Good Times

So yesterday I returned home from a fun filled visit with my sister. Rylee and I left the house Saturday morning and arrived in Syracuse at about 12. We spent the rest of Saturday shopping which is always a pleasure. Got a little shopping in for Rylee as it was Gymbucks time at Gymboree and even though I really wasn't supposed to be shopping this weekend I did happen to find myself some things. But sometimes you just can't pass up a good deal and I found some at Mervyns. It was a buy one get one off certain racks and they were already marked down items so it really was a no brainer. Nicole at this time still had not found "the shirt" for the John Mayer concert but no panicking yet. We took a break and had Kent watch the kids for us so we could go see Mama Mia which we really enjoyed. I think I would see it again. I was a little worried about all the singing because I am not usually a huge musical fan but it didn't bother me. I also liked it because Mr. Darcy was in it(for all those P&P fans-you know who I am talking about). After the movie we ate and then continued on our search for "the shirt" which we did finally find and the trinkets to go with "the shirt". We could finally relax-we both had our outfits for the concert.





Sunday we were planning on going the The Farm but apparently it isn't open on Sunday's which is too bad because it is free adn we like things that are free. So we tried to find something that the kids would enjoy since they had to endure us shopping. We ended up taking them bowling. That was definitley not cheap. I was thinking it would be like $20 for the 4 of us adn it ended up being twice that much. Nobody's cheap these days. It was quite the experience. I think I will wait to do that again until Rylee is a little older. She didn't like it at first because the ball was too heavy and her or Andrew couldn't throw it they had to roll teh ball and then it took it an hour (I am being serious here) to get to the pins. So Nicole and I ended up "helping" them throw their balls down the lane just so we wouldn't be there all day. And then our lane kept breaking down so we would have to wait for someone to come and fix it before we could resume the game. I have never been really great at bowling and almost at the end of the game both kids were ahead of me but I pulled into 2nd (Nicole being 1st of course) in the 10th frame. Ya Hoo!! I am not humilated-maybe it helped not to have people laughing at me like Justin always does when we bowl.

Later that night I had my first experience in scrapbooking. At first I felt like my sister was forcing me to work-I did not want to work-I am on a little vacation so leave me alone(this was what I thought in my head). But once I got going I found I really enjoyed it (this is where my sister is thinking I told you so!) and that maybe I can do this. My 1st page really turned out quite cute but then Nicole made it that way.

I woke up the Monday morning (the day of the concert) and it was RAINING! We were so upset. But I tried to think positivley-that it had all day to clear up. So we decided to do another scrapbook page and Nicole had a great idea-that we should stay in our pajamas until the kids took a nap and then get ready in the afternoon so we would look our best for John. So we did another scrapbook page which again turned out way cute and gets me really excited to start doing it on my own. Then we put the kids down and got ready for the concert which was at USANA Ampitheater. By the way, it was beautiful and sunshiney outside-no more rain! We got there kind of early so instead of eating nachos or hotdogs there we drove through the town looking for some place decent to eat. My sister is making me laugh the whole way as she likes to dance in the car. I find this very amusing and then she is telling me not to look people in the eye or hang my hand out of the car and accidentally flashing a gang sign as it is kind of a tough neighborhood. We finally see a Spaghetti Factory which we both like- I really like there mushroom sauce there-very tasty. We got back on the road and headed back towards USANA. We get there and parked clear up on a hill thinking we would maybe get out better this way since we weren't in the main parking area. By the time we got to the gates both our makeup was sweated off-so much for getting ready late in the day to stay beautiful! We were both kicking ourselves in the buttocks too as neither one of us had our cameras. I had forgotten mine at home like usual and Nicole brought hers but we weren't sure if it would be allowed so we left it in the car and neither one of us wanted to climb back up the hill in 100° weather for a camera once we found out you could bring them in. This was a picture Nicole self took after Spaghetti Factory.
Brett Dennen was the 1st act-which neither one of us wanted to hear as we had no clue as to who he was but we ended up liking his songs. They were kind of fun to listen to. Colbie Caillat was next and I knew of her 2 songs on the radio but really enjoyed all the songs that she sang. Enough that I had Nicole burn me a copy of her CD that she had. Then John Mayer was up. It was great. He did a lot of guitar solos (a little too long for our liking) but that is what he does and he does it very well. It was really a lot of fun-I just wish I could loosen up a little bit and dance and not worry about how I look or what other people are thinking of me. It was either stand there and do nothing and look stupid or dance and have fun and look stupid-I chose standing there and looking stupid. Nicole danced the night away and had a blast. I envy that freedom! When the concert was over we made our treck up the hill to go home. Trying to get out took us awhile but once we got on the road traffic wasn't so bad-of course it was a Monday night @ 11:30 p.m.-not a whole lot of people out except for all the drunks driving home from teh concert!

Tuesday was my day to leave. I was pretty bummed 1) because I never like to leave my sister or Andrew-I always have fun and 2) I was leaving Rylee and having to drive home all by myself. Boo Hoo! Before going home we grabbed some lunch and took the kids to the park. It was too hot and they were tired and Rylee was whiney so we took them home. I put Rylee down and I left. It is always a downer for me to leave-I wish I lived closer to my sister and Andrew so we could spend more time together-but then we would probably get sick of each other.

Well, I am looking forward to this Thursday as Nicole is bringing Rylee home Thursday night but also because we are going for our Heileson Family Campout this weekend. More fun to look forward to.