Take her out to the ballgame

By K.J. Cardinal

Nearly the entire time while we were on our road trip odyssey, Anna provided the entertainment. Singing was more often than not her method of amusement and Take Me Out To The Ballgame was probably sung a few hundred times... and it never got old. Take a listen and I think you'll agree.

Anna's mash-up

By K.J. Cardinal

While Anna and I were out running errands yesterday, she started singing two different "monkey" songs. All was going swimmingly until she got a little confused, thus creating a little mash-up. Sweet. 



[WATCH VIDEO]

Where is thumbkin?

By K.J. Cardinal

Earlier this week, Angie, Sammy and I were watching TV in the livingroom and Anna was in the kitchen playing with her toy kitchen.

She was being good as gold and then all of a sudden breaks out into the cutest version of "Where is thumbkin?" that anyone has ever heard. It was so priceless because we had never sang that song to her before, so she clearly learned it at daycare.

I missed the beginning of the song because I couldn't get my phone out fast enough. Anyway, here's what I got... I think you'll agree it's adorable.



[WATCH MOVIE]

Andrew unplugged

By K.J. Cardinal

During our 2009 Cardinal family vacation back in July, Andrew tore the roof off the place with this unplugged set. I love how he takes requests...



[WATCH MOVIE]

Twinkle, twinkle

By K.J. Cardinal

Yesterday morning Anna woke up early, so I put her into bed with me and she decided to sing me a lullabye...

Click here to listen to her adorable rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

B-I-N-G-O

By K.J. Cardinal

I can't wait for a 50-year old Ryan Seacrest to roll this video on American Idol in 17 years when Anna's a finalist. It really shows her creativity as an artist too, as she "made it her own" by repeating B-I-N-G-O way too many times.



[WATCH MOVIE]

My sunshine

By K.J. Cardinal

As it has been well-chronicled on this blog, Anna LOVES music. Her head-bobbing and dancing has now naturally progressed into singing.

She's still putting it together and needs some help, but her latest rendition of "You are my sunshine" goes to the top of the charts in my eyes.



[WATCH MOVIE]

Anna, singalong and sun brighten up the weekend

By K.J. Cardinal

The sun made a surprising appearance for the second-consecutive weekend to help brighten up our trip to New Hampshire along with Anna being Anna and a singalong.

On Saturday morning, Anna, Angie, Sammy and I headed north to the Granite State for a party at Mike & Norrene's. My parents brought their camper and we brought our tent, so with accommodations for the night we could all really let loose and have a great time.

Anna did her usual daily routine of entertaining everyone. The Anna highlight of the day had to have been when she was in the back of Frank Foster's truck.

With a crew of 10 or so surrounding the truck, Anna used the truck bed as her dance floor and put on a show. I was playing music off my iPhone for her to dance with, so unfortunately I couldn't get video of it too. Trust me though when I say it was priceless. She's developing quite the arsenal of dance moves too.

After being Little Miss Center-of-Attention, Anna turned into Little Miss Snugglebug. As you can see in the photo at right, Anna really took to Mike and really loved just snuggling up on him for about 10 minutes. Actually, I'm not sure who liked it more, Anna or Mike?

When the sun went down, the campfire went up and out came my dad's guitar. He led one of his signature singalongs and we just had a blast.

Of all the fun things that I do with my family, I really have to say that the singalongs are by far my favorite. I'm sure at this point just about all of you loyal blog followers have participated in a singalong at some point, so you know EXACTLY what I'm talking.

For those of you who haven't been fortunate enough to partake in a singalong, you'll enjoy these along with the rest of us:

• Eve of Destruction
• Runaround Sue
• You Don't Mess Around with Jim
• Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

These are just four of the 20+ songs that my dad played on Saturday night. His set was interrupted by rain, which just prompted us all to run under a big tent that was set up and keep on rolling.

I gotta say that my iPhone once again proved to be clutch as I was able to record this footage so easily. The only "downside" of the footage is that I now have audio evidence of a lot of debauchery as well... most notably Sammy laying the smack down on Norm and an X rated version of Lassie... Andrew wouldn't know what to do if he heard that :)

Not sure if/when I'll post that footage. I guess some things have to be sacred, so if you want the full singalong experience, you'll probably have to just make it out to one. Or maybe you can buy the uncut version on CD someday!

On Sunday, we packed up the tent and went to Big Daddy's for lunch. My parent's have been raving about the bar/restaurant in Acton, Maine and their reviews were spot on... awesome food, cool atmosphere and ridiculously affordable prices. For instance, I had the triple lobster for $19.99... Busch drafts were $1.50... $0.25 wings... etc.

Sammy got the full Big Daddy's experience by riding there on the back of my dad's motorcycle. She had been on a motorcycle once before, but just for a short ride. This time she was smiling ear-to-ear for the 40-minute ride.


All-in-all another great weekend with the family... just gets us even more fired up for our week vacation with my whole family at the end of this month... 12 days and counting!

Dreams Come True

Katie Cardinal

Hi all! Sorry it's been forever since I've put a post up here...I guess I've been a little busy lately with work and enjoying the summer. But here, I'm going to tell you the BEST story of my entire life..and will certainly make up for lost time :)

As many of you already know, I pretty much spent my life savings getting sandbar tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert at Gillette Stadium on July 26th. Knowing me, I clearly wasn't going for the main event - Kenny Chesney - but rather the BEST opener in the entire world...KEITH URBAN (also known as the man of my dreams). My friend, Lacey, and I decided to put up the $325 each to get these great tickets to the concert..and could not wait to let lose!!!

In preparation for the concert, you KNOW I had to prove that I was the biggest Keith Urban fan in the entire world by making a queer little outfit and COMPLETELY decking out my car :) I made a sweet Keith Urban tanktop that said "Keith You're My Better Half" on the front and had some lyrics on the back...and also made a long-sleeved shirt (just incase it got cold) that said "Keithaholic" on the front and also had some other lyrics on the back.

Mom helped me make some sick cut-off jean shorts that looked pretty nasty with the cowboy boots Lorraine let me borrow, and also sported a "Kenny-Chesney style" cowgirl hat with an AWESOME Keith Urban purse I had bought off of ebay. As for my car....it was pretty fantastic looking!!! On my back window I wrote "MRS. URBAN WANNA-BE" and on the two side windows wrote, "#1 KEITH LOVER" and "KENNY YOU SAVE ME."

For those of you who actually follow country music, I'm sure you know that Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman had their first baby together a few weeks ago. They named her Sunday Rose Kidman Urban..and judging by her father, she's got to be one of the cutest kids in the entire world (only behind Andrew, Anna, and Natalie). Being the crafty and VERY nerdy person that I am, I also decided to make a baby quilt for Sunday Rose...hoping that with my sweet tickets, I'd be able to give it to Keith during the concert.

The actual concert didn't start until 4pm on Saturday night, but Lacey and I knew that we had to get there super early to get in line for our sandbar tickets to pay off. For this reason, we left Rochester around 6:15 in the morning. Little did we know that Gillette Stadium parking doesn't open until 10am...so we had to spend a little time driving around and visiting the gigantic Bass Pro Shop around Gilllette Stadium until we were actually able to park. Oh, and by the way, the tail-gating was AMAZING. Tail-gating is like a HUGE thing at Kenny Chesney concerts, and this concert was no exception! People had pools, and tiki bars, and drinking games...it was amazing. The only BAD thing was that Lacey and I didn't think to bring any drinks, and were probably the only two sober people in the stadium!

Ok, so it's about 11:45 at this point and Lacey and I decide to head to the stadium to get in line. On our way over to the concert these three guys were like, "HEY, WHERE ARE YOU LADIES GOING." Needless to say, the guys actually worked for XM radio, and talked us into going to the XM radio pre-concert first...promising that Leann Rimes and Kenny Chesney would show up.

When we went over to the mini stage, we were two of like ten people there, meaning there was only ONE person in front of us, then the stage -- AMAZING SEATS!!!! After waiting about an hour or so, Leann Rimes came out to be interviewed. She was sooooooooo pretty and ridiculously nice! She even took the time to sign just about ANYTHING anyone wanted her to sign..including my sweet cowgirl hat!!! About one and a half or two hours later Kenny Chesney came out. He was interviewed and then played about four or five song approximately two inches from my face. Contrary to popular belief, he's actually quite cute in person..and DEFINITELY rocked out during his song. Unfortunatley, Kenny wasn't up for signing any autographs or giving hi-fives, but at least we had remarkable position to see him.

Once Kenny was done everyone started to leave. It was about 2:45 at this point, and Lacey had I had clearly jeopardized our seats inside to see these people perform for XM radio. So we're walking away when the XM announcer guy goes "BUT WAIT..WE HAVE ONE MORE GUEST." I hesitated a bit, knowing that there was a one and three chance that it would be Keith Urban, but kept walking as Lacey was a few feet in front of me. The announcer then said, "OK, I'LL TELL YOU WHO IT IS...IT'S KEITH URBAN!!!" Honest to God, I have NEVER ran so fast in my entire life. I sprinted over to the stage and got FRONT ROW SEATS for when the man of my dreams was about to take the stage --> OMG!!! My elbows were ON the stage..and his mic stand was about an inch away from me. As you can imagine, I was FREAKING OUT!!!

Unfortunately, Keith was stuck in traffic trying to get to the stadium, and we had about an hour to wait until he got there. Everyone around me thought I was either going to have a panic attack or just pass out because I was so excited and could not stop shaking. The lady who worked for XM radio realized what a Keith Urban nut I was, and actually INTERVIEWED ME on XM radio - OMG EMBARRASSING! She asked me all about how many concerts I had been to, how long I've been a fan, where I got my purse, and even asked about the quilt I had made Sunday Rose.

After being interviewed I was even MORE excited than ever. Then finally...the man of my dreams came out...and BOY WAS HE GORGEOUS!!!!! He came out just wearing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a pair of dark shades, and a black hat. He got interviewed for a few minutes (his accent was ADORABLE), then sang "YOU LOOK GOOD IN MY SHIRT" about an inch from my face. I WAS GOING CRAZY!!! After singing the song he had to get into the stadium because the concert had actually already started...but as he was on his way out, the XM lady who had interviewed me said, "KEITH, WAIT...YOU HAVE TO MEET SOMEONE!" NO JOKE SHE BROUGHT HIM RIGHT OVER TO ME!!!! He bent down in front of me so I could give him the quilt I made him, and he held my hand and said "THANK YOU SO MUCH SWEETIE!" After doing a few hi-fives, he turned back around and of course I had my Sharpie poised and ready. I asked him to sign my purse - and HE DID! The ONLY autograph he gave the entire life...I could literally die a happy woman now!!!

I was SO pumped when he left. I was a mess...jumping up and down and crying. I know that a lot of you probably think I'm just really queer, but this has LITERALLY been my dream for years now..and my dream finally came true :) Needless to say, this was the BEST night of my entire life, only followed by the other two Keith concerts I had been to. He's so amazing, such a great singer, and SOOOOOOO gorgeous! I encourage you to go to a concert of his if given the opportunity, and DEFINITELY to bring me with you - there's no way you'd find a better date!

This Old Guitar, revisited

By K.J. Cardinal

Not to harp on the "This Old Guitar" poster that I made for my dad, but I'm so proud of that thing. That image is my desktop image on my computer, so I see it everyday and it always makes me smile. I have designed a lot of things in my life that I would personally deem "cool", like countless websites, media guide covers, game program covers, logos, a billboard on the Mass Pike, banners that appeared on ESPN & ESPN2, etc. But, this had to be my favorite thing that I've ever designed.

The meaning behind it was really something special that I knew my dad would LOVE. I was also psyched how good the photo of the guitar came out and how the old photo looked in the background. But, I was giddy as a school girl when the FedEx truck pulled up and the driver handed me the tube with the print in it. When I opened up the tube I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. It was awesome.

I know that email, websites and technology in general have taken over the world, but there's nothing quite like holding a printed piece of material in your hand...especially if you've designed it. I love doing this blog because I get to pour tons of my creative energy into it, but seeing designs on screen doesn't hold a candle compared to designing something and then getting to hold the printed piece.

Again, I know I'm a dork, but this is the type of stuff that turns me on...well this and my wife :)

Urban is legend

By Katie Cardinal

G'day fellow bloggers! It's Katie, and yes this is my first actual post here on TheCardinalBlog. I'm a rookie, so give me a break this time, ok?

So today I'm here not to brag about my cuter than cute nephew or my precious niece, but to tell you about an extraordinary concert my BILS (aka Indianapolis...aka Valerie) and I went to on Friday night. That's right ladies and gents, it was the moment I had been waiting for - KEITH URBAN!!!

As many of you may know, I am ABSOLUTELY infatuated with Keith Urban (judging by the size of the shrine I have in my room for him). Ever since I first heard him on the radio a few years ago and looked him up online to see how absolutely goregous he is, I've been hooked. Fortunately, I was able to get concert tickets in August at the DCU Center in Worcester to go with my best friend Bre, and THIS time I got to go with Val and see him AND Carrie Underwood at Mohegan Sun!!!

After leaving the house at about 2 p.m. on Friday, stopping at Dunkin Donuts for a nice hot coffee, and driving extra careful on the ice-covered roads, I arrived at Val and Brian's ADORABLE apartment at approximately 4:30. After getting the grand tour and packing some snacks, Val and I embarked on our "Once in a Lifetime" journey..haha..yes, I know I'm queer.

Leaving Val's around 5 p.m., we got to Mohegan Sun around 6:45 to wait for the 7:30 concert. After buying a spankin' new Keith Urban shirt and matching earrings, we went down to our FLOOR tickets that were closer than either of us had imagined. Having gone to a concert at the DCU Center before, I knew the layout of the stage (having the stage at the end with a "runway," if you will, and a big circle at the end to perform on) but I certainly did not count on how small the Mohegan Sun Arena was! We were the first section of our row to the left of the runway, and we were ready to dance!

The first act of the night was our very own American Idol, Carrie Underwood. WOW IS SHE BEAUTIFUL! She has such a great voice, changed her wardrobe a total of FIVE times, and was just amazing. The only disappointing part was that the people in the audience wanted to show more respect for Keith than Carrie, so kind of refused to stand up and dance when she was performing. Fortunately, I'm a goofball anyways and just got up and acted like an idiot - dancing and having fun.

So Carrie played for like an hour, and during her last song Val and I noticed that the last row of seats RIGHT on the "catwalk" were empty. So, being the sneaky little characters we are, we went over there to "take pictures" of Carrie Underwood and try to keep the seats when Keith came out. Needless to say, two other girls beat us to the first two seats, but we were next in line. Once Carrie was done performing, I (naturally) had to go to the bathroom, so Valerie stayed at the seats. When I returned, I thought I was going to kiss Val - the two girls closest to the stage had left, and Val swooped in for the attack. THAT'S RIGHT, WE HAD SEATS RIGHT AT THE CATWALK FOR THE ENTIRE KEITH URBAN CONCERT!!!

Seriously, it was one of the best nights in my entire life (only second to the FIRST Keith concert I went to). Not only did I get to see and hear the man of my dreams for over two hours, but also got to hold his hands a few times, got his playlist at the end of the concert (to make KJ proud, of course), AND CAUGHT KEITH'S PICK. Yes, yes, yes...the very pick he played his bass guitar with and put it in his mouth so he could finger pick. It was AWESOME!!! So now I have even MORE stuff to add to my shrine, along with some heart-shaped confetti that fell from the ceiling at the close of the concert.

With the help of the best brother in the world, I've put the youtube clip that I shot of Keith Urban playing my future wedding song (keep our fingers crossed) "Memories of Us." This song was acoustic and Keith performed it at the end of the catwalk, so you get a nice view of his butt the entire time :) I hope you all like it, and I strongly suggest you hit up a Keith Urban concert ASAP. Oh, and if you know of one around here...let me know! I'd pretty much be willing to go broke to see him that close yet again :)

** Unfortunately youtube made me remove this video...sorry **

Anna sings out

By K.J. Cardinal

I know back in my "The Best of The Cardinal Blog: 2007" post I said the Sunshine video "could end up being my favorite video of all time of Anna." Well, I think that video may have some competition now.

Take a look at the "Anna sings out" montage below. Then decide for yourself which one you like better and vote in the poll on the right. Either way, they're both a lot of fun and really show Anna's developing personality.

My favorite part of this new video is how Anna almost seems to be flirting with the camera while she enjoys her "tummy time." She's going to be such a ham.

In case you were wondering, the song playing is "If you want to sing out" by Cat Stevens. This song was featured in the 1971 classic "Harold and Maude," one of the top-rated comedies of all time. I watched it as part of a course in college and I highly recommend it. Anyway, the song was just so fitting as Anna's new favorite thing to do is "sing out."

---

Other unrelated news...
While I was typing up this entry Anna was sitting on my lap and she contributed her first post to the blog as she "typed" this " bv". I know, quite a statement. And, I picked up my parent's VCR while I was up in Farmington yesterday, so look for the first video entry into The Cardinal Vault this week!

This Old Guitar

By K.J. Cardinal

Even though I have a horrible singing voice and I am just a novice on the guitar, I feel like music is a big part of my life.

Growing up, my dad played in a 60s cover band, called The Footsteps (soon to be featured in The Cardinal Blog), and he always entertains us on his guitar. My love for music really came directly from him. For proof, just look at my iPod and you'll see artists such as Jim Croce, Barry McGuire, CSN&Y and John Denver...I could go on and on.

Anyway, with his birthday on Wednesday (January 30), I wanted to get him something to celebrate this love affair with music that he's passed down to me and really to the rest of our family. As I mentioned in a previous post, his most prized possession is his guitar "Candy." So, I took a photo of his guitar and used a photo that's been featured in The Cardinal Vault to make up this 20" x 30" poster that I framed.


No, I didn't write that "This Old Guitar" poem or anything, it's actually the opening verse of a John Denver song by the same title (Click here to listen). It's one of my Dad's all-time favorite songs and actually the first song he ever played for my Mom on his guitar...which just happened to be his guitar, Candy.

I couldn't be happier with how it came out and my Dad was pretty much speechless when he saw it. I was actually expecting him to get a little teary eyed, but he was just more amazed than anything.

Anyway, Happy (early) Birthday Dad and thanks for making so many great memories for us with your music.

The Cardinal Vault III: The Naked Cowboy

By K.J. Cardinal

Like father, like son.

The third installment of The Cardinal Vault takes us back to January of 1984 as I display my guitar playing abilities while wearing my underwear and a cowboy hat. Based on The Cardinal Vault III: Kim & Candy, you can see where I get it from.

This photo was taken in my parent's kitchen before they completely remodeled it in the mid 80s. In this photo I am almost four years old. I'm not sure what happened to that cowboy hat, but the guitar has been converted into a clock and is on the wall in my dad's new music room.


I will make a few more appearances playing the guitar in The Cardinal Vault, but this guitar will also be seen being played by my dad when he was a youngster as well. So, be sure to check back frequently for the latest additions.

The Cardinal Vault II: Kim & Candy

By K.J. Cardinal

We travel back to August of 1979 for the second edition of The Cardinal Vault, as my Dad, Kim, is featured playing his guitar. There is a ton of good stuff going on in this photo.

First, my father is 25-years-old at the time of this photo and is strumming away at the kitchen table in the house that he still lives in on South Main Street in Farmington, N.H. Plus, he is playing the same guitar that was featured earlier on The Cardinal Channel in the Lassie video. My dad has dubbed that guitar "Candy" and I swear that it is his most prized possession. Lastly, the kid sitting at the table is my cousin Billy Lord.


You can be sure that my dad playing a guitar will make several more appearances in The Cardinal Vault at some point, so be sure to check back frequently for the latest additions.

Have you ever seen a lassie?

By K.J. Cardinal

The next time you're at my parent's house, ask Andrew "Have you ever seen a Lassie?" I guarantee you'll love the answer.

The cutest little boy in the world has become addicted to Papa's rendition of Have You Ever Seen a Lassie. If you mention the song around him, he walks into Papa's room and points to his guitar on the wall. Obviously, Papa can't resist giving Andrew his "fix", so Papa proceeds to take down his guitar and play the ditty for Andrew.

With Papa finger-pickin' away, Andrew goes to his spot at the foot of Papa's bed, holds on to the bed frame and sways back and forth just like Papa does. All of that is cute enough, but I have two other parts that are my favorite about the whole spectacle...

1) When the song is over, Andrew immediately signs "more" with his hands and Papa plays it again...and when the song is over he signs "more" with his hands and Papa plays it again...and when the song is over he signs "more" with his hands and Papa plays it again...and when the...I think you get the picture. He's addicted.

2) If you're in Papa's room while all this is going on, you better be swaying back and forth or the "Lassie Police" will bust you. While Papa's singing away, Andrew proceeds to scan the room with his big, brown eyes to make sure everyone's swaying away with him and Papa. If you're not, then Andrew just stares at you with a look that makes you give in to his peer pressure and join him and his swaying addiction.

Again, the next time you're at my parent's house, ask Andrew "Have you ever seen a Lassie?" I guarantee you'll love the answer.

Good tunes & a lot of booze

by K.J. Cardinal

After going nearly five years without seeing my favorite band in concert, I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Fisher Cats Stadium in Manchester, N.H. to experience the Counting Crows once again.

Collective Soul and Live opened for Counting Crows, which was nice, but the highlight of the night for me was being able to hear two new Counting Crows songs that will be featured on their new album coming out this fall. I can’t wait.

At any rate, I had way too many Red Bull & Vodkas and washed them down with a handful of stadium beers, which always have disastrous effects on me, so it’s a miracle that the two videos from the show came out as good as they did. Overall it was a great night...especially because nearly my entire family was there.

It was great to get Angie out to her first Counting Crows concert and I guess it could count as Anna’s first CC show too because she could hear Adam belting out those lyrics in the womb.

Thanks a lot for coming Mom, Dad & Katie...we wish you could’ve been there Tiff & Pete.

Take a look at the two videos above that I took from the concert.

** Unfortunately youtube made me remove these videos **