Day 3 of the Ace Trifecta!

Sorry it's taken so long for day 3... (seems like I've been saying that a lot lately)

So here is the continuing saga.... Candace and I slept in on day 3! The guys went golfing in the morning so we decided to try and catch up on the sleep we lost over the last 2 days. It was so nice just to wake and relax a bit in the morning. Of course while we were relaxing we were looking at the pictures we had taken Friday and Saturday! :)

So around lunchtime we were on the road again to Augusta! All weekend when I asked someone how far things were from Atlanta... they said 2 hours. They were all wrong! Everything was more like 3 hours away! But that is ok... the time went really fast chatting & singing our way to each event. But during the trip I started to make a list of things I wanted to ask Ace... every time I see him I forget what I wanted to say... I think it is his eyes... they turn your brain to mush. :)

After a few wrong turns... me starting to panic.... Candace trying to calm me down while she is starting to panic.... phone calls to everyone we knew that were already at the show.... NO one answering their phones..... finally good directions from a nice man at the gas station and we arrived at the Augusta show. Gates opened at 4 and the show was starting at 5:30. We arrived around 5. Most of our friends went early to try and catch Ace's sound check in the afternoon. They did get to see him for a few minutes but they wouldn't let them close for sound check. BUT Brandi has a great camera lens and was able to get a few good shots of him. Here is one while he is laying down on the job! It was extremely hot and humid that day so I guess he decided to rest while the other guys were checking their instruments. lol

So Candace and I got all settled in with our friends to watch the first show. I can't remember their name, but they were much better than Friday nights opening act! When that band was done we all went up and stood at the stage waiting for Ace.

We were all excited and sad at the same time knowing that this was the last day of fun. Why did the weekend have to go so fast? Can we go back and do it again?

Of course the show was fantastic...as always! The audience REALLY loved him and the more they cheered and danced, the more excited he got. It was very cool! There was even a man in the audience with his wife {I believe he was dragged there} that was overheard saying negative things about Ace a few times. {can you imagine?} I kept my eye on this man {who by the way, was brave enough to wear a pink shirt} and after the second song he stood up and yelled with his arm in the air... "You ROCK Ace"! How about that for turning a negative into a positive! Ace has that way with everyone he meets... :)

After the show I went up to the area where they were selling his CD's & pics. Over the 3 days we had gotten very friendly with the couple selling the stuff. In fact she hugged me as soon as she saw me and said she would miss me.... felt like we were such good friends! LOL There were about 50 people in line waiting to meet Ace there. BUT my new friend said Ace wasn't having a meet and greet because he had to leave right away to catch a flight back to NY for a business meeting. How can that be? The last day we wouldn't get to see him and get our last hugs? NO.... I couldn't have that! So I ran down by the stage and there was a big group of tweenies with Ace and he was signing stuff as fast as possible. Security was trying to get him to leave however Ace kept signing and signing..... taking quick pics ....signing and singing more. So I look around and know there is NO way I'll see him there...so I sneak back behind the stage and find Marion and Byron from the band there. I'm thinking ok... here are the cars...and the band members...he has to come back here. So chatted with them for a few minutes and BINGO! Here comes Ace smiling :) Whew...

It was a very quick meeting...told him how awesome the show was... a couple of hugs... gave him a Steeler hat and told him if I had to live with the Broncos on my letters, he had to live with some Steeler stuff... more hugs and goodbye. It was all very quick... no one there to take our pic... well except Candace got this one in quickly...

And no time for my list of questions... which by the way... I totally forgot I had them in my pocket. I'm telling you it's the eyes...

So that was it... a last goodbye from the window... {sniff, sniff} and he was on his way out of there.

Here is the gang I spent the weekend with ... we really all had a great time together, everyone is SO NICE and I'm sure we will be friends for a long time to come!

Plans are in the making for us all to get together in a month or two in NYC to see the broadway show Grease! Someone we know who is dear to us... is rumored to have signed up for a 3 month broadway stint playing Kenickie in Grease! I'm not spreading any rumors but when the offical word gets spoken I'll post it here! Its System-matic. Its Hyyyyydro-matic. Why, its Greased Lightning!

Well we were so keyed up... and lots more Ace stories to tell so most of us went to Applebees for dinner. It was a lot of fun...not sure Sunday night at Applebees should be that much fun or loud! But we didn't get kicked out so I guess it was all good :).

We had the NICEST waiter... he loved us! I've even been keeping in contact with him through myspace... we converted him into an Ace fan too! Here's our group pic at Applebees with Joshua! Unfortunately some of our friends had to leave before this pic was taken.

Here are few more pics from the show... and then the next blog post will be titled... "How I know my husband REALLY loves me!" Stay tuned boys and girls!

You might think I'm strange for posting this picture but I love it and it makes me smile thinking about how much he jumps when he is performing!

I actually took about 1500 pictures over the 3 days. Can we say BIG scrapbook?