4th of July Weekend

This post is sending us back a few weeks, but I wanted to make sure to blog about the 4th of July weekend. It was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a while and I wanted to make sure it goes down in the history books (aka this blog).

Bryce and I got tickets to see Modest Mouse at McMenamin's Edgefield on Saturday the 2nd. Modest Mouse has been Bryce's favorite band for years and they have definitely become one of my favs as well. This concert was really something. It might be the best show I've ever been at. The band played with so much enthusiasm and the sound was mixed perfectly. But I think what really set the show apart was this... Most of the concerts I've been to before have been for bands that sing mostly about falling in love, breaking up, etc. That's great and I love songs like that, but Modest Mouse songs are more philosophical. Their songs are mostly observations about the oddities, frustrations, and conundrums of life. Because of this, Mondest Mouse fans span various generations and they resonate with the lyrics and sound on a deep level. I will post a video below of my favorite song that they played all night. It is a song called Cowboy Dan which is a story about a true renegade. The reason I am posting this video is that it demonstrates what I am talking about with the crowd. Skip in to about 3:20 and watch the guy in the yellow shirt for a few minutes.



The day of the show was also the 100th birthday of the venue. Edgefield used to be a poor farm years ago, but it became abandoned. The McMenamins bought the property and turned it into a restaurant, brewery, distillery, vineyard, hotel, spa, venue, golf course combo. It is awesome and is probably our favorite summertime hang out. For the birthday celebration, they had bands playing all across the property, face painting, wine tasting, etc. We met up there before the concert with Kim, Kyle, Connor, Kaley, and Gramps. We got drinks and sat at a picnic table in the shade playing Chinese poker. It was a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.

The guys (minus Con and Gramps):

The gals (minus Piper):

Sunday night was Jayme's bachelorette party. We had a great time bar hopping on Alberta. Good food, good drinks, and good laughs.

 This was Kim Akiyama's photo and I stole it off facebook.

Monday was the 4th. We bbqed steaks at my in-laws with our friends and family and spent the afternoon swimming. The girls sunbathed, the boys stuck to the shade. In the evening we talked around the fire pit and then caught the local fireworks show. Piper hated it. She buried her head into her grandpa's shoulder the entire time. It was cute.

What a weekend!