Playing, Farming and Concert - 239/365

Today was another busy day! 

Traci and Rachel were coming over for a play date. The kids had such a blast. We just had some snacks and chatted. It was great! We had a really nice day. 

This evening, Jim, Reagan and Brinkley went on a little adventure to the experimental farm. Reagan loves checking out all the animals. Brinkley makes a bunch of friends, too. They had fun.

Nana and I were off to see Rascal Flatts for the umpteenth time. No, it never gets old. Love those guys! Great show as always! 

Reagan and Gabby playing Loopsy!

Reagan's donkey friend

Loves checking out the cows!

Rascal Flatts ready!

The boys!

Golfing, Swimming and Singing - 234/365

Today was a busy day. 

Jim started his day on the golf course with the boys. They played over at Avalon and had a great time! 

This evening, Jim and Reagan went over to his parents for a little cookout and swimming. Reagan just loves swimming in Sean and Barb's pool. They had a nice time. 

Nana and I were off to see Darius tonight at Blossom. We were so excited! We hadn't been to Blossom very much this year. It was nice to be back in our wrist band area and have good parking! LOL!

It was a fun day for all! 

Golfing guys

Ready for a dip!

Swimming!

Ready to rock!

Rocking Rucker!

Luke Bryan - 232/365

Today Nana and I were off to "see what all the fuss is about" in regards to Luke Bryan.

Everyone is always Luke Bryan this and Luke Bryan that. I like his songs on the radio but don't really "own" any of his music. We love concerts, so we decided to go for something to do.

Well, that man didn't sing four notes and we were hooked. He puts on one AMAZING concert. One of the best concerts I've EVER seen, and I've seen a few. You couldn't take your eyes off him. He's an amazing performer.

We can't wait to see him again next summer!

Reagan and Jimmy had a fun night hanging around the house. They were resting up for our big trip to Disney tomorrow! Can't wait!

Nana and I with Luke's semi truck

LUKE!

Handsomeness!

 

Garden, Golf and a Concert - 212/365

It was going to be a busy day today!

Reagan and I started at Family Garden day. This week we were tasting hummus, harvesting vegetables and investigating insects.

Reagan was so excited when she was able to pull a carrot right out of the ground! She was shocked that's how they come out, all dirty. She wanted to go in the bathroom right away and clean it all off. She was amazed when it was a perfect orange carrot! I love that she's learning all this stuff.

After that, we went to the insect table to investigate some bugs. Her favorite was the monarch butterfly.

To end the morning, we did her butterfly craft. She loved decorating it with the puffy cotton balls.

This afternoon, Jim called from work with some exciting news. He was listening to the radio on the way to lunch when he heard about a contest for free tickets to the Firestone Golf Tournament this weekend. He called in and was the lucky caller! He had to answer three questions and he got all three right! We now have free tickets to the tournament, which include passes to the military tent with free food! Yay! Way to go, Jimmy!

This evening, Nana and I were heading to Blossom to see Rascal Flatts for the umpteenth time! We just love them and they always put on a good show. They opened with an acapella version of "Happy" by Pharell Williams. It was great!

Sheryl Crow opened up and then came out for a couple songs later. She did a pretty good job.

It was a great show overall!

My little harvester

Carrot

Checking out her butterfly

 Butterfly project

 Golf tickets

 Nana and I at Rascal Flatts

The boys!

 

KU Take 2 & Jillian Turns 4 - 258/365

Busy day today!

We all just hung around the house this morning, before we went up to Twinsburg to celebrate our sweet little niece, Jillian's birthday! She was turning FOUR!
Boy, time goes so fast! It seems like we just went to the hospital to see her for the first time!

Happy 4th Birthday, sweet Jillian!!

The party was at The Little Gym in Twinsburg.

It's a cute little place where Jillian takes gymnastic type classes and dance. The kids had an absolute ball. They got to play on all the mats, balls and balance beams. The two instructors did some organized activities, too! They did a dance with pool noodles, which was super cute. They played with a giant parachute. They also had a big inflatable track that the kids could run and bounce on. It was a big hit!

After they played, we went back in the party room for pizza and cake. Jillian's theme was Angry Birds and she had a super cute Angry Birds dress on. Adrienne had it decorated adorable for her. There were tissue paper balls made into Angry Birds all over, balloons, tablecloths and centerpieces. The kids each got an adorable favor for attending the party. They got an Angry Birds coloring book, pencil case, toothbrush, snacks and rings. Reagan was the most excited about her toothbrush! LOL!
After we got home, while I was waiting for my mom, we snuck in a few minutes of the Browns game. We had taped it since we were at the party. It looked like it was going well for awhile, but as it turns out, I'm glad I didn't see the whole thing. They lost to Baltimore 14-6 in the last few minutes of the game. They sure stink!

My mom came shortly a little after 4:30 and we were on our way. We did our traditional pre-concert dinner at Nicolini's. We got to Blossom a little before 7:00 and it looked like no one was there. There was zero traffic going in. By the time 7:30 rolled around it did start to fill up. The vendors said they heard there would be around 8,000 less people than Thursday.

Keith came out around 7:40 and was welcomed with a thunderous cheer. He stepped to the middle of the stage, dropped to his knees, put his hands over his head and bowed down to the crowd. He stood up and broke right into a song. It was around song four, that he spoke. He said, "It gives me great pleasure to finally say.... Hello Cleveland!" He apologized and then went on to say, "I thought we'd come out and there would be a few people here and there, so to see this many people come out to hear us play, means the world to us. Thank you!" He was so humble and so gracious. He is a true class act.

He ended up playing for three straight hours and gave it his absolute all. He couldn't have put more effort or heart into this show. It was amazing! He took requests from the crowd and nailed the songs, too. It was cute to see the band interact to get going on a song that hadn't played in years.

He even joked during, "Raining on Sunday." He was singing and sang the line, "Let's hope it's just a song tonight." It was hilarious. Turns out, it wasn't just a song tonight, it did end up pouring down rain again. We felt so bad for the people sitting on the lawn. They got rained on twice now!

In the end, Keith Urban made good on his promise to Cleveland. He is an amazing performer and seems to be an amazing person, who is truly grateful for his fans. It was really worth the trip back up to Blossom to see him!
Jim and Reagan spent the evening playing around the house and took Brinkley for a walk.

Here is Keith Urban singing his heart out!

 Next, is my mom and I covered in KU confetti!

Little Big Town - 255/365

What a day!

Jim went off to work and Reagan, Nana, Brinkley and I were going to hit the three mile trail. We checked the radar and saw some rain was on it's way, but "hour by hour" and the radar looked like we could make it.

We piled in the car and headed over. We went about 15 minutes when Reagan said, "Oh no! It's raining!" Then, I felt a drop and not two seconds later, the skies opened up and it was a downpour! Thankfully, Nana brought two umbrellas and some ponchos. We covered Reagan in the stroller with a poncho and we used umbrellas. When we got back, we were still pretty wet. Brinkley was just SOAKED. Reagan was the only dry one. LOL!

 Thankfully, we were supposed to be taking Brinkley straight to the groomer, so we just went straight there and dropped him off. I walked him in and said, "Sorry he's soaked, you may just need to add soap."
We went back to Nana's and my house, to get some dry shoes and shirts and were on our way again.

We decided to go have lunch at Steamers for some soup, they have the best. We were sitting at lunch and Reagan kept turning around in her seat. Nana went to tickle her head, to get her to turn back around. She waved her arm at Nana and said, "Nana, DON'T! I'm watching the Browns game!" Sure enough, we looked up and there was a football game on the TV over the next table. We about died laughing. At lease the brainwashing seems to be working.

Finally, it was time for the Keith Urban concert.

Nana and I grabbed some dinner at Nicolini's. We love that place for pre-concert dinners because, unfortunately, there is never anyone there. The food is great though! Then it was off to the show! 

We should have known something was up, when Little Big Town came out at almost nine. I forgot, or didn't even realize, they were going to be there. Anyway, after Dustin Lynch went off around 8:15, we grabbed another beer and made our way down to the seats. We were almost to our section, when the lights went down. I grabbed my phone and thought, "It's 8:38, that's weird. He must be doing an extra long show."

We got situated in the seats, but the stage just didn't look right for Keith Urban. There was this weird cloth with skulls and stuff. Next thing we know, here comes the band. I said, "OMG, that's Little Big Town, WTF!? I didn't know it was a split show!" My mom said, "Neither did I."

I knew they were big enough, that they would play about an hour. We were so bummed. I thought they would play till 9:30 and maybe Keith would play from 9:45-11:00. Which was better than nothing. We go to enough concerts, that we pretty much have the timing of opening acts down, and know that Blossom, has a strict 11:00pm curfew for bands to be off the stage. It all was a little off, for how things are normally handled with a three act show.

I looked up Little Big Town's set list, it was showing 12 songs, which made seem a little better. OR, so I THOUGHT. They stayed on course for the first six, then, it all went wacky. They just kept singing, and singing, and singing, and singing, and singing. The crowd was slowly sitting down and you could tell people were annoyed. People just wanted to see Keith, it had been an hour and a half! FINALLY, they left the stage and it stayed dark. We thought, maybe they aren't doing a set change, which was also weird. All of a sudden, we felt this faint mist, even down in the front. We turned around and the skies let loose. At the same time, this man walked out on stage. The timing was actually almost movie like. It was crazy! It was just POURING and lightening made it almost daytime, it was so bad. I looked at my mom and said, "OH MY GOD, they are cancelling the show because of that lightening!" Finally, the guy said, "Excuse me, excuse me! I have a very important announcement. Keith wasn't able to make it to the show tonight. He's stuck in New York." He then played a video of Keith apologizing to the fans. The collective groans, boos, and catcalls were hilarious! People were NOT PLEASED! Especially the poor people on the lawn, they were just soaked!!! It was honestly like a hurricane.

Those of us in the pavilion, decided to wait out the rain a bit. Everyone was just standing around chatting, sharing thoughts on how, they couldn't believe Blossom did this. They had to know, if he was in New York even at 7pm, he wasn't going to make it. It was unbelievable!

We were all still standing in the pavilion, when ushers started coming around saying, "you have to get going, this isn't a campground." Are you kidding!? We would have left hours ago, but you waited until a hurricane starts, to tell us the main act is cancelled. Now, you're kicking us out? REALLY? We went over to the VIP area to stand for just a little bit more, then started walking out. Luckily my mom usually finds a "Lot A" parking pass, so the parking is next to the pavilion, we didn't get to wet. We spent the ride home, reading all the hilarious "tweets" from people that were at the show. Here are a few of my favorites....
 

"Still can't believe Keith Urban cancelled on us. I hate Little Big Town and sat through them, because I thought Keith would make it better." - Elizabeth J

 

"So, after shitty ass Little Big Town gets done playing, for 'effing' ever, they decide to tell us Keith Urban isn't even coming now. I hate him." - Jenna S

 

"I kind of feel like Keith Urban stood us up for that one date, then decided to share the news, as the sky dumped an ocean on us." - Anastasia M

 

We laughed the ENTIRE way home! The good news is, he's playing a makeup show in Cleveland on Sunday and it's just him, starting at 7:30. I bet the people on lawn are hoping he doesn't sing

 "Raining on Sunday."
Our laughing at the tweets, was spoiled when I tiny bunny ran out on the rain soaked freeway and found his way under my mom's car. What a heart wrenching sound. We just felt AWFUL! :(

Meanwhile back at the ranch, earlier in the evening, Reagan and Jim had a fun night watching Princess and The Frog, playing stickers and dancing. They have so much fun together.

The photo of the day is the "Little Big Town concert."

Nana, Reagan, Brinkley and I on our rainy walk...

Next, is Reagan watching her "Browns game"....

And finally, an adorable picture I got while enduring the Little Big Town concert...LOL!

 

Rascal Flattin & A Picnic - 179/365

Busy day for all today! 

Jim headed off to work and Reagan and I headed off to gymnastics! 

Nana wanted to come and watch, so she could see her in action! They have a nice little area with bleachers for visiters. Reagan got a kick out of her being there. She would finish an activity and look over and say, "Hi, nana!" LOL! 

She is already improving after one week. It's so fun to see her progress! 

After gymnastics, we ran a couple errands, then headed home for nap. 

This evening, Jim and Reagan were going to go down to the Premec's, for the neighborhood 4th of July party. This is the second year I had to miss it, because of a concert. Ironically, last year it was Rascal Flatts, too! They had a great time and lots of yummy food. Parker and Reagan were running all around and even played with some sidewalk chalk. It's always a good time, I was sorry I had to miss it. 

 Meanwhile, my mom and I went off to the concert. We ended up stopping at Rachel's in Austintown for some dinner! YUM! 

Our drive up was perfect! This was the first Rascal Flatts concert in four years that we didn't have to drive to Blossom in a thunderstorm. Bonus! 

Rascal Flatts came out at 9:30 and opened with Life is a Highway! Our seats were FABULOUS!!! We were right there and they are just so entertaining, makes for a really fun time. Their set was just absolutely stunning this time! They had so many monitors with these awesome scenes that corresponded to the songs. Amazing! 

Our favorite song of the night was, "Bob That Head." During the song, they had GIANT bobble heads of the band, on the big screen behind them. It was hysterical! 

 At another point during the show, my mom even got some attention from Joe Don. They were singing "Here's to You" and a line in the song is, "There's a mom and a dad, in the aisle, not acting their age." Well, I just started waving and pointing to my mom and he laughed and winked at her! It was too funny! She was being very well behaved, I should say...LOL! 

It was a really, really fun night! Looking forward to round two! 

The photo of the day is my mom and I in front of their truck!

Also a collage of the concert...

Next is, Reagan at the neighborhood 4th of July picnic...

And finally, it was a sad, sad day for us. Our good friends and neighbors, moved out of their house across the street. We have become such great friends and it was so nice to have them so close. We always helped each other out when one of us would be away.

They aren't going far, which is nice. They are really only moving up the street, but it will be sad not to be able to talk and wave across the driveways anymore. 

We'll miss you Ron and Rachel! Especially, the surprise visits from Sadie! LOL

Here is the moving truck leaving their driveway....tear. Love you guys!

Photo credit: Rachel Musilli ;)

 

Playing, Picking, Crabby & Chesney - 171/365

Busy day today, again! 

 It started with a visit from Aunt JoAnn and Bridget. JoAnn had never seen the playroom and wanted to see the new play set, so they stopped over for a visit. The girls had a good time playing. Bridget was so great with Reagan! Brinkley was happy to see Aunt JoAnn, too. He wouldn't leave her alone! 

After our visit, we went and dropped Brinkley off at his beauty appointment. 

While he was there, my mom and I went over to Toys R Us to see about getting Reagan a small sandbox. She loves the sand! They ended up having a cute one, shaped like a crab. We got to the counter and paid. The lady said in the walkie talkie, "I need one crabby sandbox please!" After a few minutes, she said, "we're out of crabby sandboxes." Which made us crabby...LOL! They ended up having a bunch in Niles, so we just swung over there to pick one up! 

We got back to the house and got it all set up! It's so cute and Reagan LOVES it! 

Before we went in, Reagan helped water some flowers. We noticed that our first strawberry was finally bright red! YAY! Reagan picked it and then we sampled it. I have to say, it was great! We are all about strawberries this summer! :) 

Then, it was time to get ready for the Kenny Chesney concert! Woo hoo! 

Jim had his last Rotary Board meeting, before they switch presidents this weekend. This president always held his meetings at night, so Jim wasn't going to be around to watch Reagan. Papa, so sweetly, volunteered to play with Reagan until Jim got home, so we could get going to the concert! How wonderful!
 Nana, Papa, Reagan and I ended up having dinner at Nicolini's. 

After dinner, my mom and I headed to the concert and papa and Reagan went back to the house to play. They played in the sand and on the play set. Reagan even got papa to go down the blue slide! They had a great time together! So great, that when Jim got home, Reagan look at him and said, "Dada, go back to work. I want to play with papa!" LMAO!
We got to Blossom with no problems and the concert was FABULOUS! He had an awesome set, with huge HD video screens! It was amazing! He really is such a wonderful entertainer! He NEVER stops! He runs back and forth on that stage like a mad man. He couldn't give anymore if he wanted to, he's fantastic! We hadn't got to see him in a few years because he had been doing the bigger stadium tours. We went to a couple and the atmosphere stinks. We decided we would only see him if he did Blossom or First Niagara.  So happy he came back around! We had a great time!
 The photo of the day is Kenny. I forgot my camera, so this is an awful iPhone photo. :(

Here is Aunt JoAnn getting some "love" from Brinkley...she was cracking up!

The next is Reagan in her new Crabby Sandbox....

And finally, the first of our own strawberries and Reagan doing the first "pick"...