Ain't She Sweet (Taylor Swift)

   Compared to most of the musical acts that appeal to the pre-teen set, I'd have to say that Taylor Swift is indeed sweet. And while a lot of the songs sound the same to my ear, I have to respect that she plays her own instruments, writes her own songs, actually sings (and on pitch) in her concerts, doesn't dress like a streetwalker, and puts on an age-appropriate, entertaining show.
   We gave the girls tickets as birthday presents, much to Alanna's utter delight. She'd been asking to go ever since she found out months ago that Taylor was coming to Melbourne. I bought three when they went on sale, not sure who was going to get the third one. In the end, Aliya decided she wanted to go as well. I was surprised since she's not nearly obsessed as Alanna is, and I even offered to apply the price of her ticket (if we sold it) towards a new iPod for her. Turned out to be a lucky choice as Andy found her missing iPod touch a few days later!
   I made Aliya take a nap after school, knowing she'd have a tough time with two late nights in a row. Meanwhile, Alanna worked on a poster for Taylor, and put on her Taylor Swift shirt that the Buis sent her for her birthday.

Standing outside the Rod Laver arena:

Part of the pre-show festivities included free mini-makeovers.

And the opportunity to make their own perfume ad. Amazingly, they were given two free hardcopies of the pic and a digital version was emailed out the next day. I guess they can afford to do that when they sell a tiny bottle of perfume for $50.

You can't tell from this picture, but the entire audience is made up of girls ages 5-14, their moms, and a few dads. Oh, and our friend John who came with his wife but not their girls, so feel free to give him a hard time when you come to Australia and visit us. See what I did there?

Aliya counted nine costume changes.

   Thankfully, the show ended about 10:45. Unlike the girls in front of us who fell asleep, Aliya stayed awake and entertained the entire time. Alanna was completely overwhelmed to have her idol in the same building (I felt the same way at the Paul McCartney concert) and she didn't sit down or stop singing/screaming the entire show.
   The tough part was getting home. We still had a 20 minute walk to the train station (buying a bootleg t-shirt for Aliya for $10 along the way, score!), a 15 minute train ride, plus 10 minute drive home. Needless to say, after two very late nights in a row, the girls were exhausted. I let them sleep in the next morning, and took them in to school late. Surprisingly, the assistant vice principal was quite understanding about it all, and she even asked how the concert was!