wedding day

we got up and headed to ikea - of course we made time for ikea!  we were there long enough to eat breakfast and lunch there.  during lunch the lady next to me said that we were brave to bring the kids and that her daughter won't even bring her kids.  we don't even think anything of it.  the kids were good for the most part.  mason had a few 'i'm not moving' moments but nothing too serious.

the most difficult part of going to ikea is that we had to get ready for the wedding in the car.  matt and i changed in the ikea parking lot - well, inside the van.  we let the kids wait until we got there since it was still a little over an hour to the wedding site.

the wedding was at this old farm house.  we had to walk down a long gravel drive and the wedding was on the front lawn.

we were surprised to see around 10 guys (maybe a few more) from matt's baseball team were there (the groom was also on the team).  it was so much fun to see everyone again and hear what they have been up to for the past 10 years.

the wedding was so beautiful and personal. looking at the sky pulling up we were afraid that there would be rain but it stayed away.  not only for the ceremony, but the reception.  and the reception was great!  besides the conversation and southern/barbecue buffet (much to matt's delight), there were a lot of yard games out for guests to play - and they did too.

maddux took right to crawling on the grass - way quicker than the other two

matt and madelyn playing frisbee. the frisbee lit up so once it got dark some of the older kids (and grown-ups) kept playing.

maddux was just grinning and clapping his hands.

madelyn had a lot of trouble running in her tights - they kept falling down. i think everyone saw her underwear during the several times she tried to pull them back up before i just took them off.

look at that stance!

she actually hit the ball too and i caught the moment of her first hit!

mason wasn't able to make contact, but he sure looked cute trying.

our kids definitely made an impression on the wedding.  madelyn was so excited for cake and dancing.  she was obsessed with the bride who she saw as a real life princess and kept standing a little too close.  thankfully the flower girl was right around madelyn's age so she had someone to distract her.  especially since we had never met the bride before!

mason spent a lot of time with two people - michael and sammy.  michael (aka "micky" or "little joey") is full of energy - just like he was in college - and has two boys of his own at home.  he ran all over and wrestled with mason.  and mason loved it!  and then mason became best friends with sammy.  sammy is the girlfriend of one of our college baseball friends - tim. she danced with mason, colored with mason, fed him cake and ice cream, looked at the neighboring horses, etc.  tim told us that she liked that mason expressed himself mainly without words.

sammy dancing with mason

tim and sammy with mason (mason was falling seconds before i took the picture and tim caught him).

and matt got a dance with madelyn (she was pretty busy on the dance floor).

i was there too, but we never got a picture with me in it.  oh well.  i am so glad that we were able to make the trip.  and after all of our recent driving to florida, it really wasn't all that bad.  we have visited 11 states in the past 14 days.  we thought about driving over to delaware just to make it 12 since we were early to the wedding and the kids were asleep but didn't. while driving back to the wedding we passed a real tow truck painted out like matter - it even had eye decals on the windshield.  i wish we had stopped for a picture! (we were going to stop after the wedding but forgot until we were well past it.) at least the kids saw it too.  and get this, the bride's family is from akron!  she said that they might be our way some time to visit remaining family some time.  we are pleased to hear that we might get to see this great couple again.  love.