Well, we mustered up the courage to travel to Cincinnati with our many small children for Jay and Dana's wedding.
Jason and Jay are buddies from college. I think they were friends in high school too, but I don't know exactly how their friendship evolved. I know they became close while playing computer games in Jay's basement bedroom, realizing their full pathetic-ishness when the two (totally date-worthy, at least in my opinion) young guys were sitting around playing computer games while the 50-something year old momma was sneaking out for a little late-night gotta-getcha-some hook-up.
At any rate, we've known Jay for many years. He did us the honor of serving as best man in our wedding, and thankfully lived up to his duties by having Jason there in the front of the church that hot July day six years ago. Now it was our turn to return the favor.
I should have known this weekend was going to be an adventure when we walked into the hotel room and both older kids simultaneously exclaimed, "Wow! Our very own TV! And it has a remote! And look! A bathroom, with a shower and bathtub! Oh my gosh!!" Mind you, they both have stayed in a hotel before, so I don't know where all this enthusiasm was coming from, but they were uber-excited, and getting geared up for a great time.
The rehearsal dinner was Friday evening. We went to "wedding practice" at the church, where Dillon performed his duties gratuitously. He was excited to walk down the aisle with "the girl with the flowers" and even impressed the pastor with his willingness to cooperate.
We all went to dinner at a nice restaurant called DeSha's. Everyone was on pretty good behavior, and my kids stayed true to form- Kennedy eating steak, Dillon eating salad, and Sydney eating anything off anyone else's plate that wasn't hers.
Jason and Dillon were both in Jay and Dana's wedding party. I was quite excited to see my little guy all "tux-ed"up and looking dashing for the wedding on Saturday. He had already stolen my heart, but this weekend just melted me.
Yeah, I know. Well, apparently, I'm not the only one. He had ALL the girls at the reception absolutely eating out of his hand. He would have pulled an "Uncle Eric" and went home will all their phone numbers, if he would have been a little older. Yes, my little guy was the life of the party, hamming it up in the middle of the circle, slow dancing with the entire bridal party, and just being his absolutely entertaining self.
Not to be outdone, I had two little princesses there with me, too.
Kennedy was the Belle of the Ball, aside from Dana, of course. She loved dancing with her Daddy and wearing her pretty silver clothes.
Sydney...well, she's just Sydney. She's at that age where she's very demanding and "all about me", if you know what I mean. The wedding was a little rough on her because it involved sitting still and being quiet. Both of these items are not high on her priority list, despite what I might tell her. She climbed over, under and around me during the wedding, and decided to continue the trend at the reception. I think the night was just stretching on a little too long for her liking, and she was tired by the time dinner was over. I took her back to the hotel room and put her to bed, and she was asleep within 15 minutes.
On Sunday morning, we stopped over at Jay and Dana's for a post-wedding luncheon. They served Cincinnati-style Chili and entertained all their family and friends from out-of-town. We then made the L-O-N-G journey home (three-and-a-half hours of tired kids who refused to sleep) and finally were back to our own house and our own beds.
We're wishing Jay and Dana a wonderfully happy marriage and a lifetime of happiness. We had a great time visiting their town, and hope to entertain the new Mr. and Mrs. G. when they are back in our area!!!
