Gary Allan

Went and saw Gary Allan last night at Britt. It was such a CRAZY concert. There was tons of security and the stage area was roped off with chains. I thought to myself, "What the hell is this about", since both of the other country concerts I went to this summer were mellow. Well, as soon as the concert started, I totally understood the need for the extra security. The stage was immediatly rushed by tons of people (mostly women). We had front row seats and I spent the entire concert holding my ground so people wouldn't push me out of the way. Thank God Scott was with me. He was a crazy good performer and probably sang close to 20 songs.

This was one of his band members. I was in love with the kilt from the very start. This guy and another band member were huge flirts with the groupie type women in the audience and acutally picked out women to go back stage after the concert. It was sort of gross. The band and Gary Allan spent the entire concert passing around a bottle of Jack Daniels :)

Because of the crowd situation, this is the only picture I took. I just couldn't juggle my camera and stand my ground at the same time. Concert pics are always crappy anyways. I loved being able to attend these concets over the last couple of months. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Wildlife Images

We decided to go to Wildlife Images last weekend. It is an incredible place that is devoted to wildlife rehabilitation and re-release into the wild. They have animals that have been too imprinted with humans to re-release, so these animals are available for viewing. It is a really wonderful place with a very devoted staff.
This was the eagle habitat. There were 3 or 4 eagles in it that had old injuries that made them unable to fly. Do you see the eagle?

Sage, of course.

There were little donation spots for spare change throughout the facility. Just a little change, makes a huge difference in caring for the animals. They are funded only by donations.

Sage looking at some of the birds.

That is a grizzly bear. Look at her claws. 15 years ago, the state of Alaska asked Wildlife Images to rehab 2 baby grizzly cubs whose mother had been killed by a car. Alaska said they would find a place for the bears and then take them back. Um, that never happened and now the bears are a permanent fixture for Wildlife Images. Sage had a great time, although she was a little squirrly on the tour. She really wanted to get back to the gift shop to pick out her souvenier. She chose a stuffed river otter. Wildlife Images has recently built an otter enclosure and will be getting one by next spring. Not only did we view grizzly bears, there were also black bears, wolves, cougars, owls, bob-cats, a fox, different types of birds, and raccoons. Most of the permanent inhabitants were pets that were surrendered. Many of them have terribly sad stories. All in all, it was a very fun trip and very educational.

Camping

This blog post is in honor of my friend Janie, who has threatened to take us "non-updaters" off her blog roll. Janie, I want to stay on your list, so here you go girlfriend :)

We went camping at Howard Prairie Lake last weekend. Okay, it wasn't really camping...we rented a RV at the campground. It still sort of felt like camping, except we had AC, a toilet, and a shower. We joined the Smith Family and the Clogston Family at the campground.
Laura and Laura...you silly girls!

Campfire time. I love campfire. I love smores. It is a win win situation. There was a crazy thunder and lightning storm over the mountains all night, so we watched that as we hung out around the fire.

The jeep is the best vehicle for camping. Fits everything with tons of room left over. It is a really comfy ride too.

Ice cream at the campground.

Cheez Whiz anyone?

We were not overly thrilled by the lake. It was really muddy with tons of weeds growing up from the bottom. The kids didn't swim at all, just got their feet wet.

Chloe joined us on the trip. She loved it. She was the queen dog who got to hang out and chase squirrels. She even swam in the lake a bit (she wasn't thrilled about that).

Our campsite. Scott and DJ went kayaking in the afternoon. I was actually going to kayak again, but Scott broke the seat in the red kayak. Unfortunatly (oops, I mean fortunatly) he fixed it and it is ready for me next time.

Haircut

I finally talked Sage into getting her haircut. I was so sick of our morning fights over brushing out the tangles. We love how this turned out. It fits her personality to a "T".

Trees Of Mystery

Our recent trip to the coast included a brief pit stop at Trees of Mystery. Sage was a little unsure of Paul Bunyon talking to everyone.

She quickly figured out it was pretty cool to talk to him about purple roses and butterflys. He was very nice to Sage, but overall "Paul" was quite cranky. Scott and I had some good laughs, but we walked away thinking the voice of Paul doesn't really care for his job.

We didn't have time to do the whole walking tour of Trees of Mystery. Hopefully we can do that another time.

Mmmmm...Blake Shelton

Great concert at Britt last night. Blake Shelton!! We were so freaking close to the stage. In the above photo, Laurie and Kathy just turned around and he came up for a photo op. Laurie threw her camera at me, but it still had the lens cap on. By that time, I had overinduled on wine a bit much, so really this photo is a miracle. I was able to fumble that lens cap off, turn on her camera, and snap the pic!

Me and Kathy

We danced our butts off. Sang them off too. I need to cut back on the alcohol next time.....maybe not :)

This Is Big!

She loves the pool! This is huge for us because up to now, she has refused any and all attempts at swimming. That was not a good thing considering we have an inground pool. She is doing great with her waterwings and is even jumping in from the side of the pool. We have been swimming every day and even doing some fun night swimming. I'm finally using the pool too! Our pool time was interrupted this afternoon by a thunderstorm. Oh well, now we can just relax and hang out for the afternoon.