wedding trip part 2

We spent most of Saturday getting all dolled up for the wedding! We lounged around in our matching pajamas (thanks, Colleen!) while the hair and makeup team worked their magic. Even Mae got a touch of sparkly eyeshadow and an adorable braid!

We headed to the venue which had a beautiful wooded outdoor area for the ceremony, two amazing patios for cocktail hour, and a big reception hall for dinner and dancing. It was sunny and beautiful for the ceremony! Colleen looked absolutely beautiful, and I loved the men's dark green suits against the bright green backdrop of trees. I can't wait to see pictures from the photographer!

Our bouquets were made of wildflowers and were all slightly different, so we had fun choosing which one to carry. Dan and Colin escorted GranE to her seat. My boys looked so cute in their matching ties! (Can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them together.) Mae looked very sweet as a flower girl.

Tim officiated the ceremony and gave lots of cute details about how Colleen and Bobby's relationship grew since they met in 2020. We all giggled a little when Tim welcomed everyone to the ceremony and Colin cheered, "Yay!" from the front row. I don't usually cry at weddings, but I did get a little misty-eyed during the vows Colleen and Bobby wrote!

During the cocktail hour, we enjoyed catching up with Dan's family. It's been a long time since we've seen many of them and a lot of the cousins have grown up! Guests sipped on their signature cocktails named after Colleen's beloved dog, Pepper. Colin hid under my dress eating mini-hot dogs. Mae ran off somewhere to play and I barely saw her.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner along with donuts and cheesecake for dessert. I snuck out around 8pm with the tired kiddos and left them with a babysitter so I could enjoy the rest of the reception!

The reception finished around 10, but we continued the festivities at a nearby bar. I was so excited to stay out late and party! It was such a fun event and we had a great time.

Congrats to the happy couple!!!

wedding trip part 1

Colleen and Bobby are married!! We had an amazing time at the wedding and a great trip to the beach afterwards. This is one of those trips that needs multiple posts to cover all the good parts! We arrived to GranE and Batman's house on Thursday after a long drive. Both kids did well in the car! Colin spent hours looking at books and Mae spent hours staring at her new Kindle. We also played the license plate game and kept track of all the states we saw using a sheet of state stickers that came with Mae's Highlights magazine.

We used Friday to finish some last-minute wedding prep. Colleen and I got our nails done while Mae and Colin helped deliver guest bags to the hotel with GranE and Batman. Dan helped Batman pick up donuts for the wedding reception. So... I got pampered while everyone else did chores.

Friday evening we went to the rehearsal dinner. I took a lot of family photos, which was good since I have almost no photos from the actual wedding! Our favorite is this big family photo. Tim jokingly captioned it "Coming this fall to ABC."

Look at this adorable, happy couple!

I insisted on taking family photos as soon as we arrived (before kids got covered in dirt, ketchup, etc). We are so rarely all dressed up together! Three out of four looking is pretty good!

The venue was a beautiful outdoor garden with patio and lawn. We really enjoyed milling around and visiting with everyone before dinner. Colin and Mae are happy anywhere there is fruit and fresh mozzarella.

We enjoyed all the food, drinks, and speeches. After dinner, GranE and Batman made a little presenation of silly/sentimental gifts to Colleen and Bobby. Mae ran around catching fireflies with the other kids. Colin spent most of the evening playing in the ice bucket.

It was fun seeing all the bridesmaids again. We were all so excited to celebrate the beautiful bride on her wedding day!!!

I took a bunch of photos but here's a few more of my favorites from the evening. Stay tuned for more photos from the wedding and our trip to the beach!

cat cat

Prepare yourself for some seriously cute photos. Our neighbor was fostering some tiny kittens for a few weeks, and she invited us over to help socialize the kittens. Colin is obsessed with cats and screeches with excitement every time he sees a “cat cat.” He was in heaven surrounded by these four furry friends! He especially loved teasing them with the feathery lure and watching them chase it.

Mae is a bit skittish around all pets, but generally prefers cats to dogs. She spent most of the time perched on the loveseat so the one bitey kitten couldn’t get to her feet. She snuggled the sleepy black and white cat who just wanted to curl up and take a nap in her lap.

So glad we got to meet these sweet kittens!

In other news, I tested positive for COVID (again!) the evening these photos were taken. I missed a couple days of work, but everyone else (including my neighbor) stayed healthy. I’m suspecting that the rest of the family might have had a mild case the previous week, but we blamed the symptoms on Dan’s positive strep test. Fortunately we were all healthy for Colleen's wedding last weekend... many more photos to come!!