A Rush to RUSH

Yesterday I started the day on the road at 6:30 am headed towards Manti to teach a class. I knew that I was going to need to leave around 4 pm in order to make it to the Usana Amphitheater for the RUSH concert. At 4:30 I was still in Ephraim, waiting at the Maverick while trying to get some gas. I don't want to get into small town stereotypes, but I had four people in front of me: all wearing tanktops, all ordered cigarettes, and one with tattoos supporting "White Power." Needless to say I was in a hurry to get out of town.

The drive back proved to be uneventful and I was at the concert on time. I saw RUSH a few years ago, but it was good to go again. A couple of the guys from the neighborhood are huge RUSH fans, so I was happy they invited me to go to the show with them. In the end, Rob, Ross, Lauretta, and I all had a great time and I'm glad they included me in the posse.



The music and stage show were very engaging, almost as much as the people in the crowd. The one thing I can safely say about the fans at a RUSH concert, they definitely cross a wide age demographic. There were way more 50+ in the audience than 20 year olds. I don't know many shows that had as many old hippies since the Dead were around.

RUSH has always been a favorite of mine and it really takes me back to my teenage years. It seems like they are a pivotal band in the lives of many adolescent males and I was certainly no different. Many of their songs struck a cord with me and I still enjoy listening to a little Canadian rock today. Even if I don't want to admit that I'm starting to resemble the RUSH crowd more every day, I'm glad I can go out every few years and listen to some classic music.




Neal Peart Drum Solo

Swimming Lessons

Kennedy started swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago with Liam and her friend Saydi. Let's just say that she wasn't too fond of her teacher, Roger. Roger is one of those tough love guys. I tried to convince Kennedy that he was a good guy since he is a Red Sox fan, but she didn't care much. Roger is an excellent teacher but doesn't put up with much from the kids. I can't tell you how many times he asked Liam to sit down and listen.


Liam spent most of his time under the water. Kennedy was a little scared of Roger. When I ask her if she wants to go back to swim lessons, she says "NO!" She was so excited that swimming was over that we had to celebrate with ice cream.

I have to say, though, that Kennedy learned so much from swim lessons. When we went swimming in St. George this week, she was so much better in the water. She kept going under the water (on purpose) without any prompting from mommy and she jumped off the edge of the pool without anyone catching her. She still needs to work on the blowing bubbles when under the water part, as she drank so much water that she threw up on the deck. That was fun. Anyway, even if Kennedy didn't enjoy Roger, she learned more about swimming than I expected.

Fun Days in New Harmony

The past few days have been filled with me working, while Tara and the kids go and play. Until yesterday that is. We took advantage of my day off to spend time having fun in Southern Utah. We rode ATV's all morning, as Kennedy and Alex both decided that they love the open air. Maybe they'll want to join a biker gang or something, who knows? The helmet was a little big for Alex, but I'm sure he'll want to grow into it.

The afternoon was spent on a long drive through the country. We wanted to go in search of some geocaches into Kolob Canyon and ended up driving all the way to Kolob Reservoir. What a great spot. The temperature dropped down into the 60's and the kids had a great time playing in the water. We even took a trip out to Paradise Island. Okay, because the water was so low we actually walked out to the island. On the ride home we went through Kanarraville Canyon, where you would have thought we were in the Uintahs - not Red Rock country. Everything was green, with Aspens and Pines being the main trees we encountered. There was hardly a sagebrush to be found!

It was a great day and we've really had fun during our trip down to Nana and Papa's. There's so much to do down here and the kids absolutely love the country lifestyle.

Movie Review: The Simpsons Movie

I have to say that I didn't expect to get to see The Simpsons Movie until it was on my pay per view, but our little trip down south has provided with a chance to go the movies. Before going to the movie Tara commented that it was silly to pay for watching the Simpsons when we can see them everyday on TV for free. This leads into a great line at the beginning of the film.

I'm glad they actually made a movie version of the Simpsons. Lately, it's been a challenge to watch the show on TV, but having a movie version gave me some incentive to get back into the lives of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. While I agree that's there nothing in the movie you haven't seen on the TV show (minus a couple of adult words and a little more skin by Bart), the movie provided a bunch of great lines - particularly by some of the minor characters. The intro with Ralph is a classic.

I really liked the movie. It was geared for people who already like the show, but anyone can sit back and enjoy this 90 minutes with America's favorite family. Take a sneak peak at the Movie with the new trailer from YouTube.

Lightning Crashes

Well, we're back in New Harmony again. I am training in Cedar City for the next two days, so we're staying at my parents through the weekend. While driving down here last night we decided to do a bit of caching to pass the time. As we left the car in Beaver we encountered the quick hitting thunderstorms that Southern Utah is famous for. Still, we were undaunted in our search for the caches, even in the rain. That is, of course until the lightning and thunder started in enter the scene. In fact, one bolt of lightning had Coleton and Ross both scared enough to run back to the cars. We finished our caching, but we might need to check the shorts of a couple of startled cachers!