EJ in AD...What a Dream...Come...True!

Most who know me know how much I love Elton John.  Last month Brad and I went to see Justin Timberlake in concert at the Emirates Palace, in an ampitheater out on the beach.  It was a fabulous concert in an incredible venue.  At the time I said, "The ulimate concert would be Elton in this venue."  Well, about two weeks after that, it was announced that Elton was coming to THAT VERY VENUE!  Needless to say we were so excited.  We counted the tickets as our Christmas and 11th anniversary gifts to each other.....Then....I got soooooo sick!  I mean, I haven't been that sick for as long as I can remember.  The morning of the 22nd I woke feeling like I'd been hit by not just a truck but 5 trucks, at least.  I ached everywhere.  As evidence of how awful I felt, not only did I not care about the Elton concert that night but if he were to have walked into my room to visit me, I'm not sure I would have lifted my head off the pillow.  Proof positive that I am blessed with really good health.  I am a terrible sick person.  Compounding the pain was the knowledge that I wouldn't enjoy the concert to it's fullest potential.  By that night, I rallied, took lots of aspirin and looking like night of the living dead, I trudged into the concert.  I missed the warm-up party at Jenn West's house but I did make it to the concert.  Shake my groove thing??? NO.  Would have, if I could have, but couldn't.  It was fabulous.  EJ is so amazing.  He played mostly his early stuff. Illustrating just what a great career he has had...He played for 2.5 hours and hadn't even moved through half of his 1990's stuff.

Bad word...I know.  But he was singing his old song..."The B@#$h is Back" with this sign flashing in the background.  It was pure Elton flashy.

Brads' Favorite - Miguel Angel Jimenez

We followed him last year at the same tournament and were so entertained by him, he became a family favorite. He is a character on and off the course, he wears leopard print golf shoes and smokes a stink stogey but is such a lovable guy. He was great with the kids and happy to pose for a photo with the boys. He even made Jack and Charlie chase him around for their autographed balls.

Future Owner

These are Sam's dream cars. He saw them in the parking lot of the golf course and had to have a photo in front of them. Charlie thought he would just spread out across it. The boys do know their cars. We drive around town and the twins will say, "Look at that Mercedes."

We arrived home from a fun day together to Marilyn's open arms and a nice clean house. What a perfect day! Sam says he always knows when Marilyn is here because the house smells so clean. What would we do without her?!?!

We were losing track by now...

I realize this is all published on the blog from end of the day to the first...So have patience. Cairo caught yet one more autograph on our way to the car..We knew we had to stop her when after asking a gentleman for his autograph he smiled and said, "I'm just a spectator."

Here they are, showing off their autographs. Cairo is holding Jack's ball that was signed because by now he was done and not posing for any more photos. Cairo's visor is covered with signatures....Many of which may have come from professional golfers..haha. She also has a signature on her shirt and in the program she is holding she circled all the names of the pros she met. I think she is an official GOLF GROUPIE!

Lee Westwood

She got really good at asking for an autograph and a photo all at the same time.

My Personal Favorite - Adam Scott

Let's face it..Golf is just a great game. No grunting, no fighting, beautiful surroundings and an occassional good-looking pro who is nice to the kids. That is Adam Scott. Age 27, ranked 7th in the world of golf..Not bad. He's from Australia and he was super nice to all the kids, especially Cairo. 7th in the world...wow. I'll bet he's on People Magazine's "list" too..maybe higher than #7.

You can see from this picture that Cairo had managed to work her way right into the fenced off press area. Nobody seemed to mind.

Golf Groupies...Autograph Seekers..

Call them what you will. Our kids got the hang of it right away. Cairo had a sun visor they were signing and soon the boys got interested. You see Jack's back in this photo. He's patiently waiting for a signature while all the big kids push their way in front of him.

We thought they all understood the idea of an autograph. Then Charlie had Thomas Levet sign his t-shirt. Walking back to me with an angry look on his face, Charlie showed me the signature and said, "That's not how I spell my name!"

Thomas Levet of France was sweet to pose with all the kids. You can see by then Charlie had forgiven him for writing his name on the t-shirt instead of

C-H-A-R-L-I-E.

Patiently waiting at the press trailer for the finishers to come out and sign.

The leader board and the ever-impressive clubhouse

I'm always amazed at the leader-board. All those numbers and names and all the money at stake.

The boys were so impressed at the clubhouse that is built to look like a falcon overlooking the 18th hole. This picture doesn't show it but the falcon's talons are stretched around a fountain that is sphere-shaped with indentations. It looks like the bird is ready to take flight with a giant golf ball in tow.

Wii at the tournament?!?!?

There was so much to do we spent hours at the golf course before we even saw the golfers. There were a few tents with Wii set up for people to play. The boys remembered everything they learned back home last summer and fell right back into competitive mode.

Charlie was so focused. I tried several times to get a good photo of him. Every shot I took, he was biting his lip and wouldn't look away from the tv screen.

Sam and Jack played each other in bowling, tennis and baseball.