Our Memorial Day Marathon

I think that recovering from a marathon race would be easier than recovering from the weekend we just had.  Or at least we like to tell ourselves that.  This Memorial Day weekend a lot of people probably spent time at a lake or BBQ or at least slept in.  What did we do?  

We go to two weddings in two different states.  With two kids.
And we are just not those type of people who travel well.  We like, no, we NEED a nest to come back to.  Even if we're on vacation, we like to rent a space with a kitchen and take our own mugs so we feel at home.  With as much travel as we did, we are just feeling all kinds of crazy.  I slept in 3 beds in 5 days, and that is not how I roll.  No.  

But, with all the craziness that we experienced, we really had some sweet moments.  We tried to enjoy wherever we were.  If we were eating out, we focused on the break from preparing and cleaning up a meal.  If we were in the car, we tried to focus on some downtime to talk.  If we didn't have anything scheduled, we tried to make family memories.  If we were at the wedding, we tried to sit and take it all in.

Here are a few pictures and captions to go with them...

The first wedding we left Burl behind.  We had Fern to herself for a little over 24 hours and it was special.  If she had been my first, then I think I would have come to expect all my children to be just like baby dolls.  She was so fun to carry around, kiss, and to make smile.  She is smiling a lot these days, and seemed to notice that she had her parents all to herself.  

Next up, I had a bachelorette party slumber party thingy.  We went down to the lake and I set up the self time to get a group shot, only to have it cut off the tops of a few heads.  Thank goodness I still got the bended knee pose.  Always hilarious to see!

Next up, was the wedding that I was in.  I was one of 12, yes, twelve bridesmaids and that is just so much fun to be a part of.  We were a party ready to go.  During the rehearsal, they went through their vows.  Like word for word.  Is that normal?  One of the bridesmaids leaned over and said, "so are they married now?"   

Lucky for John, his birthday landed on the same day as the rehearsal.  He got to go to a rehearsal dinner of about 150-175 people.  Here are part of them watching a movie.  After the movie, several people gave speeches and I really enjoyed them all.  It was by far the most fun rehearsal dinner that I've ever been to-but I haven't been to that many, so who knows.

Five days of not cooking and eating out was one of the wildest parts.  Walking into a restaurant with an infant and toddler, requesting a highchair and a booster seat, was wild but still surreal.  I have 4,000 Fern-in-a-highchair pictures because I am still a little blown away that I have children.  That sit in highchairs.  And I get crayons at restaurants.  In many ways, I still feel barely old enough to be a babysitter.  It truly is a blessing to share this life with Burl and Fern.

Next up, we went to the free zoo.  I think that as far as zoos go, this one was pretty lame, but since Burl has never been to a zoo, he was blown away.   

Here he is checking out the bears, specifically the "biiiiiiig bear."  We had to see this exhibit twice.  He was drooling and licking everything at this exhibit.  Some might say that means he's going to get sick, I think it means he liked the bears. 

We all had fun with this game.  Lots of laughter.  Lots of smiles.  Lots of "can I bottle this up and take it with me forever?" 

Besides the bear, Burl really liked the owls.  We've been reading a book called "Little Hoot," which Burl loves.  We think Burl makes a great little owl.  He even hoots.   

 Fern spent the entire time in the stroller.  She was suppose to be napping, but seemed to be ok with just lounging in the open air being strolled around the zoo.  

Last but not least, we stopped by the duck pond where we ran into this nice boy in his "great fishing spot where the fish are always biting."  He sounded like a regular.  That boy put on a show for Burl.  He would bait that hook with some white bread, throw it in the water, and after a few seconds pull out a fish.  Baam-Burl's hero. 

The only thing was, he had no idea what to do with the fish once it was on his hook.  He didn't know how to grab it, and neither did it.  I told him to put on the ground, I would hold it down with my foot, and he would get the hook out.  Then, we could kick it back in the water.  Well, that plan worked so well the first time, that we did it three more times.  

I headed back to the hotel, washed the slim and sweat off, and went for pictures.  Here are all the bridesmaids waiting for our turn.  It was a really fun group.

The photographers were fun and creative (and I found out late into the night that they were great dancers-especially when they taught me to wobble.  This wedding video could have been us.) 

Burl could have cared less about dancing.  He loved the drums.  At one point, he got to play them, but most of the time he stood in awe of the band.  Eventually I had to move him, because we all know the rule: No Parking On The Dance Floor. 

Eventually, the festivities were over, we were wiped out, and we were so ready for home.  Again, it feels like our preparations and recovery are similar to marathons, but I guess we did our own Two Weddings in Two States with Two Babies Marathon.