Disney in Concert and A Salute to America!

 Last week I was lucky enough to see the DSO not just once, but twice!  Two nights in a row to be exact.  My mom bought tickets for the two of us to go see the DSO perform Disney in Concert at Orchestra Hall last Wednesday evening!  I made a reservation for us to have dinner at La Feria, a Spanish tapas restaurant by Orchestra Hall.  It was amazing!  I had some of my favorites from Spain when I lived there and tried some new items too.  We enjoyed some drinks too!

The concert was absolutely amazing!  We were 8 rows from the stage! There were four singers, two women and two men.  The playlist was perfect!  The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Hercules, and Frozen.  I had a great time!

The following evening my parents bought us tickets to Greenfield Village for "A Salute to America" with the DSO.  Scott didn't want to go and Evan was too exhausted from baseball camp, so we offered our neighbor Jameson Evan's ticket.  We got dinner first at Ford's Garage, which was a big hit!  

We arrived at Greenfield Village and set up our chairs. This year they had a different area for the performance, they didn't allow people to bring in their own food/beverages, and sold fewer tickets to keep the crowds lower.  The boys enjoyed playing on the playground, riding the carousel, getting Kona Ice from the Kona Truck, and walking around.  The concert was pretty good, although some of the selections they picked weren't my favorite.  The 1812 Overture was amazing!  The fireworks at the end were hard to see because of the new location this year.  There were lots of trees that blocked the view.  

We had a good time, but I'm completely sold on the changes they made this year.  Not sure we'll go again next year.  We'll see!

Summer camps for the boys

Every summer we let the boys each pick one camp to do for a week.  Sean was up first with his camp being the first full week of summer vacation.  He chose to do the TGA Golf Camp he did last summer again with his friend Corey and Corey's younger brother, Kellan.  He went from 10am to 4pm, doing instructional practice in the morning, lunch provided by the golf course, and then 9 holes every afternoon.  He got a polo, sleeve of golf balls, and a ball marker that was personalized with the camp name and the year.  Just like last year, he loved it!  Even with 90 degree temps every day...

Evan's camp was the following week at Northville High School for the Detroit Tiger's Baseball Camp.  This was his first year picking this camp and it was really well run.  He received a full uniform, four free tickets to a future game, and a field trip to Comerica Park to play on the field and meet a player.  He had to bring his own bag lunch every day and went from 9am to 3pm.  He had an absolute blast and came home exhausted every day, but still had a Championship game for his own team one night and an open practice for a travel team another evening.  Whew!

On the field trip day, Scott, Sean and I elected to head down to Comerica Park to watch him play there.  I'm glad we did!  He rotated through 8 stations and got to sit in the home dug out and talk to a Tiger's batting coach, sit in the visitor's dug out, and listen to Spencer Torkelson get interviewed in front of the campers.  

Brownell Block Party!!

 Our street had the annual block party on June 25th.  We had it on our dead end part of the street as it's easier to keep the street blocked off from traffic.  We set up a tailgate tent to keep the food under.  One couple on our street takes everyone's orders for pizza from Main Street and goes to pick it up.  Everyone else brings side dishes, desserts, and drinks to share.  

We kept things simple this year and didn't put up the bounce house or do a movie for the kids.  Instead, they enjoyed water balloons, yard games, and playing with friends.  And it made for a much more enjoyable time for me and Scott.

Evan's Championship Baseball Game

Evan's baseball team, the Padres, made it to the Championship game against the Marlins.  They took the top two teams, both of which are working to be travel teams, and let them do a 3-game World Series against each other.  The next six teams did a playoff bracket and Evan's team made it all the way to the Championship game.

Unfortunately, they fell short and lost to the Marlins.  Evan had his first day of Detroit Tigers Baseball Camp at Northville High School and got sunburned.  He was exhausted and wasn't feeling very well from the sunburn on his face.  He didn't pitch his best, but was 2 for 2 at bat hitting a triple and a single.  The team took the loss in stride and went to celebrate afterwards at Dairy King.  They had a good season!