Gwen & friends

Tonight I had me a "Mama's Night Out" with my favorite Mama friends & it was FUN times! We all had tickets to see Eve & Gwen Stefani but before the concert we decided to have a little pre-concert food & cocktails.

We ended up at Tanner's in the Power & Light district & filled our tummies full of bar food & cocktails! Mmmm - Moscow Mules! The Mommies favorite drink :)

We were all excited to get in, grab our seats & watch the show. We had been looking forward to seeing Gwen since we bought tickets almost 6 months ago!

Eve was one of my favorite female rappers growing up in the 90's & I was super excited to see her perform.

We made our way inside the arena, grabbed a cocktail & settled into our seats anxiously awaiting the beginning of the concert! Eve opened up the show & she was awesome as I knew she would be! She sang all my favorites...Let Me Blow Ya Mind, Who's That Girl, Satisfaction, Tambourine. Ugh SO good!

There was a bit of intermission before Gwen came on & everyone was so excited to see here appear! Gwen's concert ended up being absolutely amazing! She sang for almost 3 hours with no break & her show was non-stop energy! My friends from work were on the floor in front of the stage so they shared some great pics up close of Gwen during the show!

Us Mama's had a great time & it was definitely one of the better concerts I have been too in quite some time!! 

Melvern Lake

This weekend we are headed back to one of our favorite campsites - Melvern Lake. Our dear friends Camille & Ray are packing up their family & heading down also to spend the weekend camping with us.

One of the many reasons we love Melvern Lake so much is because it is only an hour south of where we live so to pick up & go camping for the weekend is easy peasy. We got down there early Friday morning, set up camp & then took Mason on his first fishing excursion.

We got all set up on the bank of the lake & Mason was SO excited to try out his new Spiderman fishing pole.

Shane got out his fancy fishing pole & the two of them stood patiently waiting for a nibble on their line.

It took Mason only 10 minutes before he caught his first fish (a little bluegill) & he was SO excited!!!

We spent the next half hour fishing in the same spot with no luck so we decided to move across the pond & try out a different location. Another 15 minutes had passed & Mason caught his 2nd fish! He was really enjoying this fishing thang!Just incase you all aren't keeping score....Mason - 2  Daddy - 0.

We spent a little more time fishing & then saw Ray & Camille pull into the campsite so we packed up our gear & went to meet them. We helped them unload their stuff, help set up their pop-up camper & then Camille & I got supper ready for everyone.

After supper we let the kids watch a movie in our RV while the big kids sat around the campfire enjoying catching up & have a few beers.

The next morning we all slept in & had a bit of a late start. Once everyone was up we met over at Ray & Camille's camper where Camille was making us all waffles for breakfast. Afterwards we all took a walk around the area & let the kids play at the park & throw rocks into the lake.

We went on a walk on the nature trails, rode bikes, went fishing & had so much fun hanging out together. I ended up cooking for the crew that evening making burgers & brats & later we had another campfire where we brought out the stuff to make smores. The kids had a great time running around while the big kids had fun sitting around the campfire sharing stories & talking about life. Good times :)

Early the next morning a huge storm came through the area & dumped a TON of rain. While we were dry as a bone in our RV, I was worried about Camille, Ray & the kids in their pop-up camper. We texted each other back & forth & turns out the kids slept through the entire storm & they too were cozy & dry as a bone. By late morning it had stopped raining, the sun came out & things started to dry out. We all had lunch together & then headed over to the beach area so the kids could do some swimming. Reason #2 I love this campsite - the nice, clean, huge beach area!

 

Since it was early afternoon on Sunday, a lot of the campers had already left so the beach area was totally empty. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. We spent a couple of hours watching the kids swim & splash around & then it was time to head back to the campers & pack up.

We had such a great weekend with Camille, Ray & family & look forward to many more camping trips with them in the future!

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!