Summer Evening Essentials For Outside Events

Every Summer, my Grandma Biggs invites us to go to these free, Monday night, concerts in the park. They are sponsored by local businesses, and local groups play their music for the park. The concerts are held at the Gresham Center for the Arts park, and there is always a pretty good turn out. Since it is held in the evenings, that means Summer evening pests come out as well, and they can be pretty irritating when you are trying to enjoy an event or a gathering. To lessen the irritants, I have a few, essentials items that help me enjoy my Summer evenings.

 

I mixed up this bug spray about 20 minutes before I left for the concert. I usually use Badger Balm's amazing bug spray, but I wanted to see if my amazing oils could actually do the trick. I had no doubt that they would their job, I just wanted to see it for myself. Purification oil worked so so well in Sunriver, I didn't get bit AT ALL! We were even in a place where there were a ton of mosquitos flying around, but I didn't get bit! This evening, I mixed water, witchhazel, 10 drops of lemongrass essential oil, and 10 drops of Purification essential oil in a spray bottle, and spritzed it all over my clothes, all over my skin, even my face to protect from annoying bites. We didn't see mosquitos out, but I bet they were flying about, and they didn't bug me! The only bug that I wanted to bug off was this beetle that kept flying onto my shirt. Silly thing. 

Like I said, it was a pretty good turn out! There were a lot of people, and a lot of families that came to enjoy the free show. These shows are great to bring your kiddos to because Gresham Center For The Arts Plaza has a chlorinated splash pad. It makes me want to be a kiddo again, and have the fountains be taller than I am, and let the water fall on my head. :) 

Tonight's show featured a man who calls himself Tony Starlight. It was actually a really fun show! He did impressions of famous, legendary artists and singers, and did cover songs by those artists. Apparently, Tony Starlight has a nightclub in Downtown Portland, and he performs there! He also has some great show coming up, and they sound like they could be a great time. Not only was the concert pretty entertaining, but KGW News Channel 8 came by to film some of the concert. They were interviewing a concert attendee when I took this picture. 

It was a lovely evening; my Grandma is such a fun lady, and I love listening to her latest travel stories, or events she has attended. I love hanging out with her! She is such a special lady. I am so glad that I received the night off so that I was able to go to the concert in the park with her. It's hard to break tradition of something you have done for a few years, every Summer. 

I love bringing snacks, sweets, and healthy drinks to these concerts. It is fun to sit and listen to the music while munching on snacks. My mom and I brought some little snacks, Pop Chips, and I like the Complete Cookies for how soft they are. I also brought some iced green tea in my Lifefactory waterbottle, and grabbed some POM Juice at the store before we went to the concert. 

When eating finger foods, or any type of food, it is a good idea to cleanse your hands so you aren't transferring any icky germs from your hands into your mouth. The surfaces we touch are a breeding ground for germs, so I always to keep a hand spray or instant hand cleanser with me to clean my hands. I love the Hand Sanitizer Spray from The Honest Company! It smells so good, and it doesn't have any harsh chemicals in it. It is perfect! I also used it after going to the restroom at the park. Their bathrooms were not the cleanest, and they didn't have any soap provided. Luckily, I had my trusty hand sanitizer spray to do the trick for the time being. 

Not only did. Have my amazing Purification oil, and bug off spray, but I had my little sclaressence essential oil roller with me too. It is such a nice oil to have for a calming effct. Not that I was stressed, I just love the smell, and it made the evening even more pretty with a beautiful scent to smell. 

It was entertaining when some of the concert attendees started a conga line to one of Tony's songs. They conga'd throughout the concrete part of the park. The conga line attracted quite a few people, as you can see, the conga line is quite long. 

As it got darker, the splash pad lights came on. The splash pad lights change color, the kiddos probably have more so of a blast on the splash pad at night because of the lights. It is an attractive quality to the park. 

Tonight was a lot of fun, and I am so glad that I was able to go. It was nice to have the evening off, because it was a relaxed day. During the day, I wasn't looking towards work, I was looking towards a fun evening with my mom and Grandma, and a fun evening it was indeed.