Brad Paisley - 37/365



Tonight we were heading out with Ron, Rachel, Laura and Matt to see Brad Paisley! We headed downtown to try to grab some dinner before the show. We wanted to go Martini Brothers but the wait was around two hours! We tried a couple other places, but we ran into the same thing.

We ended up eating at the new Avalon Pizza and it was fantastic. We ended up getting a great table and had lots of yummy pizza!

We walked over to the concert after. He had two openers, Parmalee and the Swan Brothers. Both were really great. We enjoyed them!

Brad Paisley was fantastic though! Our favorite part was the big muppet he had of himself running around the stage for some songs. It was HILARIOUS! He really did put on a fantastic show!

While we were doing that, Reagan was going to be spending the night with Nana and Papa. They had dinner at Tippy. Then came home to play! They had a great night!

The crew at the concert!

Brad's muppet! LOL!

Brad!



Reagan and Mr. Fuzzy at Tippy!

 Playing Carnival!



School, Shopping, Disney On Ice - 345/365

Reagan was well enough to go to school today and she was so excited! 

They made lots of fun projects but her favorite was this "J" candy cane. 

After school, Nana, Reagan and I hit the mall for a little bit. We were in Penny's and Reagan found these three manikins. She wandered over and posed and said, "Look, I'm just like them!' We were HOWLING! It was hilarious!

This evening, we were off to see Disney On Ice: Princess and Heros at the Covelli Center.

Jesse, Jessica and Alivia happened to have tickets for tonight, too, so we decided to meet them at TGI: Friday's for dinner before hand. The girls had a great time coloring and playing at dinner. Us adults had a nice time catching up as well! It was fun!

The show was amazing. We were able to get front row tickets back in July, so that was awesome! Reagan was in heaven since it was all the princesses! I think her favorite two sets were Aladdin, and of course, Frozen. 

For the Frozen set, it snowed the whole time and the skaters were amazing. Olaf was even there, and his head popped off like in the movie. It was hilarious! 

At intermission, the girls got an Olaf snow cone. They were in heaven! The cup was so cool and we can even save it to have ice cream this summer!

It was a great night and the girls loved it!

Reagan's Candy Cane J for Jesus from school.

Our little manikin

Reagan and Alivia at the show!

Olaf snow cone!

 Olaf in the show!

 Elsa!

Bye Disney & Little Big Town - 312/365

Today was our last day in Disney. We were so excited to see our little girl, but we didn't want to leave either. We were ready for someone to ship her down to us!
Our plane wasn't leaving until later in the afternoon, so we were able to sneak one more trip around the world in!
We went to Epcot and did some snacking and had one more Pomegrante Kir. One of our favorite Food & Wine Drinks. YUM! We had fun on our trip, but we're ready to get back home, too!
Our flight was uneventful and landed in Akron on time.
When we got home, I was able to see Reagan for a few minutes, before I was out the door to the Covelli Center. Little Big Town was playing and we really wanted to see them. Nana and I used to hate them, but we've seen them open so many times for other bands, that they are now starting to grow on us. We figured, since the are at the Covelli Center, we may as well go. It was a close turnaround, but we made it. The show was great! It was just Nana, Karen and I. Ron, Rachel and the gang were there, too, so we got to visit with them a bit. We really did love the show.
After the concert, we went over to One Hot Cookie with everyone for a late night snack! YUM!
Reagan had a good day with Nana. They played Legos most of the day. They built quite the city!
Exhausting, but fun day!
Drinks in France

Bye Disney

Lego Lady

Concert time!

Little Big Town

Color Run and a Picnic - 165/365

Today was the long awaited Color Run. We have been so excited to do this, we couldn't wait! Everyone met at our house and we were off to the Covelli Center! We got there to find an amazing amount of people. There was supposedly 6000 people that participated.
We started in our all white gear, we were sparkling clean. We didn't know what to expect when we got to the color stations, but we were excited.
The first color was blue. They were just throwing this powdery, chalky stuff at you and shooting it out of picnic style ketchup bottles, it was a hoot! The air, streets, absolutely everything was BLUE! Too funny!
We walked all through downtown, while passing through the color stations. We got braver and went for more color in each station! Too funny! We were a full blown rainbow by the end.
Reagan really liked the whole thing, too. We brought a stroller, but she pretty much walked the whole time! She was loving it!
At the end, they had the huge colorful arcs in every color that you walked under and they had tons and tons and tons of colored confetti that you could play in, too! We had so much fun taking pictures in the confetti!
After it was over, we were afraid that some of the color wouldn't come off our skin or clothes. When we got home, we got cleaned up and everything came right off, Reagan's bath water turned green though, it was too funny!
Our clothes were as white as when we put them on, after just one trip through the washer. Awesome!
The whole experience was a blast and we can't wait to do it again.
This afternoon, we were headed up to a picnic at Matt and Nikki's house. They were having the whole Cvetkovic family up for an afternoon of family fun.
It was so great to see everyone! We all had a nice time catching up and getting to spend some time together.
Matt and Nikki had quite the spread of food. They did chicken and Nikki's famous ribs. YUM! Everyone else contributed a side or dessert to help out.
The kids had a blast in their bouncy house. They practically spent every minute in there.
Adrienne brought a pinata for them, they all really loved taking a swing at that!
Nikki, also had a special cake for Jim, since he takes over as Boardman Rotary President in two weeks. It was so sweet of her to go out of her way to acknowledge such a special time for Jim.
What a great day!
The first picture is the "Bright Britts!"

Next, Jim's President cake.

Finally, the kids smacking the pinata.

Darius Day - 59/365

It was Darius Day today! Woohoo! 

We just love Darius Rucker and really look forward to when he tours. This tour he happened to be stopping at the Covelli Center! We couldn't pass up that show, being it's practically in our back yard!

Nana, Papa, Jim and I, were meeting Ray and Jenny for a pre-concert dinner at Roberto's downtown. It's one of Ray and Jenn's favorite places, so they really wanted us to try it. It was phenomenal! The food was excellent, especially this oil and cheese they give you with their bread. To. Die. For! I could have had that just as my dinner. 

After we were all stuffed, we headed over to the arena. Darius packed it! It was great to see. We happened to have seats right across from Christy, who owned our house before us. It was a hoot! The concert was great and he played all our favorites. Even Raymond, who isn't a country music fan, enjoyed it. 

After the show, we went over to Suzy's Dogs and Drafts to meet Ron and Rachel for a drink. They were at the show, too. We chatted with them for a while and had a couple beverages. 

We finally called it a night with a trip to One Hot Cookie. We had been wanting to try this place forever, so we were making a point to go tonight! It was amazing! We got three cookies, peanut butter cup, snickers, and oreo. All three were terrific and a perfect sweet treat to close out a super fun night! 

Meanwhile, Reagan was spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa Cvetkovic's. They had a fun night playing and watching television. She likes sleeping over there. 

This afternoon, our new dishwasher came. It's amazing what can excite you at 35. I was pumped! I didn't realize how bad our old one was, until the new one came! Amazing! 

The photo of the day is a "selfie" we took at the concert.

Next, Darius...

Finally, the new dishwasher...

 

Disney on Ice & Sunrise Lunch - 346/365

Today was another busy day! 

 Jim went off to work and Reagan and I got ready to go to a luncheon. 

Last year, my mom invited some of the residents from Sunrise Assisted Living to Tippy for a Christmas lunch. My grandma and grandpa used to live there, so we got to know everyone pretty good. My mom still volunteers for some of their events from time to time. They all really enjoyed the lunch last year, so she decided to do it again. It's so nice for them to get out and about. A couple of the ladies really got a kick out of watching Reagan play. They were nice enough to bring her a little present, so she was completely content through the whole lunch. They brought her a Minnie Mouse classroom with Minnie as the teacher and two little mice students. She loved it! 

 All the residents loved their lunch and especially their cake! My mom had iced sugar cookies and candy canes in individual bags for each of them. Reagan loved going around and passing them out. They each got a big smile when she handed them their treasure. It was a really nice afternoon for everyone! 

 This evening, we were heading downtown to the Covelli Center for Disney On Ice: 100 Years of Magic. We were so excited! We had front row seats, too, bonus! 

 We grabbed our popcorn and got settled in the seats. It was a great show because it touched on almost everything! The first half had almost every princess come out, Reagan was in absolute heaven! They did parts from Ariel, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, and Snow White. Even Pocahontas and Mulan, it was really great! They also had a Nemo act, which was really cool! The sharks came out, which made Reagan a little nervous, but she still liked it. 

 The second act, had the Incredibles, Pinocchio and Lion King. The Incredibles, were a little boring for us, we were never that into it. The Pinocchio part was fun. We could not figure out how his nose kept getting longer and shorter. It was amazing! 

 One of our favorite parts was, It's a Small World. They transformed the castle they had, into the front of the, It's a Small World Ride. They had the "clock face" and everything, it was really neat. That was one of Reagan's favorite rides this time, so she LOVED it! 

They even threw in an act of Toy Story, which was kinda cool.  

At the end of the show, a lot of the characters came around to the edge of the ice and were shaking all the little one's hands. Reagan was thrilled that Ariel stopped by and said, hello! 

We had a really fun time and Jim and I both said, it was probably one of the best Disney on Ice we've seen! 

The photo of the day is Ariel saying hello to Reagan....

Next, all of us at the show....

Reagan and Nana passing out favors at the Sunrise lunch...

Eppie Adventure - Making a tower

Class, Circus & a Concert - 210/365

It was a busy day for everyone today! 

 Reagan had her first art class at All the Little Birds today. Jim had been wanting to do something with her, for their own daddy/daughter time, so this worked out perfect! 

They got to class and played a little bit with the other kids before class started. 

When it was time for class, they went back and started their project. Each child got a little 5x7 canvas, painters tape and a little tray with paint. They took the painters tape, made a design, then went to town. Reagan and Jim did a little "X". It came out great! 

 After class, they went out to the Canfield Fairgrounds to attend the little circus that was out there. It was only in town for one day. We went last year and it was fun. 

 Reagan was excited because grandma joined them for the evening! They were able to score front row tickets, so Reagan was thrilled to be able to see the animals up close. She said her favorite animal was the camel....lol! 

She hopped up on grandma's lap for a lot of the show and ate a whole box of popcorn. Her favorite!! They had a great time and didn't get home until 10:00. Party animals! 

While they were having their daddy/daughter time, mommy, Nana, Raymond and Jennifer hit the town. We started with dinner at Trax in Austintown. We hadn't been there in a long time, it was delicious! 

After that, we headed downtown to the Covelli Center for the 3 Doors Down/Daughtry show. 

We ended up getting in and out of dinner pretty quick, so we had time before the show to grab a drink. We decided to try the new Warehouse 50, which is actually the old BW3's. It was weird being in there and see it all different, since that was Jim and I's hangout in college. They did a nice job, but it's not our "B-dubs". 

We finished up our drink and made our way to the Covelli Center. It was shocking to see the place barely half full for a concert like that. 

We made it in time to hear a little bit of Halestorm. Whoa, they were something else! The lead singer was a girl and pretty much just screamed the whole time. They had a lot of fans there though, everyone had their Halestorm skull t-shirts on. 

3 Doors Down was next and were really good! I had forgotten about some of their songs. They were the very first event at the Covelli Center and we were lucky enough to have tickets to that show. It brought back some good memories. We also got a kick out of the lead singer becuase he kept saying, "my friends." We remembered that from the couple other times we had seen them. LOL!

 Daughtry came out last, but only did a 45 minute set. It was weird! He wasn't as good as the last time we saw him, but he was OK. 

It was a super fun night for everyone! We had a lot of laughs!

There are three pics today.  The first is Reagan at art class.....

The next is Jim, Grandma and Reagan at the circus....

The last is Nana, Raymond, Jennifer and I at Warehouse 50...

 

Carrie Underwood - 101/365

Carrie Underwood came to town today! 

My mom and started home around 10:00 but not before we hit the Bob Evan's for breakfast!

We made a stop at the Easton Town Center on the way home, to visit the container store and use Gymbucks at the Gymboree! We had a great shopping trip and found lots of treasures!

My poor mom though had woken up with the "snoots." She has an allergy to mold/mildew and sometimes hotel air conditioning units will cause it to act up.

As we were driving from Columbus, I could tell my mom was feeling worse. Totally bummed, she decided to sit the concert out. I texted Rachel with like 45 minutes to spare before dinner and she said she could go! YAY! She was even nice enough to drive! LOL! 

We hopped in the car and met Jen and Karen down at Cafe Cimmento before the show.  Rachel and I parked at the Covelli Center and as I was getting out of the car, I realized, I forgot my camera..huh! Jim, being the best husband ever, drove my camera downtown! How sweet was that!? 

We had a great dinner with a crazy waitress. She was actually the bar tender filling in because it was packed! She loved kidding around with us. She was reading the specials, while I was going back and forth with Jim about the camera, and I wasn't really paying attention, so she gave me a good ribbing about that one. The food prep was a little slow because it was so busy before the show. When our food finally came, I decided to tease the waitress back. When she set down my food I said, "Oh, I ordered the special." She just looked in horror and said "huh." I said, "Yea, the special. I wanted that but I don't remember what it was." She started busting out laughing and collapsed down in the booth. She said, "I was thinking, you're going to be here another 45 minutes then"...LOL!

After dinner, it was off to the show! We got there and Hunter Hayes was already on the stage. I really like his song "Wanted", so I was excited to see him. He was really good! 

 Carrie Underwood came out with a bang. She opened with "Good Girl" and rose up out of the stage! She sang for a good hour and a half and was excellent! At one point, a piece of the stage actually rose up and traveled over the people on the floor. It was amazing! Carrie said they were having meetings about the tour and someone asked "If you could have one thing during this tour, what would it be?" She said "a flying stage, of course" and they made it happen! LOL!

 She closed out with "Blown Away", which was fabulous! The big screens had a tornado and there was confetti toward the back of the stage. Where she was standing in the front, a "real" tornado blew up out of the stage right behind her! It was really something to see! 

 We had a great girls night out!

 We were so happy Rachel could join us, but it would have been better with five girls, so momma could have come, too! Stupid allergies!

 The photo of the day is Carrie!

 Here is her flying stage....

And Carrie getting "Blown Away!"

 

Confusing Circus - 96/365

Reagan, Jim and I headed down to the circus at the Covelli Center today. 

 We were excited to go and we are always up for something to do! 

In the days leading up to the show, I have started to see some things about the circus that kind of bothered me. But you never know what is going to the extreme and what's not. I told myself just enjoy the show. 

 The show started with a bang and it was really entertaining! There was so much going on, so much color and the music was quite catchy! Reagan was really into it! 

Next, came the little horses...this is where all that stuff started to creep back into my head. There was one horse that just didn't seem "into it" and was a little off cue. Next, they were doing a little bit of a magic trick with some bunnies. They just seemed a little rough to the bunnies for my liking.

 The tigers seemed OK. I don't know much about them, but none seemed mishandled. The guy standing in a cage with EIGHTEEN TIGERS surrounding him, CLEARLY has a screw loose, but who I am to judge him and what makes him happy! LOL! 

The acrobatics are always amazing. There where the tight rope walkers, four people spinning on a huge figure 8 type thing. The most amazing part had to be the lady that got shot out of the cannon. It was SO LOUD and so fast!

 Finally came the elephants. This was where my heart did start to hurt. They are just amazing creatures to watch. Their sheer size is just shocking and watching them do their tricks is stunning, but I must say they looked sad. The elephants at the Cleveland Zoo and Disney's Animal Kingdom look happy to me. I don't know. I have been hearing about these pokers that the trainers use on them and I have to say, I did witness one guy poke one with the stick. I don't know if it's sharp, I don't know if it hurts, but after all I've been hearing, it just bothered me. 

Since we left the circus at 1:30 I must say, I've been thinking about all the circus animals. I don't know if it's a happy life for them. I really, honestly doubt it is. I don't know if we'll go back to see this show. We saw a smaller circus this summer at the Canfield Fairgrounds that also had elephants, and I didn't get the feeling that I did from this one. This one just rubbed me wrong. 

 After all that "complaining", we did have a fun time. It was fun to see the excitement in Reagan's eyes. She danced to some parts and she LOVED seeing the elephants. She really loved the poodles. She was up out of her seat for that part! We really did have a nice family fun time, even though in the back of my mind all day, I just felt like I shouldn't be there and that I was doing something wrong. Like I was supporting something wrong.

The photo of the day is the wonderful elephants.... it's in support of their bravery, strength and a reminder that they are precious. 

On a happier note...here is Reagan at the start of the show!

And here is the loon caged in with 18 tigers!