Garden Baby and A Snail

I have a little garden baby.

She loves puddles and taking walks with her Auntie.

She's gonna be so helpful planting potatoes in a few years!

We also found a snail so I got to practice some photography.

And then I got licked by a snail for the first time.

It was a very weird sensation.

Cute little snail.

A Wedding Weekend Part 5: Heading Home

So in my previous post concerning the wedding, we had the reception! Afterwards, we had the after party. *winks*

And by "after party," I really mean that while everyone else changed up and hung out at the big house watching Sense and Sensibility, Husband and I took Baby back to our cozy little cottage and relaxed. We had showers, taking turns keeping an eye on Baby who hung out on this super comfy bed.

We changed our sandy clothes for comfortable clean ones, watched a little TV, admired our baby and then sallied out for some adventuring.

This is the outside of our cute cabin. The sun was setting when we headed out but it was a lot less windy and still very beautiful. We wandered around on the beach looking at rocks, shell fragments and bits of empty crab shells. We found a few treasures too.

When it got too dark to see clearly, we headed over and caught the end of the movie. The Baby fell asleep instantly once we handed her off to her Auntie.

The next morning we were up bright and early, intending to take G. out to breakfast. But she canceled on us so we all hung out and helped the bride's family pack up. We were given lots of yummy food to take home and I wish we'd had a bigger car and ice chest to take more but that's okay.

We finally left at ten to eleven in the morning, a bit later than I'd anticipated.

Since my sister had studied the route back home, we started out making good time and didn't get too lost or turned around. we stopped for lunch around one or so at Diary Queen; sadly, they weren't as good as I'd hoped. The Baby had fun stretching her legs though.

And then we were in for the long stretch home. I felt queasy and stayed in the backseat trying to sleep while the Baby made that irritating whiny noise she makes when she doesn't want to go to sleep. It felt like she went on and on for hours.

We had several rest stops for breaks and leg-stretching. We rotated seating too a few times. At one point, we stopped at a nice rest area and picked up some brochures. It was around four by then and the baby hadn't had her nap yet. She fought us when we put her back in the car seat and screamed loudly for a long time. Finally, as a last resort, I started singing her favorite song to her. I should've done it sooner. She stopped crying, calmed down and went to sleep. We all relaxed and tried hard to keep quiet so she wouldn't wake up.

This was what it looked liek as everyone ran around getting all packed and ready to go.

Apparently I was deep in conversation.

Husband wasn't too happy having his picture taken.

Baby was having tons of fun though.

Besties!

Photo-bomb!

They're so cute in this picture.

Anyway, once we started nearing Mt. Shasta again. things got a little more interesting. I can't remember if this was pre or post nap for the baby.

At any rate, the baby was pretty happy.

From the angle, the mountain looked like an exploding volcano. We sent my mom a picture; she got mad at us for teasing her.

It was very beautiful though.

Lots of cattle.

After we crossed the state border, we stopped in a little town called Yerka or something weird like that, and got dinner at the Pizza Factory. Sadly, the food was very lame and not filling enough. Then we got gas and kept going.

My mom kept pestering us via text messages so we finally turned the phones off and ignored her. She eventually fell asleep or gave up, not sure which. Once it started getting dark, the baby fell asleep again. I remember spending a good portion of the next few hours dozing and periodically checking on everyone. The two drivers were on the verge of an argument about who's turn it was to drive at one point.

We finally made it home at a lovely dark one in the morning. I carried baby inside and we immediately curled up in bed after changing into clean pajamas. The baby was happy to be home and went to sleep fairly easily. Husband helped my sister get her bags out of the rental car and then she was off. I felt bad for her; she had to get up and go to work at seven the next day. Husband got the day off so we all slept in and recovered. It was a whole different adventure trying to return the rental car. *smiles*

A Wedding Weekend Part 4: The Reception

In my previous post there are lots of gorgeous wedding pictures and some tears. But in this post if lots of cake!

Which I have to show you a picture of immediately because it was a very stunning cake.

Almost as lovely as the bride's gorgeous gown!

Anyway, this is the first picture in a series of the view form the big house's balcony I took.

After there was an exchange of hugs all around on the beach, I retreated with the baby and Husband into the little cabin to attempt to get a hold of myself. Multiple emotions were running rampant through my mind and I didn't like it. My sister changed out of her lovely dress and carried off the baby to join the happy group taking pictures on the beach. I intend to get lots of copies of those pictures cause I have a feeling there are better shots than the ones I got. Everyone was apparently asking where I was but I was hiding.

Anyway, after that we all trailed over to the big house for the reception. The bride hugged us and reassured us they would wait to cut the cake so my sister could go off and get the tire on the car fixed. She seemed more relaxed once that issue was resolved. Meanwhile, we all relaxed while the happy new couple snuck some alone time in and gathered up their belongings.

When my sister came back, we had a delicious champagne toast and listened to several very emotional speeches. The award for most emotional goes to the groom's father. So very touching.

And then we had cake!

We'd already eaten some yummy sandwiches and watermelon.

The cake was a white cake with a yummy strawberry filler and a white champagne frosting. My husband really liked that part but he loves sugary foods in general. 

This is what you look like when someone is trying to take your picture and the sun is in your eyes. Sorry G.

The baby had a lot of fun socializing and being out of her dress.

The maid of honor and her travel buddy, B.

The camera grabbing monster!

So I have this bad habit of taking people's pictures when they aren't ready. The groom's sister and her boyfriend/groomsman handled it pretty well.

And so did the groom's mother.

Most everyone else ignored me.

I tried getting a picture of the lovely bouquet.

While Husband relaxed and got some internet.

We obviously don't have enough cake pictures so indulge in these.

When the bride and groom left, G and I descended on the cake and divided up the flowers and shells to keep. I got this lovely blue one.

She picked this cute brown one, among others of course.

The bride said this shell was ugly. I disagreed and kept it.

This shell looked like camo so I gave it to my sister.

Baby was happy but tired. She'd slept through the speeches.

The groom wasn't sure how to cut the cake so the bride helped him. It was very amusing.

When the reception was wrapping up, we headed down to the beach again. I don't have any pictures for that but there was a first waltz, a bouquet toss and a garter toss. The waltz was humorous, beautiful and simple. The happy couple looked so cute together. When the bouquet toss was about to begin, I took my sister's drink from her and told her to go stand with the single ladies. It's so nice being married. :) When the bride tossed her bouquet, imagine my shock and glee when my sister, after attending lots of weddings in the past, caught the bouquet! I screamed and jumped up, splashing her champagne all over myself while the baby looked at me like I was crazy. It was the best part of the whole weekend for me and I've never felt prouder of my sister.

The garter toss was almost as exciting. The wind grabbed the little bit of lace and ribbon and took it away. Several of the groomsmen raced after it and tackled each other in the sand till one emerged victorious. So much fun. When the excitement level had dissipated somewhat, the couple gathered up their final items, took a few last pictures and hugged everyone before getting into their car and driving off amid a shower of bubbles.

Then we had the after party. Muhahahaha!