Hanson Concert

Some weeks ago, my friend Brian was standing by his wife Sydni. He looked at me and asked, "Do you remember when you told Sydni you would go to a Hanson concert if they ever came into town?" I looked back at him vaguely and said, "Not really, but I would go." Brian said, "Good, because I bought tickets." I responded, "What?" Sydni beamed and told me that the concert was on September 14. Okay that's cool.

It was on a Tuesday night so I had to tell my bass chair that I could not make it to rehearsal. I do not think he thought a Hanson concert was a valid enough reason but I did. I still do. I gave my word. It may have been four years ago when Sydni and I were living together but it is still valid.

The Hanson concert was fun. There was two opening bands. The first had Frankie Munez in it and Syd told me that he is friends with Hanson. The next band had a much more charismatic singer, but they need to work on their lyrics. Every song was about love and most included eyes, lips, and her. It got boring. We waited. Then Hanson came on. I enjoyed their new songs from their album Shout It Out. It had some brass parts in it and it felt like it had a bit of Motown influences. It was also just lovely to hang out with Sydni sans husband and kids.

One of the best parts of the evening though was with Sydni's three year old Erik. Sydni was getting ready and Brian was playing a computer game. I bored Brian with some dating stories. I even said quite excitedly, "Tell me what he meant, Brian! You speak man, right?" Brian just said, "Ummm...Uh..no". I was mostly joking but Brian has surprised me in the past with advice. I sat there and tapped my foot against the ground. I was bored. What to do? I then saw Erik running around. I asked, "Hey, Erik, you want put some clothes on and go outside?" Erik responded so cutely and said in a high pitched tone, "Yes".

Erik was wearing only underwear so Syd and I told him to get some pants on. He ran off. We chatted. He came back with a Rice Krispies box. I stood up and told him that was not his pants. We put the cereal back. Erik and I wandered around trying to find clothes that fit him and his shoes. I did not know the house and Erik apparently did not either. Erik dressed himself after telling me he could not do it and me telling him he could. He did.

We went out and explored the neighborhood. I spied a penny. I told Erik to run over and grab it. He did and put it in his pocket. I saw long pieces of styrofoam so Erik and I played swords. Then we went over to yellow posts and hit them a couple times. We picked up the styrofoam pieces and threw them away. It was like being a kid again. I was the leader and it was so fun to see Erik mimic me. I stomped on leaves so he did too. We stopped and looked at mud. I started to play in it so he did too. We checked out the pool where Erik greeted another kid who started to play lion or something in the grass. The kid did not respond. I told Erik that the kid was not interested but I was proud of his social skills. We shuffled our feet through dirt as we continued to travel through the houses.

Erik hid from me behind some bushes. I tried to convince him to follow the house behind the bushes but he did not want to. I then had to go back there and lead our exploration team behind the bushes. It was much easier for the three year old since he is much smaller. We then saw an overturned grocery cart. I told Erik it would be fun to crawl through, which he did. I was a bit jealous but I was not going to fit. I showed him how to climb on top and he kinda jumped off. I stepped on it and showed him how to use his knees to land properly. Erik found a stick and just wanted to play in the mud or destroy trees with it but I told him that we had to travel back for dinner. He got to keep the stick.

We climbed a tree and petted some dogs. We also tried to not touch the asphalt by walking only on the speed bumps. Erik started to get weary. I kept on saying, "We got to keep on going" or "Come on." He kept saying "Yes" in the cutest manner. He got some energy when there was a puddle which he splashed all over both of us. I did lead most of the activities but it was just so much fun to have someone willing to play silly games with.

Thanks to Sydni for the concert, Brian for a lovely dinner, and Erik for being three.