So if you saw my previous post you know that our long drive from Northern California to Central Oregon had started out fun and ended rather stressful and late. It was seven in the evening, the time we'd been told the rehearsal would start at. We had some slight difficulty finding our cabin so we parked and Husband went off in search of information only to get hailed by the bride and her little group of cabin mates. Our came my oldest friend C {whose lovely dress I didn't have the presence of mind to photograph}, our new writer friend J and our long time bestie G.
I'd known G for almost as long as I've known C and it was such an overwhelming moment to finally, finally meet her! We'd been texting and exchanging pictures the whole drive up, and she'd been on the lookout for us for over an hour. It brings tears to my eyes remembering that first long hug, that moment that I knew we'd found my best friend! If only the camera had decided a flash would've worked well.
The bride said we'd arrived before any of the festivities had begun so she invited our over to the bigger house for a pizza dinner and to meet everyone. So we washed up, changed our clothes and headed off to socialize and eat pizza.
We met C's family for the first time and R {the groom}'s family as well; they're quite a lovely group of people and very animated. Despite my usual social worries, we all relaxed and settled in comfortably. When we'd all eaten, we trooped down to the beach for a rehearsal.
That was when some of my mummy anxieties kicked in. It was very windy and cold! You'd think that growing up where I did that I would know to bring extra layers since if the Norther coast is cold, then Oregon can only get colder, right? Apparently not. The warmest layers I'd brought were for the baby so she wore socks, pants, a onesie, two light sweaters and a big thick blanket wrapped around her while I suffered in my thin dress and light sweater. The wind tore through every layer it felt like.
But the baby was really happy and excited to be out of her carseat. While we ate, she'd thoroughly explored the large sofa and discovered she could throw herself onto the pillows and bounce around, to everyone's delight. She didn't want to wear her hat though.
The sunset was gorgeous. Husband and I paid more attention to that than the layout for the ceremony.
The last time I'd seen the ocean was when we'd gone down to Monteray Bay {however you spell that} to see the aquarium and my siblings had run around on the bay beach several years ago. This was way more impressive. There were gulls watching us, fresh seawood everywhere {it's surprisingly bumpy to touch}, and it smelled very strongly of salt and fish.
But it was very cold and windy. When the baby's nose turned red and started running, I called it a day and took her inside to warm her up and explore our little cabin.
Husband followed and did the smart thing when he realized I was about to have a meltdown when I discovered that I hadn't packed any pajamas for anyone - he opened the bottle of wine we'd brought and gave me a nice big glass.
When the girls later came back to check on us, they gave me hugs and offered to loan me some sweat pants and such to sleep in. Husband gave me a shirt and some uncomfortably tight shorts to wear instead. He tucked Baby and I into bed with goodnight kisses, a bottle of water, lots of pillows and the iPad before heading off to socialize some more.
He and my sister indulged in s'mores and watched the third Librarian movie with the bride, E, J and her charming friend B at their little cabin next door. I went to sleep around eleven and he tip-toed in around twelve-thirty.
We slept soundly in our cozy warm beds and despite the late night, I woke up at five-thirty hungry. So I rolled over and went back to sleep till almost seven when I unsuccessfully tried to sneak away and ended up waking Baby and Husband up. So we had some crackers and compared notes about the previous evening. It seemed warmer and less windy which was very nice.
Once dressed, we took this adorable little rock-star over to join everyone for breakfast. There were eggs and assorted muffins as well as orange juice and coffee. The baby ate her fill and then preceded to turn everyone into her best friend and make them walk her around the room. C's siblings were adorable as they interacted with Baby.
After breakfast we had a brief respite and hung out at our cabin. This is our little rental car with the spare tire on it. When the picture taking spree was over, we hung out with G as she made a list of camera shots to take for the bride, exchanged gifts and then went our separate ways to get ready.
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