the best weekend ever: part 4

even though saturday, itself, took 3 posts, i figured [to get through this faster] i would combine sunday and monday.

we spend last sunday sleeping in [i didn't have work which was a nice change], and then we headed to the other side of the state to help mike's family move his grandmother into his uncle's house.  in the process, we met his aunt and uncle's new kitten, james! he was raised in a daycare so he is the sweetest, most lovable cat ever.  he also has extra toes on his front paws! hemingway cats, as they're called, have a genetic mutation that gives them extra toes - or lucky toes as my mom calls my cat, robbie's [who has one].

oh yeah, and we stopped and got a gelati on the way down.  strawberry italian ice and chocolate custard = amazing

kitten mittens!

sunday night we relaxed at home, and monday we got up early to drive to rhode island to play golf with my dad.  we had a great time, and after we went to watch hill for some lobster rolls and ice cream with my parents!

bullwinkle [my headcover] and rocky [my dad's] got to hang out!

best lobster rolls and ice cream ever!

and, to top it all off, my mom gave me some of her famous whoopie pies to bring back.  boy are they good, so good i am going to post the recipe now, instead of waiting until tomorrow.  seriously, you need to try these - they aren't very hard to make!

the reason for the best weekend ever

before i continue writing about my weekend, i want to show you all a beautiful scene from my town.  the reason i was able to have such a wonderful long weekend, was because of the remembrance of memorial day.  a church near my house put out this wonderful display a few weeks ago.  each flag represents a soldier who died in active service in afghanistan or iraq.  the first time i saw this display, it literally took my breath away.  

thank you to all of the servicemen and women who have given their lives for our country.  and thank you to all of those who serve today.

3 summers ago, during my summer spent in luxembourg, i visited the luxembourg-american cemetery near luxembourg city on memorial day.  it is a world war ii cemetery where many soldiers who were killed in the battle of the bulge are buried.  general george patton is also buried there.  the flowers at the cemetery for memorial day were so beautiful.

a year later, while i studied in paris, i spent memorial day in normandy.  this memory was a bit closer to me, personally, because my uncle died on d-day.  my dad is named after him, and he has never been there, so it was beautiful to take photos and show them to him.

the first james andrew

looking up to the memorial from omaha beach

the best weekend ever: part 3

dave matthews band.

after waking up at 7:00 am to run color me rad, we all proceeded to pass out [from exhaustion and a food coma from amazing cupcakes], while watching parks & rec and how i met your mother.  the main reason, however, for our much needed nap was that our day was not even half over.  four of us that ran the race: mike, leah, kane, and i trekked into hartford for an AMAZING concert.  that's right, not only were the four of us the awesome ones who made it through TWO color throws, we also rallied for a fun tailgate and concert.

we left our house at 3:30 with a grill, hotdogs, lots of beers, the leftover cupcakes and found a random parking lot to tailgate.  it was really fun!  we listened to lot of loud music, ate, chatted, drank some beers, and made friends with the people a couple cars over to play flip cup!

oh, and leah found a hula hoop! 

we love sabretts!

my poor sister, shannon, and her boyfriend, matt, were supposed to join us for all of these festivities, but she got stuck in awful traffic!  luckily, she did get there in time for the concert!

first and only time i will ever be the tanner one

buuuuut, of course, our perfect day was not without its share of frustration.  mike has scalped tickets for concerts at the meadows for like 10 years, so we didn't think it would be a problem.  too bad people are THE WORST.  during our hula hoop adventure, we went looking for tickets and found a guy who sold us lawn seats only slightly over face value.  as we were walking into the concert, i noticed that my ticket wasn't the same as shannon's [she and matt bought theirs online].  i got a little nervous, but mike assured me it would be fine.  too bad i was right.  shannon and matt's tickets scanned, a big green check mark came up on the scanner, and they walked in.  i was next.  my ticket beeped and came up with a big X. ...too bad the ticket attendant didn't notice, so i walked in.  unfortunately, mike, leah, and kane weren't as lucky.  obviously i couldn't go back out with them because we would have had to buy 4 new tickets, but to make a long story short, they found a scalper who was willing to walk to the entrance with them, get the tickets scanned, and then get paid.  

lighters

all in all it cost too much money, but the concert was so worth it.  it was amazing.  the only thing i am a bit sad about is that i broke my "ants marching" streak!  this hartford concert was my 9th dmb concert, and for the first time i didn't hear it.  womp womp. 

setlist from dmb almanac

and three posts later, i am done with saturday of the best weekend ever!  good thing my long weekend lasted 6 days!