Jamie's Wedding - June 30th

June went by in such a whirlwind and before I knew it, I was headed back to Boston, alone this time, to participate in and celebrate Jamie's wedding. This would only be the second time I have gone more than one night away from the Lucy, the first being a sister-in-law/mother-in-law trip to New York City when she was just one. However, that trip was just a long weekend and this trip would be almost an entire week. But I wasn't worried at all. On the contrary, I was actually kinda excited to have some childless time to hang out with my friends.

The big downside to the trip was being dateless at the wedding. Out of the six weddings I have flown back east for, Brandon has only been able to accompany me to two of them because of either work commitments or (lack of) finances. You think I would be used to it by now but there is nothing like a wedding to remind you how much you miss your sweetheart.

Fortunately, I had some wedding responsibilities to keep my mind off of missing my husband too much. Jamie had asked me very early on in the wedding planning if I would sing at her wedding and I was happy to oblige. She ended up choosing the song Feels Like Home which I was not familiar with at all but quickly fell in love with. In addition, she wanted her friend from college to accompany me on the guitar which is always a little tricky when you have people who live across the country try to practice with each other. Because I also was singing at Tracy's wedding, I didn't even focus on Jamie's wedding song until well into June and only because the guitarist, Steve, took the initiative in setting up some time for us to practice. The only problem - practicing singing via skype and cell phones doesn't really work that well if you have ever tried. And since Steve lives in NYC and wasn't coming up to the wedding until the day of, the only time we had the opportunity to practice together face to face was the actual day of the wedding, just a couple of hours before it would begin.

Despite the short amount of practice time, I thought the song went really well and the rest of the wedding and reception were lovely. Since the song was for the bridal party processional, we got to start off the whole ceremony but be done quickly so we could enjoy the rest of the evening without nerves bothering us.

This was the view from where I sat:

The lovely bride and groom.

All the bridesmaids. I still can't figure out where Laura is in the photo - she must have been hiding behind someone.

This must have been the largest bridal party I have ever seen - eight bridesmaids and eight groomsmen!

Because all the bridesmaids sat at the head table, all the poor husbands sat alone without their wives. Bekah and I sat at the same table with them but their wives came to visit as well.

Laura & Lee

Danny & Julie

Brian & Heather

I wish I got Heather in this picture too. I loved these bridesmaids dresses - the color, the different styles! When I heard they were wearing coral, I might have purposefully chosen my dress to match a little bit.

Melanie, Laura, Tracy & Julie

The lovely bride, Jamie.

Our traditional girls' picture. We were only missing Betsy who couldn't make it due to her pregnancy. An hour and a half drive to her hospital was a little too risky in case she went into labor. 

First dance. I loved the sparklers on the tables guests lit up throughout the night and danced with. I may have almost caught Laura's dress on fire though...

Me and Bekah - out-of-towners going stag again.

Laura & me - wish our little ones had a chance to get together and play with each other.

The guitarist, Steve and me. If Brandon were at the wedding, he would have had a lot to talk about with Steve since he produces and hosts a Sirius radio show called "Geektime!".

These next two pictures might be my favorite of the night!

Heather, Laura, Tracy, and Melanie. After posting these pictures on facebook, my favorite comment left was,"It's not a wedding until one of the bridesmaids is covered in wine!" But it is really Laura that kills me in this picture. 

Julie, Heather, Laura, Tracy, Melanie, and Jamie

Jamie also had a photo booth which ended up being so much fun! It ended up having some trouble printing out the pictures but we were able to download them from the website later.

 It was so hard trying to fit all eight of us girls into the booth.

So glad I could make it out and be part of Jamie's wedding day and spend time with my awesome high school friends. Whenever Bekah gets married, it will probably be in California so at least I will be able to drive or fly a lot cheaper for that one. But now, I will need to find some other excuse to come out and visit Massachusetts since the weddings will be all done.

Perhaps I see a girls' trip in our future...???

June Fun

I had to make up the lameness that was Radio Disney Days so I brought Lucy to Jump Around Utah. Well, in all honesty, I had a Groupon there that was about to expire so that is the real reason. We had been there before but it was over a year ago when Lucy may not have enjoyed it at much. I was really hoping to get some friends to come along so I could have someone to chat with and Lucy could have someone to play with but alas, no one was available so we went alone. Lucy didn't seem to mind and I was able to sit down and cut coupons and read and occasionally accompany Lucy down the slide since she is a bit scared. I wish I took more pictures but it's a little difficult when she is a literally bouncing around everywhere. She had a very excellent nap this day though.

Some other excursions have been to the library. Lucky for us, the library is within walking distance just a few blocks from our house and Lucy loves having an excuse to take her wagon out. We just went to pick up some books and for me to vote in the primary election and it happened to be the children's reading time so we stopped in. 

Can you guess what Lucy is? The theme of the story time was on outer space and planets and stars so all the kids got to be little astronauts.

It was pretty adorable to see the little kids walking around with paper bags over their heads. Hopefully, we can take advantage of the free air-conditioned activities throughout the rest of the summer.

Radio Disney Days, June 19th

In my never-ending quest to find free or cheap entertainment for Lucy, I heard about Radio Disney Days at the Gallivan Center from a local blog. So after hitting the gym in the morning, we made our way over the Gallivan Center to check it out.

I'm not sure exactly what I expected but I think it was something a little more. On stage, the entertainment provided was somewhat mediocre - just singing and dancing children that didn't really hold Lucy's attention. Surrounding the theater were a bunch of booths with a few activities - some free and some not.

Mostly, it was hot. I packed lots of snacks and lunch in a giant cooler that I lugged around with me.

We did make a cute little pinwheel at the Discovery Gateway booth, which just reminded me how much more I would rather be in the air-conditioned children's museum.

Actually, it wasn't unbearably hot. Just not that exciting. Although we did score two free books from the city library booth and some other booth. There were a couple of inflatable slides and bounce houses but because there were other cheap-o parents like me attending, there was a huge line just to go in. And it really wasn't a ton of fun without some friends there to hang out with.  

Right before we were about to leave, Lucy decided to amuse herself in the fountains.

But then we got a text from Kim that she had just arrived with Marlo. So we made the rounds again, this time stopping at the little train that you had to pay $2 for.

Well, I'm glad I at least tried something new with Lucy so we knew what it was although I'm not super interested in going again. What was advertised as "free" isn't really after factoring in the parking ($10 - ouch!) and the little rides. At least I got a little tan and spent some time outdoors. Maybe next time, we'll just go to the park or the children's museum for free.

Father's Day Fun

Where the time has gone? I have no idea. June just flew by and I'm afraid that I didn't give as much attention to Father's Day as I wanted to. Oh well - there is always next year. Thank goodness I could just coast along on the preparations of other family and friends. I did however, manage to make a German pancake for breakfast from his family's recipe book. Despite copious amounts of butter, it still manages to feel like you are eating air. At least it is fairly easy to make (although it deflates quite quickly).

The real highlight of the day was dinner at Vince and Peggy's place. We are so happy to tag along on the Haleck family events. It makes things so much easier when the work of dinner preparations is shared (although Peggy ended up doing sooooo much of the work and we are so thankful to her). She really went above and beyond with all the decorations and gifts. She made these cute little collages for each of the fathers, gathering pictures from our blogs.

And the little tie centerpieces were adorable - I think those were all from Etsy or Pinterest?

And this was my favorite - this tie pendant banner - makes everything feel so festive!

I really need to invest in one of these little picnic benches too - it's so perfect for all the little kids (and folds flat for easy storage).

Peg even prepared entertainment for the kids so they would stay out of trouble.

But they were ready to eat before long.

 We had these darling little neck tie cheese and cracker appetizers.

Before dinner started, Peggy had gifts for all the fathers. Lucy was more than happy to help her daddy open his present.

It was so cute - all the fathers received children's books about dads to read to their little ones. And each one was different.

Jared and Olive

Adam and Marlo

 I thought Brandon's book was pretty perfect for him.

Lucy thought so too.

And then there was dinner. Oh yum!! Peggy and Vince provided the slow cooker pot roast and vegetables, Emily made the green salad, Kim made the rolls and a bunch of desserts, I contributed scalloped corn, and another Haleck family member brought the fruit salad.

 The proud papas and their children.

 And the whole family stuffed from dinner and dessert (except Peg who took all the pictures!).

Thanks again Vince and Peggy!!