Three weekends ago we traveled up to upstate New York for Erik's brothers wedding. Erik's parents generously offered to help us out with plane tickets to New York, so we were able to fly and avoid what I imagine would have been an extremely long, 20+ hour round trip drive with a toddler who is not a fan of sitting still for longer than a few minutes at a time. We left on a Thursday evening, and for the first leg of the trip (we had a short layover, made even shorter by the delay in our first flight) Arlo was a super star on the airplane. Which, had been the opposite of his behavior all day before we left for the airport. Somehow our whining and cranky little guy was able to rally for the flight, peacefully sitting on our laps playing peek-a-boo with the lady sitting next to us and thoroughly familiarizing himself with the emergency procedures pamphlet from the seat pocket in front of us. Small miracles! During the second leg of the flight we were lucky enough to score an extra seat on the plane, brought the car seat right on with us, and Arlo slept like a champ until we arrived in New York. Since we arrived so late at night, we stayed at a hotel in Albany, and drove up to Cooperstown the next morning.
I had never been anywhere in New York outside of the big city, and I was amazed at how beautiful it all was. Rolling hills, fields, so many trees, and lakes. White picket fences around the small farms in Cooperstown. I wanted so many times to stop and take photos of the scenery, but my little phone camera wouldn't have accurately captured the view. How I would love to visit again sometime when the leaves change color in the fall, camera in hand for all the photo ops.
Friday night was the rehearsal dinner, held at a beautiful country club overlooking Lake Otsego. Here is Arlo all dressed up in a shirt and tie, which instantly made him look at least twice his age:
And the three of us on the patio that overlooks the lake:
Saturday was the big day! We spent the morning at a nearby school where Erik played basketball with his brother and a few other guys who were in the wedding. The school had a large playground where Arlo was able to burn off a lot of energy which made for a nice long afternoon nap. While Arlo and Erik napped that afternoon, I was able to sneak away with Jill, Erik and Scott's mom, for a little girl time with the bridal party. Caitrin, Scott's wife, arranged for hairdressers from a local beauty salon to come and do our hair while we had a little pre-wedding luncheon together. It was so much fun and I was so happy to be included in the festivities. Here we are after we had our hair done, wearing our matching robes Caitrin gave to us:
Both the ceremony and reception were held at the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown. It was a very unique space with a church, several smaller outbuildings housing farm animals, a carousal, and a large building that served as a space for the reception. Again, I was longing for my camera (and someone to watch Arlo so I could run around and do nothing but take photos!) I didn't take these photos but am borrowing them from the internets to give you an idea of the beauty that is this place:
Arlo was the ring bearer in the wedding, and did a fantastic job of carrying the "rings" down the isle. The ceremony itself was lovely, but I have to admit that sitting in the front row of a small church, during a quiet Catholic ceremony with a very rambunctious toddler on your lap is not easy. He started to get a little fussy at times, and even with the backpack of entertainment that I had hidden under the pew before the ceremony (tiny cars, flash cards, books, snacks, and eventually my phone) it was still hard to keep him silent. Overall he did pretty well and we were able to avoid any major outbursts, but still I was sweating bullets and panicking internally every time he let out so much as a peep.
After the ceremony we headed to the building where the reception took place. Arlo was able to run around and snack on some appetizers at that point, and Erik and I immediately found ourselves with wine in hand, so I think we were all able to relax a bit once the reception started. Since Erik was the best man, and Arlo was the ring bearer, we all sat together at the head table. Arlo was at the very end of the table and kept us all entertained throughout the meal! Here are a few pics taken at the wedding:
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| Arlo taking selfies |
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| "come here often?" |
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| showing off his dance moves |
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| way past his bedtime! |
Arlo showed off his mad dance skills a bit on the dance floor, and even shared in the dance between his Uncle Scott and Memere Jill which I couldn't help but get a little misty eyed over. Eventually we put Arlo in his stroller, and Memere (or was it Papa? I was a few glasses of wine in at this point!) walked him around the museum until he fell asleep. We then parked the stroller in the corner, and Arlo slept until we left and had to put him in the car. Meanwhile, Erik and I were having a blast together, eventually making our way onto the dance floor to show off our (very uncoordinated) moves, ha! I can't remember the last time the two of us let loose and had such a great time. Definitely a night we won't soon forget!
The next day Caitrin's parents had everyone over to their house for a brunch, complete with vegan french toast for us - yum! We eventually had to say our goodbyes as we had to drive back to Albany to catch our flight home later that afternoon. The flight home ended up very uneventful, as Arlo was able to have a seat to himself on both legs of the trip, and slept most of the time. I know in a recent post I said I was not a fan of the word "perfect," and well, I still am not. However, with no other word to accurately describe the wedding, and really the entire trip to New York, I think it's appropriate to use in this case, as I don't really think things could have gone any better. Plus, it's pretty awesome to witness the marriage of two people who you know are meant to be together, and even cooler when you are welcoming one of them into your own family. Many congrats to the happy new couple!
The weekend after our NY travels, Erik and I headed to the beach (just the two of us!) to celebrate our wedding anniversary. More about that trip in my next post!
Oh, and one more thing. I learned on this trip that I have a real, live, legitimate writer who actually reads this little ol' blog of mine. So Danny, if you are reading this, know that I am a little intimidated that you do but also think it's awesome. So thanks! And Arlo sends you a fist bump ;)
