KC=Bachelorette Party=AMAZING WEEKEND!!

My best friend Rachel is getting married and we decided to do her bachelorette party as our annual Kansas City trip.  Whoever, thought of that idea was a genius!  

FRIDAY:  We all (Beth, Lauren, Rachel, Audrey and I) loaded up in my vehicle around lunch time and headed to Topeka, KS to stay with Rachel's cousin for the night.  We have learned in the past not to go out on Friday nights so we laid low that evening.  Mandy had a wonderful spread of food, drinks and snacks ready for us when we arrived.  We spent our evening just catching up, talking wedding, and loving on Jax (Mandy's 11 month old)!

The Nebraska teacher crew hanging out Friday night.  We also had a Kansas teacher and a lawyer with us!  We brought the lawyer along just in case ;)  Joking…she was Rachel's sister!  

Baby Jax; he was our entertainment for the evening!  We decided to stage a picture to send to our husbands and fiancés!

SATURDAY LUNCH:  On Saturday we headed to Kansas City to meet Monica and Jessi.  We ate lunch at   Tengo Sed in the Power and Lights District (One of Rachel's favorite mexican restaurants).  I shared some enchiladas with Lauren and of course we all shared the hub cap margaritas!  We ended our lunch with some "pole" dancing!  The waiter turned on "Sexy and I Know It"just for us!

After lunch we had some hours to spend before our big night out, so we headed to the Plaza for some shopping!  Also known as retail therapy!  After shopping we headed to the Sheridan Hotel to freshen up and meet up with Nicole.  This was quite the experience…however….what happens in KC stays in KC.  

SATURDAY NIGHT:  For supper we took a cab and headed to the Beer Kitchen.  Another AMAZING resturant. The drinks were very very expensive but the food was delicious.  I had the Turkey Turkey sandwich and shared sweet potato fries with Jessi and Beth.  After supper we took a cab to Westport to a piano bar called Ernie Biggs.  Another favorite of Rachel's!  

The bride to be and me!  Love you Rachel!  

The crew!

We danced and sang the night away!  We danced at Ernie Biggs and towards the end of the night we headed to a couple other clubs.  The other one at Westport was very shady and we did not feel comfortable so we left and headed to one back on the plaza much better.   

Rachel met a bachelor on his bachelor party!  

The men at the piano bar started playing the Nebraska fight song with us!  Soooooo much fun….but then it lead into the Missouri fight song…..not so much fun!  It was amazing how many people in the bar joined in signing with us.  We even did the Go Big Red….Go Big Red chant during their fight song.

Nicole is an amazing singer and we had to get her on stage and we did!  She sang a Meredith Brooks

song and was phenominal!

Hanging out drinking fish bowls at Ernie Biggs.  

Around 1:45 a few of us decided we couldn't last any longer so we headed back to our hotel to get ready for bed; I was definitely in that crew.  The rest of the ladies joined us around 2:30.   We were all exhausted; however, still woke up at 8 the next morning to head back to Nebraska.  Let's just say when I got back to Grand Island I fell asleep at 6:00 p.m. and didn't wake up until 7:30 a.m. the next morning.  

Definitely a trip to remember…can't wait to party it up again with these same gals at the wedding next weekend!  

Grandma and Grandpa Time!

Landon had lots of Grandma and Grandpa time this week and there is still more to come!  My parents were here Tuesday-Friday to watch Landon while I had math C&A; then they stuck around for Annevar. When my parents left Friday Kurtis' parents came for the weekend too.  Then, this weekend Landon is going to go to Hays for the weekend w/out mommy and daddy.  This will be my first weekend away from him.  I have only been away from him for two separate nights and he stayed with my brother 20 minutes away.  I am headed to Kansas City for a Bachelorette Party and Kurtis will be around GI getting ready to play for a church camp.  It will be a ton of fun but hard to leave him behind. I know he'll have a blast though and get spoiled rotten!  

Both Landon and Grandpa are exhausted after a long day!  Landon never really cuddles so this was way too cute!

Landon and Grandma at Annevar catching duckies! His new favorite word is ducky!

Grandpa teaching Landon how to blow bubbles!  Another of his new favorite words is bubble!

He had the blowing business figured out just couldn't get the wand in the correct direction.

Grandma and Landon ringing the doorbell.  Landon loves this but Wally goes crazy every time.  Wally always has to bark and run from door to door to see who it is.  He doesn't get it!  

Landon hanging out in Grandpa's big truck while mommy and grandma ran a quick errand.  He loves sitting up so high!

Father's Day!

We started our Father's Day out by going to church.  Whenever I pick Landon up from the nursery he always goes, "Dad" and points to the gym.  He definitely knows were his daddy is.  We headed in there of course to spend quality time with dad by playing some drums. After church we headed out to lunch with Kurtis' parents and then walked around the mall for a little while.  We then spent the day playing and hanging out!  

That evening Landon had some quality time with Daddy.  Kurtis filled up his pool and they splashed, ran through the pool and giggled.  He got soaking wet as he was in his normal clothes.  I then took his clothes off to dry him off and he decided he wasn't done.  He wanted to do some skinny dipping!  He'll hate these pictures when he is older but they were too cute!  I couldn't resist.  

Happy Father's Day to an amazing daddy!  Landon and I absolutely love him to pieces!  

Annevar 2012!

It is a family tradition of ours on my mom's side to attend Annevar each year and this year Kurtis' parents also came.  Annevar takes place in Ravenna; hint the name is backwards.  Some years my Aunt and Uncle do a float, but this year we just watched the parade.  My cousins and uncle were in the parade though.  Landon's eyes were filled with excitement as all the floats and people went by.  He loved catching candy even though we just gave him the suckers.  

After the parade we headed home to GI to eat lunch, take a nap and pick up Kurtis' dad.  We then headed back late afternoon to eat at the Lion Stand and ride a few rides before Kurtis and his dad headed to the Tractor Pull.  First we tried the carousel.  Landon started out ok, but by the third time around he was crying and hated it.  

Landon preferred to walk around and observe the rides from a distance.

His absolute favorite was the ducks.  He would have stayed there all night if we would have let him.

He did win a ball!  

My cousin Derek then tried to take him on the train.  Once again, he started off fine but the third time around he started crying.  The carnival worker had to stop the ride so I could get him off.  Guess we'll save all our tickets for next year when he is a little older.

So…we went back to the duckies!  Grandma and Grandpa Phillips bought him some more ducks.  He ended up winning three prizes.  I tried to get him a stuffed puppy but he started to get sad and all he said was "Ducky".  All he wanted was a ducky, so we traded in the puppy for a ducky, horn, and another ball.  He was then happy!  

We then headed to play Bingo.  This is my absolute favorite part of Annevar; and the favorite of a lot of my family members.  There were seven of my family members playing.  I had my roll of quarters and sat and played bingo from 7:30 (when it opened) until 10:30 (30 minutes before it closed) that night.  Did I win…. NOPE!  This is the first year I struck out.  I was so bummed.  Guess there is always next year!  

Start of the Summer Projects!

I have many many projects on my summer list and the first three are done!  The first one was to get our master bedroom done upstairs.  It's painted, the furniture is in, just need to do a few minor details.  Pictures coming soon!  I also made birthday/anniversary boards for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  The last picture was a project my mom and I worked on this week.  One of my best friends is getting married in a few weeks and we wanted to create a fun and unique gift.  After we bought all the supplies we had a blast wrapping it and decorating it up!  Can't wait to give it to her.  Now on to the next set of projects…

Kayak Fun!

When my parents were here my brother came to town one day to spend some time with them and Landon.  I was still at Math C&A, but was able to meet them for lunch at Wild Buffalo Wings.  I then ended finishing up at math earlier then planned so I was able to spend the afternoon with them. We went to a few antique stores, Hobby Lobby and of course Red Mango!  Later that evening Kurtis stayed home and napped with Landon while the four of us went out to take my brother's kayak for a swim.  It was so relaxing!  I then tried out my fishing skills, but those silly fish weren't helping me out!  Can't wait to take Landon fishing!  

New Swing Set!

Landon loved the swings at his daycare provider's home this spring so I knew this would have to be a purchase this summer.  We ended up just buying a simple swing set that he could swing and slide on.  This week my parents were here to watch Landon while I had math curriculum work for the district.  Thanks to my wonderful Dad it was all put together when I got home one day. Landon absolutely loves it!