How We Spent Our Summer Vacation. By Kim and Alexis (and Aiden)

We know this is late. Really really late. But better late than never?

Our road trip to Tinley Park, IL last June 25-28 was the only summer tour trip that we were able to work into our extremely busy schedules and social lives. Living in the midwest we are geographically challenged and unable to make many "quick overnight" trips.

This trip was also very special because we brought Alexis's 7 year old son Aiden. For months he obsessed alongside us with all of our wardrobe decisions and was very excited for his own "Facetime" camp chair and t-shirt. His t-shirt did kinda kick ass. Since a lot of time has passed between now and then we are just going to bullet point it.

-We had a most difficult time finding cheese in Wisconsin. Naturally we eventually found it in the same town as Beer Lube. No, we didn't stop. We had a kid with us!!!

-We had borrowed Peggy's Tom-Tom for the trip. We had it set in the James Bond voice option. We must have had to take a lot of sharp lefts because at one point Aiden asked, "Why does it keep telling us to shoplift?"

-When we arrived in Chicago at Alexis's dad's house we found out that Michael Jackson had passed away. It was kind of surreal.

-Alexis's dad made us an amazing dinner of filet mignon, corn/feta/walnut/jalepeno/lime salad and Greek salad. We are now obsessed with the corn salad and both made it at least a dozen times last summer.

-It was too hot and the venue was too secure to do any bus stalking. We had lunch at Boston's in Tinley Park, IL with Lisa and Tiff (who you may remember from tours past) and some other friends. We were not the only fans who were drawn to a chain restaurant with the same name as the boy's hometown because we ran into several other fans that we knew.

-Before we knew it, it was time to head to the venue. We wanted to get there early because we knew Aiden would not be able to handle standing around too long waiting for our photo. Plus SNACKS!! Who can resist ballpark hotdogs and free wine! Aiden was getting frustrated with the line so Kim tried to keep him busy by playing I Spy. Aiden kinda kicked her ass in it.

-5* was its usual blur of excitement. When it came time for our group to enter, Aiden grabbed each of us by the hand to enter the meet and greet area. He made a bee-line for Donnie who was already swarmed with fans. Donnie motioned towards him to come closer and Aiden went to hug him. At the last minute he pulled back and offered his hand instead. Alexis started tearing up at that point and said, "Aiden, it is ok to hug Donnie." When they hugged Alexis was almost in full blown sob mode. The look on Aiden's face was priceless. Par for the course, the photographer yelled, "PICTURE" and Donnie pulled Aiden towards him and Kim and Alexis split for the sidelines. Alexis was next to Joe and Kim was next to Danny as usual. Mere seconds before the first photo was taken we heard Donnie yell, "Where is Aiden's mom?" In the photo both Aiden and Donnie are looking towards the end of the line, from where Alexis yelled "I'm over here!" After the photos were taken, Donnie led Aiden off to the side, took his Boston hat off his head and signed it, "To Aiden, your friend Donnie Wahlberg." On the way out Joe approached Aiden and shook his hand and introduced himself. Aiden's concert was a hit and since part of this was payback for all the trips that Alexis went on without him that was all that mattered. He had been wanting to come with us ever since the St Paul concert when he was able to sit with us up front for part of the show.

-Thanks to the powers of the internets we were able to stand in the front row directly in the middle of the stage. Thanks Sarah!

-The sh0w was great as usual. It was the second night of the Michael Jackson tribute and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. Something about Joe singing "I'll Be There" gets me every time.

-And then it was over. We went to Denny's where the New Kids did not appear but we were not the only people who had the idea. It was packed.

To view our entire set of pictures on Flickr click here

-The next day we headed back to Chicago to nap, explore, and eat another amazing meal at Alexis's dad's house. This guy had our number and knew we were coming. He was waiting for us in Millenium Park

-The ride back to the Twin Cities was uneventful. To entertain ourselves we changed the setting's of Peggy's Tom-Tom so that every time she drives by a firestation it quacks at her, a bar yells "whoo-hoo" and if she drives by a winery it will moo. FYI: Tom-Tom considers breweries to be in the winery category so as we approached Alexis's house it mooed because she lives near a brewery. We wonder if she has discovered it yet.

Forever and ever and ever. Amen.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO,

Kim and Alexis

Today's Posts Are Brought To You By The Word Awesome

Chicago was all in all awesome. There were some hiccups along the way and our hatred for Donald Trump reared its ugly head. Oh, and we hate William Shatner now too. But for the most part, it was awesome.

We had a mostly uneventful ride on the Mega Bus to Chicago. It was an overnight bus and I think we all slept more than we thought we did. Birdie and Alexis may have been yelled at because they were trying to blind the bus driver and get him drunk off their vodka breath.

We arrived in rainy Chicago (a theme?) at about 6am and Alexis' dad Jim picked us all up from the corner and took us to shelter. Jim and Laurie made us a wonderful breakfast and tucked us all into bed for a nap.

Is she the cutest ugly dog you've seen in your life, or what?


When we finally rose from the dead at about 11 we showered and headed out for lunch and Bloody Marys. From lunch we walked to our hotel and checked in to our hotel. Note to the wise: Club Quarters? Don't do it!! Screw you William Shatner and Priceline. This was by far the worst hotel that we have stayed in. EVER. I know most people love being treated like a naughty child by the front desk staff at their hotel but we don't. Call us crazy. Wait, we are crazy. miCCCHHHHAAAAela the head of the Russian mob and the front desk attendant of the Club Quarters was one of the rudest people that we have ever encountered. And their "suite" that we had upgraded to was smaller than both of our bedrooms combined. And we live in old houses with tiny bedrooms!! Holla again at Ian for spoiling every other hotel for us besides Marriotts!

We got cleaned up (again), went to dinner at The Gage (where one order of fish & chips would have fed all four of us), then hit a couple of bars. We found a very drunk dude in a green jacket and an open zipper at [and outside of] Harry Caray's (hope you made it home safely, dude!)… and we found that disgusting frog thing at Old Mother Hubbard's…. We've since learned that it is called an Albino African Clawed Frog (we think). Make sure to add that to your aquarium!


We called it a night at the ripe old hour of 10:30.

Saturday morning, we took our time waking up. We thought that the noise we were hearing would stop eventually, but as it turned out, Donald Trump is just expanding his empire even more. His hotel right across the street is under construction... even on a Saturday. Screw you, Donald Trump! Kim went for a walk while the rest of the crew wondered where she'd gone. When she got back, we headed to Millennium Park and saw the shiniest bean ever.






Since there were four women sharing one tiny bathroom we decided after a little bit of shopping and some brunch at a weird diner place that we should head back to the hotel and begin the process of getting ready. We already wrote about that though.

Because of some train "issues" it took us almost two hours to make what should have been a 45 minute trip. We took the train to O'Hare Airport where we caught a cab to the All State Arena. We have had several dangerous adventures in our lifetimes, but this cab ride was the adventure that almost did us in. Our driver had no idea where he was going (despite being like 2 miles from the airport). He drove about 30 mph in a 55 mph zone and almost ran us off the road several times. All we could think during our journey was, "We are so close to seeing them. We have come so far. Don't ruin this night for us now you crazy cabbie!"

We got as far as the street between the arena and Target and Kim shouted "that's enough!! get out!!!" Alexis threw some money at the driver and we got out of the car as fast as we could. Some of our friends were allegedly going to be at the Longhorn Grill, so we headed that direction. On the way, we ran into Malibu Mandie and her incredibly painful looking mouth tattoo, and Kim T and her friend Melba. By the time we got to the restaurant, there was a 55 minute wait for a table, which was just about the time that the show was supposed to start. Unfortunately, we were STARVING. Birdie & Alexis's friend Brenda met us there after a few minutes.

We ordered drinks, figuring we'd just grab something at the arena. Kim and Becky couldn't help themselves though... they stole some bread off of a table that an elderly couple had just vacated. Is it stealing if it's just going to go in the garbage? Let's hope the restaurant doesn't recycle their bread... The way we see it, we may have actually provided a public service!!! As long as they didn't have "The TB..."

We met a bunch of folks at the restaurant. As always, if you see yourself here, let us know!







The show was absolutely amazing. Boston was fantastic, but we were so excited by what was going on that most of it was just a blur. We were actually able to soak it all in at this show. Maybe having crappy seats was actually a good thing?


(Birdie, Brenda, Alexis, Becky and Kim)










"If You Ain't Got No Money!" (can you hear it?)


The best shots of this show are of the B stage again, since we were so far back...






This poor woman. She's going to need some serious chiropractic work and/or physical therapy when the tour is done!




Joseph Megamix?






After the show we met up with our friend and fellow TC Blockhead Katie for a drink and a little decompression. She had 5* tickets for this show so it was fun to hear all about her escapades.


Sunday morning we were all a bit lazy. We checked out of the hotel and had an amazing breakfast at The South Water Street Kitchen.

We walked up Michigan Avenue for a little bit looking at the Batman architecture.




After a few minutes, we stumbled across The Regal Beagle. We had to pee anyway, so we stopped in and slammed a quick drink before heading back to our hotel to pick up our luggage.


We arrived at the Mega Bus pickup early so that we could make sure that we could get all of our seats together. Kim T and Tiff were on the same bus as we were.

(Photo thanks to Tiffany B)

The ride back was nowhere near as fast, or smooth, or restful as our ride there. We were late leaving, we were late getting home, it was raining, our driver was unfamiliar with the concept of "braking" and "changing lanes," and she sang a good deal of the way. For real. She's the next Mary J, folks... or not.

And now we have nine days until the St Paul show! As much as I'd like to convince myself that the preparations for that one are going to be less stressful than the rest have been since we're not traveling, we're heading to Milwaukee just a few hours after the St Paul show is over... THAT is going to be hard. The good news is that we have 5* tickets for St Paul, and 8th row center tickets for Milwaukee, so even if we're zombies for a few days, at least we'll have good seats!

Hasta, Aloha, and Boom Shaka Laka Boom
xoxo, Kim & Alexis

We know, we know...

Still no Chicago recap. No awesome pics of Chicago in both real and action figure style. We are working on it. We promise.

You know everything that we didn't get done in the past month because we were too busy getting our minds right? Well, Aloha! It all caught up to us this week.

To top it all off, there have been rumors flying about concerts being cancelled (sorry New Mexico) and that has caused anxiety and mass hysteria. To counteract the hysteria, Kim and I decided we needed to do our part to end the war on cancelled shows. We bought three more tickets to St Paul. I know what you are thinking, "Ummmm... girls, weren't you desperate to get rid of tickets to St Paul like a month ago?"

Well, that was before and this is now. Those seats are already been filled. Filled with lovely friend's lovely butts. And all of a sudden a sale on tickets was announced. Not terrible tickets either! Lower level seats for $20! My son has been desperate to go to a show. He wants to be part of the craziness and understand what his mom and Kiki are so crazy about The New Kids On The Block for. I was not going to pay $90+ for a 6 year old to go to a show. I mean, I love him and all that stuff but he is not worth that. $20? Totally worth that much. After some manuvering it was decided that my husband Andrew, Kim's husband Jason and 6 year old Aiden would be going to the NKOTB concert together. Together on a manly man date.
So, if you are going to the show in St Paul keep your eyes peeled for the three of them in their matching black long sleeve shirts and be sure to stop them and tell them how awesome you think their wives (and mom) are. They have to live with the craziness daily and deserve a little recognition.

The update is coming. I promise. At least the pictures will get uploaded soon.

Aloha!
Alexis



Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Where's the update, you ask?

Here's the deal. I think we both must have caught The TB or something, because we are barely functioning right now. Our Chicago recap will be coming shortly. Hopefully we can make it happen in the next day or two, but we don't want to promise something that we're unable to deliver.

To tide you over, here is Chicago in a nutshell:

"Don't LET me catch you drinking on my bus"

"Sophie knows that Aiden is a human boy, not a dog in heat, right?"

"Get your mind right is like Aloha"

"I'll have the fish and chips"

"Is that thing real?"

"Oooh, shiny bean!"

"I'll be on the lanai"

"Is the cab driver serious right now???!?!?"

"We just stole that elderly lady's bread"

"These seats are definitely our worst seats of the tour"

"We should probably come back for the second fake Chicago show"

"What do you mean the train is stuck in the tunnel?"

"I thought you guys were going to leave me in the elevator all night!"

"Best Bloody Mary of the weekend"

"It's raining. Shocking."

"Is this really a truck stop with an erotic bakery and 24 hour massage parlor onsite?"

"Are we there yet?"

"Do I really have to get up for work in four hours?"

[and to add to the craziness of the last 36 hours, my office is moving locations, I'm frantically trying to prepare two presentations, Alexis is trying to get Aiden back on track, and then there's this thing called laundry...]

We'll get the real deal up soon. Promise.

What a day...

We all woke up this morning finally feeling perky and human. It was a long day yesterday. We hit Millenium Park today and saw the shiniest bean ever. We ate lunch at B&B's Restaurant. It was a diner that served booze. I felt like we went back to the future circa 1979.

We are now back in our hotel getting ready to head out to the arena unable to find a movie on TV that does not star Ashton Kutcher. We have decided that every day should be Ashton Kutcher day!!!

We are all really excited about tonight. I'm glad we took it easy today. There is going to be so much fun and dancing tonight I can't wait!

Hope to see/meet a ton of you tonight!

Happy New Kids Chicago Day!

xoxoxoxoxoxo,
Alexis and Kim

A Nursery Rhyme Bed Time Story

"Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her poor dog a bone;
But when she came there
The cupboard was bare
And so the poor dog had none.
Because this crazy ass ugly frog ate all the dog's food. "

We are sitting in Mother Hubbard's Bar in Chicago unable to catch our 5th wind. It was a long trip and a long day. A big Holla! to Jim, Laurie and Taylor for taking such good care of us today. We are going to head back to the hotel soon and maybe grab one (or five) more drinks in our room. Tomorrow is New Kids Day!!!
Get your minds right!

Aloha!

Below is the transcript of the conversation we had today at lunch.

Alexis: (while having her first cocktail) I'm getting my mind right now.

Becky: What does getting your mind right mean? Is that a code word for drinking?

Kim: It has lots of meanings.

Alexis: It's like Aloha and Holla! It can be used in a number of ways. "Like hey, holla!" Or "hey, get your mind right."

Doggie Lovin'

Good morning. We arrived in Chicago around 5:45. Alexis's dad picked us up at Union Station and brought us back to his house. We had an excellent breakfast, chatted with Laurie, Alexis's stepmom, and then we all laid down for a nap. We're trying to figure out what to do next. Showers are looking like a good option right now...
-K

Leaving on a bus...

Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as the original...
We are on the Mega Bus to Chicago right now. I believe we are in the middle of Wisconsin...
Kim and Becky are fast asleep in the next row and Birdie and I are being obnoxious and keeping the 18 year old next to us awake. They are young and can survive on little sleep, right?
It is fine, we told them about the deal on water at the gas station so they think we are really awesome "old people".

We hope to arrive in Chicago at about 6:30 where one of my many parents will meet us and take us the 4 blocks home to serve us breakfast. I hope they pull out the good China. We can't check into out hotel until 3pm so I'm sure we will have one adventure or another to share during the day.
Xoxoxoxo,
Alexis (etc)

ps: the bus driver can't help but play drums on the steering wheel and whistle. If I didn't think it was the only thing keeping him awake I would go kick his ass right now.

So Long, Fare Thee Well... Pip Pip Cheerio

We'll be in Chicago soon!

[did you watch Earl tonight? funniest episode in about a year and a half]

We're rallying the troops to make our way towards the Megabus station. Birdie, Alexis, Aiden, and Becky are here. Jason and Brett are our chauffers for the evening. Thanks guys!

We should be arriving in Chicago around 6 a.m. As always, we'll be blogging and Twittering (tweeting?) throughout the weekend.

Later Taters!