Today I’m looking back at the previous month and highlighting events I loved throughout August!

Favorite #1

We recently bought a new rug for our dining area, but ended up deciding it would work better in our master bedroom.  So we moved the rug we had in our master to the dining area, and I love it there!

I like this so much better than the one we’ve had in here the past 5 years!

 

Favorite #2

My Annie-girl was looking pretty shaggy, so I took her in for a spa (grooming) session.

Doesn’t she look FAAAAA-BULOUS? 🥰

 

Favorite #3

Back-to-school time is always exciting for both teachers and students, and I love looking at everyone’s first-day-of-school pictures.  But these two right here are my absolute FAVORITE first-day pictures to see:

Edie started 3rd grade this year in their new surroundings in Louisiana!

 

And Helen started 6th grade.  What?!  Yep, she’s in 6th grade!  The order of these pictures should probably be reversed, because Helen’s bus comes first in the morning, so technically, she went back to school first. 🤪

 

Favorite #4

GIRLS’ WEEKEND!

I’d been looking forward to this weekend all summer!  My sister Susan and her daughter Emily were planning a trip to Vegas to see George Strait in concert, and they asked my sister Nancy and me if we wanted to go, too, with our daughters.  Heck, yeah!  So it was a mother/daughter//sisters/cousins weekend!

We all flew to Vegas that Friday.  Cara and I had the latest flights, so it was pretty much just a travel day for us.  By the time we were both in our hotel room, it was time to freshen up and catch a cab to the Luxor to grab a bite, meet up with the others, and head to The Blue Man Group show.  I didn’t take any pictures that first night, but it was an amazing show!  After walking back to our hotel (Parks MGM), Cara and I were too tired to do anything but hit the sack.

Walking Sightseeing/Foodie Tour

Cara and I had signed up to do a foodie tour with Buzz Feed Tours on Saturday from 11 to 2.  So after a fairly leisure morning, we took a cab to the Bellagio where the tour started.  Our guide April had all kinds of interesting Vegas trivia and history that she shared with us at different stops along the tour.

At our first food stop, we had fancy hot dogs and yummy street corn.  Here’s Cara enjoying her hot dog:

 

The next food stop was a brick oven pizza place called Flour & Barley.

There we had brussel sprouts with bacon.  Before eating you broke the egg so the liquid yolk could get mixed in with everything.  So good!  We also had margarita pizza.  And for dessert cannoli that they make fresh in the restaurant every morning.  Delicious!

When we arrived at the Venetian, April shared a lot of really interesting background about that resort that I didn’t know.  Our third and final food stop was at a restaurant inside the Venetian called Sugarcane.

The servers brought plates to the table with the following: Hamachi Crispy Rice, an Empanada, a Bacon Wrapped Date, and a Beignet.  The beignet was set on top of a container of chocolate hazelnut sauce for dipping.  I was so full by the time I got to the beignet, but NO WAY was I leaving that bad boy on my plate!  It was heavenly!

 

At the end of the tour, April took this group photo inside the Venetian:

On our walk back to our hotel, Cara and I stopped at the Bellagio to tour the botanical gardens.  I snapped this picture of Cara:

The gardens were truly awe-inspiring!

 

George Strait Concert

After resting a bit back in our room, it was time to get ready for the concert!  We met the others at the Shake Shack for a quick dinner since it is right across from the T-Mobile Arena where the concert was being held.

After we found our seats at the concert venue, I joined Susan and Emily in line to buy souvenir t-shirts.

And it was a honkin’ long line, too!

It took a good while for us to get up to the booth and make our selections.  But make them we did, and here we are back in our seats sporting our shirts and waiting for the concert to start:

King George did not disappoint!  He put on a great concert, and I was really glad to have the opportunity to hear and see him in person.  I’ve been a fan all these years, but had never seen him live!

After the concert, we walked back to our hotel, and I hung out in the casino with Susan and Emily for a little bit.

I don’t usually do very well at the slots, but Susan liked this one we called the Buffalo.  So after watching her play for a while, I sat down at the one on the opposite side of her, and I’ll be darned if I didn’t win $20!  That was enough for me to be happy with the slots and done putting my money in them for the night.

There was a band playing in the middle of the casino, and I mean to tell you, that place was rockin’!  So I observed behind a few blackjack tables and enjoyed the band until Susan and Emily were done, too, and we called it a night.

Pool Time!

We designated Sunday as our pool day.  And let me tell you, after all the walking we’d been doing it felt good to just relax and hang out with each other.

During the weekend we were there, the highs were above 100, so for me a dip in the pool was essential to being able to stay outside for very long.

 

Final Night

Later that day we got cleaned up and we all enjoyed a nice Italian dinner at a restaurant called Tuscany Gardens just off the strip.  This picture of the six of us was taken outside the restaurant after dinner:

We walked back to our hotel, stopping in casinos along the way.  I was hoping for a $10 blackjack table, but the cheapest ones that night had a $15 minimum.  We did see a few fun slot machines, though.

Cara lamented the fact that the slot machines no longer had pull handles.  Now they all just have buttons.  So she was happy when she found this one with a handle:

You can’t see the handle in this picture, because she’s pulling on it, and the movement blurred everything.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the handle brought her much luck!

Nancy and Rachelle had found a Christmas themed slot machine that Rachelle really liked in the Venetian.  And they found this Blake Shelton one there, too, that I wanted to try.

You could actually choose from about 5 Blake Shelton songs to listen to while you played, and he would talk to you, too!

I couldn’t figure out how to get it to display the list of songs, so as you see here, I needed lots of help! Ha!  And Blake wasn’t very good to me, either.  I was willing to play a total of $10, and he took all 10!

It was such a fun weekend, and it went by way too fast!  We decided we need to make a girls’ weekend a regular thing.  I hope we follow through on that decision, too!

 

Favorite #5

My son Danny’s birthday is August 18th, and as with many recent years, we were unable to celebrate with him.  When I sent him a happy birthday text, though, he texted me this picture of him:

It warmed my heart to know that the people he was working with in Alaska gave him a little celebration. 😍

 

Favorite #6

On the 22nd, I went to work out at OTF, and was surprised to be informed that it was my 400th workout!  The receptionist took my picture to post on their private Facebook page.

 

Favorite #7

I LOVE this picture that Cara texted me:

She and Danny and Helen went out after dinner on the Friday night before Hurricane Ida hit on Sunday.  The sign on the fence behind them is such an appropriate sentiment!  Ha!

When Danny planned his trip to visit them in Louisiana, he didn’t realize he would be there during a hurricane!  I know many people were devastated by Ida, and my prayers were and still are with them.  But I thank God that Cara and her family had no injuries or damage to their house.  Some downed trees and lots of clean-up, but as that was the worst for them, I’m very thankful.

 

Favorite #8

Big Eagle and I were both SO happy to be able to attend a wonderful celebration for our long-time friends Lora and Denny Parker!  They had a 50th wedding anniversary party on the last Saturday of the month.  What a magnificent cause for a celebration!  Here’s the happy couple dancing at their party:

Love these two!

August was a great month, and it went by so fast!  September is doing the same!  If you’d like to share some of your August favorites in the comments, I sure would love to read them.  And any other comments you may have.  Thanks for reading!