The Wiggles Farewell Concert

The Summer has come to an end and with it our family suffered an enormous lost.  My Dad, our Dandy, passed away unexpectedly on August 6th, 2012.  This came as a complete shock to all of our family and the pain, loss, change, is almost unbearable at times.  We are still processing his loss and trying to move forward day-by-day.  I don't want to stop blogging and recording my children's life so I am going to keep updating as appropriate when I am able and try to catch up on our summer.  The following posts will not necessarily be in order and I really don't know what shape they will take as this is still very difficult to write about, but I will do my best. I know my parents loved reading our blog and we love having a record of my babies life so it is important that I continue.

The weekend of July 28th my parents came in to town for The Wiggles concert.  They were so excited to take Mallory and Peyton to this show but even more excited to see the Wiggles for themselves. :)  Especially now that Greg, the original yellow Wiggle and lead of the show, was back in the gang.  We had seen the Wiggles once before when I was pregnant with Mallory but Greg had bowed out of the group due to health problems so this would be our first time to see him live. Here are pictures from the 2009 Concert.

Peyton thinking "What are these people so excited about!?!"
The First Wiggles Concert (before Mallory or Nolan were born)

Oh Now I see, this is great!
(First Wiggles Concert)

My Dad's love for the Wiggles started back in the summer of 2008 when he was battling a very serious and life threatening case of Bacterial Meningitis (he ended up recovering fully and this had nothing to do with his recent death, just fyi :)).  During that summer the infection disrupted his brain activity and required a lot of healing that left my Dad in a constant state of pain and temporary brain damage.  He became unexpectedly ill while visiting me in Raleigh so most of his worst days fighting the battle were spent there in a Raleigh hospital and back at my house.  During this time Peyton had just turned 1 and loved watching the Wiggles on tv.   My Dad could not do much during that time but he was able to watch and focus on that show with Peyton and it brought him joy during a very difficult time.  When Dad recovered he found that he still enjoyed the music and watching the show with the kids.  He discovered many of them had also recorded adult music and also started to enjoy one of their favorite bands- the Australian band,Daddy Cool.  So needless to say when Greg (Dad's favorite Wiggle)joined back up my parents were over the moon and bought tickets and made plans for the show. Here are pics from the day.

We started out our concert day with lunch at Chick Fil A and then drove out to Grand Prairie for the Big event.  The show did not disappoint.  We all had such a great time, especially my Dad, and they played all of their old favorites.  Mallory truly enjoyed herself, dancing along to all the hits.  The most memorable moment was when the Wiggles came through the audience to collect "Roses" for Dorothy the Dinosaur and what a blessing it was that Greg himself walked right next to our assigned seats.

We were this close to Greg :)

The rest of the weekend we spent at church and lunch, and watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics, and having great conversations with the kids. I will never forget the things my Dad and I talked about, what he said about each of my children, and how he squeezed my feet while we sat on the couch.  We also skyped with my brother and his family in Belgium. That was the last time we ever saw my Dad, our Dandy, and the memories are beyond precious. He had such a great time at the Wiggles and was truly Happy that day.

It ended up being the Wiggles "Farewell Concert" as most of them are officially retiring this year.  As they announced that this would be their final tour the audience gave all that were retiring a standing ovation as they waved goodbye to Dallas for the last time. My Dad should have been on that stage with them. My kids will still love the wiggles, Nolan is just becoming the age where he too will learn all the songs, and every time I hear them I will think of my Dad.

Here is his absolute favorite song- the Wiggles covering Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock". I challenge you not to love it too. Such a great song. I'll always remember watching my Mom and Dad dancing around doing the Eagle Rock in their living room to a Wiggles DVD of this song- thinking they were kind of crazy (especially since the kids were not even the ones watching the Wiggles!)- but loving every second of it.   For you Dad :)