Mendon Drive-In

Hubby has been following along on Ron Howard's tweets about the new movie he was producing about the Beatles.   When the movie was finally being put out, he found out it was only playing in "select theaters" and then later on Hulu.  

I mentioned it to my friend Sylvie, whose husband Jim is also a great Beatles fan.   And she said it would be playing at the Mendon Drive-In.  So I went online and found out that not only was the movie playing there, but they were doing a whole "Beatles Night".   Sylvie and I bought tickets, and we met them down there.

They said they have been open for 62 years, and this was the biggest crowd ever in their history!

The evening started off with a concert by "Studio Two" - a Beatles band that, ironically, we had seen with Sylvie and Jim before.  We brought our lawn chairs, and the place had a "Beer Garden" so we could order drinks!

Kind of hard to see the band with the sun shining behind them.

They put "Ringo" up on the roof!

After the concert, it was dark enough for the movie.   When Hubby and I got in the car, we found that our radio wouldn't play the sound very well!  So we sat outside for most of the movie - we could hear the sound from other cars and from the speakers coming out of the snack bar.

Trying to get a good selfie of the four of us!

#1.  Sylvie's eyes closed!

#2.   Cut Hubby's head off!

#3.  As good as it got!  Almost lost Jim but he's still there!

After the movie, they were playing the Beatles original Shea Stadium concert, so Hubby and I got into the backseat of Sylvie's car, because it was getting cold out!   Not as comfy as I remember it!

Noah's Birthday Party

Our Grandson Noah turned 8 with a celebration at Great Wolf Lodge, where his mom works.   Everyone get some wolf ears to wear.

And Noah added the "Transformers" theme to his party

Uncle Kenny got into the theme too!

We all had some pizza..including Noah's sister who had a "Wolf  mask" painted on her face!

Grampy gets a selfie with Elsie.

We had a little birthday cake

Noah got to eat his own name

And opened presents

After the party, the kids all got to go in the water park!

(the old folks left after the present opening....so we weren't there to take more pictures of the kids at the water park!)

Retro Stew Yard Concert

Our very good friend Gayle is the front person for our very favorite band - Retro Stew.   Retro Stew used to be Trilogy...but when a fourth member was added, the name needed to be changed.

At one of their gigs, they invited the audience to put name suggestions in a box, and if the band picked the name you created, they'd give you a house concert.

  Well.....Hubby inundated them with names.....probably 100 different ones!  Unfortunately, none of the names seemed right to them, and they picked a name one of their own band mates came up with. Since no one won the contest, they gave Hubby the house concert as a prize for his outstanding effort!  (and because we are their number one fans.....we try to go to almost every gig they have)

Since our yard is bigger than our house....we chose to have a Yard Concert. The band set up right behind the house.   They brought a canopy just in case......and it did rain for 5 minutes right after they got all the equipment underneath!   But then the skies became blue and it turned into a gorgeous afternoon.

The band.....Dave Gaudet

Gayle Picard

Donna Russo

Kris Lucander

And Hubby jumped in on keyboard on a few songs!

There were also guest appearances by Jon Swensen and Peter Pothoff.  

I regret there are no photos of them.

At the beginning of the concert, Gayle announced they would be singing a song in tribute to good friend Mary Nestor, who had been very ill.   They did a great rendition of one of his original songs.

During the intermission between sets, we learned that Marty had passed away.  As a farewell, the band played his tune again at the beginning of the second set.

Marty and his sister Cathy, who loved his music.

Our friends seemed to enjoy the concert immensely!

Kate and Trude

Trude and her hubby George, who likes to sketch while he listens.  Good friend Marilyn is right behind them.

Peter and Scott discuss a few things

Scott and his wife Betsy and the famous duo of "John and Jon".    Jon is the one who sang the harmony on one of Gayle's songs.

Andy and duo "Folkapotamous"  aka Tony and Penny

Cousin Donna and hubby Mike.....Jess is sitting in front of them.

Laurie and granddaughter Hailey love our swing!

Cousins Ricky and Mike

As the afternoon waned, we lit a campfire

And the band played on

After the concert, the band and several friends stayed to enjoy the campfire, sing some songs, eat some hotdogs and have a few drinks.

What a day...what a night....what a fabulous concert!

PS - the next day our neighbor to the left congratulated us on a great concert.....and a couple days later a neighbor from two doors down came into my office and said, "great show Saturday night!  But couldn't you hear me yelling 'one more song!" ?

Family Cookout

For the past few years, I've had a Mother's Day Cookout for all my kids.   This year we missed it because of our kitchen remodel, so I thought I'd have a late Mother's Day cookout!

I got my hands on my littlest granddaughter as quickly as possible!  She wasn't too happy at first...a bit of stranger anxiety.

She cheered up after awhile!

I invited my Dad and his girlfriend Emma, too.  They don't get to see the grandkids and great-grandkids very often!

 Audrey had fun with the ball scoop.

Now there's a Dad!  Baby in one arm and playing ball with the other!

Emily and Audrey found a way to play together too.

Jamie gave Elise a ride on the swings

Jamie and Memere amuse Elise

Nick, Kelly, Elise and Audrey try out the swing

Emily and Elise like it too!

 Jamie gives Audrey a lesson on batting

We had our meal indoors since the wind was picking up and it was getting a bit chilly

I was so happy to visit with all my favorite people!