Perhaps our shortest trip yet.
We
were technically out of the state of Texas for 49 hours.
It would have been 3 hours longer had we not
flown for almost an hour before being turned around due to a broken “de-icing
mechanism,” only to approach the Houston airport with too much fuel for a safe
landing.
So after circling the airport,
deplaning, replaning, etc. etc. etc…
We
left for good
after our scheduled
arrival in Columbus.
Even with the world’s
quickest kid-to-grandparent hand off ever, right there in the airport parking
garage, we still missed Friday Night’s pre-wedding festivities.
For the record: the kids totally dominated the delay.
I threw a bit of a temper tantrum.
Also: Lakeside is not designed for a midnight
arrival.
“Well, your passes are locked
up at the other gate,” explained friendly man number 1.
“Ahh, you must be my last guests that I’m
waiting for!” exclaimed hotel front desk clerk.
“Park anywhere,” she continued, “Its not like we have police coming
through here tonight.”
And so we tucked ourselves into our TV-less, historic hotel room (y’all, we
used a real, metal key to open our door!) with no plans to be woken by either
alarm or children.
Our dream came true and we rolled out of bed around 9:30.
After consulting the list in the hotel
welcome bag and deciding on a modified version of “Wedding Day Itinerary #1,”
we set off in search of donuts and our now unlocked passes.
We followed our friendly-yet-competitive game
of miniature golf on Lakeside’s newly updated course with a walking tour of the
little community.
I tried my best to
explain to Chris everything that Lakeside is, but I don’t think we were far
enough into the season for him to truly embrace it all.
While he didn’t get to see any shows or attend
any classes, he did get to see Mrs. Sulser run from car to cottage in her
rollers yelling out something about being late.
We caught up a bit with Megan and Dustin over lunch while watching the first
lawn wedding of the day from a distance, chatting about if the rain would hold
or not.
Then we relaxed until the itinerary
told us to start getting ready.
As we were seated for the ceremony it was almost too hot, with the bright
4:00 sun beating down on us.
We heard
the first roll of thunder as the procession started down the aisle.
The first drops as the second reader turned
to her second page of text.
And the pastor
declared, “I have a lot of nice things to say to you two, but we’re going to
get you married!
Brian, repeat after me…”
We all could have gotten wetter.
But
they were married, and the wedding party still looked lovely, so that’s all
that matters!
And Meri got the Lakeside
wedding she’s been dreaming about for over 15 years.
We flirted back and forth with storms through a slightly dramatic cocktail
hour and finally heard them let lose during the toasts.
Ok, it was only 5 minutes of cocktail hour
that was dramatic, but it was two things in five minutes that happened within
mere feet of us and we didn’t move at all!
Location, Location, Location my friends!
Anywho, the tent held and one only needed an umbrella to visit the
potty.
I sat and ate dinner and danced the night away with three of my dearest
friends from high school (and our men) while the fourth made her rounds around
the room.
We chatted and laughed and
took too many photo booth pictures and danced and sang and had a ball.
mashed potato bar!!!
At the end of the night, we took pity on the groom’s cake – an ice cream
cake!! – that had been sitting out all night long, untouched save the little
piece that Brian had served himself over an hour ago.
Unloved cake, no more!
The night ended with my three closest childhood friends belting out the
words to a Meri-style Wilson Philips song, before collapsing into a group hug
inspired by a much more grown-up and non-wedding-related event.
Because it turns out that your childhood
friends will be there for you when very grown-up things happen to you, no
matter how many years have passed since you’ve done daily life together.**
Cue: Lindsay getting all sentimental about meeting Meri when she was her son’s
age, and wondering who will be there on his wedding day, and who he will turn
to for support when grown-up things happen to him.
We slept hard that night but woke in time to make it to The Sulser’s cottage
for breakfast before hitting the road for Columbus.
It took us nearly three hours to get back,
thanks to terrible weather, slow traffic and a train, but we did make it to
brunch with my parents, kids and brother.
Just a little something to acknowledge a certain milestone birthday this
week…
And the announcement of a gift
that made her cry. Score!
Straight to the airport from brunch, I never made it even close to my
parents’ house.
My kids had a ball with
them – in 40 hours they managed to hit up the Lego store, and marathon outing
to the zoo, eat pizza down low, play outside, etc.
My Goose rode a Camel!!
But they were up late and early each day,
which left us with some very tired travelers on Sunday afternoon.
Those tired kiddos opted to sit next to each other, and it was going really
really well.
Sam could be heard from the
next row back being as sweet as pie, “Here, Annabelle, I’ll help you with your
buckle.
Do you need anything from your
bag?”
We were feeling like we had truly
arrived as parents, sitting together like grown ups.
They were entertained by the Kindle as Goose curled
up with her blankie, until Sam placed their drink order.
And then he carefully put his drink on her
tray to get something in his bag.
He
bumped the tray and I watched – in slow motion through the slit between the
seats - the full cup of cran-apple juice slide into her lap.
Both of them in tears, Sam emphatically
apologetic, Annabelle cold and tired.
I
had no back up clothes as our carry-on bags had been gate checked, but she was
sopping wet and could not sit for the next 1:45 in those shorts.
Solution: I made a tight-fitting skirt out of
her jean jacket and hung her shorts to dry on the tray table latch.
She passed out on my lap, I stole her blankie
and fell asleep on the arm rest.
I’m
told that Chris fell asleep, too, leaving Sam as our only conscious family
member on the plane.
Thankful for
technology, and dry shorts upon arrival in Houston.
It was a whirlwind, both relaxing and exhausting at the same time.
And I wouldn’t trade a moment of it for
anything.
Congratulations Meri and
Brian, and thanks Mom and Dad for keeping the kids!
**Many thanks to Dustin for capturing these very candid moments, and to
Chris for getting the car so we didn’t end up too wet.
