Wedding Bells

Five years ago one of my good friends Shelly met this wonderful guy Erik.....this past weekend they tied the knot and it was one of the most beautiful days and beautiful ceremony's I have seen.  I was honored to be a part of it. I wasn't able to help her out as one of her personal attendants before the wedding too much (Thanks Juli and Melissa for picking my slack) but I knew at least I would be able to rock it out the day of wedding for her.

 
Mike and I headed up on Friday for the rehearsal, grooms dinner and to check into our hotel. It was at the fabulous Breezy Point Resort where Mike and I are timeshare owners. We were a little early for the rehearsal so we stopped at the good old Fleet Farm - if you haven't been to a Fleet Farm you need to check it out. They have EVERYTHING. From toys, to clothes, to food, to licenses for hunting to hunting gear and attire. I think in Iowa they call it Farm and Fleet ;)

After the rehearsal dinner, Mike, some of the bridesmaids, attendants and I finished decorating the reception hall. Shelly had it decked out and did a WONDERFUL job planning it all and getting all the supplies. Those who know Shelly know she can get a bargain and she sure did with this. Hats off to you Shelly. I learned a TON of you and learned a TON about you!

Those planning a wedding or a large party - Pay attention to below.

Shelly wanted the tule and lights hung. Her now Hubby hung them for her (great job Erik!) and she got the material and the lights for cheap by keeping an eye on craigs list.

At first I didn't understand this, but this is Shelly's Candy Bar (I had never seen it at another wedding). It was a HUGE hit - especially with the kids. Sorry parents! She had all different kinds of candies for people. She created the cutest signs.

Beautiful center pieces. One thing to keep in mind (although it only happened to one of them) the candles did burn one of the flowers. The flowers are all fake (although you couldn't tell, another money saver).

Another cute idea that I just loved! making her own Mrs and Mr chair covers for the head

Very cute place settings. When I first saw the tables I hadn't realized that Shelly brought the teal fabric and the gray ties for the chairs. She saved a TON of money by doing this herself.

Shelly really outdid herself. She bought paper umbrella's and put wonderful sayings on them - all different with stencils. She had 8 of them to do. I knew she was creative and talented but never really knew how  much.

Saturday was an awesome day. I was tired by the end of it - okay by the time the ceremony came around at 2:30 I needed a nap, but it was totally worth it. Up at 6:30 to get ready and help the bride. I do want to thank my husband for running to Brainerd (which is a 1/2 hour from Breezy Point) to get the flowers for the bride and the balloons. Shelly needed these for pictures.

I was honored to be able to be the one to help Shelly into her dress. I have NEVER tied a bride into her dress, only ever had one with a zipper, so this was a new challenge for me. But it was wonderful to see how beautiful she looked. We got her on the shuttle and down to the pier where she could meet her soon to be hubby and start pictures. They were able to take pictures on the point at Breezy Point and it was such great lighting and a slight breeze which made her long veil look wonderful.

The Bride and Groom out in front of the lake

The Bride and her personal attendants - We did not even plan to all wear black.

After pictures, we headed to the church to finish decorating and get everything ready for the ceremony. I have to say that I liked decorating, it was a ton of fun. I also liked that we were able to take the stress off of the bride and just let her be her and relax before the ceremony.  It went off without a hitch.

We cleaned up and then headed back to Breezy Point to finish a few things before the reception. The reception was wonderful as was everything else and everyone had a great time!! I was so excited and honored to be apart of Shelly & Erik's big day. Mike and I were so busy throughout the day that I never once though to take a picture of the two of us dressed up. I am pretty bummed, but we at least got a picture the next morning (thanks Keelyn).

Thanks to my parents and the IL's for watching Gabby and the pup so that Mike and I could go to the wedding. We also got to sleep in until almost 8 on Sunday morning - YES! So nice....and I even made it until 11:30 the night before at the reception. WAY past my bedtime. But Shelly girl you were worth it.

As I sit here writing this, I am thinking of my anniversary coming up here at the end of the month - 8 years with my best friend. I wish all the best to you two. Shelly and Erik you guys mean a lot to me. I was apart of your relationship in the beginning and saw you guys start out. I know we have had our rocky moments but I am so glad that you are both in our lives and you both deserve the best future. You are a great match and I am glad that you found your way to one another. Love you both and Congrats!!

Sickness, Rain and Sunshine

Another Manic Mommy Monday Post - Check out The Gnomes Mom who is hosting this blog hop

Who could ask for a better vacation....Every year we go up to our timeshare for a week with my husbands family. 2 years ago we bought our own timeshare next to my IL's and it's so great that we have our own place - 8 people (6 adults and 2 kids) in one cabin just wouldn't cut it.

Saturday we got up there and I visited with some friends and then realized that Gabby felt warm....So I took her temp and sure enough she had a 101 almost 102 temp. I couldn't believe it. Sunday, still had the temp, Monday morning she woke up with a 99 degree temp (like she had on Sunday) and she had some spots on her feet and hands, but only like 4. We figured it was Hand Foot and Mouth disease since there was a case at daycare the Thursday before we left. We called the nurse and she told us what to do. Luckily we didn't have to bring her in for it (since the ER is all that is covered for us up there) and her fever broke monday afternoon, Tuesday morning.

Tuesday I woke up though with pink eye. I swear pink eye is never leaving this house. Gabby had it last year when we were on this vacation and I put breast milk in her eyes and it took it away but I ended up getting it on the way home. This year we battled it in April and have been since Memorial weekend. I am throwing all my makeup because it's the only thing I can think of where I got it. Since Gabby and Mike both don't have it. However up where we were there are no minute clinics and I sure as heck wasn't going to urgent care for pink eye. So I called my MW's office as a last resort and since I am pregnant and they are treating me they decided to send up a script to the local pharmacy! Thank you thank you thank you!!! I love that office. So hopefully soon it will be gone. I have been trying to be so careful to finally get rid of this.

Overall though we had an awesome time!! We got to swim at the beach. Mike went kayaking with his parents around the bay - we didn't bring ours up, so we will have to do that next year so he can kayak farther than just the bay. Gabby played on the beach, in the pools, went down the water slide. The guys and my MIL went golfing. I even got out once for golf. We went mini golfing and out on a pontoon ride. Grilled a few times, ate outside, played outside and took some walks. Overall it was a great time. I am glad to be home but sad to be done for another year.

Here are some pictures from our time up there

Gabby at the park

Me enjoying the pontoon.

Gabby and Daddy on the pontoon

The goats on the Island. They brought 4 goats out to the island on the lake to eat the poison ivy and they are super friendly. Gabby LOVED them.

Gabby and her cousin Alyssa watching the wake from the boat

Beach time

Annual picture on the cow at Wild Wedge Golf Course

Yeah Mini Golf

Golfing with Daddy

Relaxing at the end of golfing

No Picture, No Picture Mama

Water Slide with Daddy

Swimming with Mama

Wordless Wednesday - Giants Ridge Vacation

Playing outside the Race Shack

Block time in the hotel room

Goofy photos with mom

Snow Pants Time!

Fun Time at the Race Shack

All ready for Dinner

Playing in the lobby

Crayons!!!

A Different Kind of Fourth of July

Fourth of July is one of my husbands favorite holidays. I was never a big fireworks fan, in fact I used to be scared of them. When I was younger I had this jacket, it was a pink jacket and let me say that it probably wasn't the best jacket to be wearing while playing with a sparkler, but either way, I ended up burning my arm slightly from a sparkler and until about 7 years ago I was definitely scared of them.

Ever since I met my husband we go to the lake on the Fourth of July. His birthday is around the 4th and so we always have a great celebration. He has always been a firework nut. He loves them. Since the cabin is in Wisconsin we can shoot off a bunch of different - bigger fireworks

Fireworks from years back at the lake

So every year either before the fourth, the weekend of or on our way through St. Croix Falls we stop and get fireworks. We get cakes, bottle rockets, roman candles, little bees (my personal favorite) and many other things. A few years ago Mike and his dad built a case for the shells. We usually spend the afternoon before the night splicing them together in fun color combinations. It's a real production and we have a ton of fun! I have to admit, it took me awhile to get on board, but we are always safe and have a great time.

Last year it was just my IL's, Mike and I. I was pregnant with Gabby and staying awake past 10 was tough, but we made our way to a small town near the cabin and watched the fireworks. It was so foggy we could barely see them, but it was still fun. We didn't however light off our own. This year was also different. We had an awesome time at the lake.

Fourth of July 2010

We went up Friday night and actually made pretty good time - not too much traffic. The baby went down pretty easily as well which was nice. We did our usual 2 rounds of 500 - a Typical Epp game and one that took me forever (and is still) to learn and get somewhat good at. But its a blast. The weather was fabulous! Saturday we took an early walk and did some shopping to forget the things that we always seem to forget. Since the town is so small we had to shop at walmart - we don't like to, but unfortunately it's driven Pamida out of business there and the County Market just doesn't have everything you need.

All tuckered out from the walk

My niece Alyssa sporting my shades

Mike and I did some kayaking which was great. Leah and Barrett brought up a blow up pool so the girls went swimming on the deck and had a fabulous time. Gabby kept trying to pick up the cups at the bottom of the pool and kept sticking her face in the water. She is really a water baby - Guess swimming lessons will on the horizon for her.

Sunday was another beautiful day. We spent the day swimming, lounging, reading and went for a boat ride. Gabby wasn't quite so sure about the boat ride. The life vest she had on kept riding up on her while we were moving slow. We decided to go a bit faster and head back and then she ended up falling asleep. We ended up going a bit farther and on the way back the boat stalled. Luckily there were some nice passers by that saved us and towed us in, otherwise we would have been paddling for awhile. Mike, Barrett and my FIL got the boat into the boat lift and now will figure out what happened.

Gabby and Alyssa did well sleeping through the fireworks. They both ended up getting up a bit throughout the night, but it wasn't because of the fireworks. The 4th was a good day, didn't do any swimming because we ended up leaving the lake around 3. Luckily didn't hit any traffic which was nice!

But as you can see nothing in what we did really involved fireworks and that's what the difference was this year. Mike and I spent the evening watching the fireworks in our town through our bedroom window for about 15 minutes or so. We couldn't see them all but could see some of them through the trees. Next year when we remodel the house we will be able to watch them from Gabby's room :)

Another exciting thing that happened this weekend was the fact that Gabriella is now walking behind push carts. She started earlier in the week, but we didn't have one at home and it was only a few steps here and there at daycare. Alyssa (my niece) had a few push toys up at the lake and Gabby actually had her first temper tantrum because we wouldn't let her play with it all day and night. In fact we had to hide it on her, because if she even saw it she went straight for it. Tonight when we got home I put her down on the ground in the basement while I fed the pup and she saw the walk behind one that we are borrowing from our good friends Cheri and Daryl and the look on her face was priceless, she was so so so happy!  I can't wait until she is walking.

Here are some other highlights from our weekend.

Mac sleeping on the way to the lake

I LOVE my radio Flyer

Peak Daddy! This fort is awesome.

Yep that's right, not sitting on the blanket, you can't keep me contained anymore Mama.

I will race you, and I bet I will win because the Radio flyer is faster

Cruising in the Radio Flyer - AGAIN!