Holy Cow! What a fun night. Went with my jr. Twilight fans to a special screening of the latest Twilight offering “Eclipse”. We also dragged the only non-Twilight fan in the house to the show as well.

The theater was filled with mostly guys, which sort of surprised me. There were a few girls there just with their friends but for the most part it was guys or guys on double dates.

Being a special screening there were no preview ads or upcoming features. The movie started right in which is something I’m not used to. And right from the first scene the theater was charged up. It was a pretty intense opening sequence for a Twilight movie and so I was caught off guard right off the bat. The second thing that surprised me was how into it the crowd in the theater was. During the opening fight scene the audience was murmuring approving yah’s and alright and OW.

But when the werewolves appeared on the scene the theater went crazy – loud applause and hoops and hollers. It was also pretty funny in the scenes where Edward and Bella were getting serious the audience would clap or boo depending on the team they were routing for.

Some people would be distracted by all this commotion – some people go to the movies to actually watch the movie. But for us we had a great time enjoying every moment with a packed theater full of enthusiastic fans. And the solo non-Twilight fan in the crowd had a blast.

In an Internet world, where we can do just about everything virtually on our own, communicating with the masses from the privacy of our own home, it was really fun to go out and experience a shared moment with a crowd of people.

These shared moments can be great and surprising when they happen. It is one of the great things about 4th of July parades and fireworks shows. There has been a lot of news lately about towns having to scale down their 4th of July celebrations because of the recession. So, I encourage everyone to support their local Elks or other charity that supports these types of community events.

If you are looking for THE best shared experience for you family this summer there is no doubt where you have to go. Take the crew to Rapid City, South Dakota and be sure to stay overnight because you are going to want to be at Mount Rushmore for the closing ceremony in the evening as they retire the colors for the night (take the flag down from the flagpole).

We were there two summers ago and it was amazing. The park did not seem very packed. There were people all around but it didn’t feel like a crowd. The sun finally started to set and the park began to light up the hillside and illuminate the faces. The outdoors amphitheater began to fill up with people and soon was standing room only. Even though it was in the summer the temperature started to drop rapidly. Many people being prepared for this whipped out blankets. The flag ceremony was beautiful. There must have been over 1000 people there and then there was the singing of the national anthem. It was so amazingly moving. We were standing there with 996 other people I didn’t know, all singing and celebrating together.

Shared moments can be such a great surprise and so much fun.

As Julia Child once said “Life, itself, is the proper binge” Tonight was a little bit of a binge.

Holy Cow.  It has been a busy month.  Just checked the last post date and it has been too long.  With each new event this last month I kept telling myself I would come home and blog about that.  Then, getting home I would check my email and take care of a few things and that would be it for me for the day.  It has been one of those months where you are so busy you climb into bed at the end of the day and you’re almost asleep before your head hits the pillow.

But what a month!

One of my kiddos graduated from High School.  That flew by.  Just yesterday he was toddling around the back yard in North Carolina with his wheel barrow helping me with the landscaping tasks.  It seems like just a few days ago he was saying his first real sentence on a trip we took through Las Vegas Nevada.  Yes, he started talking when we set him in a rocket ship ride at Circus Circus in Las Vegas.  It was just a few days ago that we watched him as he took off with his friends for the first time going snowboarding without mom and dad for the first time.  All these firsts and other memorable moments came rushing back this month.

Over the past 30 days I have dragged one of my kids to a live performance of the Duke Ellington Big Band.  It was amazing.  He didn’t object but he did find it was great music to go to sleep to.  I loved the event – the performers were exceptional.  It did make me wonder about dragging my kids to events.  Should I – shouldn’t I?  Is it for their own good or should I just let them find their way and support their own interests ( I personally think as parents we need to drag our kids to some things as well as encourage their own interests ).

A highlight of the last month was a trip to Washington DC to attend the 10th Annual Wired Kids Summit.  Parry Aftab really knows how to throw a party.   Once again she has proven that she really knows her stuff when it comes to Internet Safety and keeping our kids safe online.  She does not rely on a group of erudite grown ups to explain what kids are doing online these days – she goes right to the source.  And once again, I marvelled at the amazing kids who were in DC presenting research they had done on subjects such as Cyberbullying, Sexting, and appropriate use of video games.  In one very fun panel discussion the kids talked about when it was ok to swear at video games.  The panel consisted of three Internet experts who have been working on this subject for over 3 years.  They were all 11 years old.  It was amazing.  They were delightful and it was truly a substantive discussion that was actually very helpful for all of us grown ups in attendance.

This is a great event and I have really enjoyed meeting the Teen Angels (WiredKids.org) and all of the industry attendees that come to support the kids.  This year was even more exciting for me because I was able to invite some of my favorite Mom Bloggers in the DC area as guests of the events.  We had Mom bloggers spread out across several tables at the event.  They really don’t like the term Mom Bloggers but for lack of a better description we’ll go with that for now.  The day zipped by and we barely had enough time to actually talk to each other but we all tweeted, blogged, and took pictures throughout the day and now we can picture the faces behind such amazing women as Jennifer from HipasIwannabe and MaryMac from Pajamas and Coffee and Shelley from the DC Ladies and many more.

It was also really fun to see familiar faces too like the team from Build-a-Bear, and Holly from AOL.  Smiling faces and shared experiences make these events worth any jet lag that may set in afterwords.

As many of you know a couple of my passions in life involve meeting new people and hearing their perspective on life, my family, kids, technology, travel, good food / good wine, and a really good book.   So, this is one of the reasons I adore the Wired Kids summit because it involves just about all of these (except for the wine).  This year was even more of a treat because I had the chance to chat for a few minutes with the author of “Queen Bees and Wannabes“  Rosalin Wiseman.  If you have a tween age daughter or teenage girl or know anyone who does – you have to read this book.  It is amazing.  The thing I love about this book is that you can open it to any page and read just that page and get something out of it.  It is updated to include new social media conflicts and ways that girls interact with each other now that it has gone beyond just telephone calls, passing notes in class and spreading rumors in the hallways.  This is a must read and it was a real treat getting to talk to Rosalind.  I have not read her other book about Queen Bee moms but I have to get that on my nightstand.

For the full report on the Wired Kids Summit you can catch the updates on http://www.stayathomemom.com and wiredmoms.com

There have been quite a few other fun moments in the past 30 days.  I have written them down in my regular Offline journal.  One of these days they may even make their way to the web but I am still getting my brain around their significance.

My family makes me laugh every day – what a treat.  There have been so many interesting people that I have had the great fortune of meeting this past month – including a group of college kids just returning to the states after a two week exchange in Kabul Afghanistan.   It was great getting to spend a couple of days with a cousin of mine and her hubby.

Now we are on the homestretch to the end of school for the kids and that is always an exciting time.  FInals and making sure they are set for the next school year before taking time off the summer.

Will do a better job about keeping my posts updated but at the same time if given the chance to get out on an adventure or stay home and blog about adventure – I will choose the actual adventure.  I aspire to live a blog worthy life.  And some days I do.

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