When I Grow Up I Want To Be . . . Kenny Chesney

As children, we all had many aspirations for our future careers, some realistic, others, not so much.  (My younger sister once told my mother that when she grew up she wanted to be a nurse or a horse!)  We all have stories and memories of those once upon a time ambitions that were never meant to be.  And if we don't remember, well, that's one of the reasons we have mothers!  

I feel that I would be considered a horrible mother if I didn't document my son's future aspirations and career dreams.  And of course, my blog would be the most appropriate place to do that!

First, a little back story.  We have been taking Liam to concerts since he was nine months old.  He's seen Sara Evans, Jake Owen, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum as well as coming to this year's CMA Music Fest in Nashville with us.  He's always loved music and has been asking for a guitar since we were in Nashville.  This past Thursday, we saw Kenny Chesney at Capital Hoedown.

Friday, on the way home from work and daycare, "Summertime" by Kenny Chesney came on the radio.  Liam immediately started to dance and this conversation followed.

Liam: (Pointing excitedly to the radio) "That guy, that guy!  That guy from the concert.  The guy with the hat!"

Me: "Yes, that's Kenny Chesney, the guy from the concert."

Liam: "Miam be like that guy someday.  Me want to play guitar and dance at concerts and sing like that guy."

Me: "You want to be like Kenny Chesney and have concerts when you grow up?"

Liam: "Yep and wear a hat like that guy, at a concert."

So, there you have it, my boy wants to grow up to be Kenny Chesney.  I think the first song he needs to learn to sing is "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy".

Do you think it is too soon to quit our jobs and move to Nashville??

(Side Note: By Monday, he was referring to him by name and asking to see the Kenny Chesney movie on TV!)

Family Vacation . . .

We survived out first ever family vacation! Sure, it was only two nights away from home, but I feel that it was an accomplishment!

We hit the road Thursday morning, and with only one stop along the way, arrived at the hotel in Syracuse at around 12:30pm. We checked into the hotel, fed Liam the dreaded jarred infant food (which he ate eagerly, given that lunch was an hour later than usual, but as the vacation wore on, so did his patience for jarred food!) and then hit the NY State Fair.

Thursday was a great day, weather wise, and we all had fun wandering around the fair. Liam loved watching all the people!

He smiled at everyone and talked to anyone who would listen!

Thursday evening, we took in the FREE Sara Evans show. This was Liam's first ever concert! He looked adorable in his little ear protectors! But, an 8pm show was just a little too late for my little bear! He fell asleep before the show started.

He woke up for a little while in the middle to enjoy the show with his dad!

Liam slept amazingly well in his playpen in the hotel room. I was worried that he would have difficulty sleeping in a stange place, but I worried for nothing!

Friday was another day at the fair . . . Liam visited with a police horse, a K-9 blood hound, saw lots of bunnies and chickens, and just about every other kind of farm animal you can think of! We spent the entire day walking around, at the fair. Unfortunately, just before the Kenny Chesney show, it started to rain. And it rained for the rest of the evening. Jake Owen and Kenny Chesney both put on a great show, but the rain put a bit of a damper on it. Liam slept in my Moby wrap through most of it, which was probably a good thing, because was able to him wrapped in my coat. But even that wasn't enough . . . by the time we got to the car at the end of the night, EVERYTHING was soaked! Once we were back to the hotel and in dry clothes, everyone fell into bed and slept soundly until morning.

Saturday, we packed up and headed for home. We took our time coming home, stopping a few times to eat and shop. As much as it was a successful and fun vacation, I was glad to be home and able to sleep in my own bed last night!

Kenny Chesney's Sun City Carnival Tour hits Ottawa!

Today, I feel the need to stay from my chosen blog topic (as I am sure I will do often!) to share my thoughts on last night's concert.

Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lamber and Kenny Chesney - I knew from the moment it was announced that it would be a show not to be missed! And apparently many others agreed . . .

Lady antebellum took the stage first. Every time I hear their song, "Love Don't Live Hear Anymore," I am taken back to a hot, sunny day at Riverfront Park in Nashville during the 2007 CMA Music Fest when a group of unknowns rocked the stage in front of a moderately interested crowd. I loved the song from that moment, and was thrilled that they have grown into a well known group. Last night, they rocked the stage in front of a roaring crowd at Scotiabank Place. They have a ways to go before they are the in the league of Kenny Chesney or other big names, but they have come a long way in two years! And what better way to learn than to tour with Kenny!

On the outside, Miranda Lambert's blond hair, blue eyes and silver tank top give people the impression of a sweet girl next door type. Then, you look a little closer and see the crisscrossed handguns on her stage backdrops and the mic stand, designed to look like a shot gun (or maybe a rifle, guns aren't my thing!) and you raise an eyebrow and wonder what's up with this girl. But when she rips into songs like Kerosene, Crazy Ex-girlfriend, and Gun Powder & Lead, the women in the audience are on their feet, clapping, cheering and singing along while the men in the crowd are peeing their pants in dear. Fortunately, she also shows us her humorous side when she let's us know how it feels to be stuck in a "Dry Town" and to be "Famous in a Small Town." Miranda is a force to be reckoned with in the country music game. And God help Blake Shelton if he ever pisses her off!

And finally, the moment that everyone had been waiting for. The curtains around the stage are raised for the one and only Kenny Chesney. All eyes are on the stage, waiting for the first look at the super star - all that is except the diehard Kenny fans. Our eyes are on the back of the floor area because we know that he will come in on a chair suspended over the crowd, sining "Live Those Songs Again."

Critics have complained about this, saying that it's been done before - but here, we don't care if he's done it every tour for 16 years, because, well, that's how long we've been waiting for Kenny to come to Ottawa. Yes, that's right, Kenny Chesney has been touring for 16 years and this was his first trip to Ottawa. When he mentioned this during the show, the crowd went wild. Kenny laughed and said, "I can tell that we waited 16 years too long to come to this town. We will be back!"

Kenny puts on an incredibly high energy show. By the time he a few songs in, you can already see that parts of his shirt are a few shades darker as he is dripping in sweat! But he never stops smiling. And even when he stops singing to have a drink of water, he never stops moving. My only complaint, is that it is hard to get good pictures, cause he is moving so much!

Everything about this show is larger than life! The band, the stage, the lights, the screens, the 20 trucks that bring it all from place to place are all as impressive as the show itself! Kenny does a perfect mix of fast ("Living In Fast Forward", "When The Sun Goes Down") and slow ("Me & You", "There Goes My Life"); old ("I Go Back", "How Forever Feels") and new ("Out Last Night"). And of course, as us die hard fans knew, the ever popular encore, "She Thinks My Tractors Sexy."

To top it all off, after Tractor, he spent probably 15 minutes singing autographs for fans in the Sandbar and around the rest of the stage. I thought that was a pretty decent thing for him to . . . just wish I had been down there!

All in all - best concert that I've ever been to! Let's hope that he doesn't wait another 16 years to come back!