Memorial Day Weekend

I'm behind in writing about our Memorial Day weekend, but I want to document Tory's first roadtrip adventure. (Tory's first time driving through Iowa - GET EXCITED). My sister and her long-time boyfriend (now husband) announced their engagement in April and threw together a small wedding celebration on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. We usually fly to Nebraska but with less than a month's notice, flights were incredibly expensive. And since it was a holiday weekend, we couldn't even use frequent flyer miles. Driving 14 hours in the car with Tory wasn't our first choice, but we didn't have another option.

Thursday night after work, we loaded up the family truckster and hit the interstate. Fortunately, by the time we left town it was Tory's bedtime and she fell asleep in her car seat about an hour and a half into the drive. A seven-hour car ride to Nebraska is something we would have never, ever attempted a few months ago when Tory was a car seat hater, but lately she's been more tolerable. Unfortunately, Andi and I were flipping exhausted after working all week and then driving through the night. We contemplated getting a hotel room in Des Moines or stopping at my best friend's house in Omaha, but tag-teamed the driving between the two of us. We finally arrived at my parent's house around 2:00am Friday morning.

My parents were hosting a reception dinner at their house following my sister wedding on Saturday, so Andi and I spent most of Friday helping them clean and get ready for the party. Later that day, my sister came over for dinner and we sat around on the patio enjoying each other's company.

My mom had her hands full on Saturday, cooking a full meal for the reception party. Andi and I tried to help out as much as we could and ran errands around town picking up the bouquet, wedding cake and last-minute groceries for her. Alright, I should also mention we volunteered to drive around town so Tory would finally take a decent nap in the car. I pestered my sister about drinking mimosas or helping her get dressed for the wedding on Saturday before Andi finally pulled me aside and told me to cool it. She wanted a low-key wedding and that's definitely what she had. My intentions were in the right place - I just wanted her day to be special - but I think in the end it was. She even took a nap on my parent's couch Saturday afternoon - three hours before her wedding! I don't know how much more relaxed you can get.

The wedding was beautiful. It was a small ceremony attended by my immediate family at my hometown church. Afterwards, we took pictures outside (Andi was the photographer!), then came back to my parent's house to meet the rest of our family for a celebration.          

My family

Jason and Ashley
(Yes! She wore a black dress. I've never seen her look more beautiful.)

Andi had a big photo shoot for work on Memorial Day Monday, so we drove back to Minnesota on Sunday. It was definitely easier on us to drive during the daytime, but I was purely exhausted after entertaining Tory in the car for 9 straight hours. She slept for an hour during the entire trip. At one point, Andi commented how 'bored' he was driving alone in the front seat and I about punched him. When I asked him if he wanted to trade spots and sit with Tory while I drove the rest of the way, he quickly changed his tune. I thought so, buddy! We stopped a few times along the way to give Tory a break and overall, she was fairly well behaved. Nine hours is a long time for anyone to sit in the car and I don't blame her for getting restless. 

I wouldn't have missed my sister's wedding celebration for the world, but I was a walking zombie the following week. Since Andi was traveling and I was doing the solo parenting gig, I just couldn't catch up on sleep. Last Tuesday was the first day I was actually excited to go into work. I love my baby girl to pieces, but a mama can only sing so many renditions of the ABC's before she has a mental breakdown. I was damn near close. The next time we see my family will be on our turf for Tory's first birthday and I can't tell you how excited I am to have them visit us for a change!

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As my sister put it, "What better way to honor a soldier than to marry one this Memorial Day!" and that she did. I welcome Jason and his boys to our family and am truly thrilled for my sister. I've never seen her happier.