Surprise & Kris Allen Day

A little over a month ago Ricky started looking for airplane tickets to head to AR this weekend for the wedding of one of his good high school friends. What we found, reasonably priced tickets from Eugene to Little Rock with only 1 stop in Denver, led me to go ahead and buy a ticket, too. We then decided it would be fun to surprise my mom (since it also happens to be mother's day weekend). So, we planned just that. AND then we found out that Kris Allen made it into the top 3 and that his hometown visit just happened to be the Friday we were going to be in. So, the plan was to leave Eugene at 2pm Thursday, fly to denver, and be in Little Rock by 10pm Thursday night. My parents were going to pick "Ricky" up (my dad knew the secret but my mom didn't) so he could have a vehicle for his time in Eugene. 

Unfortunately, Ricky and I have not had the best luck traveling, and this trip was no better. We got on the plane about 2pm only to find that it had a low tire. Eventually (after over 30 minutes for a mechanic to come and another 30 minutes for him to confirm it was flat), we all got off the plane so they could change it. However, it seemed that they didn't have the correct tools and so they had to fly another mechanic (and tools) in from Portland. Needless to say, we missed our connection in Denver and had to stay the night. AFter working some magic, we ended up on the next flight to Little Rock, which got us in about 3pm. This was too late for us to actually make it to Kris Allen events but we got to enjoy in all the excitement, watch lots of it on tv, and surprise my mom. Ricky left me with my family while he headed back to his hometown to hang out with his high school friends and do wedding stuff. Today, my mom and I had a great time in Little Rock doing some shopping, and now I'm waiting for Ricky to arrive at my parents (with the suitcase, which got sent to Dallas)... So, I've been in the same clothes for 3 days and am ready for a change! Luckily, I got to wash them last night at my parents'... ;-)

Enjoy some pictures of Kris Allen Day. Arkansas definitely showed up Milwaukee and San Diego! Now, we'll have to see if Kris can win this thing!

Kris at Riverfront in Little Rock. What a crowd!

The brother and sis-in-law. :) They got to go to private lunch at one of our favorite restaurants--Stoby's. So fun!

Kris enjoying the parade in Conway.

Kris taking the stage in Conway for the final concert of the day. Check out the guy next to him--that's the body guard taking pictures! Super Fun.

A bird's-eye view of the crowd in Conway (reportedly over 20,000). Kris is standing under the green tent to the right. I stole this picture from our friend John's blog (johnshotme.com)

Hands in his pockets...looking quite impressed with the turn out and for good reason. :)