Concert Time

It's been a while since I've been to a concert. Actually, the last one was my first blog post... so that was June of 2008. Although that Pearl Jam concert was awesome, this one had to top it.



We headed to Charlotte last Sunday afternoon to hear Metallica live. I really wanted to catch them twice already, but as life tends to pull us many different directions at once, I was unable to see them perform with Godsmack and with Linkin Park. I'm sure both of those bands would have been incredible live as well. This time around Metallica had two bands I've never heard up opening for them. No biggie. I was there for Metallica anyway.

I went in knowing that they have such a catalog that they could fill a few hours with all great songs and I'd still have a few favorites that they missed. At the end of the night I was blown away. They rocked all night, with both their old and new tracks. It was obvious that the crowd favorite is Seek and Destroy. I wouldn't rate it in my top ten, but experiencing live is pretty awesome. My personal favorites of the night were Sad but True, and The Day that Never Comes. I would not have expected The Day that Never Comes to be a favorite, but they totally rocked it.

I hope to hear them again one day. If that kind of music is your thing and you've never seen Metallica live, I highly suggest to get out to see them!

Big Baby

I cant believe it. My baby is 6. Jackson is getting old way to fast. There is no way his little brother, the baby of the family, should be six years old. Time is flying! I dont know what else to say.

For his birthday he wanted to take a second trip to the fair so we did that. Also, we stocked him up on art supplied: crayons, markers, paper. He loves to do art, so he was very happy about new tools to work with. Also, we gave him his own basketball and he later told us that was his favorite present. Nice thought by Stacy to add that into the mix.

After getting the ball on his birthday, the following day he added to the stash. Within 20 minutes of arriving at the fair, both Alex and Jackson won mini-basketballs. That was awesome except the part about me carrying them for the next 3 hours. Not to mention an hour later Jackson won another, full sized basketball. The Owings' house is now fully stocked for basketball season!

Happy Birthday to Alex, my very BIG baby.

The Final Countdown!

No, not the eighty's hair band Europe's big hit. I'm talking about Stacy's training countdown. Back in April training began. She skipped the half marathon and jumped in with a crew from Tampa training for the Marine Corps Marathon. It has been a huge goal in her (and our) lives for the past 7 months. All that training has finally came to fruition! The race is this Sunday morning. Three days and counting!

I have no doubt that she'll do great. I've been shocked at not only how many long runs (as far as 22.5 miles) she has run in preparation, but also the ease that she seemed to do it in. I'm sure it wasn't easy but she tackled it like a champ. I have all expectations that she'll do awesome. I cant wait to talk to her afterward and hear all about it. Although I'll be awaiting that post-race call, I wont have to wait until then to see how well she performed. One of the coolest things about this particular marathon is the ability to track runners progress. All long races may have this, but this is the first I've heard of it. Anyway, I signed up, so I'll receive both emails and texts of her progress every 5K of the race. I cant wait. If I'm this excited, I cant imagine how excited she is!

Oh, and once more, 3 days and count. It's The Final Countdown!

The Fair

The Fair was another great time this year. We did the family trip on Saturday morning. They didn't have the pay-one-price deal that day (wrist bands), but they did have buy-one-get-one, which basically means the boys could both ride for the price of one. They rode for about 2 hours and had a blast.

Since Alex just turned 6 on Tuesday (hurray Alex), he said that he wanted to go back to the fair. Last night we headed back. Stacy had to do some last minute packing for her trip (first marathon. Go Stacy!), so I took the boys. It was a pay-one-price night so we got wrist bands and had a blast. I kept up with it and they boys rode so much that it covered the price of the wristbands 3 times over... and they enjoyed every second of it. Only the first line was long. After that we realized that there was a backlog of people near the entrance. Once we ventured farther away, they flew from one ride to the next... for 3.5 hours. Also, a small milestone; they rode their first adult ride. They insisted on riding "the spaceship". They were both tall enough so I let them give it a shot. By the way, the spaceship is the Gravitron. I was hoping they wouldn't come out of it looking like the one guy I saw that probably had a few too many beverages before entering. The mix of his late night drinks and the spinning ride made his attempt at walking hilarious. But I digress. The boys came out having a blast and screaming for more, so I let them do it once more. Isn't it fun to be a big boy!

Also, a trip to the fair is never complete without stuffing one's self with fatty foods. The boys and I split a foot-long corn-dog and a turkey leg. They were both spectacular. Also, we hit up the fried dessert stand on the way out. Fried Snickers for me and fried Oreos for the boys. If you've never heard of fried desserts, as crazy as they sound, they are incredible. They freeze the candy bar and dip it in donut batter and fry the thing up. By the time you eat it you have a donut stuffed with a melty candy bar. Incredible!