Uncle David's Wedding Weekend

Doug's brother, David, got married this weekend and we had the honor and privilege of being a part.  Since the wedding was taking place near Doug's parents' place, we were able to wrap in some extra family time too.  We left home on Friday morning, arriving in time for lunch at Nana & PopPop's.  The boys were so excited to see their grandparents and their dogs.  PopPop employed Koen in helping him make a fire right away.  Koen was so proud to have such an important task!

Tavin and Penn and Koen all enjoyed taking turns running around with the dogs outside before the rain started.  The dogs probably had a good nap after we left!

Despite barely having napped on the van ride over, Jansen was in sweet spirits and gave Nana some loves.  He is hysterical with the camera right now.  All about turning on the charm when I whip it out!

Tavin was really excited about the dogs this time.  Here he is with Kenzie.

After lunch while Jansen was taking a much needed power nap, Nana and PopPop had some Christmas gifts for us.  Koen got a cool, all-wooden Japanese toy.  We watched some videos about how to play it with PopPop and then we all set to giving it a try.  It's a challenge!  But Koen did get it!

We had to head to the rehearsal after Jansen's nap.  We tried to play it cool leaving PopPop and Nana's earlier than they needed to because we were part of orchestrating a surprise.  Doug was supposed to be best man, but his parents didn't know that Dave & his fiance, Margie, had also asked that he officiate some of the ceremony and that Tavin be involved in the ceremony as well.  Tav's ready for the surprise at the rehearsal!

Dave and Margie practicing.  Such a cute couple!

And look at lovely Camp Hill Presbyterian Church.

After our mini rehearsal where Tavin and Doug walked through the surprise part of the ceremony, I took all 4 boys to the hotel to check in, get some energy out, have dinner and get to bed while Doug participated in the real rehearsal and dinner afterwards.  It was quite a feat getting the boys into the hotel on my own, but if you've been reading the blog for some time, you know I like a mom challenge and I love adventures with these 4 boys.  So it was game on!  Koen helped me a tremendous amount with Jansen while I unloaded the van, then he was my porter, pushing the luggage cart while I pushed Jansen in the stroller and herded Penn and Tav.  We got into the room right before Jansen's dinner.  I quickly got a few things organized, then nursed Janse, then a few more quick setup items, then I got the boys into their swimsuits and Jansen's dinner into my diaper bag and we went down to the pool.  The boys were so excited!!!

Here's a little video to give you a glimpse of our time at the pool (I was technically timing Koen retrieving the diving toys).

I was dying to take Jansen in because he has turned into quite the fearless fish in the bath and I think he would've loved the pool, but he needed to eat and by the time he was done the brothers were ready to go.  So he just enjoyed the poolside view of his brothers' aquatic antics.

Oh my goodness, this guy.  He just did his own thing much of the time, but then he and Tavin started some polar bear and shark games and it seemed like they could swim together all night!

We got back up to the room around 6pm and I made the boys some dinner, got them fed, in PJ's, teeth brushed, finished setting up the bed arrangements, nursed J, laid him down and then proceeded to lay the rest of them down.  Phew!!  Tav slept on the floor and Penn and Koen in the big bed in one room.  Janse was in the other bedroom and I was going to sleep on my own in the bed there so that Doug could be on the pull-out in the living room area with the monitor (I didn't want Penn's possible request to pee to interrupt Jansen's sleep!).  Despite how passed out and peaceful these two look, eventually the close quarters got the best of us.

Around 12:30am Doug had to bring Koen in to sleep with me because he and Penn just kept bumping each other.  Then it took Penn awhile to fall asleep after that.  Then at 4am I had a random wake-up from Tav to go to the bathroom (why couldn't he just go on his own??  And how did he bypass Daddy in the living room to come pester me?!).  But oh well, we all made it through the night and it wasn't horrible, just interrupted.  See, we're still happy adventurers.

In the morning, Doug took the boys to the pool and I got things organized and a little peace and quiet after I laid Jansen down.  Then we had a visit from Miss Megan Magee when the boys got back from the pool.  This is a true friend, folks.  She drove an hour and a half just to hang out with us for awhile in a hotel!  The boys were all excited to see her and Doug and I enjoyed some brief chats with her too while the boys were bouncing off the walls.  

It was amazingly helpful that Megan came as well.  Doug and Tavin had to leave early to pick up Uncle David and attend to best man (and sidekick) duties.  So, Megan stayed around to help me get the other three out the door (and myself...I needed hairspray and zipping help, ha!).  Here's the handsome first two out the door.  

After I fed Jansen his lunch, I got him all dressed up.  Oh my goodness!!

Getting out the door was a tad stressful since Penn locked his bedroom door where all the dress clothes were hung.  Classic!  Thankfully the hotel staff came to our aid quickly!  Oh that Penn Rye!!  We got to the wedding in plenty of time and I sat proudly with my crew.

They did great during the wedding.  Tavin was attentive waiting for his cue to interrupt the pastor of the church by walking up to Doug with his wedding notes to take over with.  It surprised Doug's parents.  They thought Tavin had just wandered up there!  Tav was a total pro, stopping to give Uncle David and Aunt Margie hugs before heading back to his seat.  Awesome.  Total success.  Then as Doug took over the wedding, Nana was definitely crying (again).  After that point, I got a little distracted.  I had given Penn a snack of crackers to keep him quiet and still.  Little did I know he shoved a piece of one up his nose!  He turned to me and said, "Mommy, something up there."  What?!  Oh great!  Thankfully, about 30 seconds later he sneezed and the cracker chunk came flying out and stuck to the side of his snack container, from which he scraped it off and proceeded to hand it to me, "here, Mommy."  I was losing it laughing!  It really was a beautiful service (snotty cracker aside).  And Dave and Margie are a beautiful couple, making such a lovely new family with Dave's kids, Kiersten, Daniel and Michael (who all had a part in the ceremony and did such a fabulous job...they are amazing kids!).  After the ceremony, my guys had to wait around for a bit for family pictures, so I took a few of my own.  Here's Aunt Jen with Jansen.  She couldn't wait to get her hands on him.  He was very obliging (she's a baby whisperer) even though he didn't get an afternoon nap.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a pic where he wasn't showcasing his tie tag.  He was enamored with that!

The pals.  These are two peas in a pod these days and the wedding day was no exception!

Then it was on to the reception.  We got there really early (not sure what else to do between the wedding and the reception, oops!).  But the boys all hung in there as we waited for the appetizers to come around.  Kiersten, David's oldest (and a bridesmaid!), adores Penn.  Look how Penn is hugging her back.  So sweet!  

Aunt Jen was happy to help with Jansen while I got the big boys situated after we were seated upstairs for the dinner.  Poor little bug never did get an afternoon nap.

Big kids table.  I have no idea about the face Tav is making!

Me and my super over-tired bug.

Oh my goodness, the expressive Penn Rye.

The littlest party man.  Such a trooper.  Full of smiles even though he's sooooo tired!

He even let Kiersten get her hands on him.  

Attempt at a family photo.  Tavin wins for being a good sport and still smiling.

Margie (David's wife now!) was so sweet to give Tavin some special attention.  They connected from the first time they met.  Look how sweet!

Me, my oldest and my youngest.  Pretty happy.

Even though Jansen was way overtired, he was a ham for the camera.  The photographers loved him.  At one point, he was crawling across the dance floor, right towards them on the floor, smiling and posing.  Amazing!  Here he was hanging out with Nana, attacking her flowers and then when I snapped the picture he quickly looked over and gave me a smile!

The dinner was lovely, the toasts were so special, but we had to wait a bit for the dancing (which Koen was dying to get to!).  So, we got creative while waiting.  Dave and Margie gave us the go ahead to just feel free to let the kids do their thing and not feel bad.  Such great hosts!  Here's a taste of one of the games Tav and Penn cmae up with...

Eventually I came up with a new game.  I showed the boys that I could hang a spoon on my nose.  They were impressed.  Penn was the first one to figure it out!  

Tavin was working hard at it while Penn was becoming a pro.

Tav got it!  And he's so happy!

The dancing still hadn't started at 8pm and my heart was aching for Koen.  We needed to leave because the little guys were spinning (literally if we are referring to Penn), but I so wanted Koen, who had been so patient and calm all night, to get a chance to let loose on the dance floor (not to mention he wanted to dance with little ole me).  So, we told him, ok, we will give it til 8:10pm.  Koen was very understanding, but hopeful.  Well, just at 8:10pm, they announced it was time to get the party started and DANCE!!!  We didn't stay long, but it was a blast to dance with Koen the first few songs.  Doug broke in once to show Koen our few moves and Koen was quite impressed.  Ha!  I had a blast singing the lyrics of the ones I knew and dancing with one of my biggest fans. =)  Doug and the little guys had fun too.  Jansen was snuggling with PopPop. =)  We finally took off a little after 8:30pm.  What a day!!  Congratulations to Dave and Margie!!  And good job to my four boys.  That was a long day, adult event and big to do and you did great!  I love these experiences with you.  I'm so proud to be your mom and I enjoy these moments to see you shine.  

We got back to the hotel a bit before 9pm and we sprinted through the bedtime routine to get the kids to bed ASAP.  They were down a few minutes after 9pm.  Phew!  We relaxed for a bit and then headed to bed and thankfully we had zero interruptions and all slept great.  The next morning the boys were up and at'em and so we got them to breakfast and then to the pool to run that energy out (oh, don't you worry, they are overtirred at this point, especially Penn Rye!).  I got the best job of staying and packing up and getting ready to go while Janse napped.  Ah, peace and quiet.  The boys were back mid-morning, then Doug got ready, got the van packed with Koen and we were off again to Nana and PopPop's for lunch.  It was so nice to get two sweet visits in with Nana and PopPop on the wedding weekend.  Aren't they amazing that they could entertain our large family on such a busy weekend?  Kudos, Nana & PopPop!  Here's hoping you had some naps on Sunday afternoon after we left!  We had a lovely lunch visit.  All the boys got time with the dogs and Nana and PopPop (and it was great they got some much needed play time and fresh air before our car trip home).  Here are the few photos I got during our brief visit...  Janse was so happy hanging out in PopPop's lap.  Note that he is chewing on a disabled person toy...the poor guy in the walker, as if he didn't have enough trouble already, Janse is biting off his head.

PopPop was trying to get Kenzie in a picture with Janse.  Koen couldn't resist the chance to cuddle up to his two buddies.

Look at this sweet picture of Koen and "his dog."  

Penn and Tav were being a little nutty with a loud car game, so Nana read them a book to calm them down a bit.  Such a good nana!  

Well, that's it.  We took off around 2pm and got home around 5pm.  It was 58 degrees and sunny when we left Carlisle and it was 30 and snowing when we got to Pittsburgh.  Crazy!  

What a great adventure!  I love life with these boys.  Thanks for letting us be a part of your wedding weekend, Dave and Margie.  Special memories were certainly made.