Cell Phone Dump

*Cell phone dump from July*

 

 So I watched this lady in the black car empty her cart at Walmart & leave it in the parking spot next to her when there was clearly a cart carousel 15 feet away. SERIOUSLY?? Ugh some people are SO lazy!

Absolutely love this smooshy face! 

It's back - fall season is right around the corner!!

 Mason LOVES to play around with the Snapchat app. His mommy kind of does too :)

 One of the beautiful sunsets we watched on Table Rock Lake
 

Love this boy :)

Duran Duran concert

This weekend my best girlfriend Jilly is in town & staying with me tonight as we are venturing off to Starlight Theatre to see my beloved 80's band Duran Duran play.

I have wanted to see Duran Duran in concert ever since I was a teenager & never had the opportunity to go....until tonight & I wasn't going to miss it.

We started our day by having some pool-time & by the end of the afternoon Mase was DONE! He didn't want to take pictures, he didn't want to go, he didn't want to stay....he didn't know what he wanted so we headed back to the house where he fell asleep while Jilly & I got ready for the concert.

We ended up leaving my house a little early & headed to RA for some sushi & a cocktail. Mmmm - Moscow Mules!

 

Then while I was in the restroom that stinker Jilly told the bartender it was my birthday & ordered me a free birthday desert!!! Now granted my birthday isn't for another few weeks but they didn't care. They brought this amazing lightly battered cinnamon-swirl gelato, flash fried & finished with raspberry & chocolate sauces & it was amazing! It was called a Cinnamon Tempura Gelato & the best part - it was FREE!!

After an amazing dinner & dessert we made our way to Starlight for the concert. When we got there we kept running into people Jilly knew & hadn't seen in forever. So crazy seeing how she lives in Florida!

Selfie with Jilly's friend Melanie

 

Another selfie with Jilly's friend Tracy

 

We finally made it to our seats - 5th row from the stage & we were SO excited! They opened up with Paper Gods from their new album (who knew they were still recording music?) & then went on to play 18 more songs from their greatest hits. 

 They sounded just as good as they did in the 80's & put on an amazing concert!

I hate that this girl is leaving me in the morning & heading back to Florida. I so love my "Jilly-time" & am hoping to get to see her again this fall when she swings through the Kansas City area!

Bucket List #24 - see Duran Duran in concert = COMPLETE!!



 

TRG - day 4

This morning we had another lazy morning & weren't too quick about venturing out into the heat. We had breakfast at the camper & then headed to the Shepard of the Hills Fish Hatchery located right below the dam of Table Rock Lake.

This was a fun place to stop in & the best part was it was FREE! They had a tour we went on that explained the difference between rainbow & brown trout, how they spawn & reproduce, how they care for them in the tanks & then release them into Lake Taneycomo for fishermen to catch.

And then we got to feed the trout. Mase had so much fun feeding the fish & I think Daddy did too :)

We spent a couple of hours here & left just as it was starting to really heat up. We headed to a Chinese restaurant for a late lunch & then spent some time driving around the Branson area checking on stuff to do when we return in October. Mase ended up falling asleep while we were driving around & took a nap which is always a good thing for our sanity & his!

The rest of the evening we spent playing at the park, another walk around the marina & campsite & getting things packed up & ready to go for the next day since we were heading home.

Despite the heat, we really had a great time at Table Rock Lake & Branson area. We have already planned another trip back for a weekend in October....when it is a bit cooler! Definitely looking forward to that!!!

TRG - day 3

Day 3 of our trip to Table Rock Lake consisted of a super fun & full day. We started off the day by stopping into IHOP & eating a late breakfast. Mase absolutely loved his smiley face pancakes :)

We usually ate a late breakfast so we could skip lunch & get an early dinner to avoid all the tourists. It was just simply too hot to grill out or prepare food in the camper so unfortunately we ate out pretty much the entire time we were here.

Next stop was a tour of Branson on the "Ride the Ducks" tour. Before we got on the "amphibian" vehicle Mase was given a quacker which sounded just like a duck & we regretted buying it the minute he put it to his mouth. He & about 6 other kids quacked the entire tour!

On our tour we drove through the scenic Ozarks, climbed to the top of a mountain that overlooked Table Rock Lake (& our campsite by the marina):

And after we headed down from the mountain we drove up to & into Table Rock Lake for a tour around the lake. Mase even got to drive the boat:

 We passed by the Showboat Branson Belle:

 

And enjoyed hearing about the city & seeing all the expensive homes that were on the lake:

 

Once we were back on land we headed back to the Ride the Ducks building & from there we headed on over to the Titanic museum.

I had gotten tickets on Groupon for this museum which was a pretty good savings because otherwise it would have been pricey to have gone through it. It was neat though to be a "passenger" on the Titanic & experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins & Grand Staircase while being surrounded by more than 400 artifacts directly from the ship & its passengers. There was a real iceberg we could touch, a pit of 28 degree water we could stick our hands into to feel how cold the water was the night the ship went down as well as sloping decks to try & stand on.

At the end of the tour you located the name on your boarding pass & could find out your fate in the Memorial Room where 2,208 names line the historic wall & say whether they lived or died that fatal night.
It was a pretty cool thing to see & a couple of hours spent in the air conditioning was pretty amazing! Definitely something to check out if you have a few hours you want to kill!

On our way back to the camper we decided to pull into this cute little BBQ joint called Danna's BBQ for supper & so glad we did! It was some pretty amazing stuff!

We headed back to the steamy hot camper after we ate, turned on the air conditioners & went for a walk around the marina while the RV cooled down.

This kid loves throwing rocks into the water so he proceeded to do that for 30 minutes. Mase has quite the arm on him....hoping he is a pitcher in the future like he his Daddy was in the past!

We made it back to the RV as the sun was going down & went inside for showers, popcorn & a movie. We have one more day for fun before we head back home so looking forward to what tomorrow brings us.

TRG - Day 2

Day 2 of vacation & it is going to be a busy one! We kind of had a lazy morning & enjoyed sleeping in, late morning coffee & planning our day.

First stop was for a late morning breakfast at an awesome "hole-n-the-wall" kind of place called Billy Gail's Café.

When we arrived people were waiting outside the place so you know it's got to be good! We thought our wait-time would be hours but luckily it was only 15 minutes before we were seated.

Shane & I ordered breakfast & figured we would have Mase eat some of ours. Thank goodness we did because when they brought our food out the portions were enormous!! The pancakes were so big they didn't even fit on the plate & my biscuits/gravy plate was twice the size of the pancakes.....CRAZY! It was a delicious breakfast & we were SO full by the time we left! No lunch for us that is for sure!!

Next stop was to Silver Dollar City. This theme park is an 1880s-themed experience with over 40 rides & attractions, live shows & concerts, food, 60 unique shops & sits atop one of Missouri's deepest caves - Marvel Cave.

We spent the day hitting up all the rides that Mason & our little family could ride but after 4 hours & 97 degree heat we were pretty much done. Mase was getting crabby, Shane was sweating to death & I was about to pass out from the heat.

Unfortunately, we picked thee very hottest week of the summer to go on vacation & go camping. The temps were mid 90's but the heat index was well over 100 degrees. It pretty much sucked to be outside doing anything. So before heading back to the RV we stayed cool by driving around checking out other possible campsites to go to while Mase took a nap.

 

Later we stopped at a buffet place on the strip to eat dinner & then headed back to the RV where we knew it was going to be hotter than heck.

 

During the day while we were gone we turned the air conditioners off in the RV because it seemed silly to run them constantly all day with no one in there so we came home & this was usually the temp inside the RV:

Luckily it only took about 30 minutes for the RV to cool down to a tolerable temp so during that time we would play at the park or go take a walk to the marina. Once the camper cooled off we spent the rest of the evening watching movies & eating popcorn. Anything to not be outside & to stay cool.

Table Rock Getaway

We are off & headed down to Table Rock State Park down by Branson, MO for 5 days of fun & much needed time away after all that has gone down with Bubba last week. It will do us some good to get away from the house & all the reminders of our beloved boy & have some fun as a family!

We had never been to Table Rock Lake or Branson so we were excited to get down there & check it out. We left late morning & our drive only took us 3 hours to get down there & find the State Park. Unfortunately, we had a little mishap driving into the state park....or what we thought was the state park.

The signs were poorly marked & we may have taken a wrong turn which found us heading towards the marina with nowhere to turn around or back up. It was not a pretty moment in the truck - tensions were high, Shane was frustrated & pissed, Mason was crying & I was sick to my stomach. We had no idea how we were going to get turned around with a 39 foot RV behind us.

Shane ended up getting out of the truck & walked 1/4 mile to the marina to look around for a place to back up & turn around. He came back 20 minutes later & said "I don't see anywhere for us turn around. F*ck it - we are just going to head into the parking lot & try to turn around in there". I had to put all my faith in him, his driving abilities & hope for the best.

We made our way into the parking lot with lots of stares from onlookers & by the grace of God he found a small area by the maintenance garage that he could pull into & back up. I know my husband drives tractor-trailers for a living but I am always amazed at how he can back those things into an area as small as a gnat's ass & always make it look so easy! Well he continued to amaze me today because after some maneuvering & instruction from his lovely wife we finally got turned around, made our way out of the marina & took the correct turn into the campsite.

Once we pulled in, we breathed easy & got the RV all set up at our new home away from home:

When we are setting up the RV, Shane always does all the outside checks & hook-ups while I always do the inside stuff. We kind of make a good team when it comes to getting the RV ready :)

After everything was done we ate supper, cleaned up & then went for a walk around the campsite & watched a beautiful sunset at the marina.

Day one was in the books & we were excited for what was in store for the next few days!

Grieving

Well it has been a week since we lost Bubba & my heart still hurts something awful :( Yesterday the ER vet hospital called saying his ashes were ready to be picked up. I went after work to get him & in a strange way it made me feel better knowing he was back home with us where he belonged.

I have ordered a super nice urn with his name on it & am waiting for that to be delivered hopefully next week.

The night we lost him, I drove home & Shane & I stayed up until 1am crying, sharing funny stories of Bentley, looking at pictures of him & desperately missing him. We finally fell asleep & I ended up taking that next day off of work because I just wasn't in any shape to be there. I took Mase to daycare, went back home & spent the day loving on Millie, crying my eyes out, grieving with Shane & missing our sweet boy.

Getting through this week without him has been a bit rough. Everywhere I look I expect him to be laying there, under my feet, pawing at me from my side of the bed. Ugh - it is so very sad. Millie has been looking all over the house for Bentley which has been absolutely heartbreaking. She isn't eating, is clearly depressed & has been laying in the spot Bentley used to sleep which she has never done.

Mason keeps asking a hundred questions "where did Bubba go? when is he coming back? why did he die? where is he? why did he go to doggie heaven? can I go see him?" The questions just never stop & it is SO hard to explain it to a 3 year old who doesn't get it. It is like reliving the horrible incident over & over again every single day. He gets upset when he sees me cry & just doesn't understand any of it. Honestly I think that has been the most difficult in all of this. We went to the book store & bought a couple of books about doggie heaven which are on a level he can somewhat understand so reading those to him have helped. I am hoping that with each day that passes it will get easier.

These beautiful flowers showed up the day after from my amazing "Mama Tribe" which helped brighten my day! They are still just as gorgeous a week later.

Now I know some of you reading this are thinking "it is just a dog - for gosh sake get over it already" but for those of you who have lost a furry member of your family I know you get it.

Bentley was with us for 11 1/2 years & to us he was as much a member of our family as Mason is. He is going to be so desperately missed & even though losing him has been heartbreaking, I wouldn't trade a minute or a day of the time we had with him.

RIP Bubba

I knew this day would come but nothing could prepare me for the grief & heartbreak I would feel.



Last night we had to unexpectedly say goodbye to our sweet boy Bentley.

It was a typical night in the Taylor house. I had given Mase a bath, got our PJ's on & let the dogs out one last time to potty before bed. As Bentley came back in I noticed his belly was huge & distended. Once he got back into the house he started slobbering excessively & vomiting but nothing was coming up. I had a sick feeling what was going on with him but quickly checked Google to make sure & sadly I was right :(

Bentley had a condition called "bloat" or gastric torsion. When bloat occurs, the dog’s stomach fills with air & the enlarged stomach puts pressure on other organs . It causes difficulty breathing & eventually decreases blood supply to vital organs. It is painful & death occurs within a couple of hours if not treated. This is the same condition the dog in Marley & Me died from as well as my friend's Mastiff so I was familiar with what it was.

I told Shane I needed to get Bentley to the emergency vet as soon as possible & that this may be the last time he & Mason sees him. At the time Shane didn't understand how serious of a condition this was & thought I was being over-dramatic but I pushed for the both of them to say their "goodbyes" just incase. Mason had no idea what was happening & we just told him that Bubba was really sick, Mommy was taking him to the doggie doctor & he may not be coming home.

It was about a 25 minute drive to the nearest ER Vet facility & I had called them while I was on my way to let them know I would be arriving. As soon as I got there, 3 people came out the door with a stretcher, got Bentley out of the car & wheeled him into the building. As he was being looked at by the vet I filled out all the paperwork & just sat there praying.

10 minutes later they took me back to a room & the vet came to talk to me. I knew just by the look on her face. She explained to me that he did have bloat & her recommendation was to euthanize him. I pretty much lost it at this point & couldn't really hear the rest of what she said. I did hear that he probably wouldn't survive surgery with his age & heart condition & that if we did do surgery it would be costly & the gastric torsion usually comes back. Sadly, there was no other choice.

I called Shane & tried to explain to him what the vet said & we both decided the best & most humane thing to do was to have him put to sleep. Shane felt absolutely awful for not being there but Mason was sound asleep & to wake him up, drag him to the vet to watch his dog be put down wasn't an option so they stayed home.

They had relieved some of the air out of Bubba's belly & gave him some Morphine to help make him more comfortable & after they brought him back to me I got to sit with him for as long as I wanted. I loved on him, petted him, rubbed his ears, smooched his flaps, talked to him & thanked him for being the most amazing dog to us these past 11 1/2 years. I sat there for the longest time just hugging him & he just let me.

After about 20 minutes I was as ready as I could be & the vet came in with those 2 syringes that would take away all his pain & suffering. It took seconds & then he was gone. I was amazed at how fast he went which made me feel like he was ready to go.



This sweet boy blessed our lives for over 11 years & filled it full of unconditional love, loyal company, big slobbery kisses, loud snoring & gas bombs that would clear a room - typical Bulldog. He was our favorite hello, our saddest goodbye & he will be forever missed.

RIP our sweet boy - until we meet again...

4th of July

Sadly my sister & her family headed back home to Wisconsin today :( They were supposed to stay until tomorrow but they had just moved into a new house last week & wanted to have at least a day to start unpacking before the work week started.

So it was me & my brothers left to run the fireworks show for the evening. All three of us had bought a bunch of fireworks earlier in the day so we were all excited to shoot them off once the sun started going down.

We all ate leftovers from the anniversary party the night before & then headed out to shoot some bottle rockets, smoke bombs, snakes & the group favorite - the Naughty Dog :)

Mason really liked the little cars that sped off when lit & then blew up. Daddy of course was there to help & supervise:

 Smoke bombs were another hit with the littles:

The bigger kids shot off the "older kid" fireworks with my brother....mostly bottle rockets, showering cones & roman candles:

 

My other brother Steve helped Mase light fireworks also:

The adults just sat back in our lawn chairs with our beers watching the show & making sure the kids didn't burn themselves! It was an awesome evening spent with my family & we talked about how we should make the July 4th holiday an annual event at the farm - just like we did when we were kids.

Sadly tomorrow we all head back :( Not looking forward to the 7 hour drive home but am thankful to have made the trip & the time spent with my family!

Hope you all had a safe & wonderful 4th of July spent with your loved ones!

40 years

This past January my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! What a huge accomplishment for them or any married couple these days! To help them celebrate, my parents are throwing a huge anniversary party this weekend & have invited all the family & their closest friends to join in the celebration.

Friday - Day One
So today we made our way north to South Dakota to spend the weekend with my family. Mase was a trooper on the road trip & passed the time playing games, coloring, singing songs, watching movies & taking a good nap! 7 hours on the road & we had finally made our way to the farm.



We spent the rest of the evening catching up with my family & visiting with friends & family that we hadn't seen in years!

We had decided to stay at a local hotel nearby since the vacancy at my parents house was reaching capacity! It actually worked out better to have a quiet place to retreat to at the end of the day & not have to share a bathroom with a bunch of people. I love staying at my parents but with us 4 siblings, spouses & all the grandchildren together it does get a bit crowded & chaotic! So we headed to the hotel early to get checked-in & ended up hitting the bed early as well as we were super tired from the long day of traveling.

Saturday - Day 2
We woke up this morning & had a lazy start to the day. I headed over to the lodge to help my Mom set up for the party later this evening while Mase & Shane hung out at the hotel & then later met me at my parents farm.

The lodge where my parents hosted the party at was an amazing place with lots of room & perfect for entertaining. My Mom had hired someone to set-up, decorate & cater the food for the event & she did an awesome job! My Mom was super pleased with how everything turned out & I too was impressed! Here are a few of the "details" around the place:

 Entrance into the building - minus the fresh flowers that were displayed

Photo table of my parents wedding, children & grandchildren 

What my parents wore on their wedding day 

Beautiful table centerpieces

 4 different kinds of cupcakes for dessert

 

Beer, soda & free koozies for everyone

 

Before the party got started, my entire immediate family gathered together for family pictures. It turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon & despite being a bit breezy outside our dear family friend & photographer managed to get some great pics.

 

Mase had fallen asleep on our way over to the lodge & I hated to wake him up but we had to get the pictures taken before everyone started arriving. What a huge mistake that was!!! He was a grizzly bear & threw a full on fit during the pics! He refused to look at the camera, cooperate or smile for our big family photo & refused to stop crying for our family picture:

He was SO fussy & grumpy & at one point he asked to go back to the car so he could go back to sleep so that is what we did:

Doesn't look very comfortable does it?

 

Shane sat outside with some of my family & kept an eye on him while he slept & I wandered around visiting with guests who were arriving. Mase eventually woke up, was in better spirits & we were finally able to get a decent family picture - windblown hair & all :)

 

After all the guests arrived, everyone was seated & we were served a catered meal of hamburgers, brats & lots of yummy sides. Once everyone ate my mom stood up, thanked everyone for coming to help celebrate such a wonderful milestone, gave a little speech & then introduced their children, spouses & grandchildren to the crowd.



My Dad, Mom & their matron of honor at the head table

 

After all the introductions were over, the DJ started up the music, took requests from the crowd & there was dancing & lots of fun had by all!

 

Then if the DJ wasn't enough, at dusk everyone headed outside for the surprise fireworks display: 



At this point in the evening my little guy was sound asleep. He hardly ate anything for supper & he just wanted to be held. As I was holding him he felt super hot so I instantly knew he was running a fever. It would explain why he was such a grizzly bear earlier in the day, why he was so grumpy, why he was so clingy & hardly ate. Poor little guy was sick :( I pretty much held him & sat on the couch the entire evening so I wasn't able to wander around mingling very much. I felt like I should go back to the hotel with him but then I felt bad about leaving my parents party also.

So once the fireworks show was over we said goodbye to everyone & headed back to the hotel. Turns out Mase had a 101 fever. Ugh - I felt so bad for him. Luckily I had brought the Motrin, Tylenol & thermometer with us so I dosed him with Motrin & put him to bed.

 

He woke up the next morning & sadly still had a fever of 101 but had no other symptoms which was so weird. No upset tummy, no sore throat, no congestion....just a fever! All his cousins were coming over to swim in the hotel pool later in the morning & he was so upset he wouldn't be able to swim with them. I told him if he felt better in a few hours he could swim & was thinking perhaps the cool water would help break his fever?

 

By the time everyone came over his fever was down to 99 & he was feeling much better so he was able to swim. All the cousins had a ball in the pool & Jacuzzi together:

The kids swam for a couple of hours & then we all parted ways & got ready for the day. We then headed over to my parents farm & let the kids run around & play together for awhile. Mason's fever was still around 99 degrees but he seemed to be feeling better so we kept on going about our day.

 

Later in the afternoon us three headed downtown to show Mason the World's Only Corn Palace, walk around a bit & get some ice cream. 

It was a fun afternoon together & I was so glad Mason's fever had broke & that he was feeling much better!

 

On our way back to my parents farm we had stopped to get a bunch of fireworks (as did my siblings) to set off later in the evening. Mase had so much fun picking out his fireworks & couldn't wait to light the "Naughty Dog" & the "Pooping Pig" :)

to be continued.....