Toddlers, parents welcome home Grammy winners

Updated: February 13, 2013 - 8:52 AM

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Back from Los Angeles, where they accepted the Grammy award Sunday night at the Staples Center for best children’s album, Justin Lansing, left, and Joe Mailander — the Okee Dokee Brothers — came home to the Twin Cities and took the stage before a younger audience for Toddler Tuesday at the Mall of America, where they have played since 2009.

Photo: David Joles, Star Tribune

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Fresh from their Grammy triumph in Los Angeles Sunday night, the Okee Dokee Brothers played for a crowd of 750 at the Mall of America Tuesday.

It was not too shabby a welcome-home party for the Twin Cities children's music group -- and a fitting one, too, with lots of kids and parents on hand for the mall's Toddler Tuesday event.

"They got one of the largest crowds we've seen for a Toddler Tuesday," said mall spokeswoman Bridget Jewell.

Joe Mailander and bandmate Justin Lansing are regulars at the mall, having played there since 2009, so there was a celebratory buzz in the crowd as the musicians took the stage in the Rotunda under a giant video wall displaying the words, "Congratulations Okee Dokee Brothers."

"It was very fun, everybody was very excited," said Jewell, who joined the crowd mid-set.

They played two shows and signed CDs afterward. "They probably signed about 200 CDs after each one," she said.

Next up on the Okee Dokees' victory tour: A free Valentine's Day show at noon Thursday in the indoor Edinborough Park in Edina.

TIM CAMPBELL