Cindy's Wedding Weekend...

Wow, what an amazing weekend!

After I left work on Wednesday, the craziness began! I went and got my hair done, and then rushed home to get my spray tan :) The girl came and did an amazing job! After being so nervous because I had heard some horror stories, it turned out better than I could have ever expected it to! My tan lines were not 100% gone, but it was very hard to see them. After that I packed the kids up and started throwing my stuff together.

The next morning I went and got my nails done, packed up the car, and headed out to get the boys’ tuxes. Trying them on was so painful! Ryan cried the whole time and John ended up having to stuff him into it! I’m glad we tried it on though because the coat was a little big and we were able to get a smaller one. After that we were off! We ran through a drive-through to get some lunch and we were on our way to Athens. Suzie, who had left earlier that morning, was just ahead of us.

When we got to Athens, the first thing we did was drop the kiddos off at John’s parents’ house. They were spending the night there so it was easiest for us to drop them off before we got into the craziness of unpacking. After that we headed to wedding central, aka, our hotel.

Once we got there we unloaded everything and tried to help Cindy with whatever she needed help with. Ryan left with my dad because that was where he was spending the night, and then we all got ready to go out. Cindy and Josh had a little get-together planned for the bridal party that included a bar, pizza, beer (or Shirley Temples for me), and games. We stayed until about 11:00 PM and headed home. I have to admit by the end of the night I was a little depressed because as far as 10 year anniversaries go, this one kind of sucked. Thankfully John had gone to all the trouble the weekend of my birthday to celebrate.

Friday morning we woke up and John headed out golfing while I got Kylie and Josh, took Josh out to my parents’ house, and then Kylie and I got our nails done. She was so cute getting her nails and toenails painted! After that she and I went to Chipotle for lunch, and then out to my parents’ house to pick the boys up. Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the rehearsal.

As soon as we stepped foot in the church, John immediately started practicing walking down the aisle with Josh and Ryan. It was hit or miss…sometimes Ryan walked fine, sometimes he ran, and other times he refused. It really helped that John’s parents got there early (they were picking Ryan up from the rehearsal because I knew there was no way he would make it through the dinner), and they were able to practice with us.

After the rehearsal we headed uptown for dinner. It was in the same building as John and my rehearsal dinner 10 years earlier, just a different restaurant. There was a slide show and amazing food! Josh and Kylie did really well, although it was so hot that Kylie did have to go and sit in front of the fan a lot. Josh and Cindy gave all of us our gifts and I was just amazed! She gave me my earrings and necklace to wear the next day, a robe that had my initials on it, a bag that had the first letter of my last name on it, and a tank top that said “Maid of Honor.” She also was paying for all of us to get our make-up done the next day. John got a bobble-head that looked like him and a bottle of liquor, Kylie got a tank top that said “Flower girl” and a beautiful sign that said “Girls Rule and Boys Drool” in a cute little bag that had her name monogrammed on it, and Josh and Ryan both got harmonicas and photo albums.

After dinner John and I took Kylie and Josh back to his parents’ house and then headed over to the favorite Kirch bar – The Smiling Skull. This is the bar that we always hung out at Dad’s Weekend and my aunt and uncle and cousins were already there. We stayed for a while and then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep!

The next morning the craziness began! I went down and got my make-up and hair done (Cindy had brought down a hair stylist and a make-up artist and my sister-in-law was also doing hair). We were all in a room with a TV playing wedding movies and great breakfast! We spent the whole morning in there watching each other get ready and commenting on how gorgeous everyone looked!

The baby-sitter that I had found on Craig’s List arrived at 11:00 and jumped right into everything. The boys arrived just as she did and I got them all settled into the room and she fed them and got them to sleep. I kept stressing how important it was for Ryan to get a nap, and at one point John and I walked in to find her holding him…and he was sound asleep.

Pretty soon it was time to get everyone dressed. John stayed back with the boys and helped the sitter get them dressed and ready. Kylie and I were down helping Cindy get into her dress and getting some last-minute pictures with the photographer. I have to admit that we all looked so gorgeous! We then all got onto the party bus and headed to the church.

The only snafu I knew about was my fault, and that was I had forgotten her veil. Luckily we were at the church in plenty of time and John was able to go and get it for me with plenty of time to spare. Other than that, we spent the time safety-pinning all of the girls dresses to their bras so that their dresses would stay up! Before we knew it, it was time to walk down the aisle!

I was the last of the bridesmaids to walk down, which just left my little kids back there by themselves. As I turned around I just kept praying that Ryan would come down the aisle! And thankfully, all of the kids did a wonderful job! The boys came around and Ryan left with the sitter to go back to the nursery, Josh sat with my in-laws, and Kylie stood up with us. The ceremony was beautiful and I did my best not to let any tears run down my face and smear my make-up :)

After the ceremony, we did family pictures at the church, and then we went out for some pictures outside just before the rain started. As soon as we got onto the bus, the rain let loose! We went back to the hotel and Cindy and Josh got some pictures inside while the bridal party hung out on the bus. Kylie and Josh went back with John’s parents to their house, and our sitter took Ryan back to take a nap. After a while we left to go uptown to get pictures and just as we arrived, the rain stopped and the sun came out! Despite being super hot and sweaty, we got some gorgeous pictures!

We headed back to the reception and just as we were about to walk out (it was an outside reception under tents), it started pouring! We had to walk through a line of rain to get into the tent, but by that time, we didn’t care! Each couple danced in to a theme song, and ours was We Are Family because we came in with the kids. We all had a blast!

It was time for dinner and when I went to put Ryan in his high chair, I realized that he was getting rained on! So the sitter ended up taking him inside (they could still see out and watch all of the festivities) and the rest of the night he was a happy camper! Josh and Kylie went back and forth between John and me and the baby-sitter. By the time it was time to dance, the kids were out there and having fun (except for Joshie who kept telling me dancing was for girls :)).

After a while Ryan started acting really tired, so the sitter took him back to cool off and relax in the room. Shortly after that, Kylie and Josh wanted to join them. John and I hung out at the reception for about another ½ hour until it ended and then headed back to the room to wind down…it had been a long day!

The next day we had a family brunch and then we loaded everything up to head home. We helped pack up Suzie’s car with gifts and other miscellaneous stuff to bring back home for Cindy and Josh. Once we got home we unpacked and just relaxed the rest of the day. Getting up Monday morning was hard to say the least! Especially knowing that when I got out of bed, Cindy and Josh had just gotten on a plane for their honeymoon!

I realized as I was going through the pictures that I don't have any of Josh and Ryan prior to the reception because I was mainly with Kylie the whole time! I'll have to wait until the photographer has her pictures ready and get the cute ones of the boys in their tuxes!