Music Baby & The Lure of Islands

I'd like to start this post with a tip of my hat to my youngest sister, Allison. She recently interviewed for and received her first job! She is now the official third and final member of our family to be employed by Islands Restaurants.

I guess you never know where family traditions will start, do you?

I put myself through college working at Islands and while I appreciated the work, I never understood the lure of such a silly looking burger restaurant.

Well, last night I could have kissed our waitress (and it wasn't because the service was all the great, either)! After five years of working there, I finally understand and appreciate the draw--it's a great place to take your kids! It really is. Ok, not for the food per se (though they do serve carrot slices and apple sauce...not organic, of course, but it's something...), but if you are out and about like we were last night and want a fun place to take your family, Islands is perfect. I feel silly just finding out about it, but hey, what can I say?

And the reason we were destined to be out and about last night can be summed up in two words: splash pad. We met up with some family (including Alli of course! Had to celebrate the big j-o-b!) and Dia's favorite ten-year old, Shannon (our flower girl from our wedding more than six years ago and my parents-in-law continued neighbor), for splashing and giggling in the fountains outside.


Dia had a great time playing, splashing and watching all the kids. I had a hard time capturing all the smiles and huge flailing of the arms and legs with the camera, but trust me, she was having a blast. What was super easy to catch on film, though, was Dia's real thrill:

Yes, that's my daughter applauding the guitarist.

Can't you just hear her saying, "Rock on!"

We've both felt (through prayer and just plain observation) that Dia is musically inclined. She has responded to Rory's playing guitar since she was weeks old and she goes crazy when I practice violin. She and Rory also participate in a Music Together class (which we LOVE!) and she is already responding to certain songs (I can sing them all for you at will, by the way). And then at our nine-month check up the doctor was watching her and actually asked, "Is she musical?" I just about fell out of my seat!

And then to top it all off, last night she crawled away from the water and the crazy fun kids to get as close as possible to the music man. She kept trying to crawl on stage with him (we let her play with the guitar at home so she knows how fun it is to play!) so we had to hold her so she could still feel close to the action. She stayed for several songs both to the amusement of the musician and the other parents around us. We were all in stitches because she kept raising her hands and bopping to the music and clapping. She did the same thing last week in church during worship. She loves music, especially live music.

What a privilege to watch her develop and witness God's destiny for her unfolding before our very eyes! And what a blessing that in this crazy world there are still family-friendly venues to celebrate life.