Wedding

We traveled to Colorado earlier this month to attend the wedding of my cousin, Sara, and her beau, Jordan.  The weather had been beautiful all week, but of course, as it was time to leave for the wedding site (on the beautiful grounds of a local home) the skies darkened ominously.  An hour before the ceremony was to start, it started to sprinkle and the wind whipped around so fiercely tablecloths flew off their stands and my hair decorated my face like Chewbacca.  I was certain we'd have a late ceremony or a drenched bride.

Then somehow the clouds cleared and the next thing I knew there stood the groom next to a beautiful, wind-free canopy, and soon after the bride walked toward her man under a clear blue sky.  Magic.

 We got seated pretty early, to make room for our large crowd.

 Lila entertained her great-grandparents, Frankey and Gordon...

 ... and auditioned for the part of the flower girl.

 Uncle Nelse (and the iphone) helped keep River busy.

 Jordan looked calm and handsome as he waited for his bride.

 Sara was just gorgeous, of course, and so happy.  The ceremony was lovely and unique, written entirely by the couple and presided over by their close friend.

After kisses and congratulations were passed around, Lila spent most of the evening doing this:

I had a fantastic time at the reception.  The food and company was fantastic.  After the kids were fed, we hit the dance floor with the kids and didn't leave until well after their usual bedtime.  There is something about dancing with kids that is just so liberating.  You don't really care what you look like out there because everyone is just having so much fun.

It was a wonderful, memorable event.  Thanks so much, Sara and Jordan, for sharing it with us!

River's 4th Birthday

Earlier this month we celebrated River's 4th birthday with a superhero party for 20 kids.  We might have gone a little over the top...

A little back story: we're usually in Las Vegas sometime during March and end up celebrating the plethora of March birthdays in our clan (Uncle Nelse, Thom, cousin Finn, me, River, among others...) with one or two large family gatherings.  This leaves us back in Cambridge celebrating the actual day with a simple dinner or fun day out. Since we didn't travel in March this year, I realized it was an opportune time to host a party for my boy, and with a few weeks to plan we shot for the stars.

We've also been in the process of re-decorating a few rooms in the house, the last of which was the kids' playroom in the basement.  The party was a good excuse to finish the work on that room, so in addition to sewing capes and baking cupcakes for the party, we out-fitted a tumble room with giant soft blocks and a huge mural.

If I accomplish half as much in as short a time for the rest of the year, I'll count it a win.

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