Pardo BBQ, Kate & Joe's wedding & NY farewell

Hello from Maastricht! Jaap and I arrived safely on Tuesday morning. Thanks to Jaap's parents and family I feel very welcomed in our new Dutch home. (Pictures to be posted later).

Two weeks ago was the Pardo family picnic. Festivities included the annual water balloon toss (which Jaap and I placed 2nd in), wiffle ball game, some good Puerto Rican BBQ fare, and of course lots of yelling and screaming. (Mostly over a forgotten cheesecake that was accidentally left in Queens).

Special thanks to Cathy and Chris Pardo for hosting the shindig and Titi Vivian for some excellent rice!

We went to NYC on Monday to visit friends and NYC. We visited the MOMA and had dinner with Shannon, Michael, Amanda, and Susan in Hell’s Kitchen. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures that night. :) But, here’s a pic of Jaap and me at the MOMA with Starry night in the background.

On August 19^th, Jaap and I traveled to Foxboro, MA for Katie and Joe’s wedding. Congrats to my dear friends who are currently enjoying their honeymoon in Alaska! ‘Extreme weddings’ continued complete with repeat performances of Poker Face and of course Since You’ve Been Gone. Meaghan and Caroline treated the newlyweds to a special treat of some Irish dancing. (You can see Meaghan below choosing some tunes with the DJ). Congrats again to the newlyweds! It was a beautiful wedding.

Last weekend Uncle Vinny, Aunt Carol, Shannon, Lee, and my nephew Joey came over for a good-bye dinner. Aunt Carol brought the famous chocolate mousse cake. J Joey opened up his barbershop and gave Shannon, Jaap, and myself some haircuts. Rates were very reasonable. $2 for a haircut and customers receive $150 back in fake money.

I taught Joey how to play a few three-note tunes on the recorder and he gave a short recital to the family. Later on, Jaap taught my parents how to play Kolinisten (aka Settlers of Catan). It was a great weekend spending time with family and friends before our trip to NL.