The Wedding

Over Labor Day weekend, my brother-in-law got married.  My husband and my brother-in-law are from the Seattle area, so the wedding was attended by lots of out of town family and friends.  My new sister-in-law is from south Georgia (where the wedding took place), and she had lots of local family and friends attend.

The wedding was at a rustic lodge, with an air conditioned reception area and a large outdoor deck where the ceremony took place.

We left town on a Friday morning and ventured out of state to stay in a hotel over the weekend.  Several months ago, I read a blog post about someone staying in a hotel with their small children and recommending a suite with separate rooms.  That way, the kids can go to bed on time, and the adults can stay up and socialize.  This was important to us because it would be the first time that the boys had ever stayed in a hotel and we were unsure of how they would sleep.  We wanted them to be as comfortable as possible, and that meant having a cool, dark place where they could sleep.  That also allowed us to have some freedom to spend time with family members in the gathering area of the suite after the boys went to bed.  Our room quickly became the hang-out room and it was so fun to spend so much time with family and friends in the comfort of our own room!  I mentioned before on the blog that the boys ended up sleeping like champs at the hotel!  In fact, they slept so wonderfully (both at bedtime and at naptime), that I seriously considered moving into a hotel suite once our house sells.

The hotel had an indoor pool and I was really pumped about this because the boys had never been to a real swimming pool before.  Hey, when you don't have a membership to the Y, and you don't have any rich friends with a pool, the opportunities to swim are limited.  We took advantage of the pool time when we were there.  Michael wasn't so sure about it at first, so he walked the perimeter of the pool and reminded us all not to kick and not to splash (as if we needed reminding).  Noah LOVED the warm water and held onto me and could have just fallen asleep!  He was in spa-land!  Michael eventually decided it would be okay if I held him when he got in the water.  He got comfortable enough to move between me, Aaron, and Aaron's dad.  Being in a pool was such fun!

The wedding was really pretty.  It was kind of muggy outside, but the deck was covered, so it offered shade.  Michael was a typical three-year-old ring bearer.  He looked adorable, but it was a mess trying to keep him quiet.  Aaron carried him down the aisle to me as Aaron escorted his step-mom to her seat.  Michael sat on my lap, but called out the groomsmen names (the bride's three sons were junior groomsmen), swatted gnats on his face while yelling "GOT IT!", dropped his football ring-bearer pillow and said "oops, I fumbled", then assumed that the bride's step-father stole the phone cover from Aaron's cousin (they both had camo phone covers), repeatedly asked to have a flower petal from the aisle, and needless to say-- I ended up carrying Michael into the reception area prior to the ceremony even being half-over.  He did about as well as a three-year-old is expected to do.  I wish I could have heard the whole ceremony, but I watched from indoors where my mom was helping me entertain Noah and then Michael as well.

The whole weekend was so much fun and spending all that time with family was so super great.  We maybe get to see the out-of-state family once a year, so it was a real treat to all be together for a weekend.

Here are some pictures:

Lovely!

Until Next Time,

Much love, Reba