Hey there, friends! Just a little preface to this post…It was a year ago this week that I experienced one of the coolest events with my kids – EVER! When we met and saw in concert the Imagination Movers. So, to celebrate the excitement that we felt a year ago, I am re-posting what I wrote about it then. Please enjoy! 🙂 

One thing I’ve learned over the past 24 hours is that it is nearly an impossibility for Chris and I to sit down during a rock concert-even if the rock concert is dubbed a children’s one. We made this discovery yesterday at an Imagination Movers concert in Denver. The Movers are a group of four guys who have a show on Disney Jr. Each show tells the story of how Movers Scott, Rich, Smitty and Dave brainstorm ideas for how to help various customers solve a problem. For instance, they help a baker remember his secret muffin ingredient; they discover why a star football player can no longer catch the ball (he needed glasses!); or teach Goldilocks to have better manners. The show is hip and fun and full of really catchy music. I’m not talkin’ “The Wheels on the Bus” here, either. These guys are clearly of our (Chris and mine) generation with guitar riffs inspired by Van Halen and album titles spoofed from such classics as Foreigner’s “Juke Box Hero” (Mover album:Juice Box Hero) or AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock” (Mover album:For Those About to Hop). Their music consists of themes ranging from school field trips; to time-outs; to first days of school; to bedtime stories, windy days, riding bikes, dreams, and healthy snacks – the list goes on.

We’ve been watching for them to set a tour date for Denver for around two years now and finally saw that they were headed our way back in November. We purchased tickets with some dear friends of ours who share our fandom and struggled to wait these last four months. Turns out the wait was well worth it as I have now named this past weekend Mover Weekend 2011. Maybe I wouldn’t have given the weekend the honor of naming it if the festivities hadn’t begun already on Friday. Let me explain.

Late in the day Thursday, Chris happened to notice on Twitter that the Imagination Movers would be holding a meet and greet from 11 to noon Friday at the Cherry Creek mall in Denver. I thought, “I’m doing this… I’m taking Logan out of school to go meet the Movers.” Then I got to thinking more and wondered if that would be the right thing to do. So, we asked Logan what he thought. We laid it all out to him – the drive to Denver, missing a day of school, possibly waiting in line a long time… BUT, also meeting the movers and giving them high fives – Logan actually said he wanted to think about it and would tell us his answer at bedtime.

He decided he wanted to meet the Movers. (A sigh of relief was had by his thankful mother, by the way! Children aren’t the Mover’s only fans!)

Friday morning, we woke up as usual because I knew I wanted to stop by school early to explain to Mrs. Hayden why Logan wouldn’t be at school. When I told her what we were up to, she was so glad and told me she would be mad if I didn’t take him to do this and create this memory. (She’s awesome, right?) Not that I needed her blessing, but I did feel better knowing his teacher wasn’t upset that he was missing a day.

After that, the boys and I hit the road with Mover Music playing in the car. We were ready to see what the day would bring. It was early, I knew we would arrive at the mall with plenty of time, but I just didn’t know what to expect. Would there be a line of people already? People camping out? I’m a parent, I know how crazy we get for our kids… I just didn’t know.

We were second in line when we arrived at the Sony Style Store where the event would happen! We had to wait a good hour and 20 minutes, but the boys befriended two girls who were first in line and happened to be their same ages! It was only when we were 15 minutes out that Logan decided he’d had enough and asked me with desperation, “Are they ever going to come?”

Here Mover Rich is making friends with my Eli…Much fun was had!

Well, boy did they! And meeting them was better than we could have imagined. The Movers were just standing in the back of the store casually and when we walked up, Logan put his hand right out and announced that his name was Logan! Mover Rich was the first of the four that we approached and greeted him enthusiastically. Logan quickly made his way to the rest of the Movers while Rich continued to greet Eli and I. He got right down to Eli’s level and put his hand out for a five and Eli quickly said “hi” and reciprocated the five. Rich asked me my name and warmly shook my hand when I decided I would take it upon myself to become their welcoming committee and announced, “Welcome to Colorado!” He thanked me, then he,  Mover Dave and I continued to visit about the weather here compared to the weather in their home state of Louisiana. The boys and I posed with the guys for a few pictures and made pleasantry after pleasantry. I told Mover Scott that we couldn’t wait to attend their concert the next day and with an amount of gratitude that I still cannot believe, he thanked me and told me how much it meant to him that we’d come to the show! I was in awe of how personable they were. They spoke to Logan about being 6-years-old and a great big brother to Eli and told us to look forward to some special guests at the concert. They signed a poster for each of the boys and told us what a pleasure it was to meet us. We were the focus of their attention for a good couple of minutes-it was like they were in a circle around us, really caring about meeting us. Nicest guys ever. Period.

Here’s a shot of Logan visiting with Movers Dave and Rich. Lucky for us there was a delightful photographer present who worked for Sony and snapped these gems for us!

We walked out of the store with two pictures, a goodie bag for Logan and Eli containing silly bands, balloons, stickers and coloring books – but most importantly we walked out with ear-to-ear smiles and the realization that we would still see them in concert the next day!

Oh my word, Yes! That is indeed us with the Imagination Movers! Even a year later, I still cannot believe it! We keep this photo up on our fridge!

Feel free to come back tomorrow when I will post Imagination Movers Part 2: The Concert (with pictures!!)