Tahquamenon Falls

Tahquamenon Falls State Park, MI

October 2012

We were vacationing in the Sault Ste. Marie area mainly for a Wiggles concert. Unfortunately, Lisa had to return to Jacksonville before the rest of us. We drove Lisa to the Chippewa County International Airport in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan for her return flight. 

The girls watching Lisa board her plane

Lisa waving from the plane (under the flag)

Lisa's plane taking off

After watching Lisa's plane disappear, we drove towards Tahquamenon Falls State Park for the afternoon. We took the long way through the Northwoods hoping to see wildlife, mainly bears and moose. Unfortunately, we didn't see any wildlife.

Wildlife totem pole near the gift shop

The closest Egypt came to seeing a real bear

Learning about wolves

Kellisa leading the way to the falls on the nice paved trail

Upper Tahquamenon Falls

Egypt pretending to be a bear

The Lower Tahquamenon Falls

Egypt was tired and wanted to rest. Shortly after this picture, Egypt announced that she had to do "pee-pee". We raced to the concession building near by to find out it was closed for the season. We were a four mile drive back to the gift store and visitor center. Egypt said it was an emergency and couldn't wait. I told Egypt that she would have to do her pee-pee outside and she got very excited. I helped her position herself and she didn't hesitate. She didn't get a single drop on any of her clothing or shoes. She did want to step in it for fun, but I was a mean dad and said "no". I was so proud of Egypt. We had a total of three "emergencies" on this trip and Egypt performed perfectly. 

Almost a month went by and I was driving through a pine forest between our house and Egypt's day care when she announced that she had an "emergency". I said she had to hold it. She followed with "we are in the woods daddy". I still said no and she said it was a rule that she could go outside only in a forest. I made her hold it until we could get to a grocery store. Still, I'm very proud of her!

Sleep was fast and easy after a long day in the woods

The Wiggles- Celebration Tour

The Wiggles "Celebration Tour of Canada"

Essar Centre

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

October 20, 2012

At some point, I signed up to receive email updates from The Wiggles. In one of the emails, The Wiggles announced a final North American tour with the original four Wiggles. It was mostly across Canada with only a couple of northern cities in the U.S. I was immediately excited to see a date in Sault Ste. Marie on a Saturday afternoon. I never need a reason to head to the Northwoods. However, I would need a really good reason to pull the kids out of school for four days and seeing The Wiggles one last time was more than enough reason. We had just seen The Wiggles in Jacksonville. It was Kellisa's 6th or 7th Wiggles concert, but it was the first for Egypt and she had an amazing time. In fact, she will ask every so often about the next Wiggles concert. Since both kids loved the concert so much, it was easy to pull the trigger and buy tickets.

I went online as soon as the tickets went on sale and had the good fortune of getting 2nd row aisle seats:

The tickets were in the VIP section. We were told at the Jacksonville concert that The Wiggles did a meet and greet for VIP ticket holders. We didn't have VIP Tickets. In the weeks leading up to the concert, I was unable to confirm that we would be able to meet The Wiggles. The day before the concert, as a last ditch effort, I emailed a woman who works at the Essar Centre. I didn't mention anything about The Wiggles saving Kellisa's life years ago or the fact that Kellisa is in a wheelchair, I just asked if The Wiggles were doing a meet and greet for VIP Ticket holders. I did mention that we traveled from Jacksonville, FL for the concert. I wasn't expecting a reply, but I was hoping for the best. 

Kellisa met three of The Wiggles and Captain Feathersword before their August 13, 2010 concert in Jacksonville. I was hoping for another chance for Kellisa and since three of the Wiggles were about to retire from touring, this would be Egypt's last chance to meet them. I got a reply back, but it wasn't the best news. A meet and greet was not planned for VIP Ticket holders. The email did mention that they would pass on our information because we traveled so far (1,359.20 miles) for the concert. A couple of hours before the show, I received a phone call telling us to be at the "Will Call" area 1 hour and 15 minutes before the concert started and to let the workers at the window know that we were the Florida family. No promises were made, so it was hard to know what to expect, but I was very hopeful for the kids.

We arrived on time and were told to wait by an elevator. After a 15 minute wait (I was getting worried), a lady approached to escort us backstage. We were left in a room, still not knowing exactly what to expect. After another short wait, the three new Wiggles came in and we had a great visit with them. The kids had fun playing with them as the explained a little about the changes going on with The Wiggles. After about 5 minutes, this happened:

We had a great time visiting with The Wiggles. I was afraid both girls would burst from the excitement, but they held it together. I think there was some amazement that we traveled so far. Especially since we had just seen The Wiggles a couple of months before. Jeff was teased that he would look good with Egypt's hairbows because his hair was long enough to be braided. After our visit, we were lucky enough to meet the woman who made this all happen. Obviously, we couldn't thank her enough as she walked us to our seats before the doors were open to the public. She also helped us find a safe place to leave Kellisa's wheelchair during the show.

Since I can't top the pictures below with words...I won't even try.