Hardy Concert

I took Olive and Fletcher to see Hardy when he was in town last weekend.  We had a blast!  Olive went to her first concert (Kane Brown) last year and Fletcher has been anxious to go ever since.  We made plans to go to see Hardy over our Spring Break.  I love when fun artists come to our city.  A 20 minute drive with my kids and no hotel/travel/parking expenses is my kind of concert night.  Have you seen Hardy at any of his Country! Country! tour stops?

We loved that his set list was longer than we expected, loved hearing him sing McArthur and thought it was cool that he did a loop around the arena when he sang God's Country.

We arrived early to check out the merch.  The kids each wanted a tshirt with his concert stops on it.  The lines moved quickly and we got to our seats a little early.  The openers were fine, but no one that we were very familiar with.  We were more than ready when Hardy hit the stage.

We had so much fun!  We heard most of our favorite songs and learned some new ones.

Q: What's our next concert, Mom!?!

A: On our radar: Phil Wickham, Thomas Rhett, and Brooks & Dunn!

Leo is SIX

Happy Birthday, Leo!  We love you!  

Life was so strange when you were born at the kick off of all the craziness that came in the Spring of 2020.  Life came to a standstill in mid-March and then you were born April 7th when the hospitals were empty in anticipation and visitors were not allowed.  We spent more time together at home, working from home, doing school from home and staying home than with any other baby.  You got held more, played with more and were surrounded by us 24/7.  I also had 3 big surgeries in April, June and July the year you were born.  My heart beats a little faster reliving all the sweet and hard moments of your first year.

You'll always be our baby even though you are quick to remind us that a six year old is not a baby.

Leo's favorite things:

Gardettos, Chex Mix, Goldfish

Apples, Carrots and french fries

You love all cookies, Reeses cups and M&Ms.

You love a good car playlist.

You are sporty and say you want to play football, basketball, golf and flag football.

You really enjoy playing games.

You love to make a deal especially on your terms.

You are an excellent writer and speller.

You are correcting your speech errors every day.  You'll say a word.  Ask how to spell it and then practice saying it properly.

You love books.

You play basketball at recess.

You love home days in your pjs.

A few favorite pictures of Leo:

And a tiny stroll down memory lane.  All of my newborn photo shoot options were cancelled in 2020 so I took matters into my own hands.  I picked out coordinating outfits and I took picutres at home.  These pictures are some of my favorites.

Now I'm all in my feels :)

Happy Easter!

Easter was filled with highs (sweet times together!) and lows (a stomach bug!!), but overall it was a great time to celebrate with family.

Leo and I dressed up in Bible times clothing and participated in a Passover Seder meal with the whole kindergarten.  My sweet assistant loaned him a costume and he woke up at 6:15am because he was so excited for the day.

I surprised the kids with Parlor donuts on Good Friday!  We loved having the day off together.

Family time!

The big kids and I ran some errands.

We dyed eggs.  No one needed help this year.

The weather was all over the place.  Welcome to Spring in the Midwest!  We were thankful to have such a beautiful sunset on Easter Eve.

I made carrot cake.  Yum!

I put together Easter baskets for the kids.  I love collecting things they will love!  I always try to do a mix of practical (new pjs, new outdoor games, art sets, hair stuff, etc) and fun (Needohs, rubix cubes, cross necklaces, fun socks and their favorite candy).  The baskets were a hit.  I also try very hard to stick to the rule that their gifts must fit in their basket.  If it doesn't fit, I'll save a gift to give them later.

A jellycat bunny, Needoh, headbands, pickleball set and more for Olive.

Bath bombs with a surprise inside, burger rubix cube, Needoh, Marble drink and Peelerz for Fletcher.

New books, mini cars, finger puppets, favorite candy, bath bombs and fresh colored pencils for Leo.

I hope you had a really nice Easter weekend with the people you love!

Osage Beach Fun

We tried to do a mix of relaxing things and fun things while we were in Osage Beach, MO.  We found some really delicious restaurants and fun spots.

We weren't prepared for the windy, curvy roads getting into Osage Beach!!  We drove in late at night and then when we saw a map of the lakes it all made sense.

I'm not buying buckets of shots, but if I was that girl, these Pink Whitney buckets were adorable.

We enjoyed seeing the St. Louis arch coming and going to Missouri.

We drove in late at night and as we were winding through the country roads, we noticed an orange glow in the sky.  As we got closer we realized there was a massive fire in the forest and it was coming up to the road.  We were so thankful to get to get past it uneventfully.  Leo woke up with all the comotion, looked out his window and said - Are we in hell??  hahaha

We loved eating at First Watch in Nashville so this was a no brainer for us.  We ate there two mornings because it was so good.  Delicious drinks.  Cinnamon donuts.  Homemade strawberry jam and toast.  Everything was amazing.

Naps!  The primary bedroom and family room had big windows to the lake.  It was so fun to sit and watch the boats go by.

We found a new to us grocery store - Dierbergs!  They had good food and fun new things to try.  This pretzel platter was an easy lunch.

We tried Shorty Pants on the lake.  They were known for their cajun food and everyone that got cajun food didn't love it.  Bummer!  But their burgers, salads and sweet potato fries were amazing.  The staff was great and eating on the lake was so fun.  If you go there, get a burger!

There were tons of deer everywhere!  They weren't on the roads thank goodness.  Just eating grass along the windy, curvy roads.

There wasn't a ton of great shopping, but the Target, Old Navy were good.  They had lots of stores like that - Kohls, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Aldi, etc.

We asked the local boutique ladies where we should eat and they were so helpful.  We got Pizza and wings at Pappos.  It was so good!  Olive loved their toasted ravioli.  Fletcher loved his wings.  The rest of us loved the pizza and breadsticks.  I just wish we would have had room to try their famous chocolate chips.

The Bagnell Dam is cool to drive over.  It's massive.

We grabbed fun cheeses, salami, crackers and fruit to make charcuterie snack plates for an afternoon snack.

We ate at Redheads on the lake.  Kevin told the kids I used to wear bikinis like that one so they thought it was hilarious.  Their food was fine, but not amazing.  I think the favorite dinner item was a burger or a BLT and their fries.  They have big pools outside so you can swim and eat which would be fun in the Summer.

Our post it note countdown was still a road trip favorite.

We left bright and early and headed home.  We found a new gas station to try - Wally's.  They have a bear mascot and a gourmet popcorn bar.  It was so clean, so huge and had a fun gift shop.  The kids LOVED their caramel popcorn.  We hope Wally's expands to more locations!

That's a wrap on Spring break '26!  We enjoyed Osage Beach for a relaxing destination on the lake.