as a result because I don't think this person is reliable.
• Trey Hillman just got dismissed as the KC Royals manager...too bad they can't dismiss the cheapskate owner too.
• We've had too much rain the past few days and I think my poor little garden is drowning.
• My 2-year old needs to realize that he in fact cannot fly like Buzz Lightyear. Being able to say the words "To infinity and beyond!" does not grant you the ability to fly. I am afraid we may require an emergency room trip before this phase is over.
• It is 5:00 and I have made no plans and have no ideas about what we are doing for dinner.
• Today is my hubby's first day of a nine-day vacation from work. I'm so excited! Just think of the honey-do list I can make!! :)
• If I ask you a question that requires a "yes" or "no" answer, a "yes", "no" or even "I don't know" will suffice. If I want an opinion to go with said answer, I'll ask.
• I need a different shirt to wear to Rockfest this weekend. With the temps being in the 60s, the original tanktop I was going to wear is not going to work out.
• The kids trashed the living room today...sighhhhh.
• Where in the hell are Max and Ruby's parents? Did they abandon them because Ruby is such a little witch??
• The word of the day today is "gobba" - only Brittany is going to get this.
• I hate when people who have never had children try to tell me what I need to be doing or not doing with my kids. It's a super pet peeve of mine.
• I'm looking forward to going to the zoo Sunday with some friends.
• My terrier has a serious case of Napoleon syndrome.