Wedding Weekend!

I absolutely could not wait for my three-day weekend.  I had pinpointed this past Friday as a day off early in the summer, as we get a couple bonus Fridays off at work. Since we had an out-of-town wedding for the following Saturday, it made sense.  In a perfect world I suppose we would have dropped the kids off on Thursday night or Friday morning and made a full weekend of it, but in the end I made very good use of Friday and had a fabulous rest of the weekend, too!

Much to my dismay, I had to get up early on Friday.  Not only did I need to pack Jacob's lunch and make sure he and Craig got off to a last-minute 8:45am dentist appointment, but I needed to get Carter off to daycare at a reasonable time and fit in an allergy shot (that I forgot to wake up early enough to get on Tuesday) and register the kids for the afterschool program before the deadline at noon.  To be fair, I looked at the website back in mid-to-late July and the new forms weren't up yet.  Then I got an email early last week saying that the deadline was Friday, so it's not like it was a huge window.  But anyway, it appeared a lot of other people were in the same boat because I got in just before a mad rush!  Anyway, I did all that and got home by mid-morning.  I went out for a run even though it was super humid, and despite showering immediately, I spent about two hours in the A/C still sweating.  I closed out an old bank account (been meaning to do that for months) and waited patiently for the call I was supposed to get from the school principal in response to my email about Carter's teacher.  When that didn't come, I made some lunch and puttered around the house a bit, mostly packing up for the weekend away.

I finally chatted with the principal, who absolutely understood my concerns.  By her request I can't really get into it, but suffice it to say we have a very acceptable solution and I am now very much looking forward to the year.  I alluded to it in my last post, but this whole thing made me very uncomfortable--not just because it sucks to have to be "that parent" (and she did note that many parents request changes for "lighter" reasons), but because it sort of feels like "playing God" with your kid's education.  I'm a very big proponent for things happening for a reason and for finding the good in it, so doing anything to change Carter's fate (or, God forbid, someone else's) freaks me out a bit.  But, maybe this is all how it was meant to be anyway.  Regardless, problem solved.

After that I had to run out to Aldi for bread and stopped at Wegmans to get a wedding card, then I picked up Carter, stopped home to Craig and Jacob, and then ran out again to Kohl's to see if I could use my $5 birthday credit.  I ended up getting a shirt for Jacob, two shirts and swim trunks for Carter, and a pair of checkered capris (!) for myself...that I now think are going back because I don't have enough tops to go with them. Boo. :(  Once I got home I made dinner and finished packing, and then we were off to Buffalo!  We all slept there overnight, then Craig and I left a little before 11am to go to Erie, PA, for his cousin's wedding.  We were quite excited to have about 30 hours with no kids, including an overnight.  It's been a while!

We could actually have normal adult conversations on the way there, and could eat lunch wherever we wanted--well, as long as it was quick since we were a little short on time.  We opted for Steak 'n' Shake's drive-thru...yum!  We changed into our wedding clothes in Craig's parents' hotel room, then were off to the ceremony around the corner from the hotel.

It was a really nice ceremony for a gorgeous, sweet couple.  The priest told a touching story about a couple who visited the church on their 50th anniversary last year and did an impromptu renewing of their vows--coincidentally to the minute.  They'd been through a lot--the death of a child and the husband's stroke--and he told of how sweetly the wife helped her husband through the vow renewal.  It was a good reminder of this journey we're on as married folks.  It's never quite what you expect, but there is something special about sticking it out together.  Now that we've been at this for 15 years it seems pretty significant, especially when you see a couple starting at day one!

Such a pretty fountain in the courtyard of the church!  (Hey, at least I spared you the artsy picture of the stained glass window!)

 Back at the hotel we checked in and marveled at our balcony with a view!

Craig heard people jumping in the pool at 2:30am...but somehow I slept through it!

Too bad we didn't bring alcohol with us--we could have enjoyed a drink out there!

The reception was in the same hotel and it was lovely.  We had a blast with Craig's family, as well as one of his old friends who was a groomsman in our wedding.  He's actually the lacrosse coach at Mercyhurst University, Craig's alma mater, and coached the groom when he went there.  There was a lot of reminiscing going on at our table!

Cupcakes!  I ate a double chocolate one that night and had one with yellow cake and chocolate frosting (and chocolate curls and caramel filling) on Monday night...so good!

Lucas and Stephanie, the happy couple!

They gathered up all of the Mercyhurst grads for a picture - Craig is on the left.  His brother and two cousins are there, as well!

The rest of the night on the dance floor was so much fun.  Dancing with aunts and cousins (and yes, Craig) was awesome!  The groom's grandmother on his dad's side is in her 80s and was out there half the night (and could still walk the next morning)!  His uncle (who will be a father of the bride in two weeks) was also another unlikely dance maniac.  We ate and drank just enough to make the most of it but not enough to ruin it (perfect!), and retired to our room (alone!) after the reception ended.  Apparently lots of people went out for a nightcap in the bar downstairs and then across the street, but us old folks needed our sleep!  We were up in time for the hotel breakfast (complete with more family bonding), and then it was time to go.  The best part of all of the fun?  Knowing we get to do it all over again for another cousin in two weeks!

We had thoughts of going to the Erie Seawolves game, but that didn't work out so we ventured out to Presque Isle and stopped at the lighthouse.

Craig wanted to hit up the store at Mercyhurst, and I wanted to go to Cici's Pizza (since ours is long closed and there are no other close ones), so we headed to Cici's for lunch and then killed some time on campus (walking off our pizza) until the store was supposed to open...but of course because of move-in weekend it ended up being closed all day.  Bummer.  Still, it made for a pretty walk!

It was good to get back to the boys (who did awesomely with my parents), but I was pretty much spent for the rest of the day once we got home.  It wasn't even the drinking or a late night--I apparently just need to drug myself when I sleep away from home now, because two nights of light sleep are killer!  Is this what being on the cusp of 40 is like?

So, in two weeks we get to do it again, this time in Buffalo.  I just found out I'm doing a reading, which is a little stressful but absolutely appropriate since the bride was our flower girl!  So one day I'll turn 40 and the next day I'll see our flower girl get married!  If that wasn't enough, we have a crazy few weeks ahead - camp ends this week so Jacob's off starting Monday and we're splitting coverage.  In the meantime, work is crazy and I have no idea how I'm going to balance it with quality time with the kids.  Then school starts and shortly after that I'm off to North Carolina for five days!  Hard to believe we're going to be able to cram it all in, but it's happening!