Wedding Road Trip

My parents, sister & I (= we) returned from our Virginia road trip this past Sunday, around 6am after driving through the night to get home! It was a brilliant trip!

We left on Thursday May 26, and arrived at our hotel in Falls Church on Friday after staying the night at my dad's cousin's home in Christiansburg. My cousin Mia's wedding was on the 29th. She is the eldest daughter of my mom's older brother. In attendance for the wedding was my grandmother, 11 of her 12 children, 8 of her 9 sons/daughter-in-laws, 21 of her 24 grandchildren, her grandson-in-law and future grandson-in-law, and her great-grandson. And that was just the one side of the family! It was pretty cool. The wedding was beautiful- held outside amidst a backdrop of flowers and fountains, next to a large pond with tall gorgeous trees. And the reception was in a pretty restaurant with a dance floor (which our side of the family certainly dominated!), photo "booth" and tasty treats! Mia was a gorgeous bride and her husband Mike was quite comfortable showing off his moves on the dance floor! He fits right into our family. =)
We had an awesome time with everyone before, during and after the wedding, including breakfast one day with my uncle Jim, my sis and 2 of our cousins, shopping for my cousin Sean's jacket for the wedding, taking my grandmother to get her hair done, the rehearsal dinner (I was at a table which included my navy uncle who is now in Afghanistan), dinner courtesy of uncle Kevin in Shirlington, and getting ready for the wedding with three of my female cousins- I did the eye makeup on two of them and did the third girl's hair- which was a really enjoyable time! Some highlights of the reception included my cousin Jeremy making jokes the entire dinner, keeping the other 8 of us at the table laughing, including accidentally causing my 7-year-old cousin to throw him french fries from the adjacent table!! and my nephew Caleb being a little ladies man with all the women (young and old) who would give him attention. My youngest English cousin (he's 5 or 6, I think) kept stealing my lipstick out of my purse just to be funny and then making me chase him & tickle him til he'd give it back. Too cute!

The following day my parents, youngest sister and I went to Annapolis to spend the day with my aunt Rose, uncle Brian and two cousins out on their sailboat. It was the most relaxing and pleasant day!! My little girl cousin, sister & I went out in the little motorized dinghy and were quite a bit away up the channel when the motor cut out and we had to row to our destination and back! It was good exercise, and made the barbeque my aunt made back on the sailboat that much more amazing! When we were out in the Chesapeake, we practiced "man-overboard" by jumping in the water and waiting for the boat to turn about and "rescue" us. It was loads of fun! My aunt wants me to buy a lake house near there or live in her boat and it is a pretty tempting idea! After leaving there, we drove to Colonial Beach and spent the night playing games with our cousins and their friends (Balderdash-- good times!) and then celebrated one cousin's 21st birthday the following day.

Wednesday, we went to Norfolk to the Virginia Aquarium with our English cousins and their parents (very cool people!) and my aunt Ann (who, by the way is really inspiring!) My little English cousin, when he first saw me that morning asked, "Are you the girl whose lipstick I was stealing at the wedding?" LOL! The older two girls are so sweet & beautiful. It was such a nice treat to get to spend the day with them, and my youngest sister altogether. The younger boys were so energetic and curious and made the day even more fun. We saw so many different animals and were even able to pet the stingrays! [I do have to mention, I am not sure I agree with keeping so many sea creatures in such a small area. Supposedly, captured sea creatures live longer than their open-water counterparts, but some of the animals appeared to be looking for ways out of the confined spaces, especially the few young sea turtles who were in clear glass boxes with nothing else in them (no plants, rocks- nothing). My sister, the older two cousins and I all wondered if there is a better way to learn about and educate others concerning aquatic life..] Regardless, we all had a great time together, and knowing that I was going to see them again in August made it much easier to say goodbye!

Thursday night we made it to Rose & Brian's and just hung out at their house. It was really cool because I got to spend the evening/night with my 11-year-old cousin and she told me story after story about her life. It was awesome! She said she wanted to write a book but doesn't think it would be very good yet, but I told her she should go for it! She could write down all her stories and as her vocabulary improves she can go back and edit them as she desires. She seemed to like that idea.

Friday we spent again with my dad's cousin in Christiansburg and my sister and I spent time with our second cousin Katie (dad's side) and were later joined by our cousin Colin (mom's side) for a movie. When Katie had to go to work, my sis & I played Settlers of Catan and Portal 2 with Colin and then went to a bonfire at VT. It was pretty fun!

Saturday we drove through Tennessee and looked at some potential areas to which my parents may retire, and then drove through the night to make it home Sunday morning.

I had such a wonderful time. Can hardly wait to do it again for the next cousin's wedding, whenever that may be!