FUN FAMILY ACTIVITIES IN THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH AREA

*Explanation and Disclaimer:  This was put together several years ago by Katy Willey, from Coppell 3rd ward.  At the time, it was comprehensive and current and generally awesome.  I share it with you after making a good faith effort to delete anything that was seasonal and no longer happening or has gone out of business.  However, I have not added anything NEW and FUN, so I could use your help.  Ideally, we could make this an open source (not sure that's the word - pardon my lack of tech skills!) document and all add/comment to make it useful.

PARKS
Allen Road Park. (400 North MacArthur Blvd, Coppell)
 Activities: Children’s playground; picnic facilities; water canal fishing.
 Other: No swings (plus or minus); Park your car on the grass. Get there by turning onto Waterside (north of the park) make your 1st right and then turn into the alleyway to take you behind the houses and near the park

Andy Brown East. (260 East Parkway Blvd, Coppell)
 Activities: Kid Kountry playground; picnic shelter; fishing; jogging/walking trails; Frisbee golf; restroom facility/concession.
 Excellent Park Well shaded. Quite large requiring you to run and play with your children if you want to keep track of them.
 My favorite way to get to these walking trails is to park on Glen Lake Drive (off of Macarthur) the trails are paved making it conducive for strollers, bikes, rollerblades etc.

Andy Brown West. (363 North Denton Tap Road, Coppell)
 Activities: Soccer complex; jogging/walking trails; two lighted multipurpose fields; two outdoor basketball courts; concession/restrooms; 2 Softball fields; football/lacrosse field; concession stand/restroom facility

Grapevine Springs Park. (700 South Park Road, Coppell)
 Activities: 2 Softball fields; football/lacrosse field; concession stand/restroom facility.

Hunterwood Park. (553 Anderson Avenue, Coppell)
 Activities: Playground, nature trails, picnic area.

Macarthur Park. (400 South MacArthur Blvd, Coppell)
 Activities: Playground, 7 baseball fields, 2 practice areas, watch out for the small creek little kids can fall in.

Magnolia Park. (553 Anderson Avenue, Coppell)
 Activities: Playground, 2 ponds, paved nature trails.

Moore Road Park. (E. Parkway Blvd. and Moore Road, Coppell)
 Activities: Jogging trail, Large Pond, Fishing

Parkwood Park. (575 Macarthur, Coppell)
 Activities: Jogging trail

Riverchase Park. (1401 Glade Point, Coppell)
 Activities: Playground

The Duck Pond Park. (400 E Bethel School Road, Coppell)
 Activities: Playground, Large Pond, picnic area. Great place to catch frogs and feed the ducks and fish.

Wagon Wheel Park. (345 State Rd, Coppell)
 Activities: 6 baseball fields, 5 Soccer Fields, 8 Tennis Courts – rental fee $2.50 for Coppell resident ($10 for non-resident!!!) 1.5 hours. 972-393-5687

Central Park. (1899 S Edmonds, Lewisville)
 Activities: 2 picnic pavilions, 2 playgrounds, restrooms, hike and bike trails.

Willow Grove Park. (975 W. Corporate Dr, Lewisville)
 Activities: Playground, picnic area. I love this park because it is surrounded on three sides by houses. It is big enough for lots of fun, but small enough not to lose your children.

Dragon Park. (Castle Hills)
 Enter Castle Hills from Josey Lane by turning left on King Arthur Blvd (North of Trinity Medical center) take your 1st left on Merlin Drive and then it will be on your right.

Castle Park. (Castle Hills)
 Enter Castle Hills from Hebron Pkwy Turn left on Standridge Dr. it turns into Holy Grail Dr. turn right on Merlin Dr it will be on you left.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Grapevine Botanical Gardens. (411 Ball Street, Grapevine) (Free)

Founders Plaza at DFW Airport. (Airfield Drive and Texan Trail at the Airport) (Free)
 The observation area offers a magnificent view to watch airplanes take off and land. In addition, the plaza provides convenient parking, picnic tables, telescopes, beautiful landscape, airport information, a historic monument and an Air Traffic Control Tower Radio that airs FAA.

McKinney Avenue Trolley. (Uptown Dallas) (Free)
 http://www.mata.org/.
 If you have young kids, try to get a low window trolley so the kids can see.

Fritz Park and Petting Farm. (312 E Vilbig St, Irving) (Free)
 The petting farm is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday (weather permitting) during the months of June and July.

Spring Creek Farm. (1401 East Lookout Drive at Plano Road) (Free – except petting zoo)
 Mon. - Fri. 9 am - 3 pm.
 Petting zoo $5 on weekdays $3 on weekends.
 See how the famous Owens Country Sausage began as you tour a museum featuring a fully equipped kitchen, workshop, butchery and country store with articles and replicas dating back to the early 1900s. See Belgian draft horses, miniature ponies and other animals. Self-guided tours daily.

West End Historic District. (Downtown Dallas) (Free)
 Features over 50 specialty shops at the West End Marketplace plus a variety of restaurants and clubs. Summertime nights in the Marketplace are often filled with the sound of free concerts.

Mustang Statues at Williams Square in Las Colinas. (5215 N O'Connor Blvd, Irving) (Free)
 The world’s largest equestrian sculpture.
Longhorn Statues at Pioneer Plaza. (Downtown Dallas) (Free)
 3 Cowboys and 49 Steers
 Adjacent to the Dallas Convention Center at Young and Griffin

Nasher Sculpture Center. (2001 Flora St., Dallas) (Free on Thursday Nights)
 Free Thursday nights with live entertainment from 5-9pm.
 Tricky with young kids. You can’t touch any of the sculptures.

Fort Worth Stockyards. (130 E Exchange Ave., Fort Worth)
 Parking $5-$10.
 Live Cattle Drive occurs daily Free
 Rodeo Adults $15; Kids are free on Fridays and can come down and chase a sheep as part of the show.
 Check out long horns in the stable. Free
 Lots of Shopping and Restaurants -Love Shack celebrity chef Tim Love (competed in Iron Chef).

Coppell Farmers Market. (Old Town Coppell at Bethel and Coppell Roads)
 Saturday mornings.

Dallas Farmers Market. (1010 S Pearl Expy, Dallas)
 Open every day, free samples. Exciting for kids to pick out and try a new fruit or vegetable. Up the street there are flower nurseries and ice cream stands. Has a covered pavilion.

Grapevine Vintage Railroad. (707 South Main, Grapevine)
 Railroad goes from Grapevine to Fort Worth. Currently running “Train Robbery” shows on the weekends.

Polar Express at Christmas.
 $20 per adult; $10 per child (3-12).
 http://www.gvrr.com/.

Forest Park Miniature Railroad. (Fort Worth)
 The ride is an approximately five-mile, thirty-five to forty-minute round trip from the Forest Park Depot off Colonial Parkway in Forest Park to the Duck Pond in Trinity Park and back with one stop at the Trinity Park Depot in Trinity Park where passengers may board the train if seats are available.
 $3 per adult; $2.50 per child (1-12).
 http://www.fpmt.us/.

Dallas Arboretum. (707 South Main, Grapevine)
 Buy one get one free Wednesdays and $5 Thursdays for seniors with printable coupons online. Thursday concerts all summer 7:30pm buy tickets online.
 Don’t miss the frog fountains. Run through them to cool off
 http://www.dallasarboretum.org

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. (3220 Botanic Garden Blvd, Fort Worth) (Free)
 http://www.fwbg.org/ Print fun activity sheets for kids online
 Japanese Gardens and Conservatory have a small fee

Fort Worth Zoo. (1989 Colonial Pkwy, Fort Worth)
 Wednesdays are half price. Bring cash to feed the birds. The better zoo in my opinion.
 http://www.fortworthzoo.com/.

Dallas Zoo. (650 S RL Thornton Freeway, Dallas)
 Walk up the big hill if you can, it’s worth it!
 Play in the concrete river fountain to cool off.
 Ride a pony
 http://www.dallaszoo.com/.

INDOOR ACTIVITIES
Check out a Puppy at Petsmart. (Multiple Locations) (Free?)
 You can select a puppy for sale to play with in the store and then put him back. Free only if you have the will power to not buy the puppy! Might be too risky for some.

Bass Pro Shop. (2501 Bass Pro Drive, Grapevine) (Free)
 Kids love to look at the fish and animals. Just forget to mention that all the animals were hunted and are now stuffed for them to view.
 Free fishing classes.

Model Train Display. (Dallas Children’s Medical Center; 1935 Motor St., Dallas) (Free)
 This is the largest permanent model train display in the US. It is located in the lobby of Children's Medical Center of Dallas. Eight trains run simultaneously at this free exhibit. Children's Medical Center has a small fee for parking.

Dallas World Aquarium. (1801 N Griffin St, Dallas)
 $18.95 per adult; $10.95 per child (3-12).
 Definitely worth the money, it is amazing. It is set up like an indoor rainforest. Look for monkeys in the trees. And don’t miss the manatees on the bottom level.
 http://www.dwazoo.com/.

Coppell Library. (177 N Heartz Rd, Coppell) (Free)
 Activities include chess, science activities, puppet shows, crafts, movies, story times and, of course, reading.
 June 24th Puppets with Sandy Shrout 3pm
 http://www.ci.coppell.tx.us/.

Lewisville Library. (177 N Heartz Rd, Coppell) (Free)
 Activities include audio-visual class, knitting class, video game tournaments, science activities and, again, reading.
 http://www.cityoflewisville.com

Gaylord Texan. (Grapevine)
 Various restaurants and activities.
 Indoor fireworks every Friday at 9pm (free).
 Buy an ice cream cone or another small treat at one of the restaurants to get validated parking.

Slappy’s Puppet Playhouse. (Galleria Mall)
 Voted the best puppet shows in Dallas.
 $9 per adult; $8 per child (3-18). Check for discounts in the kids meals at Which Wich (Right next door in the Galleria Mall)
 http://www.slappysplayhouse.com/.

Indoor Playgrounds at Malls. (Various Malls)
 My favorites include the Galleria Mall and the Shops at Willow Bend.

Grapvine Mills. (3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway, Grapevine)
 Carousel
 Choo Choo Station Ride a Train $2.50 miniature electric Thomas train, 8 train tables to play with (Free)
 http://choochoostation.com/

Wiggly Play Center. (4944 Preston Road, Frisco)
 Bounce house; climbing tubes; dancing time with Wags the Dog or Dorothy the Dinosaur.
 A little overpriced, but a must do for a Wiggles fan. Make sure to bring socks!
 http://www.wigglyplaycenter.com/.

Going Bonkers. (2565 MacArthur Blvd, Lewisville)
 Large indoor playground (parents can join the fun); video games; sound-proof room with wi-fi for parents that need a break.
 Best inside playground for the money. Make sure to bring socks!
 http://www.goingbonkers.com/lw.htm.

WATER ACTIVITIES
Fountains at 3040 and Morriss. (Flower Mound) (Free)

Great Wolf Lodge. (Grapevine)
 Indoor water park resort for hotel guests only. Great in-town vacation. Rooms are pricey depending on size and time of year ($180-$540) but include passes to Water Park.
 Other activities - Kids Scoops Spa with ice cream themed Pedicures & Manicure starting at $15 (don’t have to be a guest at the hotel to participate).
 http://www.greatwolf.com/.

Hawaiian Falls Water Park. (Colony)
 http://www.hawaiianfalls.com/.
NRH2O. (North Richland Hills)
 http://www.nrh2o.com/.

Coppell Aquatic Center. (234 E Parkway Blvd, Coppell)
 Pool with waterslides.
 http://www.ci.coppell.tx.us/.

Sun Valley Aquatic Center. (801 S. Valley Parkway, Lewisville)
 Pool with waterslides.
 Closed Wednesdays.
 http://www.cityoflewisville.com/.

Old Town Aquatic Park. (535 W. College Street, Lewisville)
 Pool with waterslides. My favorite for toddlers.
 Closed Thursdays.

ENTERTAINMENT
Dallas Summer Musicals. (Fair Park)
 http://www.dallassummermusicals.org

Coppell High School Football Games. (Coppell HS)
 Tickets sold at elementary school offices $3 for students $6 adults. ($7 at the door) or free if you want to sit on the grassy hill outside the stadium – bring a cardboard for kids to slide on.

Addison Circle outdoor movies. (North of Beltline at Quorum, Addison) (Free)
 Movies are shown at 9 P.M. (after dark) on the lawn in the Addison Circle which is north of Beltline at Quorum in Addison. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and picnic. This is a little late for little ones but a wonderful free date night.

Studio Movie Grill Discount Kid movies. (1600 S. Stemmons Freeway, Lewisville)
 $1 Kids $2 Adults Monday- Thursday at 11 am

RAVE free kid movies. (Various) (Free)
 Free every Tuesday and Wednesday 10am
 http://www.ravemotionpictures.com/

Cinemark Movies 8. (420 Oak Bend Dr., Lewisville)
 Dollar Movie Theater

Cinemark 15. (Vista Ridge Mall)
 10 weeks of movies purchased in advanced for $5 or $1 per show

AMC Highland Village 12. (4090 Barton Creek, Highland Village)
 $1 every Wednesday at 10am

CONCERTS
The Sounds of Lewisville. (Medical Center of Lewisville courtyard, Lewisville) (Free)
 There are concerts on Tuesday nights—free and each week has a different type of music

Flower Mound Symphony Orchestra . (Various) (Free)
 Free Concerts
 www.fmco.org

Summer Rhythms Concert Series in Little Elm. (Little Elm Amphitheater) (Free)
 Friday nights in June
 Bring lawn chairs and picnics.

Dallas Symphony Summer Concerts. (Various) (Free)
 During the spring and early summer months, The Dallas Symphony Orchestra performs in area parks and you can also hear "Jazz under the Stars" at the Dallas Museum of Art on Thursday evenings.
 http://dallassymphony.com/

STORY TIMES
Pottery Barn Kids. (Knox Street or Stonebriar Center) (Free)
 Free Sing alongs at 10 and 11am
 Knox Street 7/23 Willy Welch 8/29 Joe McDermott
 Stonebriar Center 7/24 Staci Gray 8/27 Willy Welch

Barnes & Noble. (Lewisville) (Free)
 Story time on Thursdays at 10am. Hit or miss depending on who is doing it that day.

Coppell Library. (177 N Heartz Rd, Coppell) (Free)
 Baby & Me Mondays 11am
 Family Story time Tuesday 7pm
 Toddler time Wednesdays 10:30am
 Ones upon a time Wednesdays 11:15am
 Preschool Story time Thursdays 10:30am

Lewisville Library. (177 N Heartz Rd, Coppell) (Free)
 Mother Goose Time (Ages 0-15 months) Wednesdays, 1:30pm; Thursdays, 11am
 Toddler Time (Ages 15-36 months) Tuesdays, 10:30am & 11am; Wednesdays, 10:30am; Thursdays, 10:30am
 Preschool Story time (Ages 3-6 years) Mondays, 10:30am; Tuesdays, 2pm & 7pm
 Primetime (Grades K-3) Mondays, 4pm

HISTORICAL SITES
Dallas Central Library Downtown. (1515 Young Street, Dallas) (Free)
 This public library includes one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, printed in 1776 - also on permanent display, is William Shakespeare's First Folio of Comedies, Histories & Tragedies.

JFK Memorial. (Main Street and Market Street Dallas) (Free)
 Dallas pays homage to one of its darkest times, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during his 1963 visit. Designed by Philip Johnson, the John F. Kennedy Memorial is an open-roofed, concrete walled monument symbolic of an open tomb. It is not unusual to find flowers and notes placed here. Nearby, the infamous School Book Depository and Grassy Knoll have changed little since that devastating day in our Nation's history.

Farmers Branch Historical Park. (2540 Farmers Branch Lane) (Free)
 Home to several historic structures that range in time from the 1840's to the 1940's. Structures include log cabins, the oldest stone structure on its original foundation in North Texas, and a 1930's gas station. Tours free, interactive programs available.

Dallas Heritage Village. (1515 South Harwood Street, Dallas)
 Adults $5 Kids $3 (4-12)
 http://www.oldcitypark.org/.

FOOD/TREATS
Sprinkles Cupcakes. (4020 Villanova Dr, Dallas)
 $3 Cupcakes. Not a lot for the money, but one of the few in the nation. I recommend the Red Velvet.
 http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/

Central Market  (Southlake location)
 Outdoor playground and restaurant with live music on Friday and Saturday night. Makes a great date spot where the kids can play and you can enjoy grown-up food.

Pokey O’s. (3034 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas)
 Create your own ice cream sandwich. Choose from 13 fresh baked cookies and 15 flavors of Blue Bell Ice Cream $3.

Bahama Bucks. (2320 Valley Pkwy, Lewisville)
 Best snow cones in the Metroplex!

TJ Hartfords. (1960 S Stemmons Fwy, Lewisville)
 Restaurant and 5 cent arcade.

Krispy Kreme. (7955 N. MacArthur, Irving) (Free?)
 Go when the Hot light is on and watch them make the donuts. Kids can get a free one from the conveyor belt.

Chuck E. Cheese. (Various)
 Grapevine mills location is better than Vista Ridge Mall.

Planet Pizza. (3000 Custer Rd , Plano)
 Indoor amusement park for young kids (No height restrictions), arcade, and tubes.
 http://www.planetpizzaplano.com/.

SEASONAL ACTIVITIES
Addison’s Kaboom Town . (Addison) (Free)
 July 3: Fireworks at 10:00 P.M. with a movie afterward. This night is really fun but it can be very crowded so plan on going by 6 P.M. NOTE: this is the 3rd not the 4th.

4th of July Parade. (Coppell) (Free)
 10am
 Runs north on Samuel Blvd toward Parkway then heads west along Parkway to city center.
 Best to sit on Samuel because they hand out a lot more candy at the beginning of the parade.

Fireworks. (Coppell) (Free)
 Andy Brown Park over the lake
 Vista Ridge Mall – a good place to watch these is from the hill behind Hearthstone (400 Highland Dr, Lewisville) park in the parking garage area and sit on the lawn.
 Over Grapevine lake

Butterfly Flutterby. (701 South Main Street ,Grapevine) (Free)
 Mid-October
 Celebrate the migration of the Monarch Butterfly from Canada to Mexico. Butterfly releases, exhibits, gardening seminars, arts and crafts, entertainment and a Gossamer Parade. The Parade will line up at 9:30 am at Liberty Park (corner of East Wall and Main Street) and proceed down Main Street to the Cotton Belt Railroad District

North Park Mall at Christmas. (Dallas)
 Lots of fun activities, puppet shows and 12 days of Christmas clock
 Miniature Train exhibit. $3 kids and $5 Adults
Christmas Parade. (Coppell) (Free)
 Runs North on Samuel Blvd toward Parkway then heads west along Parkway to city center where they light up the city buildings for the 1st time.

MISCELLANEOUS
Sam Moon. (11826 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas and 2449 Preston Rd Frisco)
 Gigantic warehouse of purses and accessories very cheap. Lots of knockoffs.

Canton Trade Days. (130 E Exchange Ave., Fort Worth)
 Giant flee market held on the weekend before the 1st Monday on each month.
 http://www.cantontradedays.com/.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION
The Quick.
Suburban Parent.
Dallas Child Magazine.
http://tour texas.com/dallas/dallas50free.html.

Maaike 2011

Maaike has been getting a little camera-shy lately; I guess that's part of growing up.  Even as the goofy side of her leaves, though, there is a grace and beauty that takes my breath away at times.  Here is a flashback of Maaike in 2011:

She's a good sport to include her brother in most of what she does - Happy New Year!

When SHE controls the camera, she has no qualms about posing!  Maybe she'll be a photographer, or movie director!

After a busy final year of Middle School (with lots of choir performances and drama -- not related to the classes), we went to Utah and Idaho for a summer trip.  One of the first things we got to do was see a brand new cousin, Anders.  Born in China and visiting the States for only a short time, we were lucky to meet with him and his family (Paul & Cami Kartchner, Kaitlyn and Dixon) and have lunch at a restaurant before they flew away to China for another year. 

Other trip highlights: 

 ... learning to drive a boat.....  and a four-wheeler....

 ...watching Fourth of July fireworks in the rain (??)....

....playing in the mountains....

...celebrating a birthday in Idaho....

 ...and just being together.  It was a fabulous trip!

After that trip, we came home and had a friend birthday party for Maaike .... and two of her friends who had birthdays close together.  It was a luau theme, and the girls did a great job planning and decorating, and had lots of fun:

Now that's she's 14, Maaike gets to go to church dances.  She was soo excited about the first one, and honestly, it made me nervous for her to have such high expectations.  But she had a fantastic time, and was asked to dance a lot!  (Probably because she looked so pretty!)

(Well, it's ALMOST a  real smile!)

Her favorite birthday present

(that's she's wanted for just forever!):

Maaike also participated in a summer drama workshop, and that was a lot of fun for her.  

She was the Black Knight (top row, second from left),

and got to have a fake mustache: 

Near the end of the summer, we took a quick day trip to Corpus Christi (the North side this time).  We took one of Maaike's friends with us, and had a fun time.  Came home hot, tired, sandy.  Good times!

Last party of the summer was having Maaike's favorite cousin fly into town for a few days.  Maaike introduced Shay to her friends, and their favorite pastime; trying on formal dresses at the mall and taking pictures of themselves!  Silly girls!

But they also take silly pictures at home:

This might be their true personalities!

Then, high school.  Sigh......

She looks way too grown-up!

Look at this smile!  

She really lights up a room!

High school was (and is) and adjustment, but we have had lots of family fun along the way.  A recent trip to the zoo was a lot of fun for all of us:

And Christmas... she's always a good sport to sit on Santa's lap.  

"If you don't believe, you don't receive" at our house! ;-)

And one of our favorite traditions; the Nativity on Christmas Eve:

The Goudys have been blessed this year;

and one of our very best blessings has been our children.

Maaike has a particularly sweet, gentle spirit, 

and loves to help others.  We love her 

and are thankful for the good person she is!

My Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day....

In the last 24 hours, I wrecked a Lexus (not mine), broke a glass dish that was a wedding present (at least that was mine), lost my temper with my children and Dallas traffic, and have generally been miserable (and made everyone around me miserable too, I'm afraid!). If I was a drinker, I would be druuunnk!

Since I'm not, I thought I'd post a blog. I am hoping it will make me feel more grateful and happy and Christmas-y and less Grinch-y. So what better thing to post about than my sweet children? Here's a little bit of Boone this past year:

First, he became a Sunbeam in Primary. He really tried to be good (most days)!

This kid is going places!

Oh, he makes me laugh! Doesn't this look cozy?

Guess who LOVED the move "How to Tame Your Dragon"? Had to get this cute backpack!

 

Funny story: one Sunday, Boone was eating his lunch while I was getting ready for church. He came into my room and said, "I put the rest of my lunch in the fridge, 'cuz I'm done." What a big boy! So I complimented him, and hurried to get him out the door. And forgot about it. Until I came home. I opened the refrigerator, and on the top shelf was this:

 

Boone's leftover lunch - on tortilla chip!! Waste not, want not, I guess...

By the end of the year, he was so grown-up. While watching General Conference in October, he was intently focusing on his Primary pages, while his new buddy, Joey the (Mangy) Owl, stood on guard nearby.

 

Such a big boy!

I am feeling a bit better! At least until the insurance company calls......

They Grow Up Too Fast!

These pictures are from early 2009. We'd been in Texas just a few months and were living in a third floor apartment, trying to evict our terrible tenants so that we could sell our house in Utah. Jordan had started a new job, and it was a pretty stressful transition, wondering if things were going to work out for us or if we'd made a huge mistake. Those weren't our happiest days. But looking at these pictures reminds me that there are moments of bliss every day; and they usually involve my children! (The dog, not so much!) Readers, be warned; I am cleaning my computer files and finding lots of photos, so the next few posts will feel like Memory Lane! Fun for me - for you, ????

Don't Hate Me Because I Go to the Cool 80s Concerts

I waited awhile to post this, because if people knew I went to two awesome concerts in two weeks, they would start to expect more from me; they might think I have a super exciting life, when really, it's only moderately exciting with flashes of fabulousness. At least that's what I WANT you to think....! So this adventure started with a call from my Bon Jovi concert-pal Delicia, who was driving and heard on the radio that RICK SPRINGFIELD was coming to town for Liberty Fest, a small new celebration in a town called (of all things) Farmer's Branch (I don't know why, it just is), only 10 miles away or so. I immediately looked online, and confirmed that it was really happening, only a few days from then, and for the ridiculous price of $10! Well, we could pay $75 for "better" seats, but to get in was downright cheap. It was a done deal! We bought our tickets, and off we went........ Mallory (Delicia's daughter), me, Ashley (friend), and Delicia (look, she's doing the "rock hand!") Mallory gets another picture because she's so brave. How many teenagers do you know who would go to an 80s concert with their MOTHER and her friends? One, that's how many. Actually, Maaike planned to go, but accidentally agreed to babysit the same night. She was really disappointed, and so was I (and I was really worried, too, when I got a call that our substitute babysitter had locked himself and Boone outside..... but that's another post for another day). The opening opening act was from the School of Rock. These four kids were amazing! The youngest was 7, oldest 12, and they knew how to play! The drummer was the 7 year-old, and he was the best. His sister, 9 years-old, lead singer, played drums and keyboard, was also awesome, but he stole the show. They played ACDC, Led Zepellin, and I forget the rest... but they were really good. The opening act was the Spin Doctors, who I didn't know. They had one good song in the early 90s that I knew, but their stage time was mostly a good time for me to make phone calls to get the babysitter and Boone back int he house, check on Maaike, buy a Steak on a Stick, etc. Time well spent, and no offense to the Spin Drs. They were fine, but to enjoy a concert, you really have to know most of the songs. There were some big fans of theirs in the crowd, who loved them , and they were really energetic, but it wasn't for me. Sorry! During their time on-stage, though, I also soaked in the ambience. The weather was great -- warm, but not too hot, with a little breeze. It was a big, beautiful park area, with surprisingly few vendors -- a good and bad thing, both. There weren't many people there until the main act, so we got great seats (more about that later!), and there was a never-ending parade of interesting/weird/crazy people to watch! A guy with fake (?) dreadlocks; a woman with fake... well, over-augmented... um, yeah; a woman wearing a concert t-shirt from the Bon Jovi concert the week before (I went to talk to her; surprisingly, she didn't care that I had also been there), and assorted other characters. Good times.... We had our camp chairs and blankets about 50 feet from stage, which was a great location; and the people who paid big bucks actually had a worse view (and less comfortable chairs!) than we did, so we were ready to rock! FINALLY, the main event: Still REALLY handsome. Sigh. Delicia was in heaven -- if Bon Jovi was MY favorite concert act, RS had to be close to her favorite. I still don't understand the thing with the flowers. People would hand him beautiful bouquets, and he would shred them on his guitar. Is it just me, or is that weird? It looked pretty for a second or two, though..... After a while, being 50 feet away seemed too far for us rabid fans, so Delicia and I deserted Ashley and Mallory to watch our stuff while we went right up to the stage. We were probably 6 feet away from the edge, and I swear we got RS sweat on us (he was sweating a LOT!)!! But there was a drawback to our plan; when he sang "Human Touch" he went deep into the audience; about 50 feet in! He went right up to Ashley and Mallory, and they both touched him. I had been able to reach him on his way down the stage, and again on they way up, but Delicia is much less pushy than I am (obviously), and didn't get that "Human Touch"; the only one of our group to not get it (and the one who was most excited about the whole concert, I think!)! Not long before this concert (weeks, or so?), RS picked up a DUI. When he played "Don't Talk to Strangers", he did a big thing with a police officer and all the kids in the audience, that I am convinced was his community service assignment. Delicia thought he gave the kids a mixed message! Look how close we are! This officer semi-agreed to let any of us out of a speeding ticket if we mentioned Rick Springfield; I wonder if he would have let us out of a DUI? Rick invited all the kids up, then was surprised how many there were. He said "You guys gotta watch more TV!" Oh, if it had been in Utah.... He also was upstaged by some of the cute kids, and he knew it. "Jesse's Girl" was the highlight of the night! Someone put it on YouTube, and you an hear me and see my hand (at least I am claiming it's me...!). The crowd was going crazy -- he gave a GREAT show!!! During the Encore, Rick came out with glasses on (fine) and shirt off (not so fine). I looked up his Wikipedia page, and he is a few months OLDER THAN MY MOTHER (he'll be 62 this fall). This is too old to be shirtless, people. I have photographic evidence, but I didn't want to upset anyone... (I'll email you if you must see it). For everyone else, Delicia had a random stranger take our picture "with Rick", and you can just see his torso above our heads. It was a great night -- so much fun! Soooo glad we went! Afterwards, we brainstormed which other concerts we would love to see, and lo and behold, one of Delicia's other favorites will be in FORT WORTH in two weeks (wanna guess who it is?). We're going. I lied earlier; my life is pretty much ALL FABULOUS!!!