Home again, home again

We are home and settling back in after a week away in Vermilion, OH on Lake Eerie. Our best Augusta friends were married there on Saturday in a lovely, small ceremony in a chapel of the park where the bride, Mary Ann, has vacationed all her life. Her parents continue to rent a cottage there each summer and graciously invited us to stay with them for the wedding festivities.

We headed up last Monday, the 26th, caravan-ing with Mary Ann and Joel and their dog Lucy. 4 adults, 2 dogs, one toddler (there's no doubt about it, folks, Emmy is walking. She has made a lot of progress in the last 10 days...more on that later) and a LOT of stuff! We took two days to get there because the notion of driving 12 hours with Emmy in one day made me want to stab my eyes out. It was a wise decision because by the end of Day 1, we were all ready to be out of the car! We stopped in Charleston, WV, which made the next day's drive much shorter, so we were at the lake by 3:00. Yay!

Tuesday evening before supper we took Emmy down for a quick walk on the beach (I call it the beach because they call it the beach and while it often does resemble the ocean, in my heart it will never be the beach!) and when we put her down so she could feel the water on her feet, she promptly sat herself down in the surf and started playing in the sand. Whoops! It was hilarious, but it was clear that the excitement she showed back in May at Ocean Isle when she saw the water had not waned.



We spent the next few days doing lots of wedding stuff (okay, Mary Ann and I mostly), eating delicious food, playing in the water and on the beach, and visiting with Joel and Mary Ann's families and friends. It was so much fun to spend time with Mary Ann's parents and see friends from her hometown that we'd met on our first trip up there three years ago. The wedding was small and simple and so, so perfect. Vermilion is a cute down and we ate pastries from their favorite bakery, yummy fudge and chocolates from the candy store (who also did the wedding favors!) and just enjoying being away. Here's a photo of the arrangements we made for the rehearsal dinner, with mostly flowers we cut growing in or near the park!

By the time the wedding was over on Saturday and everyone had gone home and the bride and groom were at their hotel, we dreaded the thought of having to pack up and leave the next morning! While it was a fun few days, it was also tiring because we were on the go, and when we were home at the cottage there were usually extra people around. I think her parents were going to be sad to see us go, too and encouraged us to stay an extra night, but, alas, we had appointments and things to get back to at home. So, on Sunday morning we loaded up and headed to Bay Village, just outside of Cleveland, to have brunch with one of my friends from, well, forever. His parents and my parents became friends while in a Lamaze refresher class while expecting his younger brother and my sister, so I can't remember a time he wasn't a part of my life! We spent countless weekends, vacations, etc. with them and of course as we've all moved and spread out I don't get to see them much any more. We had a fun time with Christopher (okay, he goes by Chris now, but see above statement about knowing him forever, I just can't call him that!) and his lovely girlfriend Anne Marie before we hit the road again.

We stopped in Charleston again, this time early enough to venture out a bit for a nice dinner in the hills of WV in an area known as South Hills. We found a specialty pizza place that was open on a Sunday evening and had a delicious meal. Traveling with 2 dogs (Joel and Mary Ann's dog came back home with us while they are on their honeymoon) and Emmy and just the two of us was a little challenging at times, but it all worked out. Plus, we were loaded down with extra baggage since we brought home the bride and groom's wedding clothes, leftover wedding supplies, and everything else they didn't want to take with them to Germany. You should have seen our car!

Finally, we made it home about 5:45 Monday evening and boy we were glad to be home! However, we were sad to leave the cooler OH weather behind!

Emmy did as well as we could have hoped on the trip. She had her moments while we were in the car, but who doesn't? Over all with four full days of travel, I can't complain too much. We hooked up the DVD player a couple of times and since she was a captive audience, she seemed to enjoy it. We'd bought a few things we wouldn't mind having to listen to or watch with her, like the Muppets' Follow That Bird and Finding Nemo. If I remember correctly, Meredith loved Follow That Bird, so we'll have to watch it with her when we see her soon.

It was a great trip and we're so thankful to the Turners for hosting us again. We were up there in 2007 and it was so nice to be back, particularly for such a special occasion. Mary Ann and Joel are so important to Charles, Emmy, and me and we are SO glad we were able to be there to celebrate with them. We love you guys!! We are missing them while they are on their honeymoon, but they will be home soon so we can resume our weekly Mexifeast, plus all the other "trouble" we get ourselves into on a regular basis.

Here are a few more fun pictures from the week, and lots more are in Picasa.

Emmy fell asleep in "Aunt" Mary Ann's arms one morning before her nap. So sweet!

Here Emmy and I are with Tiz and Emily "Emmy". Tiz is one of Mary Ann's best friends from high school and Emmy was born May 24th, so she and our Emmy are just a few days apart! Isn't she adorable?

A rare moment when I could catch Emmy looking up AND smiling! She LOVED the sand!


P.S. FYI, I will always try to post after we get back from a trip with fun pictures and details, but I don't like to publish on the internet (or even on Facebook) when we'll be away, just for safety reasons.