Kicking the Dust Up with Luke Bryan and the Sisterhood.

I spent a fantastic time kicking up some dust last night when Luke Bryan brought some of his uber cool friends to Cincinnati to hang out and sing a few songs with some of my uber cool cowgal pals. 

It was a night to remember. 

And because we are stylish and fancy country concert goers, we took a batwing stretch to the show just because thats how we roll.   

And Luke was so happy to see us (and 60,000 others) that he insisted on looking extra handsome and country swagger-y.
Which we were all ok with.

Like me, Luke has a ton of talented and energetic friends who played before he hit the stage.
And those friends have a lot of fans who aren't as capable at party pacing themselves as my smart and experienced sisterhood. The main difference is that my pals had a token beer to celebrate all things country and then realized that we would rather watch the show then stand in line in the ladies rom.
Some of the less wise fans that we shared a stadium with drank gallons of beer and then either puked or fell asleep.

One of these amazing friends of mine is a doctor pretending not to be a doctor for one night.

There were several fans in our section who drank far too much than anyone should and didn't realize this until they were on the brink of consciousness.

"They will be fine once they puke, but I don't want to get barfed on tonight" were her medical words of wisdom while keeping a safe distance. And she was absolutely right. 

The party animals woke up from their beery sleep, threw up their Miller Lite (gross) and then were escorted out by medical personnel while my doctor friend stayed and enjoyed the show.  

It turns out that concert over drinkers are pretty predictable.

While we were waiting for Luke, we enjoyed the  bro-country duo Georgia Florida Line who were super energetic and hip with their country rap.
I didn't even realize that there was such a thing as bro-country duos singing rap country songs before now but thought they were both really fantastic. And fit. And very talented at styling a man bun on stage in between country rap songs.

Erika and I realized that we shared our first concert memory when we went to see The Police together over 30 years ago, so we took a selfie to commemorate that anniversary. 

And I found my brother Charlie in the crowd!

And Luke played his piano and sang his adorable country heart out and indeed showed us all how he earned the esteemed title of entertainer of the year. 

Luke is a super talented, high energy performer who puts on a great show and we all loved and respected him for it.

And just when we didn't think he could get any more adorable... he asked a little boy from the audience come on stage and share a song with him. Which proves of course, that Luke has a gentle heart as well as a super cute smile.

And then there were fireworks!
And flames!
And our dear Luke rose up from the front stage on the top of big black pick up truck and it was really beyond awesome.
And really what can top a song from the roof of a flaming truck?
And so ended my glorious evening of wonderful friends, fancy wheels, and fun and energetic music.
A night that could not be topped... not even from the roof of a truck on fire.
Thank you Luke Bryan and thank you more to my fabulous country concert sisterhood for sharing in  such a perfect summer night.

Take your Mothers to a Concert Night.

Theresa and I had a great night out... lucky for us, it was take your mothers to rock concert night for our two Lillies.
It was also be sure to find nice people to drive you to the concert night so these mothers had two very good reasons for a fun night out.

We went to see Matt Nathanson, who opened for The Fray, who opened for Train. 

All were fantastic. 

And while I always think of Train as this edgy and hip new band, I also remember driving Anna and Mary to preschool while singing along to Meet Virginia. And since any and Mary are now 20 and 23... this suggests that Train might might not be quite so brand new. Which suits me better because I realized that every Train song is one of my favorites... and now Lilly loves and appreciates some of the more recent songs.

They are awesome... tons of great songs with incredible energy and lyrics.

And I discovered that my daughter takes after her mom when it comes enjoying a summer concert with a best buddy.

She, (like me) sings energetically but not in perfect accompaniment to the band on stage... 

happily though, her pal, (like mine) is good natured and doesn't mind a little friend concert karaoke. Bless her. 

And since Train has gorgeous lyrics of pure poetry...

here is my girl singing with gusto about being run over by 

"a crappy purple Scion" a favorite Train lyric of love and loss. 

So thank you Theresa for sharing your daughter with mine and for spending a beautiful summer evening with me and our girls rocking out to some not so new but very fun bands, on the banks of the Ohio.

We are truly two lucky moms :-)

  

Happy Birthday Dear United States of America!

Happy Birthday Dear United States of America!

And behold, a furry face of fear.

Poor Penny spent the evening of the 3rd of July panting and pacing in terror over the booms in the night.

Tonight she will celebrate our nations independence with a valium.

Have a happy 4th friends, and please be sure to keep your pets safe and inside...we don't want to loose any beloved pets.

Lilly's Father/Daughter Super Secret Mystery Trip.

To celebrate the end of middle school and the beginning of summer,

Lilly took her dear dad on a quick trip to Montreal.

Lilly planned the trip herself... she wanted a European-ish adventure without actually going to Europe, and thought Montreal all would be the place to go. She kept the destination and secret from him until two days before departure, but was sure to mark it in his calendar as "Mystery Trip with Lilly" so that he was ready for anything. 

These two peas in a pod had a low key and lovely time together so documented in a series of photos taken by various friendly folk of Montreal. 

They stayed in a sweet little hotel in Old Town called Le Petit Hotel that also hosted a coffee shop called, of course Le Petit Cafe.
Here there are looking cute and Canadian while waiting for a taxi in front of the cafe.

(photo credit by the gentleman setting up tables in the across the street restaurant) 

This posey photo was taken in the lobby of Le Petit Hotel.

(credit to nice front desk lady)

And while it might be odd to be surrounded by suspended wine bottles while enjoying a fancy French dinner, it made a nice background for this photo.

(credit to charming waiter at fancy French restaurant)

They sent this selfie to me from the airport... I love it :-)

(credit to Karl's super long arm, so helpful for selfies)

Lilly is a lucky chica to have a fantastic dad who will happily save a post 8th grade graduation weekend just for her and she knows it.

So happy that these two have each other and enjoy each other as much as they do. 

Wishing all fathers everywhere the happiest of Fathers Day today and always. 

Happy Camper.

Jamie has been waiting for 11 months to get back to his happiest place on Earth... 

Camp Kooch-i-Ching. 

This is his second summer to attend and while last year he may have been a little bit apprehensive, this year he was over the moon excited to return to a place that he considers his second home. 

Here he is hanging out in his cabin which he will soon share with his summer pack of guys.

And on the outside of the same log cabin in the wilderness... complete with a cool Native American grimacing bear to make it even more macho and appealing to middle school guys.

Both father and son were stoic when it came to saying goodbye... the second time to camp was easier for both. 

The camp posts a selection of photos of their campers as they go about their daily activities. So we learned that on the first day Jamie signed himself up for sailing lessons. 

I can most definitely say that camp provides many opportunities not available in any other setting. Here goes Jamie in a trust fall... arms crossed and eye to the sky... and to prove extra trustworthiness, a trust fall platform has been built in the woods for added height.
All this make my kid a very happy camper.

Reptile Roundup Extreme Close Ups

The guys in our family, were very excited to spend a week at the Cincinnati Nature Center learning all about our reptilian and amphibian friends. 

They spent their time happily traipsing about the woods and streams looking for snakey creatures and then showed them off to their families during a Friday  presentation. 

This gave me a chance to take a couple of extreme reptile close ups of some of the fellows that they caught and then later released.

This was my favorite reptile of the camp.. a male box tortoise... I learned that the boy tortoises have red eyes, while the ladies are brown-eyed girls.

This snake was found in the ladies room which gave me the heebiest of jeebies, and also proved that you don't really have to hike far and wide to find a snake at the nature center. 

This snake is obviously a female because of it's natural ladies room habitat...no respectable lady snake would dare hang out in the mens room.

The kids found some amphibians too... including this very, very serious looking bullfrog.

I appreciate the intensity of his froggie gaze.

The creature that I had the toughest time capturing in extreme close up was my very own elusive 12 year old boy. 

Here is Jamie... from a safe and respectable distance, delivering his presentation with a pack of nature camp pals.  

Immediately afterwards, all wildlife was released to the same habitat where they were found, although my hope is that the lady snake found a new place to reside a bit farther from the bathroom that I will never ever again use. 

Gieseke Family Stomping Grounds Tour.

Our family is lucky enough to have fantastic family stomping grounds close and drivable for a weekend reunion...Greenville Illinois.

I didn't realize that Greenville is also a place where the buffalo roam right outside your Comfort Inn breakfast bar... and of course I made them go pose for a photo... because really how often do you have breakfast with a herd of buffalo?

 And even better, a set of cousins to roast wieners with and give you evening golf cart cruises around the field. 

Cousins! 

Emma and Rosie were both delighted to realize that they were both moms to guinea pigs... here they are posing with Pookie Boo...the Illinois pig. 

Cousins again!

Karl and David, were not as good at comparing guinea pig parenting stories, and stayed with kid stories instead.  

On Memorial Day, we visited the little cemetery in Trenton where many of the newest to the United States Gieseke's made their home after they arrived from Germany.

Whats a visit to the cemetery without a group picture?

Here we are with Grandpa August and Grandma Katharina... born in 1826 and 1836.

Afterwards, we stopped for a delicious lunch at wonderful restaurant happy to accommodate our big family. Henry was particularly happy about lunch and gave it a double fist pump cheer! Yay, pie!

The day was perfect, and we headed over to the Rod and Gun club to swim and row and fish. 

Karl and Uncle Tom had a more relaxed demeanor in their rowboat, but Lily was wisely ready for anything in her googles and lifejacket. 

Jamie loves to fish... and apparently he comes from fishing roots. He seemed right at home on the lake with a rod. 

Uncle Hugh taught Henry the hold the fish far in front for maximum size while being photographed trick.

Here is my adored father in law Jim, with his little sister and dear wife.

This was the best part of the visit... a chance to be together breathe the same air and enjoy each others company. 

A personal highlight was watching home movies of my father and law and his cousins and little sis jumping in the lake... and then watching very similar movies of Karl and his siblings and cousins jumping in the same lake 30 years later. 

And then of course watching our own soggy wombats jump into the very same lake.

What could be better then that?

And here are my very favorite Rod and Gun Club Lake Leapers... 

Jim, Karl and Tom.

It was a very most perfect Memorial Day Gieseke Family Reunion Original Stomping Grounds Reunion Tour.