Our drive up was flawless. No traffic, kids were quiet, and we had a SNACK!

Oh how i love these donuts.

When we arrived at the hotel we found a very interesting picture. No these are not mine. I did not forget them (like i did other things!) However someone must have and they sat outside till morning. (i did think about trying them on but did not )

Inside the elevator Allie and i

Mom and I took the girls for a swim and let them get some of their energy out.

Back in the room… if you remember the last time we visited my grandma we stayed in the same hotel and these rooms have very big closets. The last time the girls and i each took a picture in this closet. This time all 3 of us hopped in

On Saturday we had time to kill before our dinner with the family. I saw this grey building that I really liked. It is empty, no one ever in it. I decided i was taking the girls for a photo shoot. Mom agreed and off we went.

This is the building

Dinner was awesome! My favorite part of our trip. I love my family and i love my cousins. Growing up i spent lots of time with Sarah and Liz. Sarah is currently living in Italy and her sister Liz is getting ready to join her for a semester of school. It was great listening to the stories that Sarah has to tell of her time over there.  I can’t wait to hear of Liz’s adventures!

My Beautiful Cousins and Me

Liz. Me, Sarah

My Favorite Picture!!

Sarah’s boyfriend also came with her. His name is Silvio. This i believe is his 3rd trip to the states. I was excited to meet him and was glad i did.

Liz, Silvio, Sarah, Me

A big group Picture!

I had a great time! The girls had great time! Thank you mom for taking us up. It was wonderful to see my family!            I love you all so much!!

WOW!

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I could just end there because they were amazing and that is all but I shall keep going…

I first learned of Wakey!Wakey! through the show I like One Tree Hill. (Those that know me, are you seeing a trend? My other #1 artist Tyler was from there too!!) After hearing Wakey!Wakey!’s “War Sweater” on the season finale and liking it very much I began to look into them and liked what I saw. I was thrilled when I learned the band donated some album sales to a diabetes charity. Of course that makes them awesome! I am a diabetic!

I downloaded the music, began watching the ustreams and I was very excited when I learned they were going on tour and would be coming to Charlottesville, VA.

A good friend from high school, Amanda, (yes, we have the same name ) who I have attended other shows with was going too so I bought my ticket and she and I and 3 other friends headed up to the road!!

The show was at a little venue called The Southern. It is a nice little venue in downtown Charlottesville. I have been to Charlottesville many times but not to this area. They have a cute little downtown.

Ok so now to the show!  Brilliant, beautiful, full of just amazing musicians!

Mike Grubbs – The leader of the band He would be the main vocals and the most unbelievable piano player. (One of the reasons I fell in love with Wakey!Wakey!) Mike is a Marvelous Music Maker! Oh… and he is such a sweetheart, a very genuine, goofy, down to earth kind of guy. Now remember that is just my own opinion! However he was great with the fans that came to see the show. He wondered around the venue beforehand and always stopped and said hi to one of his fans with a big smile. Mike, I love him and he is truly a wonderful talent!

Tanya Buziak –  Backup vocals and some tambourine playin  Fantastic! Her voice  is beautiful. Although Mike can sing just fine on his own!! add Tanya and there is a fullness where she fills in.

Anne Lieberwirth – A kickass bass player. She was awesome and even threw in some vocals here and there! I enjoyed watching her play and really enjoyed when the bass kicked in hard! What a sound. This was my first time really seeing Anne play. I knew she was a part of the band but I had never seen her play on any of the ustreams I had watched.

They also had a traveling drummer with them. This was his last stop with the band but he was great. I love some great drumming. He had an awesome personality. (Edit: His name is Janis, thanks Wes!)

Patrick Doane –  What do I say about Patrick? Gosh, takes my breath away might be a good way to describe it. Patrick plays the violin. It gives me goosebumps. Put him together with Mike and you have the most beautiful sound, still gives me goosebumps. You see I can’t help but sound all mushy because it was awesome. Patrick is amazing and he can whistle too!! Not to mention he is adorable.

All the girls go crazy for Mike and Patrick. I can understand why.  The crowd was a mix of ages too which was pretty awesome!

Each band member has a part and they play it so well. They all blend together perfectly and have the most amazing music! I am so glad that I was able to come listen. I am hoping that I will be able to hear them again.

I encourage all to go check Wakey!Wakey! out.

The website it Wakey!Wakey!

A link to their recent EP – Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You

One more great EP – War Sweater

They are also on tour right now and traveling around so check it out and see if they are coming near you.  To hear them live is just wonderful.

To the Band – Thanks for a great show! I am glad you got to see the beautiful VA landscape I hope to see you again sometime soon. Have a great rest of the tour! Amanda from Lynchburg

(L to R Tanya, Anne, Janis, Patrick, me ( looking ridiculous like always), and Mike)

We were originally supposed to stay in Towson, MD  for all of Saturday but my step brother who lives out there ended up having to work the whole day. Tyler was doing a show that night in Asbury Park, NJ. That is when I looked at Jason and said “We don’t have kids, lets check out of this hotel and drive to NJ.” Lets see if there are any tickets left and if not guess what? New Jersey is where Jason is from! He has family that we haven’t seen in 3 years since he grandfather “bop” passed away.  Now of course Jason was hesitant but… I talked him into it and off we went to Asbury Park! We made a brief stop in Delran, NJ to see Jason’s Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim before heading on. Our plan was to drive back to Delran for our nights stay.

Once in Asbury Park we learned that The Spill Canvas/ Tyler Hilton show was sold out.  Which for me was sad but actually was a great thing. A sold out show is AWESOME! It was being held at a little venue know as The Stone Pony. There is lots of history there. Although I did not go inside Jason and I looked it up and read. Many bands have played at The Stone Pony! Click on the Stone Pony link to read more.

Although we missed the show the night for us was wonderful. Asbury park is right on the beach and there is a boardwalk.! For me it is still a bit cold up north, I like my beaches warm but oh was it pretty!

You will see a lot of this rock. I was fascinated by it in the middle of the water like that

The Boardwalk was pretty awesome. They had this old casino that was gutted out and was being used as a walkway. As it got darker outside and you were walking through it got kinda of creepy especially if you were the only one walking! It made for a great picture though.

And I like the picture so much I turned it black and white cause I thought that looked neat

The inside of the old casino building has murals on it. This was one of the interesting ones.

A couple me photos

We had dinner at a little Italian place that was SO proud of their ocean front view. As the sun set and the tide came in it did make for a nice setting.

Time to get my feet in the sand. Real quick – the water was FREEZING!

A big huge thanks goes out to the man in the white shirt. He did a great job of posing just so. It made for some great pictures

Jason and I also met this great man who asked to have his photo taken! I was more than happy to do so and well Jason not so much He told about his home town and his struggles and how nobody liked him. He and I chatted about diabetes because we both had it! Jason and I did a lot of listening and once he realized we did not have any money to give him he was on his way.

Jason and I also did some geocaching too! We haven’t done that in a while so that was interesting.

A wonderful day we had in Asbury Park. Our night was through and back to Delran we headed….