Minnesota and back!

Last Friday night we hosted a Parent's Weekend dinner here at our house. We had our sophomore, his parents plus his grandma. We also had our two freshmen who also brought their parents. One also brought his brother and sister. We smoked a pork shoulder for the first time. We followed an Alton Brown recipe and it turned out sooo good! We were highly impressed by the results. Probably one of the best things we have made yet!

We scooted everybody out of the house by 9:30pm, which was good because we still had to pack! We were leaving bright and early the next morning to drive to Denver to fly to Minnesota.

We got on the road the next morning about 6am. We stopped and got breakfast at Sonic. We made it almost all the way to the airport when suddenly Kasey threw up! Oh boy.... So, we got off the highway and found a gas station. Hubby went and got some paper towels and some wipes. Thank goodness we had our luggage! Plenty of extra outfits!

So, we managed to get her cleaned up as best as possible, same with her seat, and get back on the road. She obviously immediately felt better because she started asking for food and drink. So, something was not sitting well in her stomach, however once it was removed she was much better! We continued on the rest of the way to the airport with no more incidents. We let her have water and crackers at the Red Carpet Club in the airport and she seemed totally back to normal. So, we allowed her to have a muffin too. She was just fine from then on!

We had a direct flight from Denver to Minneapolis. We then picked up our car and started driving South East. We headed down to the corner where Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin all meet up. We ended up having to drive right to the wedding rehearsal, but we were going to be early. The really good thing is that we were going to be early because somehow I got the wrong directions and we ended up in La Crosse, Wisconsin! We were supposed to be in Spring Grove, Minnesota. Thankfully we were able to figure out where we were supposed to be and how to get there. We were about an hour away, but we still made it to the rehearsal with 30 minutes to spare!

Courtney was the flower girl and so she got to be in the rehearsal and practice her walking down the isle for the next day. The other flower girl was not able to make it to the rehearsal for some reason, so Courtney wasn't able to meet her that night. After the rehearsal we followed Toby's parents to their farm back in the town of La Crescent. (Again, about an hour away). Toby's parents were kind enough to let us stay in a bedroom in their basement. It was pretty late by the time we got their, and the rehearsal dinner was another 40 minutes away. So, we had to skip the dinner and put the girls to bed.

The next morning the girls got to see what the farm looked like in the daylight. They got to meet 6 week old kitties, see cows, a cornfield up close, and all kinds of large farm equipment! They had a blast! I was able to help out in the barn getting the reception stuff ready. The reception was held in the barn.

Finally it was time to get ready for the wedding and head out. We had to be at the church about an hour and a half ahead for Courtney to be in the pictures. She also met the other little flower girl who is Maddie's cousin from Australia! She is 3 years old. When the two of them met, and saw that they were both wearing the same thing, they stood about 4 feet apart and stared at each other! It was so funny. Courtney said "you're wearing my dress!" The other little girl, Juliette, said "you're wearing my shoes!" Once they decided the other one was okay, they were friends and holding hands.


Here are the flower girls with the bride before the wedding.

And here's Courtney with the groom before the wedding:
Finally it was time for the flower girls to walk down the isle! They walked so slow, it felt like 10 years for them to get down the isle, but it was very cute. They both did really well!
And here they are after the ceremony! Mr and Mrs Pedretti!

From there it was back to the farm to party!!! It was such a beautiful reception in the barn, and made for some pretty amazing pictures! Here's one her photographer took:
It was a great time, and Minnesota was so beautiful! The sunsets were incredible. Here are some pictures from the night:


We finally had to leave the party about 9pm and take the girls into the house. We had to get up at 5am the next morning to pack and then drive 2 and a half hours to the airport to fly home. It was a crazy busy weekend, with lots of driving, but it was well worth it! We were exhausted when we got home, and we all went to bed early.

Next day was back into our normal routine again. School, work, working out. The Race for the Cure is tomorrow and I am planning on running the 5K. I feel ready!

This week I also accepted an offer to work up to 12 hours a week at the office. They need help with keeping the place clean and getting some administrative stuff caught up. So, the week of Sept 18 I will go back to work, 12 hours a week. And I get to bring Kasey, so I don't have to worry about paying for childcare! Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!

Our weather is turning more fall like now. It's funny how it went from being 90+ degrees and HOT to being fall weather, cool and crisp. Our heat has been coming on at night.

Today was actually a Saturday that we had nothing going on. There was plenty going on around the city that we could have gone to, but we needed a day to just chill. Plus Hubby really wanted to catch a Hokie game. So, I have spent the day cleaning, making banana bread, laundry, and packing up all of the 24 month old clothes and replacing them with 2T clothes. Both girls are now ready to go up a size since we are heading into cooler weather.

In fact I just heard the washing machine buzz again. Time to go move laundry!!!