This One TIme? At Band Camp?

Tonight, our town's high school marching band sponsored their annual marching band competition.  I took the kids (all four of them, and yes, I'm counting Hubster as a kid).

I'll admit it, it was 99% for me, 1% for the kids.  J and T in particular; they're very interested in playing the drums, so I thought it might be fun for them to watch real kids playing drums while marching.

Hubster pretty much rolled his eyes the entire time.  Infidel!

So many thoughts about the show:

• Since we arrived early, the smaller bands were performing.  One had only sixteen musicians, six colorguard, and three drum majors.  Even the marching band from a high school in a nearby city had approximately sixty members (including the colorguard). 
• Major geek confession:  I actually got teary while walking past the portraits of the senior band members.  As I passed, the announcer said, ", you may now take the field in Class I MAC competition." 
• I haven't heard that phrase in about twenty-two years.  I got chills, and a huge sense of deja vu.
• The host school's band is performing as I type.  I would have loved to go back to watch their show (they're about 125 members large), but it's late, and it's kinda cold out there.  And my couch is really comfy and there's wine in the fridge.
• I am blessed to have had the marching band experience that I did.  In Ohio, people take it much more seriously than they did in New Jersey.  Heck, we took it very seriously.  Why else would we spend two and a half hours practicing Monday through Thursday, Friday nights performing halftime and postgame at the football games, and then all day Saturday at competitions?
• It was nice to take a walk down memory lane, watching all of the high school kids watching the other bands and hanging out with one another.
• J decided that he likes the quads best.  T likes the bass drums.  I would love for them to have as positive an experience as I did if they choose to join the marching band.
• If J and T do decide to join the band, I hope Hubster gets over himself.  He made a comment that he'd rather be grilling burgers on Friday nights instead of on Saturdays like the band fathers were today.  I told him that it wasn't exactly up to him.  Gah.
• It's not a competition unless some band does Les Miz.  Yes, in 2010, somebody did.  I almost fell off the bleachers laughing when I realized why the opening number sounded so familiar.