Friends and Fargodome

We're back now from a busy, friend-filled weekend. Friday we drove to Jamestown and stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool, in which Susan and the girls frolicked while I powered up the laptop and got some work done in the hotel room. After enjoying the Comfort Inn's continental breakfast the next morning, we drove to Fargo, shopped at the Great Harvest Bread Company, ate at Extreme Pita, and attended a soccer game to watch Megan play. She's the daughter of our friends Jeff and Janelle, and watching her game gave us a chance to see her doing something that she enjoys, to visit with Jeff, and to learn more about soccer via a steady of stream of questions directed toward Jeff. He was patient, though, and still allowed us to stay overnight at their house as we had planned.

Megan stands alert with her eye on the ball.

Hillary hangs on Jeff and tests the strength of my back.

You see, we went to Fargo this weekend to attend the Billy Joel/Elton John concert at the Fargodome Saturday night, and Jeff and Janelle, who didn't intend to go to the concert themselves, were kind enough to agree to watch our kids for the evening. In the meantime, however, Jeff himself won tickets to the concert! So it ended up that they got a babysitter to stay at their house with all our kids, and they, too, went to the concert (although they weren't seated by us).

Since Jeff and Janelle wouldn't be going to the concert (originally), we had arranged to meet our friends from East Grand Forks, MN and go with them instead; and after supper, Jay, Erin, Nicole, and Jesse met us at the Fargodome to find our seats (we were seated together) and settle in. (While waiting at the Fargodome for them to arrive, Susan and I saw and visited with several people we know: some students and a coworker, Josh, from the university; a former coworker of mine, Pat, from East Grand Forks; and Bev and Wayne from Warren, MN. Susan used to teach with Bev, and she was one of several of Susan's coworkers who toured Europe with us about 14 years ago.)

It was a good concert: 3.5 hours of non-stop music! Billy and Elton started off playing piano and singing together; then Elton had a session alone; then Billy had a segment alone; and then they ended by playing together again. The downfall: the row of acting-younger-than-we-are ladies in front of us who were drunk and getting drunker throughout the night. They stood and swayed/danced through much of the concert (in between trips to the beer stand), blocking my view of the stage and even of the view screens hanging above the stage. Consequently, the experience overall was more like listening to a CD than watching a concert. The night ended well, though: we wrapped it up with adult beverages and Taco Bell takeout in Jay and Erin's hotel room before heading back to Jeff and Janelle's.

Mr. Joel

Sir John

This morning Jeff and Janelle carted their family off to their Sunday morning church obligations, and we met Jay, Erin, Nicole, Jesse, and Nicole and Jesse's kids (Jay and Erin's kids were still with Jay's parents) at International House of Pancakes for brunch. After Jay and Erin picked up their kids, Erin and Susan went shopping while Jay and I took the kids out for frozen custard at Culver's and then to a park so that our kids could spend some time together, too. After we bid them adieu, we made it to Bismarck in time to have supper at Olive Garden. After a whirlwind weekend topped off with a satisfying meal, it was a very sleepy drive back to Dickinson!

Suzanna, Hillary, and Abigail pose outside the restaurant before the others arrive.

Hillary, McKenna with Mya, Suzanna, Abigail, and Ethan pose after brunch.

Hannah and Gabriel pose before frozen custard.