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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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