'Nother Wild Weekend

Often I will refer to the "Japan girls". People who know me know right away who I am referring to (they are important!), but people who don't are confused why they aren't Japanese. I have blogged about them before if any explanation is needed (see link). Anyway, we get together annually (not near enough) and this year Jules was getting married!! She lives in Italy and fell in love with the most charming, most handsome, warmest Italian man. Their real wedding was in Italy in a castle on a vineyard. Seth and I tried our darnedest to make it work, but eventually decided we need his vacation time to interview and house hunt and prepare for the next step in our lives since we will be leaving Rochester in a year. People had us convinced that the timing wouldn't work anyway with Amelia being born so close to when we would need to leave. Turns out that part would have been just fine. I feel great and Amelia is a piece of cake. We still feel good about our decision as job hunting becomes more intense (and fun!). The alternative to going to Italy was to go to a party in Wichita KS hosted by her family for their American friends and family that couldn't make it to Italy. So the Japan girls decided to take Wichita by storm and celebrate with Jules in Kansas, not quite a castle on a vineyard, but if we are all together it hardly matters. And so, I loaded a new born and a toddler in the minivan and drove a couple of states away by myself. There were moments I thought it would have been easier to fly to Italy but overall it was a smashing success. Thank God for three things: DVD players, Melmo and his inventor, and laid back children.

The farm is a half way point so we stopped to spend time with Uncle Dood and Aunt Okie (we're gonna make it stick). Here Sy helps Dood with some paperwork. The first leg of the trip was a huge success. I have always thought that my kids should stare out of the car window and count cows, train cars and outta state plates and daydream in misery the way that I had to. DVD players are for unimaginative weenies. Yeah, well, I am an unimaginative weenie and so are my kids and I wouldn't have it any other way. Melmo was a life saver!
I love how comfortable Sy makes himself at the farm. He is 100% at home there. He runs up and down the hallways chanting his baby babble and flirts endlessly with his Godparents.
He also flirts endlessly with Dakota's girlfriend, Mallory. He occasionally has to share her.

The second leg of the trip was almost as seamless as the first. Although it was a couple of hours longer, the kids were just as sweet. Mostly.

We were thrilled to finally meet up with Auntie Goose and Patrick, her newest addition. He and Millie didn't seem to notice each other at first.

Until we made them.
They just needed a minute to warm up. He has his arm around her. They are three months apart. And so are Riley and Sylas. I have these exact pictures of the two of them also. Andrea and I get a kick out of forcing our kids to cuddle.

Tah Dah!!! It's Jules!! She came by our hotel late the night we got in for a precursor to our girl talking marathon.
Aunt Pam joined us the next day. Above is what the girl talking marathon looks like. There are only two rules, unspoken but strongly abided by: you must be in pajamas and you must be honest. The third rule-- you must be willing to stay up very very late was tossed this year. With two newborns and a wedding week, we gave each other a break. But we did find out Jules can pretend like she's listening AND talk while sleeping.
We dress hunted for a painful amount of time and the only good that came out of it was getting to see Gabri, Jules's husband, by chance at the mall. We jumped up and down in the middle of the mall and happily made a scene when we recognized each other from pictures.
A little traveling constipation ended in Momma being doused. Four diapers, a million wipes, and two impressed aunts later, Patrick decided he was done, but not before he peed on her too.
We got in some pool time, but overall it was way too hot. We let Sy wake us up and went straight out one day. The babies lounge.
And Aunt Pam and Sy play in the pool.

And now for the wedding festivities. Jules's mom was kind enough to arrange for a babysitter to man a sleeping room for babies at the clubhouse. We were excited about the wedding and celebrating with Jules but nervous our kids would ruin something. We looked ridiculous showing up to the wedding with strollers, car seats, and sippy cups. With three on three we were hopeful all would go well.
Sy starts drinking right away and asks the bartender to hit him again. He loved cranberry juice-- I didn't know!
It only took five minutes for me to leak in my dress. I am a devoted bridesmaid: I was suckled only moments ago and yet I am stuffing my face, posing for pictures, and dancing my heart out proudly wearing breast milk.
Gabri was so so so cute with Sy. He knew just how to make him smile.
Sylas was mesmerized by the band. He had never seen a live one before and just the way he watched them- with such intensity-- drew a crowd. And then he started dancing. He has certainly danced before but I think it was just to humor us. This was different. He was moved by the music (literallly) and it went a little somethin' like this: squat squat squat stomp stomp turn a circle repeat. Strangers cheered him on and took pictures. As the first one on the dance floor, he was quite the trend setter.
Aunt Pam showed him what a chocolate covered strawberry was. They both wore it.

Millie's first wedding and her first party dress. She has millions more waiting their turn patiently in her closet.
We were down two kids. Auntie Goose got Patrick to sleep and the babysitter was thrilled to hold Amelia. And then there was one...
... but there was still more dancing to do and fun to be had. I love this picture. It is a dream come true for so many reasons.
There are few people who love harder than Jules. You can tell it just in the way she hugs you. She lives her life with passion and celebrates every joy, large and small. I am so grateful to have shared this joy with her. It overwhelms me with gratefulness to see her so fulfilled and happy.
Gabri has a very stereotypical Italian family. There are a ton of them, they are warm and loving, they hug and kiss you when they meet you, they drink lots of wine, have several course meals, talk with their hands and laugh out loud. They have embraced Jules and welcomed her into their family with open arms and hearts. When I was leaving I asked Jules to tell them that I wished with my whole heart that I could do more than just smile at them. I so wished I could tell them how beautiful their family was to me. When I was telling her that it made me tear up, which in turn made her tear up, and then when she translated, it made them tear up. And there we were feeling the exact same things in different languages, not able to communicate but communicating perfectly. Words are often the source of misunderstanding and it was nice to rely on only smiles and tears for a moment.

The dashing couple and the bridesmaids

There we are. Forever we will be...

Sy was the only little person still partying. Luckily the band decided to take a break. They put on a 40s Standards CD and the next thing we knew Sylas was fast asleep in Aunt Pam's lap. We ever so carefully carried him to the sleeping room and then we ever, ever so carefully laid him on the couch. When he successfully made the transfer we all started jumping up and down and high fiving. Then we raced each other to the dance floor, well... to the bar and then the dance floor. We danced for the next hour and half. We were so grateful for that gift, a gift that we didn't necessarily expect.
We said goodbye to the happy couple.

And now for the trip back: =-Between strategic stops, naps and Melmo the kids did really well. We were only thirty miles from Auntie Johna's and Uncle Dood's when I needed to stop for gas. Sy lost it. I decided he needed a break and we had a makeshift picnic on the grass at the gas station. I have mentioned that I am not going out for Mother of the Year, right?
This is at the gas station. He shaped up and endured the last thirty minutes. The vision of the farm was like a mirage in the desert! And Auntie Johna had Sy's favorite foods waiting for him.
Now it was time to explore the Iowa State Fair. Daddy met us there to show Sy the ropes.

Sy in his John Deere hat.

Sy has been very enthusiastic about the cows at the farm lately. I don't think he noticed that this isn't exactly a cow.

Sy's first taste of root beer. He didn't like it as much as Johna and I did. More for us!

Justin, Me, Seth and Sy, and Dakota all linked up going down the slide. The slide is legendary. I really wanted to take Sy last year but that was when I still had Mother of the Year ambitions, so I didn't. Actually, that's not true, Sy slept the day away last year at the fair. He didn't mind the slide this year, but he didn't necessarily enjoy it either. I think he thought all of our carrying on was silly.
He liked his cheeseburger much better than the slide.

How was Millie enjoying the fair? Ask her! What fair? She slept and sat contentedly in her car seat the whole time.
We met up with the Bigelows at the sprinklers for them to love on Amelia for a bit and...
... to help Sylas appreciate the goodness of getting unexpectedly wet. With only a little luck.

We decided Sy might like the slide better on a full stomach.

Again, I think he thought all of our screaming was ridiculous.

He found his own fun though playing hide and seek with himself in the tractors while the boys talked machinery and Auntie Johna and I tapped our toes.

And he's out. He couldn't even make it to the car. He was exhausted and filthy, just the way everyone should leave the fair!

It has been so busy lately. I look forward to things eventually slowing down. Without these epic weekends, I won't have to post such epic posts and can get back to one liners. Fine, I've never posted one liners but I could at least shoot for one paragraphers. Sweet Amelia has done a lot of living in her little one month life! Enough to wear her mama out!