The day started as any other Buffett day would...scrambling around the house, trying to get all the food cooked at the last minute, getting the booze safely packed away, and painting our classic Buffett phrases on the car windows. Dad was on edge as usual, trying to get out of the house as soon as possible. Mackenzie pulled up in her new minivan, and the men discussed their fears of being castrated just by riding in it; all in all, a typical Phelps family pre-departure gathering. This year, however, had an added twist. There was a miscommunication for my cousin Dennis getting to the house by 1:30 and he was not yet there. Long story short, the late departure put my dad even more on edge (as well as some other things), and I was one of the lucky souls who got to be in the car with his bad mood. Of course this was Ryan's first Buffett concert, to which he had an interesting beginning, and Kathy just kept pushing my dad's buttons. It was an interesting ride for the four of us.
When we finally piled out of the car at Jiffy Lube Live, we were ready to start the party. As it turns out, we were a little behind the times...all those riding in the "swagger wagon" (as Mackenzie's van was lovingly nicknamed) had drank all the booze on the way down and were already drunk. It was great. My dad had apparently also gained a new nickname from the passengers of the swagger wagon, "Uncle Mother-F***er." How that happened I have no idea, but it was entertaining as hell for the whole night. We then gathered up all of our stuff and headed over to Mike's trailer, where we had our own little setup, bathroom included. We had brought Grandma's beer bong along, which ended up being a huge hit to both family and strangers alike. I was introduced to the amazingness that is a Malibu bay breeze, and enjoyed the tailgating festivities as always. This even included my cousin Matt breaking his wife Kristi's camera, then proceeding to chuck it on the ground, at coolers, and eventually pouring beer over it. Needless to say Kristi was not exactly pleased; luckily we were all able to laugh about it, and the party continued without anything else being broken.
(This is the picture Matt took when he broke Kristi's camera--glad he didn't break mine!)
Now, with my recent milestone birthday of 21, there was quite the hype about it throughout the entirety of tailgating. We got way too excited about getting free non-alcoholic margarita mix from the Buffett golf cart driving by, and pretty much told anyone that would listen how old I was. We all got carded several times, but for me and my recent legality, I managed to get a few extra "happy birthdays" from the people checking my ID :)
The concert of course was fun as usual. We had pavilion seats this year, center section and decently close to the stage. But I must admit, I missed the lawn. We stayed in the pavilion for about half the show before heading out to hunt for the rest of the family on the lawn. After another awesome concert, we headed back to the trailer, ate and drank more for about an hour, then headed on our journey home and back to the real world.
Well, it is now 1:56AM as I finish writing and editing this post. I've killed about an hour with a few visitors here and there, and have managed to keep myself awake. One more hour til freedom and sleep!...after I ad pictures of course.
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