A SURPRISE Baby Shower...

It is really hard to surprise me, really hard.  Ask Lucas or my parents, anytime around my birthday or Christmas the snooping and the questions start.  There are two ways I find out what people are getting me, I either find out with my snooping, or I question them to death that they finally give in and tell me what they got me.  Hahaha.  I know its not one of my greatest qualities, but I can't help it; I need to know what is going on!  That is what surprised me most about this surprise baby shower; I was actually SURPRISED!  

Even though I have only been with my hula halau for just under a year, they really know what the term "hula sister' means.  From the first practice they have taken me in like I have been there for years.  This whole surprise shower started off with me thinking that my hula sister Nani wanted to have Lucas and I over for lunch to meet their newest dog and to see their new lanai that they built.  Looking back on it now, I should have known that something was up when Lucas shaved that morning and said that I should try to look "presentable" for this lunch.  

When we got there I was surprised to tears and had a wonderful afternoon eating, playing games and decorating onesies.  The star of the show wasn't a game, present or an activity; it was the chocolate fountain!  We all huddled around the machine dipping everything from strawberry to lady fingers in the chocolate.  Halfway through the shower they added a little kahlua to "start the party," which is where I got cut off from the fun.  We were blessed with more presents for the baby and were overwhelmed by all the love and support from my hula sisters!

My Baby Shower!!!

I am blessed with some amazing friends and family!  First off, my baby shower could not have happened without one of my closest friends, Jill Weglarz.  One of the first things she said to me when she found out that I was pregnant was, "Can I throw you a baby shower?"  She was so unbelievably thoughtful to host the beautiful brunch we had at Shanghai Reds.  Everything from the invitations, that were designed by another close friend Cristina Hasbun, to the favors and food was perfect.  You could probably tell by how much food we all ate and by everyone stealing each other's favors that everyone was  a happy camper.

The event started off by everyone writing notes to the baby and I on one of my baby book pages.  The first game we played was everyone gave me, the mommy-to-be, some advice for when the baby comes.  Everything from "sleep when the baby sleeps" to "don't forget about your husband" was written down.  My favorite advice was from Kasey Stinson that said, "take a picture of the baby everyday."  I forget sometimes that the baby will only be small for a short time and pictures are the only way to capture them at that moment.  The next game was match the celebrity to their baby name.  Needless to say, I rocked at that game and was one of the winners.  I guess all that time reading celebrity news paid off.  The last game we played was gift bingo which involved everyone writing down different gifts they thought I would receive in little boxes and when I opened that gift, they got that square.  We had a few winners, but the real winners were Lucas and I for receiving so many wonderful gifts.

I do want to send another special shout out to my mom and my Aunt Lisa for flying in from Hawaii and Minnesota just to celebrate my baby shower with me!

Maternity Photos

If there was one thing my family is known for, it would be pictures.  Just the sheer volume of pictures my parents have of our family and my brother and I growing up is astonishing.  So one of the first things Lucas and I knew when we found out we were pregnant is that this baby would have a well-documented life.  We decided why wait till the baby came, why not start before when the baby was still in me!

We are so excited to work with Janel Conlan. She is also the person aka genius that took our engagement photos and all the beautiful photos at our wedding.  If that wasn't reason enough to work with her again, the fact that she is also pregnant made this process all the more fun.  I can't wait for our little ones to squirm, crawl and run around with each other.  These are a few of our favorites!

Maternity Ward Tour and Setting Up the Nursery!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a Type-A personality who needs to be prepared, organized and have all the information possible to feel comfortable.  That is probably why Lucas and I have signed up for four classes before the baby is born.  The month of March is our weekly Childbirth Series course taught through Cedar Sinai Hospital, where we will be delivering.  During April, we will be taking two classes at The Pump Station, a super cute store for everything mommy and baby, Infant Care and Introduction to Breastfeeding.  And lastly, during May, we will be taking an Infant and Toddler CPR class at the Red Cross.  Most of you are thinking "wow, that is a lot of classes and information," and you are probably right but better to be over prepared than under!

A part of our Childbirth Series course at Cedar Sinai included a lengthy tour of the Maternity Ward in the hospital.  Boy was it a wakeup call! This baby is coming (and coming SOON)!  We got to see where we check in, where they hook me up to all the monitors, where we will actually deliver and where they take our new family to recover.  It is a beautiful hospital that loves new mommies so much that we heard that every day from 3-4pm in the recovery department, they bring the moms warm cookies and milk.  How amazing does that sound?

Another milestone for this week was setting up the nursery!  I truly believe that I was an Ikea Assembler in another lifetime.  I love the rush and satisfaction of building something with my bare hands, something I most definitely got from my father.  He is the handiest person I know and a real-life MacGyver when it comes to putting things together.  Though with how I am growing and how easily tired I am, I could not have done it without my wonderful husband.  He was so supportive, that he would hold wood pieces for me so I could do the screwing or tighten things when I couldn't get to the little nooks due to my growing tummy.  Although we are so excited to start the transformation of this room, Duke and Harley are a little hesitant to share their room with the newest member of our family.  Lets hope they can all be good roommates!

And the Third Trimester Begins...

 

The light at the end of the tunnel is approaching, and its approaching fast!  This week marked the beginning of the end; I am officially in the third trimester.  This means we are full steam ahead and a lot of things will be happening in the next couple of weeks: classes, maternity photos, my mom's visit and our baby shower.  Today is also another milestone for us as I am now 26 years old.  It is hard to believe that we have reached the point where now for the next six months Lucas can call me a cradle robber and a cougar for marrying a younger man.  Boy, I can't wait till September when we will both be "old futts."  

This week also starts our lamaze or childbirth classes.  For the next month we will have four classes that will teach us the ins and outs of our hospital stay, breathing, and most importantly how to labor and deliver safely and hopefully painlessly (hey, a girl can hope).  

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar - Round 2!

If going through the emotional ups and downs of losing my grandpa wasn't enough, I got a call from the doctor saying that I did not pass my 1-hour glucose test.  In order to pass the test, I would have to have a blood sugar level of under 140 and mine was 142.  Ahhh, I was so close!

Because of this, I now had to do the 3-hour glucose test.  This test should really be renamed to be the "how strong are you" test because it is one of the hardest things I had to go through with this pregnancy thus far.  I really don't even know if Navy Seals or Army Rangers could do that (my brother at the Naval Academy and Lucas' brother in the ROTC would probably disagree with me).  Give me morning sickness at all hours of the day over this test.  The rules of this test was that for 12 hours before the test, you can not eat or drink anything.  So when we went into the lab at 9am the lab workers drew my blood to measure my standing or normal blood sugar level.  After they drew my blood, they then give me double the amount of drink from the 1-hour test.  Luckily this time the flavor they gave me was orange, which tasted like a really flat extra sweet Fanta drink.  For the next three hours, they drew my blood ever hour and only after my last draw could I eat or drink.  Let me tell you, telling a pregnant woman that you can't eat or drink (not even water) until 1:30pm is just plain mean.

After the test was over I made Lucas take me to the restaurant across the street to load up on pancakes and bacon, my favorite breakfast.  To cheer me up Lucas even took me to Sprinkles cupcakes where we picked up the best red velvet and strawberry cupcakes I have ever had and two little peanut butter cupcakes for the pups at home.

Cross your fingers that I pass this test!

Today the Baby Got Another Guardian Angel...

It is with a heavy heart that I write this next post.  Last week, my grandpa was in a motorcycle accident on his way to visit my grandma's grave.  It was a daily tradition for him since my grandma passed away three and a half years ago to visit her twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  It was his way of starting and ending his day with the love of his life.  I don't know two people more in love with each other, and that is hard when I look at how much love Lucas and I have and when I see my parents more in love now then when they got married almost 33 years ago.

After the accident happened, my parents flew Lucas and I home so that we could be with the family and so that I could spend a few days by my grandpa's side in the ICU.  Sadly, this morning we lost him.  We all know that he is in a better place and could not be happier to finally be with my grandma, his Pa'ahana.  I'm sad and disappointed that our baby will never get to know one of the greatest men in my life.  There is nothing that he wouldn't do for our family and I hope he knows how much we love and miss him.

Our baby will grow up hearing so many stories about my grandparents and how much they loved us and love this little one. To help the baby know who they were and how they touched our lives I hope to do many of the things I remember most when I was growing up with them like shabu-shabu meals outside the house, taking dinner to the park or beach and popping our own popcorn and smuggling it (with drinks) in the movie theaters in my grandma's red "Mary Poppins" purse.

We love you Grandpa and Grandma! Watch over us and the baby.

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar - Round 1!

Today I had to take my 1-hour glucose test.  For a normal person, I'm sure this wouldn't be too bad, but for me, a person who HATES/LOATHES taking liquid medicines, this was absolutely cruel and unusual punishment.  Ever since I can remember, I have always opted out of taking the liquid version of medicines because I have the gag-reflux of a toddler.  But being that I know I have to be tough for this baby I was willing to take on this task only if the flavors they gave me were not grape or cherry flavored.  You see, these two flavors, no matter if they are juice, water, or candy, remind me of dimetapp.  Sadly, when I walked into the doctors office, and they handed me the cup of liquid, I instantly knew that it was CHERRY.  Gross, yuck, disgusting are the first words that come to my mind.  I squeezed Lucas' hand and chugged that drink and spent the next hour holding it down.  We will get the results at the next doctor's appointment.

On a brighter note, like there was one that day, we got to see our little one on the ultrasound machine and everything looks great!

And We are Halfway There!

I truly cannot believe that we have made it halfway there because yesterday, I made it to 20 weeks.  We are officially starting to count down the weeks and days until the baby comes.  Normally at 20 weeks, you can find out the baby's sex and as some of you know, we (let's be honest, its because of Lucas) have decided to not find out the baby's gender until the baby arrives around May 30th.  Now, people that know me know that the next 20 weeks are going to be excruciating and knowing that the doctor and nurses know what we are having and I don't will be like rubbing salt in a open wound. Lucas has been so great during all of this pregnancy and also with letting me have Hawaiian first names for our children, that I simply could not let him miss this chance to have what he really wanted.  I now literally can't wait for the baby to come so that he can announce "It's a..." It will truly be a special moment and gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

This week we went to get our second trimester anatomy scan.  This appointment basically entailed an ultrasound specialist taking a longer look at the baby via the ultrasound machine and a computer.  Then she would put measurements into the computer to figure out how big the baby is and how the baby is developing.  Everything looked great and it was awesome to see the baby was healthy and growing!

Christmas and New Years!

As you probably would think since I have been so tired, the holidays for us were nice and low-key.  For Christmas, Lucas' parents went up to San Francisco to visit Will, so we spent the day with the dogs opening presents from family and Santa.  Yes, Santa still comes in our house and since finding out about the baby, will continue to visit for at least another ten years. If I had anything to say, Santa wouldn't ever stop visiting us!  On Christmas night, we went over to Nani and Christian, our close friends, family's house to celebrate.  It was a great night full of food, laughter and a White Elephant gift exchange with almost thirty people.  We had an awesome time and definitely felt like part of the family by the end of the night.

New Years Eve was pretty cozy with Lucas, the dogs and I cuddling on the couch with dinner and movies. We were all in bed by 10:30 PM, sad I know. We did have good excuses because Lucas was going to work the Rose Bowl game the next morning and because well, I'm pregnant (that excuse will never get old)! Today, Lucas woke up at 3:45 AM so that he could be at the field to help set up the tailgating for the game. One of the golf courses that Lucas manages at American Golf is Brookside Golf Course which also takes care of all the parking and tailgating when games are hosted at the Rose Bowl.  When he heard that he could work the Wisconsin and TCU game on New Years day, he jumped at the chance to serve food and beer to game-goers with his co-workers.

As for the baby and I, we are finally starting to work well as a team!  The "morning" sickness has started to subside and only shows up about once a day (which is way better then three or four times a day).  As I have found out with this pregnancy, when one symptom starts to fade another will show up.  Here to replace morning sickness is something called "round ligament pain" which basically means stomach cramps from the baby moving and growing, JOY!  Lucas says I should take this symptom and my growing belly as a sign that the baby is growing healthy and just wants to let me know that he/she is there.  Believe me, I've known the baby was there for a while now!

Thanksgiving and My Mom's Visit...

So we made it through Thanksgiving, and Christmas is just around the corner.  As of now, the baby and I are still a "work-in-progress" team.  We have discovered that most meats don't sit well so there goes bye bye to chicken, pork, turkey (we found this out on Thanksgiving) and beef.  Surprisingly, I have learned to live off or crackers, pringles, croissants and french fries. Hey, the baby knows what it likes and Lucas is just happy that our food budget pretty much consists of the value menu at Burger King and McDonalds.



Mahina's latest ultrasound on December 10, 2010!



For Thanksgiving we made the trek down to San Diego to see Lucas' family and to our surprise, only had to pull over on the freeway once so that I could get some air and for baby to teach us a lesson for making me sit in a car for so long. We had a very nice time with the whole family and I learned that mashed potatoes and green bean casserole make the baby and my stomach very happy!

My mom made it up to visit with us this week to see my "belly" grow.  She is planning on coming up every two months to see the progression and help us get ready for this little one. Luckily, she was able to come to meet Dr. Wyatt and even got to see the baby when we got our latest ultrasound.  Thankfully the baby is starting to look more like a human and not so much like a seahorse. Also on the agenda was to make our way to Babies 'R Us to start our baby registry.  Boy, I had no idea that something so little would need so much! It was so funny to Lucas and I because we thought that registering for our wedding was bad enough because there was just so much to choose from.  Doing a baby registry is worse because there are just as much things, but now you have to take in account safety, remembering that less is more and not registering for things that we don't need. I can't wait until the nesting stage kicks in and we can put the baby's room together, though I'm sure Duke and Harley aren't very excited to see their space and room taken over by the baby.

Hope everyone is having an awesome Holiday Season!

And We're Almost Out of the First Trimester!

Boy, they do not tell you everything that goes into having a baby! Now that I am just about to come out of my first trimester, I am really hoping that this all gets easier and goes down hill from here, though I have a feeling that it won't.

Mahina's second ultrasound November 16, 2010

During these first few weeks I have experienced most of the "normal" symptoms like "morning" sickness, though its really "all-day" sickness, headaches and tiredness.  I wish I could explain how tired I have felt since we found out that we were pregnant.  Think about running a marathon, walking over to a Habitat for Humanity site and building a house, then ending the day with a nice little Ironman race and that is pretty much how I feel all day every day. I might be exaggerating a bit, but let's be honest, that's another pregnancy symptom too. Hehehe, I think Lucas is going to love that one.

Surprisingly the doctor said that this is all "normal" even though I now know that there is nothing really "normal" about pregnancy, there is literally a little person growing in me! How cool is that!

We Have a Big (Well Little) Announcement to Make...

Before we get to our announcement, we wanted to say sorry for our extended absence and that we promise to try and stay ahead of the curve from now on... and believe us there will be a lot to update all of you about.

Without further ado, we present our biggest announcement yet: 

Mahina's first ultrasound October 4, 2010

Yes, you're seeing that correctly! We are expecting our first bundle of joy this coming May 30th. Doctor Wyatt says that everything looks great with the baby and I and that we are making a great team so far.  Lets hope it stays that way and the baby treats mommy (WOW, that's the first time I said/wrote that) nicely.

We and both of our families are very excited for the upcoming stork delivery (hahaha, I wish the baby came via a stork). It should make for quite the hectic and fun second half of 2011, but we're looking forward to the challenges and rewards that come with being parents. With that said, we're accepting applications for baby sitters! Haha, just kidding... kind of. 

We hope you are doing well and again we promise to try and stay on top of this blog as best we can!

Lucas' Birthday Weekend

A quarter century... Damn I'm getting old. It was my birthday weekend and Mahina had decided to plan out the day and take us up to El Matador beach. The beach has great rock formations much like the ones Cabo San Lucas is famous for, but on a smaller scale. Along the way to El Matador we stopped off at Malibu Seafood restaurant on PCH to grab some lunch.

Malibu Seafood was pretty crowded as the weekend lunch crowd had hit. After waiting in line for a couple of minutes Mahina ordered the friend shrimp with a bowl of clam chowder soup and I had the Ahi Tuna burger. The restaurant was a great stop on the way up the coast, with picnic tables scattered around the outside of the building with great views of the Pacific across the street.

After a great lunch it was time to head down to the beach, though it had been an overcast morning most of the marine layer had burned off by the time we were finished with lunch it turned into a slightly overcast but warm Saturday on the coast. As we made our way down the path to the beach we got a great view of the rock formations from above. Down on the beach we were surprised by how many other people were down there, from above it looked like the beach had been empty. Walking across the beach we found a small corner of sand to spread our blanket out and enjoy the day. It was a little too cold and overcast for any sort of swimming or tanning, but with a nice book for Mahina and my new Men's Journal subscription courtesy of Mahina's parents we had a great time just reading on the beach.

After a couple of hours my now old and distressed body had been abused enough by the sand and needed to move on to greener pastures. What we had failed to consider on the way down to the beach was the hike back up to the car. Somehow the stairs and trails always seem a lot steeper on your way back up. Back in Santa Monica we did some window shopping at the Ford, Nissan and Volkswagen dealerships before heading back home to get ready for dinner. While nothing came from our trips to the dealers on this day, Mahina managed to find the next car she would be most comfortable in.

For dinner we headed to the Typhoon restaurant at Santa Monica airport. There are two different restaurants in the same building - one an Asian fusion and the other a Latin American fusion. Originally we had planned on the Asian fusion location for dinner but ended up climbing up one to many sets of stairs, however the menu at the Latin American Typhoon turned out to be great and we enjoyed a tuna ceviche, taquitos and Chilean pot pie for dinner.

Besides a great day - one other good thing came of this day, I can now rent a car without penalty! The excitement continues...

Raging Waters

Who doesn't love hanging out in the water when it's a hot summer day?  Kilohana and Nani from my hula halau had the awesome idea of cooling off by going the the local water park in San Dimas, CA.  We started off the day bright and early and caravaned over to Raging Waters just moments after the park opened at 10am. Kilohana had the ingenious idea of getting a cabana for the day so we could rest and keep all of our stuff in privacy. Our group consisted of Nani, Christian (her husband), Makana (her sister), Melissa, Brenda (her friend), Kilohana, Luke (her son), Lucas and I.

The whole day consisted of lots of rides and an awesome hour in the lazy river.  Christian, Nani's husband, and Lucas bonded in the lazy river by stealing the little kids' life vests and using them to sit on so they could coast throughout the river.  Don't worry the lifeguards loved their inventions and the idea soon took over the river and our group.  My favorite ride had to be the race; its a ride where every person gets their own mat and gets to race other people down the slide. I won, naturally.  Hahaha.  The final and most terrifying ride had to the the one that seemed to be like a mile up in the air.  Walking up all the steps wasn't the problem, it was the fact that when you get that high, you can really feel the structure shake. Needless to say, Melissa and I were very happy to get off that ride so we could get down from that structure.

We ended the day by grabbing dinner together at El Torito. It was a great day with great friends.  We hope to do it again next summer!

Labor Day Weekend

The long weekend was a much welcomed retreat even with the heat wave that blasted Southern California. Our plans were to head down to San Juan Capistrano to watch Bailey play some soccer and spend the day with the family.

Stepping out of the car though we were greeted by the heat wave that had enveloped us. I knew we were headed for trouble at the soccer game when Mahina got really quiet walking from the car to the hotel room the girls were staying at. Sure enough as we got to the soccer game the heat-induced grumbling began. Scrambling to cool her down I was eternally grateful for the shaved ice truck that had parked itself at the soccer tournament eagerly gouging everyone who was dying of heat.

Bailey had a great game and her team pulled it out despite a rough and tough team from Arizona that was ready to scrap their way to a win. At the end of the day though it was the shaved ice that was the real hero; keeping Mahina cool with a clutch performance made the shaved ice truck the day's MVP.

Korean BBQ...

To say that the discovery of Korean BBQ has been life changing would be an understatement.  Since I have discovered Korean BBQ at Furusato (16410 Western Ave. Gardena, CA) with my fellow Hula Halau sisters, Lucas and I have gone there at least every week.  I wish I was joking, but our Bank of America credit card does not lie.  As I write you this, my mouth is salivating and I might need to go there tonight even though we just went on Sunday. 

Let me give you the breakdown of this place.  First, there are two prices on the menu (either menu item is ALL YOU CAN EAT); Menu A is $9.99 and you get beef brisket, pork belly and marinated chicken or Menu B is $16.99 and you get everything in Menu A along with other things like beef tongue, mussels and steak.  After you order, they bring out all the meat and you cook it yourself with a little grill in the middle of your table.  If that wasn't amazing enough you also get all the normal Korean sides like kim chee, bean sprouts, salad, garlic, watercress, radish, rice, rice paper and sweet potato.

If I haven't sold you enough on this restaurant that we love, let me leave it at this;  When we eventually move back home to Hawai`i, this place is on the top of my list to have my last dinner at!

Solstice Canyon Trail Hike

As part of our ongoing intiative to explore Los Angeles, Mahina found a dog-friendly hiking trail in Malibu that led up to a waterfall. So, we decided that it was high time we took the dogs in the great outdoors, Solstice Canyon.

At one with Mother Nature again, Harley immediately took to the trails and was glad to be back in the wilderness. Duke, on the other hand, was a little more weary of the whole thing and stayed close to Mahina. The trail wasn't as crowded as we had originally expected, though I think that's because we missed the morning rush. Since we were just getting our feet wet with this whole hiking thing our path was pretty well laid out in front of us. No, it wasn't a paved road and yes it did involved river crossings...when the definition of a river is two inches of water. The four of us walked our way through the mile long path to the waterfall at the top of the stream. While dogs weren't allowed to get close to the waterfall itself there was a nice little area where they could jump in the river stream and goof around for a bit.

On the way back down, Mahina was reminded that hard way that what goes around comes around. Appaled by my decision to relieve myself outdoors in the wilderness as generations of our species has before me, Mahina tried to get blackmail worth pictures of me at one with the wilderness. A few moments later karma came back to say hello when the rock she thought was a solid foothold to cross the raging stream beneath us sunk right into the marshy dirty water and soaked her shoes and socks through.

To the squishing sounds of Mahina's wet feet we made our way down the last quarter-mile of the trail until we were back in the parking lot where Mahina was finally able to get her feet out of those wet and soggy socks.

On a more somber note, our delicate fragile male dog Duke developed a slight limp on his back right leg as a result of this hike. We are glad to update you however in August that he is walking around just fine and seems to have made a marvelous recovery.

Bridget and Ely's Going Away Party

We got an email one afternoon that our friends Bridget and Eli would be moving back to Hawai`i in the next couple of months. The email had come a little sooner than most people who knew Bridget and Eli expected...while it was always in their cards to move back to Hawai`i, doing so before 2011 was a surprise to a lot of people. But, such is life and when an opportunity comes your way, like it did for Bridget, you respond.

With only a few weekends left before the big move, Bridget and Eli organized a little going away shindig. Admittedly, Mahina was a little jealous that Bridget and Eli would be getting to move back to Hawai`i, but she was also really excited for the opportunity that they are pursuing. The going away party was originally intended to be a beach bonfire, but that didn't quite work out...which in the end may have been a good thing. Unbeknowst to anyone, the fire pits at Dockweiler Beach are all claimed by 10am with people coming as early as 6am to reserve the best pit on the sand. So when Bridget and Eli cruised over about 3pm to find a spot it wasn't happening. What we also didn't know what that there had recently been a couple of gang shoot-outs at Dockweiler, in broad daylight and at night, so maybe things we were working out in our favor after all.

We all ended up at Eli's college roommate, John's house in Torrance. John had a great bachelor pad which he had remodeled. A few other of Bridget and Eli's friends came over to the house and we all spent the evening watching Avatar in Blu-Ray (insane), grilling food and telling stories.

As the night came to a close, we all wished Bridget & Eli well and hoped to see them again before the big move. But hey, at least it gives us another excuse to go to Hawai`i!

Keith Urban Concert!!!

Concerts, Concerts, Concerts! I think I can officially say that I am hooked on them. This time Lucas was nice enough to give up his ticket to let one of my best friends, Jill, come with me. Since we all know how much Lucas is a fan of country music, we know that this was really hard for him to do. Hahaha. Jill and I started the night at her place getting ready and then headed over to grab dinner at Jerry's Famous Deli. Their pastrami sandwiches are AMAZING!

After dinner we decided to leave our car in Westwood and walk up to the UCLA Tennis Center where the concert was happening. This concert was a bit different because it wasn't part of Keith Urban's tour, but was a concert benefiting the Grammy Foundation. The proceeds from the concert were going to continue a summer camp that is held for high school students interested in music that don't have access to it in their school. Both of us had never seen a concert there so we were excited to experience one in such a small and intimate venue.  The opening act for Keith Urban was the Avett Brothers and their unique blend of voices and guitar did not disappoint.

When Keith Urban finally got on stage, the crowd was going nuts and our blood was pumping from all the excitement. From the first strum to the last note, every person there was taken aback by his voice, stage presence and guitar skills. I had read that he was known more for his guitar skills than his singing skills and boy were they right. You could tell how versatile he was with his instrument because after every song or so, he would switch up his guitar to get them re-tuned. My favorite part of the concert had to be when he brought up six kids from this year's summer camp to sing and play with him their favorite song. It was amazing seeing kids living their dream on stage in front of more than 1,000 fans. All in all, I can't wait for Keith Urban to come back to Los Angeles so that I can take/drag Lucas to see him perform!