Simpson Party of 5!: The Best Weekend, EVER!!

Wow! Where to start? Mike and I have been able to enjoy some much needed vacation time. Before I get to the "best weekend ever"part of this blog, let me fill you in on the last couple of weeks!

We were able to take our annual trip to Branson with our "game night" friends (minus children). Yes...a grown-up trip! Our main agenda is to have lots and lots of time to hang out together and ample time at the pool! We were able to enjoy 3 1/2 days of shopping, lying around the pool, talking and a whole lot of nothing! There is also a piano bar at Branson Landing called "Ernie Biggs" that we make a point to visit every year! We always have so much fun there! We're so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends in our lives! They're more like a 2nd family to us!

Our annual "FRIENDS" picture in front of the fountain at Branson Landing

Welcome to Missouri!

Me & Mike @ the fountain

Just the girls...Me, Ali & Misy

After returning home from Branson, the very next day we took off for our yearly trip to Dallas/Arlington, Texas. Being the baseball fans that we are, particularly Rangers fans, we've made a point every year to attend at least 1 Texas Rangers baseball game in Arlington. I think in the past 10-12 years or so there have only been a couple of times we weren't able to make it. My parents go with us as often as they can. This year, our Texas trip was 2-fold for me. I found out that the New Kids on the Block were going to be in concert the same weekend we were considering seeing the Rangers play! ;) (More on that later...) Anyway, me, Mike, my parents and the kids were on our way to Texas! We had to pull over for a "pit stop" at the Travel Center just over the Texas border and so my dad had to make sure that everyone there knew that he is an OU fan and NOT a Longhorn fan. (see pic below)

While there, we took a tour of The Ballpark in Arlington. The last time we took the tour, Jacob was barely 3, Kade was 8 months old and Mckynlee was in my belly! We wanted to tour the field again now that all of the kids were old enough to enjoy it. When we first walked in to the ballpark, Kade was in awe! There's such an awesome feeling of walking in a Major League Baseball stadium for the first time and seeing the field. It's one you can't explain, but know what I'm talking about if you're a true baseball fan whose been to a major league ballpark. Despite the number of times I've walked into a major league park, I still get goosebumps each time! Jacob has had this experience before, but this was Kade's "real" first time to see it for himself. I wish I had a picture of the look on his face! As part of our tour, we were able to go down to the Rangers locker room (but not inside since it was a game day). We also got to sit in their dugout and visit their indoor practice facilities. The boys absolutely loved it!

Jacob & Kade outside their "future" locker room!

Family Pic in the Rangers' dugout!

We were able to catch 2 Rangers games while in Arlington. Although the Rangers lost both games, we had a great time! There's not much that can top being at a Texas Rangers game in the middle of the summer! (Except maybe one thing for me....)

Pre-game Pic!

Go Rangers!

Jacob-all smiles!

Mckynlee loved dancing to the music between innings!

Daddy & Kade (K is showing off his gum)!

As much fun as I had in Branson and at the Rangers' game, this is what made my Texas trip the "Best Weekend EVER"!!

Not only did my friends and I get to attend our 3rd New Kids on the Block concert in 8 months, but we got to meet them! If that's not cool enough, there's more! Here's my dream weekend in a nutshell (and the events leading up to it):

Concert #1: I reunite with my 2 best friends from Jr. High/High School to attend a NKOTB concert in Kansas City. This was part of the their reunion tour. We thought it would just be fun to go and relive our Jr. High years. FYI...we LOVED the New Kids and was convinced that somehow we would marry them! We would have done anything to meet them back in the day! We went to the concert and had a great time. We ended up having great seats (I think 10th or 11th row). We were content that we got to see them again close to 18 years after seeing them for the 1st time in Tulsa in 1990! We never thought we'd get the opportunity to do this again and we were glad we went to the concert. It was so much better than we had anticipated!

Concert #2: Out of the blue...the New Kids added another leg to their reunion tour which included Tulsa! We HAD to go to this one since it was so close! How could we pass up this concert?! We contemplated buying VIP packages this time which included backstage passes, but after taking in to consideration how much it would cost and being afraid that if we did meet them they might not be friendly which would totally burst our fantasy world bubble, we talked our self out of the VIP package and opted for plain 'ol tickets. Still good seats, but not backstage! The concert was even better than the 1st. Again, we NEVER thought we would have the chance to see another concert again. We did regret not buying the VIP passes and just knew that we let our 1 chance to live out our childhood dream of meeting the boys slip by. Oh well!

However, just a couple weeks after their Tulsa concert, Chanci called me on my way to school (on my birthday) and told me they had just announced NKOTB was doing a Summer Tour and would be in Dallas! Close enough! We knew that this was it. We HAD to buy VIP passes this time, no question, no thinking about it! We couldn't regret letting yet another chance to meet them go by! Luckily the tickets went on sale the next day (April 1st) so we didn't have time to analyze what we were going to do. At 1:00 (the exact time the passes were to go on sale) I was at my computer and on my way to purchasing 3 VIP packages! I've never typed so fast in my life! When I hit "send" and received my confirmation on my screen that said "Congratulations on your purchase of 5-star VIP package for NKOTB..."I nearly passed out! Did I really just buy backstage passes? Are we really going to meet them?? I called Chanci and Leanna and we immediately began to scream like 14 year-olds again! We did it! In less than 4 months we would be meeting Jordan, Joey, Jon, Donnie & Danny. No way! At least we had time to let it all sink in! By the way...the passes sold out in less than 10 minutes!

Now that brings us to about a week and a half ago...

Before leaving for Dallas, my friends (Chanci & Leanna) and I found out that Danny was hosting a party in Dallas the night before the concert in honor of his mom (who died of breast cancer) as a fundraiser for the Komen foundation. Of course we had to go! We knew Danny would be there, but wasn't counting on the others to show up. About an hour after arriving, we find out that all 5 guys are on their way! A few minutes later in walk the New Kids on the Block! This couldn't be happening! So we partied with the New Kids! When we arrived back at the hotel, we discovered that they were actually staying in our hotel! No way! Better than that, they were on the same floor as us! We never saw them come out of our rooms (we didn't stalk them that much) but we did sit at the pool with Jon. How cool are we?

The next day, was the Meet & Greet backstage and concert! I swear I was in a dream all day. We weren't really going to meet them, were we? We arrived at the venue about a half hour early. (I wasn't about to take the chance of being late!) While waiting, we met some other girls, who we've actually become friends with and have stayed in touch since then! While waiting for our Meet & Greet, I starting wondering what I was actually going to say. I just didn't want to pass out or throw up on their shoes! It all seemed to go by so very fast! As part of our VIP package, we were able to attend a pre-show BBQ, but I wasn't in the least bit interested in eating. How could I knowing that Jordan Knight was just a few steps away?? We were the 3rd group to go back. Other girls who had done this at previous concerts had told us to go to whomever you wanted to talk to the most and have your picture by first that there wouldn't be much time to "mingle". Fine...I had a game plan. I was going for Jordan and nothing or no one could get in my way! When they opened the door to let us in I swear the entire room went blank except for Jordan! I remember scanning the room until my eyes focused on him and then off I went, straight to Jordan! He was very sweet and picked me up to give me a huge hug! Awwwwww....I was in dreamland. I really couldn't believe that this was happening! We talked, but I honestly don't remember what I told him other than I've loved him for 20 years (I know, cheesy)! We took 2 pictures got hugs from everyone and then it was time to leave. They were all so nice! (and cute!!) I remember talking a little to the other guys, but couldn't tell you exactly what I said! It was worth the wait! We definitely have NO regrets this time! The concert was the best yet...better than #1 & #2, plus we had 5th row seats! While at the concert we found out about an "after party" at the same club where we attended the party the night before, so of course we had to go! We met up with our newly found NKOTB friends from the concert!

It's going to take a long time to top that weekend!!

Here are the pics from our Meet & Greet: