Congratulations to Sam and Suzy! They had a delightful wedding on Saturday and it was a great opportunity for the family to get together, celebrate, and catch up.
Lilly was asked to be the flower girl and at first, she was on the fence about the job. She even tried pawning the job off on Greta a few times. Eventually, with the help of day care, she came around to the idea and became incredibly excited about the responsibility. For awhile she was going to wear her yellow princess dress, for Sam and Suzy said she could wear whatever her heart desired. Something changed her mind though and she wanted to go dress shopping (not sure whose child she is). I pulled up Old Navy online and she instantly fell in love with a dress. Luckily the dress was on sale and I wanted a few other things too. Greta also got a new outfit for the wedding. Lilly then wanted new shoes, but I told her they had to be practical. She asked me where the practical shoe store was.
Her excitement continued, daily questions about how long until the wedding, questions about how the ceremony was going to work, and once she learned about Alison and Emily, Nick's cousin's daughters, questions about them as well. She even dreamed about them! With about 13 days until the wedding, we made a paper chain and took a link off every day.
Eventually it was the day before the wedding. On Friday we were going to leave, go to the aquarium and have lunch in Duluth. We of course left later than we were planning on Friday but hit the road around 10:30. Eventually Greta fell asleep in the van and slept all the way until the exit ramp of the aquarium. Lilly loved this because it allowed me to read to her, uninterrupted. Unfortunately Greta fell asleep shortly before the amazing doughnut shop in Iron River, so we skipped out on the treat. The aquarium was a big hit and a lot of fun to see Greta's impression this time around. She was pointing at everything and very excited about all the fish.
 |
| Nick's favorite part of the aquarium, watching the big ships head out. |
 |
| Some people call the aquarium the "ugly fish" aquarium. Can't see why . . . |
 |
Enjoying the shipwreck exhibit with the tropical fish
|
The hope and plan was that both girls would take a nap after lunch at Erbert and Gerbert's. That did not happen. Although, luckily, both were fairly pleasant on the drive down. We made one emergency bathroom stop and met my cousin Phil at a gas station to give him the 26 books he bought from a colleague for the low price of $20. Lilly got to experience her first traffic jam (luckily very short lived) and we made it to the hotel. Lilly and I went swimming when Nick took Greta for a walk with his Mom (we think. Not a lot of sleep happened over the weekend.).
Friday night we went out for pizza with Nick's parents, Nick's aunt and uncle, cousins Mark and Galen and Galen's family, and Suzy's mom. Lilly made two new friends, and much more quickly than we expected - Galen's daughters Alison (6.5) and Emily (4). The trick to get them to become friends? Books.
 |
| Reading and doing teamwork to carry the backpack of books |
When we got back to the hotel it was time for bed. Nick and Lilly quietly read stories while I nursed Greta. Then the reading stopped because we had an emergency. Greta puked. All over me and the chair in the hotel room. Lilly was a champ and helped us as best she could (bringing me one small washcloth) and I sat in the chair covered in puke wondering how I was even going to begin taking care of the mess. Housekeeping brought us some more washcloths and a bag for the towels we used to clean up. We cleaned it up as best we could and dealt with the stink. I managed to get Greta to sleep by pacing around the room and swaying, Nick read to Lilly but she was pretty excited and claimed the refrigerator was keeping her awake. I let her crawl into the bed instead of sleeping on the floor and got ready for bed myself. She tried talking to me a bit but eventually she fell asleep. At 10:05. I was asleep shortly thereafter. Nick rocked Greta back to sleep when she woke up and then hung out with his family. Greta didn't sleep too terribly, waking up at 3:25 and 4:25 and then sleeping until 7:15. Lilly told Greta to be quiet when she was crying at 3:25.
Saturday Greta seemed to be on the mend but fussy. We went down and had breakfast, then back up to the hotel room. Lilly received a note slid under our hotel room door from her new friends asking her to come and play. We got ready to go swimming but I attempted to get Greta down for a nap while Nick went swimming with Lilly, Galen, Bridget and the girls. After getting out of the pool, we headed to Lion's Park, a short drive from the hotel, made longer by some misdirection. But we got there and the girls had a great time. It was a perfect little park.
 |
| Greta exploring the exercise room at the hotel |
 |
Playing at the park - Mark climbed much of the equipment and helped
Lilly pick some dandelions |
 |
The flower girl carrying dandelions, which she was planning on carrying
down the aisle |
After lunch at Jimmy Johns where they met up with the Brainerd Robertsons and the medical doctors helped take care of the employee who passed out, it was time to relax and have quiet time before the wedding. I missed out on the fun while back at the hotel trying to get Greta down for a nap. I was successful this time, probably a little too successful. Nick brought back a sandwich for me and I went down to Nick's parents' hotel room to read with Lilly while he stayed in the room with Greta. Then we switched again so I could shower and get ready to go. We got the flower girl ready, Nick got ready and Greta slept. And slept. And slept. The girl was out cold. I even used the hair dryer and she stayed asleep.
Eventually we had to leave, it was 2:35 and she was still sleeping and the wedding was at 3:00. And we had the flower girl. Lilly and I headed down to the van while Nick put Greta in her carseat. By the time they got to the van, she was awake. Her nap was 2.5 hours long!
Tune in Wednesday, hopefully, for the rest of the story.
Comments
Post a Comment