YSU Tailgate - 250/365

It was YSU football day! The first tailgate for the family, too!

We all missed the first game, because most of the tailgaters were away on vacations.

We hit the tailgate around 2:00. The regular crew was all there, Greg, Nikki, Steve, Kathy, Stacey, Kenny, Kinley, Frank, Bernie, Dana, Jim, Reagan and I. Adrienne, Jake and the kids made the trip down for this game, too!

It was such a beautiful day to hang outside, have a few beers and chit chat.

Kinley and Reagan got to meet Pete and Penny and were so excited! Kinley was so bummed when they moved on to another part of the lot. She just kept trying to call them back, it was pitiful. Kathy felt bad, too, so she followed them a bit so she could still see them.

Stacey herself, was a hit with the girls. She sat in the back of her SUV with Kinley, Reagan and Jillian and played stickers for the longest time. We asked her what she charged for babysitting! She even let the girls borrow her fancy bracelets. They were loving them!

Reagan was extremely "huggy" today. She kept trying to give Kinley and Jillian hugs. It was adorable! She did pass out hugs to everyone before we left, too!

After the tailgate, Reagan and I headed home and Jim went to into the game with Greg, Nikki, Steve, Stacey and Kenny.

As for the game itself, it was a blowout! They played Morehead State and just dominated them. They scored touchdown after touchdown. The final score was a whopping, 67-13. GO GUINS!

When Reagan and I got home, she had some dinner, then we just played outside. She helped me water a couple flowers, we played chalk and spent most of our time in the sandbox.

When Jim got home, he joined us for a little bit, too!

We all had a great day!

The next is Reagan passing out hugs to Kinley and Jillian...

 

Touching Rascal Flatts - 249/365

It was an exciting day today! 

We started at gymnastics. It was so weird walking into the gym today. All summer, the big kids have been around, so the gym was packed with people. Today, it was just Reagan's little class of eight kids. It was so quiet! Poor Nana was the only spectator! Miss Amanda, will usually give the kids four "good job" stamps. One on each hand and foot. Today's teacher, only wanted to give one. The kids were so confused! Reagan was exceptionally bummed.

After gymnastics, we went over to family garden day at Fellows. We just love that little program. Today they were doing a scavenger hunt around the garden. They had 5 hula hoops laying on the ground, with a little sign in the middle of what the kids had to find. For example, 3 yellow flowers or 4 tomatoes. Reagan did great and found everything but the two worms. We found one worm, but she wouldn't hold it...LOL! 

The craft today was little bug masks that they got to color. They were too funny! 

After the garden, we just ran a few errands and had lunch at La Rocca's. 

This evening, my mom and I were going to see Rascal Flatts at First Niagara in Pittsburgh, so Jim and Reagan went over to visit Nikki, Greg and Timmy. Reagan just loves their little cat. They played with Timmy for a little bit, then decided they were hungry. They ended up having dinner at the Phoenix. They enjoyed their dinner, coloring and Reagan passed out her world famous tattoos to everyone. They had a good time! 

 My mom and I left for the show and stopped to have dinner at the Shale on the way down. We just love it there! 

 We got to First Niagara with no problems and got an awesome parking spot! Our seats ended up being AMAZING, too! There was a pit, then a catwalk. We got to lean on the catwalk the entire show! 

When we first got to our row, there were some people leaning on the catwalk, right in front of our seats. There was an usher right there, so I asked her, "Where are they supposed to be?" She said "Over here. They're fine?" as she pointed to the next section over! I said, "Not during Rascal Flatts, they're not." She said, "Yes, anyone in the first row can be at the catwalk." I said, "Even if they are supposed to be in that section over there?" She replied, "Yes!" My mom chimed in and asked, "Well there is no one in the middle, can we go there?" She said, "YES!" SO, that's what we did! 

There was this BEAST of a woman (like six foot or more tall, and hefty) who was sitting in her seat behind where we went to lean. I heard her say, "Oh no, they aren't standing there when the band comes out."  I turned around and told her what the usher by us told me. "She said, well this is my seat and I should be able to be here." I said, "I agree, I'd be happy to go back to my seat, but people from that section over there are in my spot. That lady over there (pointing to the usher) said it's first come first serve on the catwalk." She mouthed off some more stuff and I said, "Again, I'd be happy to go back to my seat, if that usher will move the people out of our space." She finally said, "Who is it? That lady over there?" I said, YEP!" Well, I think the beast lady scared the usher, because soon, there was an usher meeting and everyone had to go back to their regular seats. Peace was restored at the Rascal Flatts concert! Woohoo! 

 The band came out and it was just AMAZING!! They were right there and we just had a freaking ball, laughing and taking pictures. I felt like a teeny bopper at a Justin Bieber concert, we were so excited to be that close! We usually, are lucky enough to have FABULOUS seats, but, this takes the cake for sure! They were so close that you could touch their snake skin cowboy boots, without even reaching out! Let me say, those boots look like they cost a FORTUNE!! You could also see right up their nostrils! Nope, no boogies! LMAO! 

 We got to touch two of the three, too! Joe Don reached down and shook our hands. And Gary, reached down and shook our hands TWICE!! At the very end, he went across the front and shook everyone's hand. He looked right at me, so I said, "Awesome show, thank you so much!" He said, "Thank you!!" and smiled! It was too cool! Usually, we will book a song early, just to get a jump on the traffic, but since we were right there, we decided to stay for the encore. SO worth it! 

We got out with zero traffic issues and got home shortly after 12. What an awesome, awesome time!

The photo of the day is my mom and I being excited about the show! LOL!

Here is just a close up of the band...

Next, is Jim and Reagan at dinner with Nikki and Greg...

Finally, Reagan and her bug mask...

 

Honeycrisp Time - 248/365

I saw on Haus's Facebook page yesterday, that Honeycrisp Apples had arrived! 

These are my all time favorite apples and they are only available for a short time in the fall. They fit their name perfectly, because, they taste exactly like honey and are perfectly crisp! I couldn't wait to get there today to pick some up! 

We started the day at Tales for Tots, though. This month the theme was skunks. All the kids seemed into it and we all learned a lot about skunks. Like, the stinky juice can shoot up to seven feet! SO, if you see a skunk, RUN! 

We took a walk on the trail to look for things a skunk would eat and where they live. The kids were so into it. 

After that, we went to the back yard to skunk hunt. They had a big stuffed skunk that was the "mama skunk" and had hidden printed skunks all over the yard. The kids got to run and find the "babies" to bring back to the "mama". Reagan found four and was the best little hunter! 

After our outside activities, we went back in to do the craft. They got to make a skunk out of a toilet paper roll. It was covered in black paper and they got to glue a head, tail and four legs on. For the white stripe, they glued shredded cotton balls down the middle. It was so cute and Reagan was so proud of it! She ran to show Jim when he got home from work this evening. 

After class, we went to Haus's! We got our apples and I'm so excited! Reagan grabbed one right out of the bucket and started chomping on it. They were her favorite last year, too! We all enjoyed one this evening! YUM! 

Nana, Reagan and I ended up lunching at the Dutch Haus, then hit the mall. I needed to get a few fall Yankee Candles and wanted to check out the new line from Gymboree. I think this is the first time in two years, that I haven't liked the new line from Gymboree. I couldn't find one shirt, skirt or pants, that I wanted from that line. YUCK! 

This evening, Jim, Reagan and I took a walk around the neighborhood. 

I got the grill all cleaned out this afternoon, so I was able to cook the chicken from last night, without burning the house down. Success! 

The photo of the day is the first Honeycrisp apples of the season!

 The next is Reagan at skunk class...

 

Fun at the Farm - 247/365

It was just a regular day today. 

Nana, Reagan, Brinkley and I hit the trail this morning. It was exciting because, we saw three deer families this morning, in two different spots. We saw three moms and five babies between them. The one family, was right on the edge of the trail just staring at us. It was amazing! She never moved, until a really LOUD talker came by. 

After the trail, Reagan and Nana went to her house for a play day. They had a great time! Reagan got to spend most of the afternoon playing with Niko and Nyah. They had a ball! Reagan even got to spend some time with Riley, the golden retriever, that lives behind my mom. When Papa got home, they went to the Phoenix for some dinner. 

I spent the day, doing some chores, picture sorting, and catching up on some Alaska blogs. When Jim got home, we decided to take Brinkley up to the experimental farm. He really loves it up there. Since we didn't have Reagan, we decided to do the wooded, farther back "off-road" trail. We usually can't take her, because it's too far and we can't use the stroller. Brinkley just loved it and it was nice spending some one on one time with our baby boy. 

When we got home, we fired up the grill to cook some chicken breasts. In the meantime, Nana and Papa dropped Reagan off. We stood in the driveway talking for 15 or so minutes; Reagan was drawing trampolines for everyone to jump on. After they left, we went back to the deck to throw the chicken on the grill. The grill was smoking pretty bad, even with nothing on it. We opened the lid, and here, all the burnt crumbs on the tray below, had caught fire! We turned the heat off and they still kept on flaming! I have a spray bottle of water that I use to steam clean the grill, so I tried to start spraying the flames. That ticked them off, because they just got BIGGER. Jim was Googling on his phone to try to see what to do. It said to turn off the heat and just let them burn out. Sure enough, five or so minutes later, they went out. With all the craziness of the flames, we never got a picture. Bummer...LOL! We're just happy we caught it before the whole back of the house went up in flames.

The photo of the day is Brinkley at his favorite trail...

 The next is our beautiful little deer friend...

 

Red Thread - 246/365

Today was catch up day. 

Jim was catching up at work. I was going to catch up on laundry, mail, groceries and lots of yard work. Basically, a little bit of everything needed done. 

 Jim went off to work and had a super busy day, between work and rotary. 

 Nana and I hit the trail with Brinkley first thing this morning. In the meantime, Jim's mom came over to watch Reagan, so I could get all my chores done. I finished most everything, then went out to mow the grass. 

I noticed before we left, that we were having a Red Thread problem in the yard. It's a fungal infection that doesn't really hurt anything, it's just ugly in spots. If you walk through the grass, your shoes will get this weird orange powder on them. It brushes right off and doesn't stain, it's just ugly. 

Today, I fired up the mower and drove off into the yard. I felt like Pigpen from Charlie Brown, because everywhere I went, a red cloud of dust followed me. By the time I was done, the red mower was orange, as well as my shoes and legs. I failed at getting a good picture of the redness this afternoon, and was bummed when I realized this evening, I didn't have a picture for today. I took some crappy shoes and walked around the yard, trying to get them to turn orange for a picture, but no go. I think mowing stirred it all up and it blew away. Hopefully, it will clear up now. The Lawn Ranger treated for it, so we shall see! I did manage to find a small spot on the tire for a picture. 

The photo of the day is the little spot of Red Thread on the mower.... 

 

Canfield Fair - 245/365

It was Canfield Fair day! We love taking in the fair! 

Even though we just got home late last night, we were still looking forward to it. 

The time change is really messing with us though. We all went to bed really late, since we couldn't sleep. Then, slept in until 10:00, which is unheard of in this house. We're usually all up and about no later than 7:00-7:30. 

We got showered and headed on out. The weather was great, but a little hotter than us "Alaskans" are accustomed to. We were roasting!

We went straight to the Arts and Crafts building, to see if I got any ribbons. I usually enter 3-5 things, but with everything going on, I only entered Reagan's centerpiece from her farm party. I was so excited to see, when we finally found it, that it had won second place! Woohoo! I was so happy!

Next, we went over to the photography building. Usually, you are allowed to enter three photos, but this year, you were only allowed two. I entered my Cars Land photo from Disneyland in January and a picture of Reagan from the 4th of July. Neither one got ribbons, but it was still fun to see them hanging up at the fair.

 From there, we took Reagan over to ride some rides. We gave her the choice of what to ride first and she picked the roller coaster. What a brave little girl! She hopped right on and seemed to like it. Although, she had a look of "concern" on her face the whole time.  

 She ended up riding 5 or 6 things and loved them all.  At one ride, Jim asked her, "Do you want to ride the bunny ride, honey?" Reagan quickly replied, "They are kangaroos, dada." Sure enough, they were! She's smarter than two 30-year-olds! 

Finally, it was time to stuff ourselves. We had, fries, cheese on a stick, pepperoni roll, ice cream and fried Oreos. We did quite good!!! 

We took a spin through the duck, bunny and rooster barn. Took a peek at the sheep and cows. Found Reagan a Dora balloon and were on our way home to nap! 

This evening, I just did some laundry while Reagan and Jim played a little bit. It was a nice way to ease back into being home! 

 The photo of the day is Reagan riding the coaster... 

The next is my second place ribbon...

 

Jet Lag - 244/365

Travel day stinks. 

Even more so, after an amazing vacation. 

We had to get up at 3:00AM, to get ready to leave for the airport at 4:00AM. We all had trouble sleeping, just being paranoid that we would sleep in and miss the plane. I have to say, Reagan was a trooper that morning and gave very little attitude for getting 5-6 hours of sleep. Thankfully, she's well traveled...LOL!

We got to the airport and made it through security with no trouble at all, which was nice. The security people were actually very nice and helped us set our stroller back up and took good care of Mr. Fuzzy. Reagan was pleased. 

 Our flight to San Francisco was on time and uneventful. Reagan passed right out as we took off and slept the whole two hour flight! I caught a bit of shut eye myself. It was nice. 

When we got close to San Fran, it was kind of spooky flying there after the Asiana plane crashed there back in July, actually on Jim's birthday. Anyway, we flew right over the seawall onto the same runway. That pilot REALLY missed that landing, because after we saw the seawall, we were over land a good 30 seconds to a minute, before touchdown. It was something. 

When we got off the plane, there was a cool little playground right there. We stopped and let Reagan play and burn some energy for a few minutes. She had a ball. I haven't seen that at too many airports. It was nice. 

Once she was done, we stopped to get some breakfast at a restaurant, since we had a two hour layover. Breakfast was yummy! 

Our flight to Cleveland was pretty uneventful, too, which is always nice. Reagan probably slept two of the four hours on that flight as well. We were all pretty pooped. 

We finally got home around 8:00. The cats were happy to see us and Papa delivered Brinkley. It was so good to see our buddy. Reagan was thrilled! 

It was weird, even though we were up super early, and had a long day, when it came to trying to sleep, we were wide awake! Jet lag is weird...LOL! 

 The photo of the day is Reagan's little face at 4:00am 

 Our little munchkin, passed out on the plane...