Rivers & Spires Fun

Rivers & Spires 2008 has come and gone. Mike has been playing this festival for either 3 or 4 consecutive years. This year was the best one for me. Normally, Mike is very busy the day he takes the stage and we don't get to see him until he performs that night -which is still a lot of fun, but this year was different. He had already done everything and was ready for a day of fun with us before he played at 5:30!

So our festival weekend recap looks something like this.

Friday: It started raining early in the afternoon and we feared our "WannaBeatles" concert might not happen. We were all really looking forward to this and prayed the rain would stop. Alas, it wasn't to be. So, we all piled in the car, and in an attempt to curb the disappointment we went to the only place that can make almost anything better. You guessed it. Dairy Queen. Ice cream covers a multitude of sins!

Saturday: Praise God, the rain was gone! I got up early and headed out for my walk. I haven't had the chance to see our new neighborhood in this light and after walking through it, I only love it more. I'm so thankful to be here. Anyway, then I went to Shipley's to pick up a yummy Saturday morning breakfast surprise for everyone. We just had a lazy Saturday morning and took our time getting ready for the big afternoon. We left the house around 2 pm and I had to stop and get batteries for my camera so I could post some of the pics here!

Our first stop was to watch my friend Melanie play on the International Stage with the Celtic group "Red River Breeze". (I think that is the right name, correct me if I'm wrong.) It was a really good show. I love Celtic music and I LOVE watching Melanie play her violin so it was awesome! For any of you who have not had the privilege of hearing her play, she is the most talented woman! God has given her a beautiful gift...

Then we headed out into festival land to find the perfect concession! We wandered around and ended up at the Cheeseburger Charlie's stand. Two cheeseburger combos later we were headed for KidZone and a few hours of fun on the inflatables before the big concert! The kids had so much fun. Gracie's favorite was the HUGE slide that looked like the sinking Titanic. Kinda weird, I know, but she loved it! Autumn's favorite was the Pirate bounce room with a slide to get out. They jumped and slid to there heart's content!

After that, Mike had to start getting his equipment to the stage. He left it all in the sanctuary (which was a few steps from the Christian Rock Stage) and got that all taken care of while the girls and I watched a group called Example perform. These ladies were awesome! They'd give Kirk Franklin a run for his money! What a blessing!

At around 6 pm, the Waking took the stage! They ROCKED IT!!!! I know I'm biased, but that group of guys are some of the most talented men in the world. And humble. And doing it all for God's glory! Amen! It was so much fun to watch Mike perform his heart out. That's right ladies, that lead singer, rockin' guitar player, He's with me! :)

After packing up everything rock and roll, we headed back over to the KidZone to let the girls take one last round before we left. We topped it off with funnel cake and the rest is history!

What a fun weekend. Here's the proof: