To New York and back....

in a week, actually less. LOL! Last Tuesday morning we left our house at 6am to head towards NY for a good friend's wedding. Corey was the best man. We had gray, rainy weather for the first couple hours of the drive but then it dried up for the remainder of the day. We took our time, making nice stops for eating & stretching,etc. We got to Macedonia, OH (outside Cleveland) about 5pm ET. We took the kids swimming in the indoor pool for a while, then out to dinner. After a leisurely breakfast where Alex entertained the hostess we headed on our way. The weather got cooler and when we stopped at the rest stop in Chautauqua Lake in NY it was sooo crisp, breezy and delightful. I was in heaven!! The views didn't hurt either. :-) We arrived in Norwich about 5pm and once we got a room issue settled we went to dinner with Mikey (our friend, groom-to-be) and his parents. They brought a cooler full of juice boxes and cans of Diet Coke as well as a basket of games & snacks for the kids. SOOO sweet!! Thank you Sandy & Brad. :-)

On Thursday we walked around Norwich (little town) in between bouts of rain. Others arrived late in the afternoon so all the men in the wedding party had to head up to get their tuxedos & go out with the groom. The tuxedo shop was almost an hour away. Sooo...Corey missed the get together I had with my friend, Carla (her blog is linked on the right sidebar). We've known each other online for almost 10 years, since I was pregnant with Morgan (and Carla with Cassidy). After all these years we finally got to meet in person. Carla, her hubby & 4 kids drove over from Syracuse & met the kids and I for dinner & visiting. It was great to meet her & we had a nice time. Her husband was quiet and helped with the kids so we could chat. All 6 kids were *so* good! The only bummer is that we didn't have more time to spend together. Morgan & Cassidy look alike enough to be sisters and happened to both wear striped shirts to dinner. LOL! And they got along really well, even exchanged addresses so they could write each other.

On Friday we hung out with Fuzzy & Christine (friends from Corey's Clarkson days & our Poughkeepsie, NY days) and then helped prepare the church for the wedding. After rehearsal (which was relaxed & fun...finally met Mikey's bride-to-be...she's cool & fits right in) we all headed to a place in Norwich called Nina's Pizzeria & Restaurant. Oh my gosh....this place looks like a hole-in-the-wall, small town pizza place. Well, once you get inside it opens up and is just fabulous. Murals of country Italian scenery on the walls, excellent service & TONS of food...huge helpings. Alex had made fast friends with Olivia, the flower girl, and Evan, the ring bearer (niece & nephew of the bride) and insisted on sitting with them for dinner. He met Evan's brothers and got along very well with all of them. I tell ya, a very open & welcoming family that Mikey has married into. They just welcomed us and took us right in as well.

Saturday was the wedding and it was just beautiful. Heather (bride) was gorgeous! My sweet hubby cleaned up nicely and was looking quite dashing in his tuxedo. The reception was fun, fun, fun. It was great being around friends, dancing & just celebrating Mikey & Heather's happiness and just having a great time. We have decided that we all want to get together in the spring here in TN. I can't wait to plan it! :-)

We started home on Sunday after saying goodbye to our friends and having a nice breakfast. We drove until we got just south of Columbus, OH. We got up at 5am this morning & headed home to TN. We arrived about 12:30pm and my brother met us halfway between our house & his house to deliver our fuzzy babies to us. Poor kitties missed us!! They are happy to be home. And we are happy to be home & have them with us. Funny how you can miss the little fuzzies. :-) The kids were very well behaved the entire trip. It was wonderful. It was so worth it...getting to meet Carla & her family, being there for Mike & Heather's wedding, and seeing Fuzzy & Christine. And....we got Morgan home in time to go to her dance class. ;-)