Bobby, Patrick, and I met up at National on Thursday evening after work, celebrated with a beer at that gross little Sam Adams Pub in Terminal A, had a short delay, and took off. We found out David was probably not going to make it to WI that night so we were concerned about rental car and coordination, etc. So as Patrick and I were frantically on our blackberry/iphone trying to figure out bus schedules and what-ifs, Bobby calmly continued reading his paper, glancing up only to say "it will work itself out." YEAH Boober... if people work it out FOR you!
We got to Milwaukee and drove to Madison without David since he got stuck in Cleveland for the night. We snuck up on Linda (Patrick's mom) and then surprised everyone else at Christy's, the bar next to Linda and Craig's house. We caught up pretty fast and sang and danced and talked until late... a very fun way to kick off the weekend!
Friday morning we got up and took a "putt-putt" out on the lake. Linda and Craig live on Lake Waubesa and it was SO beautiful and relaxing to wake up to such a great location. We picked up David from the airport and ended up spending most of the day at the Union at UW-Madison playing cards with Patrick's dad Bill. My favorite picture of a disgruntled David for losing like five times in a row...
Had dinner that night at Patrick's favorite Madison restaurant called The Old Fashioned. Cheese curds, Spotted Cow, and even a hamburger with egg on it. Weird! Awesome. We went out in Madison with Patrick's brother Cory and a bunch of his friends that night. Somehow in the course of the night David convinced all of us to leave our crowded, loud, FUN bar we were at to go to some bar called Woof where we were literally the only people in the place. Not sure how that happened but whatever... it was fun anyway!
Saturday we put on our Little Vito and the Torpedoes custom t-shirts (thanks to Cory!) and headed out to Rhythm and Booms. We had to wait out a thunderstorm for a little while in the cars, but then the sun came out and the rest of the day was awesome.
See if you can figure out the back of Patrick's shirt (don't feel bad if you can't... it took Aunt Flo like a thousand tries)
Rhythm and Booms is an annual July 4th event where they set up a big stage in a park and have bands come and play along with a fireworks show. We had the BEST time! Tons of ladder golf and sun bathing during the first few bands (one of which was a great Beatles cover band... totally my kind of thing!) and then VERY aggressive dancing and singing when Craig's band Little Vito and the Torpedoes played. They were so good! I knew they were going to be, but seriously they were great. Craig is amazing on the guitar and Joanna has a bad mammajamma voice. I half-joked that I found my wedding band!
Sunday we had brunch with Bill and then headed back to Linda and Craigs for the main event... the CORN TOSS TOURNAMENT! Linda set up a huge tent in the yard and made a bunch of food and a ton of friends and family came over to play. I was paired with Patrick and we of course crushed Team David and Flo, but ended up losing after that.
Team David and Flo...
None of that mattered though BECAUSE I had started the day by telling Patrick my "Wisconsin Fantasy" -- make all three bean bags in the hole in one turn. It was going to be epic. It was going to be monumental. It was going to be difficult and take a lot of focus. And I kid you not... my Wisconsin Fantasy came true. Total moment of crowning glory. I was so excited.
Game faces from the side lines!!! Patrick's oldest brother Josh and his wife (new bff) Stef are on the left...
Corn Toss tournament ended but the night went on and on... talks on the back porch, more informal corn toss games, dancing to "DC music," card playing. I should include that Bobby took this year's "Lake Waubesa's Next Top Model" title and was crowned appropriately. Too fun! Can't wait for next year.
The rest of the week was great... very relaxing. Enjoyed the lake and dominoes with the family and bike riding and playing the crazy bugs slots with Flo. The best and most unexpected part of the week though was getting to go to Milwaukee Summerfest with Flo and Linda before I left! It was CRAZY! Summerfest is like 14 days of nonstop music in downtown Milwaukee. There are about 6 big stages along with tons of booths and food and drinks right on Lake Michigan. It's only 10 bucks to get in for the day and you can just wander from stage to stage to see people play. We spent a long time watching this great cover band in one of the tents but the total highlight was going to Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Linda elbowed our way to about the third row and it was just SO great. They played absolutely everything... Proud Mary, Grapevine, Fortunate Son, Suzie Q, Green River, Bad Moon Rising, Lodi, Down on the Corner, Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Travelin' Band, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Who'll Stop the Rain, Long As I Can See the Light... EVERYTHING!
The week was just perfect. I can't say enough for how much I loved meeting all of Patrick's family and friends and how welcoming and giving they all are. I owe Linda and Craig a huge thanks for opening their home and spending time feeding and cleaning up after us! Bill is always so generous with us and has arguably fed me more this year than my own parents have :). I learned a lot about Patrick and put so many names with faces. I don't know how, but the trip exceeded expectations. It's refreshing to be reminded that every family is so different from the next but love is a big enough thing to cover all the unique complexities. Pretty remarkable.
No comments:
Post a Comment