We spent this past Tuesday traveling to downtown St. Louis city. I heard the Marines were in town and I wanted the kids to see the Marine Corps Band - so off we went!
The best part for me was listening to John Philip Sousa's Stars & Stripes played by the Marine Corps Band in view of the Court House and The Arch. In high school, the greatest honor for a flute player was to be allowed to play the piccolo solo of this song during the final concert of the year. It was an emotional, annual event. To this day, I get goose bumps listening to the dog fight and then the piccolos...The best - best part Tuesday was when one of the kids unabashedly exclaimed, "That was fun!" as the last note played.
I'm pretty sure the kids thought seeing Fredbird was the best part of the day - and receiving Cardinals tickets from him for the next night's game! You would've thought they'd won the lottery. And they did go to the game - at least the three big kids and their dad (Fredbird gave them 4 tickets), so Sash and I went to Oberweis and took a veeeerrrrryy long walk around the neighborhood!
Oh - and let's not forget, handling real Marine weapons.
And climbing into real Marine vehicles.
I did hear that the ceremony to attend is the Sunset Parade complete with the Silent Drill Platoon and the Marine Corps Band Saturday night. If you go, you have to tell me about it!
Blessings,
k
