Weddings and Related Shennanigans

A,

This weekend we celebrated a very momentous family event: Aunt Sandy got married! A lot of preparation went into the big day, and Aunt Sandy did such a wonderful job of planning it all. Everything was so beautiful, and everyone had a wonderful time.

Now, one thing that is important to understand when it comes to these things called "weddings" is that they rarely, in our family, occur without some kind of drama. Trust me on this and plan accordingly. When Daddy and I got married, we had all kinds of...bloopers...for lack of a better word. Examples include (but are not limited to) a broken refrigerator that almost flooded Grandma and Grandaddy's kitchen, a ripped wedding gown, and some forest fires. So this kind of thing does happen. When Aunt Sandy got married, I thought we'd covered all our bases. We even had an emergency kit. Unfortunately, someone smashed our car window and stole my purse, my camera, and my cell phone. (And you know how much I love my cell phone). It was very upsetting, but very scary too, and we were very scared that they stole Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tommy's wedding rings, but they didn't.

Now, here is one important lesson in all of this. We have to try to focus on what's good in our lives. When we saw the broken glass and missing purse, we could have let it ruin our day but we didn't. Aunt Sandy is something called a "sympathy crier" which means she loves us all so much that if we cry, she cries too, so it was important that I didn't start crying because we paid a lot for our makeup and it would have been sad to mess it up. (as an aside, I am something called a "sympathy thrower-upper" which means that if someone else throws up, I throw up too. So if you need to be like me or Aunt Sandy, try to be like her, as it will likely be better for you in the long run).

We had our moment of panic and we moved on to the wedding. You were there and you loved it. You looked so handsome and mommy was so proud of you. These kinds of days are days that we picture in our minds for a long time and we wonder what they'll be like. Sometimes we picture them and the real thing doesn't live up to the image in our minds. In this case, the real thing was better than any of us could have even imagined. We laughed, cried, ate, drank, danced and celebrated two people who I love very mucch and I know you will always be close to.

I remember Daddy's and my wedding. I remember the music and the party and the good times, and I laugh at the "bloopers" that happened, even though maybe I didn't at the time. I know that May 23rd is going to go down in history as a great day in all of our lives, smashed car window and all. And hey, mommy got a new purse. Silver linings, buddy, silver linings. Let's wish Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tommy a long life of happiness and be thankful that we get to share it with them.

Vacation

Dear Andy,

I've been meaning to write this post for a week but things have been so busy with Aunt Sandy's wedding coming up in a few days. So here goes.

We got back from your second official vacation on Wednesday. You had such a good time. It was quite an improvement from last year, your first vacation, which was a class-A disaster. You hated it. We went to Asheville, NC and Folly Beach, SC and your poor little five month old self was teething and politically opposed to the car seat. It was not relaxing. You did find a few enjoyable moments here and there and really enjoyed the outdoor music at the Biltmore. Here you are on vacation last year, taking a nap on the beach with Daddy:





Fast forward to this year. We went to Key West, which is Daddy's and my favorite place. It's a very fun and special place, with beautiful sunsets, perfect aqua blue water, tropical breezes and really good mojitos (don't worry about what those are right now. You call them "mamma's juice" ). Grandma and Grandaddy came with us and we had SUCH a good time. You swam in the pool and in the ocean and you seriously think you are a fish. You don't like to be constrained by floatation devices or parents trying to keep you from drowning yourself. I will try to sign you up for a swimming class soon, I promise. You sampled the local fare, including tahitian vanilla ice cream, cuban cheese bread and key lime pie. You made friends with everyone at our small hotel, and by the end of the week had the other visitors around the pool (adults mostly) copying your new favorite term "oh-ee-oh-eee-yo yo!" It was quite funny to watch. You were so well behaved in restaurants. You stayed up late and jumped on the bed and snuggled with me every morning. Truly a great trip. I hope we get to spend lots more time there. Here you are on this year's vacation enjoying "mojito monday".

I know you long to waste away in margaritaville a lot more, as do I little man, as do I.