Spring In Wisconsin Wildflowers 3!

Yes it has been a long time for me to get more of my wildflowers named. Last month and this month are really crazy times in this house. I have been going up north and then working, tomorrow I am going to get my granddaughter for the weekend.

I decided since I had today off of work to get some more pictures of my wildflowers posted for everyone.

I don't know if anyone knows right now we are in a drought here. All of the pictures I have taken in the spring that most of the flowers are gone already. We haven't had rain in about six weeks here. I am so glad we went out to get the pictures when we did.

This is a Compass Plant. It is really funny how we found this one. Drew had picked me up from work one day, we were going down Green Bay Rd. and Drew seen this flower and he turned the car around. We pulled on the side of the road so I could get a picture. At first we thought this was a Sunflower but then when I looked it up I found out it was a Compass Plant. If you look at the flower it is like a compass for the sun dial the way it is tilted up.

This is a Trumpet Creeper Vine. This is another really funny story how I got this picture. We had just left Sanders Park on our way home. On the corner by a stop light at Taylor and Wood Ave. I looked out my window and asked Drew what that was he said just a minute and turned the corner pulled by the curb so I could get a picture. I just could not believe this is growing on a electrical pole.

This is a Day Lily it was taken at Grant Park in South Milwaukee. Drew and I decided one day to take a trip out that way. We went for a walk by the beach and then Drew pulled on the side of the road at wanted to see if he could find any wildlife in the trees by the lake and he also found this flower for me. I noticed one thing with this flower, since we took the picture I have been seeing them all over now.

This is a Black Eyed Susan we seen it at Pritchard Park. Just driving through there looking around and I seen this so I took a picture of it. In this park we have seen baby Goslings so we would go and see how much they have grown.

These are Brown Eyed Susan taken at the Root River. Drew went for a walk here while I was at work one day and seen them. He took the picture for me. I was really surprised when I came home and he showed this picture to me.
I know some people get the two flowers mixed up. What I am talking about is the Black Eyed Susan and the Brown Eyed Susan. I almost did but then I looked how many pedals, the leaves and the difference with the brown center area of each flower. That is the only ways to figure out which one it is.

This is a Thistle Plant at Schoop Park. This was another day while I was at work and Drew went for a walk. This one was really hard to figure out what kind of plant it was. That is what happens when he goes for his walks and I am at work. But I do figure out what kind they are but it takes me awhile to do that. It is a very pretty plant too.

I hope you enjoy the crazy way we go out and look for wildflowers. I have to say one thing it is fun going out there and looking for the wildlife and the wildflowers. We take turns doing the driving and taking pictures. I hope all of you enjoy these pictures.

It will be awhile before I get to post anything on here. I will be getting my granddaughter for the weekend. Please feel free to leave any comments you would like. Thank you for reading this!♥

Cheap Trick & Aerosmith Concert!

Last night we went to see Cheap Trick and Aerosmith. I can tell you this was one awesome rocking concert. I really enjoyed this concert more than the one we went to see Wednesday night.

The night started out with Cheap Trick taking the stage. Everyone got up on their feet for the first two songs. Then I could not believe it everyone sat down to watch the concert. That was really different for me at a concert. All the concerts I have been to you would stand to watch. Then for the last song everyone stood for the last song.

Here is the setlist for the concert:

1)  Clock Strikes Ten
2)  Elo Kiddies
3)  California Man
4)  Ain't That A Shame
5)  Sick Man Of Europe
6)  Baby Loves To Rock
7)  Need Your Love
8)  I Know What I Want
9)  Surrender
10) The Flame
11) I Want You To Want Me
12) Dream Police
13) Goodnight

This was an awesome set of songs that they played last night. There was a couple of songs I have never heard by them. I really like them too.

I know they had a smaller stage to perform on because of Aerosmiths equipment on there too. But one thing is the lead singer could have moved around more so the people in the seats on the side of the stage to see them more. Most of the time he was standing in the center of the stage. That was the only thing that was wrong for me.

The music was so awesome. The last song was "Goodnight" and Rick Nielsen came out with a five neck guitar. I never seen one like that and it was so awesome to see a guitar like that. My mouth probably dropped and I probably went bug eyed. The crowd was going crazy when he came out with that guitar.

Then after that song they introduced all the band members and said goodbye.

At intermission it was crazy long lines all over even the restrooms. I made it back to my seat just in time for the first song.

Yes it is time for Aerosmith to take the stage. I was waiting all night for this one and it was time. Everyone was on their feet screaming when Aerosmith took the stage.

I just can't believe how much energy Steven Tyler still has on the stage. He can not stand still when he is singing, he is all over the stage. There was a cat walk for him to walk down, he was back and forth on that.

Then as I was watching the show it is like Steven Tyler and Joe Perry are connected at the hip most of the time.

The song choices are awesome here it the list:

1)  Draw The Line
2)  Love In An Elevator
3)  Oh Yeah
4)  Livin' On The Edge
5)  Jaded
6)  S.O.S. (Too Bad)
7)  Last Child
8)  Drum Solo
9)  Lord Of The Thighs
10) Boogie Man
11) Combination
12) What It Takes
13) No More No More
14) Legendary Child 
15) Sweet Emotion
16) Mother Popcorn
17) Walk This Way
Encore
18) Dream On
19) Train Kept A-Rollin

It was one rockin, wild and crazy concert last night. Each of the band members had solo's it was Brad Whitford had a solo introducing "Last Child", Joey Kramer had his drum solo,Steven Tyler came to bang on the drums with him and then Joey was hitting the drums with his hands and his head, Joe Perry had his solo introducing "Boogie Men" and Tom Hamilton had his solo introducing "Sweet Emotion". All of these solo's were just so awesome. I could not believe it.

Steven had a bandana on and then during Oh Yea he throws it into the audience. 

There was one song I was hoping that they would play "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" but they never did play that one. That is all right, I enjoyed every song on the list. That is one of my favorites by them. I can tell you one thing I didn't miss one bit of the concert and I enjoyed every bit of it.

With the lights, music, Steven singing and the energy the whole band has makes you keep wanting more and the night never to end.

For the encore they brought a piano out on the cat walk for Steven to play with Dream On. The next thing you see is Joe Perry climbing on top of it playing his guitar. Then after the song Steven climbs up on top of the piano for Train Kept A-Rollin.

I can tell you this is one band I would go and see again. If they come to your city don't miss this concert it will be one to put in the books of a great concert.

Here is a song I found from the concert last night and I hope you enjoy reading this!♥

Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden at Summerfest!

This was one very hot and humid day for a concert. It was 102 degrees outside and we were by Lake Michigan for the concert and we had very little breeze out there. The nice thing was we were able to bring in an unopened bottle of water with us.

This year Drew and I decided to take the shuttle bus from are area to Summerfest. I was so glad the bus was air conditioned. It was nice not to have to drive down there and deal with all the traffic. I was just watching out the window on the way there.

There was two shows that night. The first one was Alice Cooper and the show was so awesome. I used to have all of his albums. The curtain dropped and the band came out Alice Cooper came out on a pedestal singing Black Widow in a spider costume. He really knows how to make an entrance! To this day, He really knows how to get the audience going.  Here is the setlists to the concert:

1)  Black Widow
2)  Brutal Planet
3)  I'm Eighteen
4)  No More Mr. Nice Guy
5)  Hey Stupid
6)  Guitar Solo ( This was really awesome by a 27 year old girl)
7)  Billion Dollar Babies
8)  Feed My Frankenstein
9)  Poison
10) Wicked Young Man
11) I Love The Dead
12) School's Out

Yes, one awesome setlist of songs he sang. He did bring out the snake for No More Mr. Nice Guy. Then for Feed My Frankenstein he had a twenty foot robot Frankenstein looking like him come out. When he was singing  School's Out confetti and big balloons were coming down that was the last song. I was really enjoying listening to him and watching the show. This was one awesome show and it was the first time I seen him in concert. If he came back here I would go and see him again.

The second show was Iron Maiden. It was a good show and great music. I know some of the songs from Drew playing the cd's. But this band I really don't care for and I just can't place the reason why I don't. They really know how to get the crowd going also. I just could not believe it.

Here is the setlist for the show:

1)  Moonchild
2)  Can I Play With Madness
3)  The Prisoner
4)  2 Minutes to Midnight
5)  Afraid to Shoot Strangers
6)  The Trooper
7)  The Number of the Beast
8)  Phantom of the Opera
9)  Run to the Hills
10) Wasted Years
11) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
12) The Clairvoyant
13) Fear of the Dark
14) Iron Maiden
15) Aces High
16) The Evil That Men Do
17) Running Free

Yes a long set of songs for the second show. I have to admit it was a great show and Drew said that is was a mixture of old and new music.

They said that they could only use two thirds of the stage set up. The stage set up, fire techno and the lighting was so awesome I couldn't believe it. We didn't need to see any fireworks that night we had it all on the stage. The lead singer had so much energy running all over on the stage I was trying to figure out how he could keep going like that.

During Run To The Hills they brought out a twenty foot robot called Eddie. This was really awesome watching him walk around the stage. The crowd was going crazy when he came out on stage.

Around the inside of the stage they had pictures going around similar to the cover of the Seventh Son album. That was really different to see. 

This was during the Iron Maiden song. I just wanted you to see the stage set up and see the top of it where the lead singer was running around.

What really amazed me was all the real young kids there that were more than half of our age. We had the kids on each side of us. They were getting into the music so much with head banging, swinging the arms and singing all the songs to both shows. I just could not believe it.

We did meet up with friends of ours and they did go to the show. We just had different seats but did meet up with them between the show and after the show. It was so great to see them again. We haven't seen each other for a couple of years.

I hope you enjoy reading this and feel free to leave any comments. I will be in touch with our next concert on Saturday and I can not wait for that one!♥

Our Trip Up North!

Saturday after work Drew and I went up north. It was one very long day for me but I made it through the day. For us to get up north to my mom's place it is about a four hour drive. Drew can not drive long distance his legs cramp up on him so I do the driving.

Drew has been on vacation since last Wednesday, So it was not like he was losing time from work. I started my vacation when I got off of work Saturday.

We went up there to help my mom pack some of her things up into plastic bins to put into her storage shed. I had no idea we would be going through twenty other bins of hers to see what she wanted. This was all day Sunday that we did this. She has two sheds up by her house and one in town. Drew was bringing all the bins into the house so mom and I could go through them. By the time we had gotten done we had five boxes to take to Goodwill and four bins to take to her shed in town. So we made two trips into town one to Goodwill and one to moms shed. All of us were just so tired when we got back to the house.

The main reason we went up north was my mom wanted me to go and get a tea set that my great aunt had given me. This tea set my great aunt had was given to her for a wedding present from her parents. She told my grandma that was mine because I was the only niece that was closest to her. When she would come over she always called me her girlfriend.

Then on Monday we went to see Drew's family for a little while. We had a early dinner with his mom and dad, we went to see his sister at work. We had a really good time with his mom and dad. His dad made a roast on the grill we had potatoes and corn on the cob with it. It was really good.

On the way to their house I was seeing these butterflies on the road. They were sitting right on the road and I could not believe it. It was just thousand of them and I was hitting them with the car. I felt bad about hitting them because I love butterflies but just sitting on the road what am I suppose to do about that. They are called Red Admirl butterflies. On the way back to my moms they were still on the road and back to town also. I did have one hit my windshield too. Drew said I was having to much fun hitting them after awhile. Here is a picture of the butterfly.

After we took mom back to town I was able to see my son and granddaughter. I was so happy to see them. A week from tomorrow I will have my granddaughter here for a few days.

On the way home we ran into a couple storms but the worst storm was in Oshkosh because there was a parking lot that was flooded with cars in there. It was across the street from were we stop. It was really hot and humid when we left up north then it cooled down when we got to Oshkosh. Then when we got to Milwaukee it was really hot and humid again. The storm cooled it off up there.

We didn't get home until about ten thirty that night. Even though I had to go up there and help my mom out I really enjoyed myself. I am just happy to know my mom had what she wanted taken care of done and seeing Drew's family was great too. I hope his mom and dad are having a good time on there vacation they left yesterday.

Tonight we are going to Summerfest in this nasty heat. But plan on having a great time. We are meeting up with some friends we haven't seen in a couple of years. I will keep you up dated!♥

I Have Been Busy!

Since my last post I have been busy. I know I haven't been posting much lately because we have been going out and getting a lot of pictures of wildlife and wild flowers. We have been to Tichigan, Grant Park in South Milwaukee, up north, Schoop Park, Colonial Park and a few other places.

 

This is a picture of a Day Lily. Drew took this picture at Trout Pound while I was at work. 

We went up north the weekend of Father's Day. It was a real busy weekend for us. We left Thursday when Drew got off of work. On Friday I had my three kids together to clean out my storage shed up there. I have no more storage shed now. The only bad thing about that day was Drew got sunburned really bad. Then on Saturday we went to my nieces wedding. Drew was the photographer for the wedding. The wedding was really nice and the pictures turned out great. Then Sunday we went to see his family for Father's Day for a little while and also was able to see his sisters new house. Her house is beautiful and in the woods, by a river it is peaceful out there.

After seeing his family we went to pick up my daughter and came home on Sunday. It was a very long weekend for us.

Since we have been home we have been going driving around for pictures to different places. Also just sitting outside listening to music.

This past weekend I had to work. Drew took me to work to go and find wildlife pictures. Then when he came to pick me up we either went to rummage sales looking for pajamas for my granddaughter or going driving to more pictures.

Wednesday he starts his vacation and it is going to be a busy couple of weeks for us. We have to concerts next week at Summerfest and this weekend we are going back up north for a couple days. So I will keep you updated with some pictures of what we are doing!

Happy Birthday Drew!

Yes today is Drew's birthday.  I can't believe this is the third birthday I have been with him for.

The first one was when he came up north when I kept begging him on the phone to come up there because I wanted to be with him for his birthday. I could not go down by him because I was working. The second one was last year and I was down here. I made him dinner and a cake. The third one is today and I have dinner going in the slow cooker and I am making him a big homemade chocolate chip cookie and letting my daughter decorate it.

Right now he is out getting his wildlife pictures at trout pond while I get everything done for him at the house. I told him this weekend was his to relax and do what he wants to do.

These last two years being with Drew have been the happiest years of my life. I could never ask for anything better than being with him. That is why I try to make his birthday the best I can for him. He means the world to me and I never want to know how it is to live with out him in my life.

I hope he is enjoying his weekend. It means so much to me that he enjoys the weekend.

I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART BABE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!♥

My Revue on Marie Osmonds Book Might As Well Laugh About It Now!

If you like Marie Osmond this is a book to read. I grew up watching the Donny & Marie show, I use to buy her music and Donny's. This book is awesome to have and read. I got lucky and found this book at a thrift store to buy. Here is a little bit about the  book.

She talks about when she was three when she started to sing. This was when the Osmond brothers has just started to sing together. At this age she was going on the road with the family from show to show.

The two oldest brothers are deaf. The doctor wanted her parents to put them in a institution but her mother would not hear of this. Her mom taught them sign language and how to hear the beat of the music herself. The whole family learned how to talk to the boys with sign language.

When she was young she was having a weight problem. She was a chubby girl and she never did like this. It didn't help that her mom always had fudgesicles in the house. She had that problem when she got older and she had to lose weight for the Donny & Marie show. The way she did that was not eating but telling the family that she already had eaten.

I remember the very first Donny & Marie show. I would always watch it with my parents. I thought at the time this was the most awesome show. She does talk about the show in her book. 

She was married four times but two of the four times was to her first husband. She has eight children: one biological with her first husband, with second her husband two biological and adopted five children.

In order to get to certain events she had to fake dinners. By this she is talking about getting frozen meals and heating them up for the kids. Sometimes she had to ask people to hold seats for her and the family at one of the children's concerts because she was running late. Believe me I know what she was going through and I only have three kids to try to do this with.

She was on Dancing With The Stars for season five. She did have a hard schedule for the show with being a single mom at the time. In one episode she did collapse while talking to the judges. Marie, Mel B, Jennie Garth and Jane Seymour took their barbie style dolls and made a video call "Dancing With The Starved". Marie did this because she didn't know how to ballroom dance she only knew basic tap dances and some moves for Saturday Night Fever.

She was very close to her mom and when her mom passed away on Mother's Day. She felt like she had lost her best friend. She always went to her mom for advise and when she needed advise and her mom was not there for her she was lost. When Marie started her doll collection the first doll she made was the Olive doll and named after her mom. The Osmond's are a very close family, they are always there for each other. Olive passed away 2004 and George passed away in 2007.

She did have a bought with depression for awhile but has come over that. Then she had a problem again with her weight and her oldest son talked to her about it and that is when she went on Nutrisystem. Her son said that the children wanted her to be around for their children.

There is a lot more in the book but I do not want to put everything on here. This is a book to read and it is very good. I am going to leave you with a clip of the first Donny & Marie show. Please feel free to leave any comments!♥