A New York Wedding Weekend...

This past weekend was amazing!

Thursday, as soon as the kids were done with school, we loaded up the car and headed out on a 7 hour car trip to Rochester, NY. The last of my nine cousins was getting married! Our car was packed to the brim, and I had snacks and toys ready to go!

The kids did wonderfully! We made a bathroom stop, and then stopped in Erie, PA around 8:00 for dinner. We got complimented by two different people about how “beautiful” our family was and how well-behaved our kids were. At 8:00, after being in the car for four hours, with tired and hungry kids, those comments absolutely made our night :)

We pulled into Rochester around 11:30 and checked into the hotel I had got on priceline.com earlier that day. The kids were so tired, but Josh and Kylie were great helps in bringing the stuff to the room (there was no elevator anywhere near our room and we were on the second floor!). Colton had a crib, and the room had two queen beds, and Ryan slept on two plush chairs that I pushed together for him (a perfect little bed!). When we woke up the next morning (at 6:30 thanks to CoJo), we hung out and played for a little bit, and then headed down to the pool. The pool was awesome! It had a separate little section (roped off) that was only 1 foot deep, so the kids could easily play there. They also had a really nice hot tub that John and I took turns in. The whole time Colton sat very content in the stroller and watched us play.

After we were done swimming, we went back and showered and packed up and went to lunch. The lunch was great, the kids were great, and again, a wonderful older lady stopped by to tell us how beautiful our family was (she also told us that she had eight kids herself). We left lunch feeling full both physically and emotionally :)

Then it was time to head to my aunt and uncle’s house. They were so kind and invited us to stay with them the whole weekend. We got there and got unloaded and the kids immediately went down to the AWESOME basement they have set up for all of the grandkids and played. John and I visited with my aunt and then my aunt and uncle from Columbus were also there. I loved sitting there and catching up! And my aunt kept going above and beyond making us feel comfortable and playing with the kids…I felt so bad that she was doing so much, especially when her son was getting married that weekend! John and I played board games with Kylie and Joshie while the younger two were napping. We were ashamed to admit that it has been a long time since we have both felt relaxed enough to just sit and play with the kids…it always feels like there is something that needs to be done when we’re at home :(

That evening the babysitter that my aunt had hired to watch my kids when needed over the weekend came over to watch Colton. He immediately took to her and the rest of us headed out to the rehearsal dinner. I got to see all of my cousins! I loved seeing some of their kiddos and catching up with all of them. We also had a really fabulous dinner!

We went back to the house and got ready for bed. My aunt and uncle’s house is quite large (wouldn’t it have to be to accommodate nine kids?), so when my aunt was showing us our rooms, she just kept stopping in doorways and saying “you could sleep here or here or here…” and Kylie and Josh loved it! They couldn't decide which room to pick! I ended up in the nursery with Colton, John ended up in a room with Ryan, and Kylie and Josh ended up in a room clear at the other end of the house (their choice!). We all slept very well that night!

The next morning Colton actually slept in until 7:45, which was a very nice treat for me! We all then went downstairs and ate breakfast and just relaxed in their gorgeous family/sun room that is full of windows! We talked with aunt a little bit before she headed out for make-up, talked with my uncle before he headed out to get breakfast for the groom and his friends, and then we all started getting ready for the 12:00 ceremony. The wedding was beautiful, and I spent most of it in the crying room with Colton and a few of my cousins and their kids :)

After the wedding we all headed back to my aunt and uncle’s house for a mini-reception. We got to change clothes and eat a fabulously catered lunch out in a gorgeous tent, and then there was football and hanging out in their “barn” (not a real barn…animals…here anyway :)). I loved that I could put Colton and Ryan down for a nap and still enjoy time with my family…I honestly couldn’t thank my aunt and uncle enough for letting us stay there!

Later on we all started getting ready for the reception. The babysitter came and John and I headed out for an evening of fun! The reception was gorgeous and a ton of fun! I got to hang out with my sisters (both of them came with their husband and boyfriend) and my parents.

Around 10:00 John and I decided we should leave. The reception was by no means over (it actually was really just beginning), but we had to leave at 5:30 the next morning in order to be back for Joshie’s football game. So we went around and said “good-bye” to everyone and headed home. The sitter said that the kids were wonderful (I was again so thankful to my aunt for finding such a wonderful sitter!) and that they had a lot of fun playing with the new toys my aunt had gotten them. John and I then packed up as much as we could and headed to bed.

We got up super early (Colton actually had me up at 4:50 to eat) and loaded up the car and headed out. To say we were tired would be an understatement. The trip went fairly well (Colton did amazing!) considering how tired we all were. The only downfall was that about an hour into the trip Kylie tells me that Ryan is crying. I look back and he is rubbing his eyes and kept telling me they itched. So we pulled off to get him some drops and got him to fall asleep. When he woke up his eye was swollen shut! But it didn’t itch anymore and it didn’t hurt, so it really didn’t bother him (thank goodness!). As the trip progressed, his eye got better, but nowhere completely better.

We made it back in time to stop at the house, grab some lunch, and then head out to Joshie’s game. It was great to get back into football! His team is the Buccaneers this year and he is in the older group this year, so he’s the youngest of the older kids. He’s also the smallest by far! But he’s fast and had some great plays! They ended up tying, which I think is great considering it was the first older group game for him and coach Dad (John’s coaching again). The team played really well together, which make sense because over half of them have been playing together for years now!

After the game we went home and John crashed on the couch, Ryan took a long nap, Kylie and Joshie played, and I watched Colton/tried to clean up and do laundry. I made dinner, and as we were sitting down to eat, Ryan finally woke up (he was down for about three hours!). John gave him a bath and when he came down he said his eye was really bad and that we should probably take him to urgent care. I looked up the hours of the Children’s Hospital urgent care and we had 25 minutes to get there before it closed! So Ryan and I zipped over there and got right in. The doctor thinks that since he’s been sick, some bacteria has gotten up by his eye and caused it to swell and turn purple. So he prescribed an antibiotic and sent us on our way. Ryan did great the whole time and also while we were waiting for the prescription to be filled. I got him a Happy Meal (since he didn’t get to eat dinner), and when we got home he happily ate it and told John about our adventure! Then it was some couch time with Daddy and then bed time.

So it was a fabulous weekend! I’m tired and worn out, but it was all wonderfully worth it!

Aunt Suzie with Colton: