Jimmy Buffett Concert

Last Saturday John and I, along with some good friends, went to see Jimmy Buffett at Toyota Park. Anabelle stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa because she is not ready to party with the Buffett crowd yet. If you have never been to a Buffett concert before I highly recommend it, and I would definitely see him at a venue where they allow tailgating. Tailgating at Buffett is like nothing you've ever seen. This year I had dreams of going all out, and surprisingly it all worked out. Our tailgating experience included; a canopy for shade, a tarp on the ground with sand spread all over, topped with a baby pool. You may be wondering how did you fill the baby pool?

Well we filled up a 32 gallon (new/clean) trash can with water at home, loaded it into my brother's generously donated work truck, duct taped it shut and sloshed our whole way to the concert. Despite the appearance and water pouring out of the back of the truck, we didn't lose that much water. It was a very humorous ride with lots of shrieks when we went over bumps and very slow acceleration.

All the sloshiness (yes it's a word) paid off because we had a lovely cool pool to dip our toes into. Since it was a sweltering 91 degrees with bright sun, it was quite nice. The rest of our tailgating setup included, lots of food, beer, water, lemonade, decorations, beach balls, sunscreen, and leis. The day was fun, and the concert at night was great. As always Jimmy makes you feel like you are on a vacation. Thanks to our good friends for a fun time, and thanks to Becky for being the designated driver.

John un-tapes the trash can

John and Joe fill up the pool

The whole gang minus Liz (she took the photo)

Kari and I enjoying the cool pool

John cooked up some tasty burgers

Darcy and I posed with some one's cardboard cutout

Working on making our glow-in-the-dark leis.

Kari and Joe

During the concert Danny Kane showed up with the Cup- Go Blackhawks!!

Phil and Liz

FINS!

Joe being a shark

Here are some shots I took of all the tailgaters and their setups. I love seeing what other people come up with. There are some creative people out there.

Lots of canopies set up

These people looked relaxed

These guys had games set up for the crowd and a microphone so they could be heard

Love this setup with the skirted tables

That's a lot of liquor

Love this bar-too cute!

Already looking forward to next year and thinking up some new ideas. Hmmmm.... how about a water slide?

Chocolate covered bacon-Yay! or Nay!

Last Saturday John and I decided it was time to introduce Anabelle to the joys of the Wisconsin State Fair. We have gone several times over the years and really love the food, shopping, and atmosphere of the fair. Last year I was VERY pregnant

and we didn't go because a) It was really hot! b) It was rainy and c) I didn't want to sit in a car for 2+ hours. But then I was sad for a whole year that I missed out on my much loved corn in a cup and cream puffs. So this year I was determined to go.

It's always a little risky taking Belle to an all day event like this you never know if she is going to cooperate and take naps in the car or stroller. If she doesn't nap, it quickly becomes an unpleasant experience for everyone involved. To our delight, Anabelle was great. She didn't sleep a ton, but just enough to be happy -so a good time was had by all. I also thought ahead and brought a big blanket so that we could find a shady spot and allow Belle to crawl around and get some energy out. It's tricky at this age; she has a lot of energy that she needs to expend but can only do it by crawling. This doesn't work well in most places -except your home. Once she can finally walk we will have more opportunities for her to move around, but right now we can't really let her crawl around on the ground at the fair.

So anyway on to more important things-the food. The first stop was "corn in a cup" or "Mexican corn". This is corn that they shave off the cob and mix with mayonaise, cheese, and seasonings. I know the mayo may throw you off, but really this stuff is so good! Just try it. Anabelle was a big fan and helped me finish off a cup. Then we headed over to the cream puffs. Oh so yummy!!! Anabelle was definitely a fan of the cream puff despite my bad pictures.

We took a break from eating to wander around, shop, and play on the blanket. After meeting up with Joe & Kari and Matt & Liz we enjoyed some chatting, beer drinking, more eating and more shopping.







Finally ready to head home I decided to try out a new item that I thought sounded delicious- Chocolate Covered Bacon! Much to my dismay it was gross. I don't know how? You would think bacon=yummy, chocolate=yummy, bacon+chocolate=yuck! Big disappointment.
Then we headed to the car for the long car ride home where Anabelle screamed for about 45 minutes straight, before finally falling asleep. I think she was mad that she didn't get another cream puff.

Can't wait till next year!

Park City, Utah

Last weekend John and I took a much needed mini-vacation to Park City. We left Anabelle with my Mom and Dad and enjoyed some baby free time with friends from college. Everyone trekked out to Utah to celebrate the wedding of Josh (better known as Chicken) and Lisa. We had a really fantastic time and are looking forward to the next time we can visit Park City-it is a truly beautiful town.

Main St. Park City

Main St.

The pine trees were huge and smelled so good!

All around us were tall sparkling Aspen trees, they're so beautiful.

Me and John at the wedding

To get to the wedding we had to take a nerve wracking ride on a gondola, at least there were beautiful views to distract us.

We made it to the top; the wedding was held at the Red Pine Lodge.

The weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony.

Aside from our own...this was our favorite ceremony. They had beautiful vows, and their style was very simple and true to who they are.

Bickham, John, Eric and Pat having fun at the reception.

Bickham, Pat, Amanda and Christy

The Boys: Matt, Bickham, John, Phil, Pat, Michael, Eric and Grady

The Girls: Shannon, Amanda, Liz, Inga, Melissa and Christy

***Special thanks to Mom and Dad who watched Anabelle for us and to Mikey and Steph who took care of our other babies; the kitties.

Catching up

It's been a little busy around here lately... John and I are just back from a long weekend in Park City Utah and we are now getting back into a normal routine. Since I had been busy preparing for the trip I hadn't blogged on the events of the weekend before so now I have some catching up to do.

Way back in the last weekend of July we had some celebrating to do as my mom turned 60! We had the family over for dinner and cake to celebrate. We had a nice meal together and mom seemed to enjoy her new camera, although we have yet to see her really use it =)

That evening Marena flew in for a quick visit. She is such a sweetheart, always knowing when I need a little boost and a visit from a best friend! We had a really good time chatting and playing with Anabelle. Monday Darcy and my mom joined Marena and Belle and I for a walk down town Naperville and lunch out. A day with the girls was just what we needed. We all had a fun day.

The rest of Marena's visit flew by in a blur of laughter, it was so nice to have her here. I am already looking forward to her next visit in September.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Utah pics coming soon.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Darcy and Anabelle having fun