Hilton Head Wedding Weekend

Last weekend, my baby cousin Brendon got married in Hilton Head. His fiancé grew up vacationing there (she is from Atlanta) and I am sure glad she decided to get married down there because we had the best time! My mom has two sisters and they are all super close and so we always grew up seeing our cousins all the time even though we all lived throughout the country but the past couple of years we haven't gotten together because we have all been super busy and having lots of babies. So, this trip was first time I got meet their girls and yes, we have all had girls! So far there are 5 girls and there is another baby girl due in December. Must be something in our family with the girls! Seeing the next generation of cousins playing together was so much fun, they are 2 months to 5 but 3 two year olds so it was a wild and crazy time for sure!

L to R: Quinn (2months), Ella (5), Madison (2), Maddie Grace (2), Natalie (2)

 We couldn't have asked for better weather. It had been rainy and cloudy all week in Charlotte and the forecast didn't look good but we had tons of sunshine all weekend and it was hot, hot, hot! Definitely didn't feel like September.

 We spent all day Thursday on the beach. The girls had the best time playing in the ocean and of course playing with Uncle Court and Miss Laura!

 That night my aunt hosted a low country boil at the house she rented with our family and their friends from out of town. My grandmother bought all the girls these adorable dresses so they could dress alike and we could snap some pictures. 

 Getting pictures with 5 little girls was very interesting, I wish we had a picture of everyone trying to get the girls to look and smile. We were all laughing so hard because Natalie, on the far right, is the cutest little girl but she refuses to smile in pictures. Ella was in heaven being the big cousin and getting to hold the new baby and her other younger cousins.

 Then the bride and groom jumped in for a quick picture also.

 My cousin Ryan lives in Dallas and we don't get to see her enough but she is the sweetest and the girls just adore her. They call her Aunt Ry and she even brought a princess dress for her niece Natalie but let Ella have a turn wearing it. Ella was obviously in heaven!

 On Friday, the guys played golf in the morning and we hung out by the pool. That afternoon, my mom and her sisters watched all the little kids and we got some adult time on the beach. It was great to be on the beach and actually be able to sit in a chair and enjoy a cocktail. 

 That night, half the family went to the rehearsal dinner but we were meeting them at the cocktail party after so we took the kids up to Salty Dog and enjoyed a beautiful evening. The girls loved the ice cream!

 We woke up on the wedding day to the most gorgeous blue sky and hot hot weather. Only way to beat the heat was to be in the water so thats what we did all morning.

 Loving on Aunt Ry again!

 This little peanut has so much personality. When she is awake, she is constantly in motion and usually running. She is definitely more of a challenge at 2 than Ella was but she always continues to make us laugh everyday. All of my relatives and friends at the wedding were talking about Maddie and how funny she is, she was definitely the life of the party all weekend. Makes me slightly scared for what is to come in the future!

 The wedding was right on the beach and they got a great night for it!

 Aunt Ry with her two biggest fans!

 Uncle Court and Miss Laura

 The girls were invited to the ceremony and I was a little nervous how Maddie would do so we packed tons of snacks to keep her occupied. She ate goldfish and lollipops and was happy as a clam. Hence the blue lips below!

 The humidity was no joke and after being outside, my hair frizzed up so much so as Mike said "it was a little out of control." Thanks honey!

 My entire family on my mom's side. We were just missing my Bapa and Uncle Dan who are up in heaven. We all missed them so much but felt their presence with us on this special day.

 Ella LOVED the wedding! She sat on Papa's lap on the aisle and watched so closely the entire time and asked tons of questions. She is ready for her role as flower girl, right Uncle Court?!?!?!

 After the ceremony, the girls went back home to a great babysitter we found down there and then the party started. They had an awesome band and we danced all night. They handed out sunglasses to all the guests and "we wore our sunglasses at night!"

 Our attempt at a group selfie, needed some work!

 All the guys!!

The weekend was such a blast and no one want to come home on Sunday. The wedding and festivities were such a blast but the best part was just being together with everyone. It had been over 3 years since we all got together and it was just great to see everyone again. I hope it doesn't take that long for the next get together! Now we are back home and it is back to reality but it is sure fun to look back at these pictures and remember all the fun that was had!

Weekend wrap up

Whew, it is Sunday evening and I can barely keep my eyes open but that is thanks to a fun wedding and weekend away. Here is a little background on the weekend. Mike's cousin Jenny and her finance were set to get married this weekend in Connecticut. We were so excited to have a weekend away from the kids since we haven't been away just the two of us since the 2 nights we went to Vegas in September. We were set to drive to Atlanta Thursday afternoon, drop the girls off with my parents and then fly out to Connecticut from there. However, things went a little different when my Mom unexpectably flew to Houston to help my uncle and aunt who were both dealing with some health issues. My Uncle has been in the hospital for a couple weeks after major heart issues but last week, things got very scary and my Mom needed to be there to help my aunt and uncle and therefore was unable to watch our girls. We scrambled last minute and we are so lucky to have amazing friends here in Charlotte that stepped up without a moments hesitation and agreed to watch the girls. Not to mention, they already have 3 girls themselves that are ages 7, 4 and 2, they are saints! So, we switched flights at the last minute and flew out Friday morning from Charlotte. I was a little nervous how the girls would do at drop off and us leaving them since they have stayed with family but never friends before. They did awesome at drop off and all weekend! Tracey and Adam kept texting us pictures of the girls having a blast all weekend which made us feel so much better about going away.

Now, onto the wedding weekend (once we finally arrived, after a long delay on the connection flight and tons of traffic.) We went to the rehearsal dinner Friday night and it was so great to see so many of Mike's family and meet new friends from Andrew's side.

Side note: Ella picked out this outfit for me before we left, she really wanted me to wear the sparkly dress and shoes. I think she did a pretty good job!

 Steph (my sis in law from Seattle) and I trying to perfect the selfie at dinner.

 Then Annie (Mike's cousin and sister of the bride) came over and gave us some tips on how to take a proper selfie!

 Wedding day! It was sunny and gorgeous all day long and then we went into the church at 3pm for the ceremony and came out at 4 and the clouds had moved in. It stayed mostly cloudy the rest of the afternoon but didn't hinder any activities. The reception was at Mike's aunt and uncle's country club in Easton, CT and it was so beautiful. 

 The bride and groom on their first dance

 One more of me and my hot date! Weddings always make me sentimental and I just love them. I can't believe that Mike and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary in a couple weeks!

 With the happy newlyweds

 The wedding band was absolutely amazing! One of the best wedding bands we have ever seen and they had everyone on the floor dancing all night! We had an absolutely blast at the reception but the 5am wake up call the next morning for our flight home was brutal. But it was worth it!

It was a fun weekend and we had a great time celebrating with everyone but we were happy to get back to Charlotte today to see our girls. They were having so much fun that MG just kind of looked at us and said hi and went back to playing when we came to get them. Ella also had a blast and loved spending the weekend with her best buddy Wesley. We are so incredibly lucky to have made such amazing friends here in Charlotte who would agree to watch our girls all weekend 2 days before we left. Now, we owe them big time! And we are all feeling very relieved that my uncle is doing much better now than last week and they are hopeful for him to continue to improve. Now, off to bed to try and catch up on the sleep we didn't get this weekend.

Here comes the bride...

As mentioned in the last post, we traveled to Lancaster, Pa last weekend to see my cousin Brad marry Whitney. They are such a cute couple and it was fun catching up with my crazy Dougan family and having some adult time when Ella was with her grandparents. Friday night, we had a fun night not only celebrating the rehearsal dinner but also Mike and my cousin Josh's birthday. Mike, Uncle Court and Josh.

Of course, the big day was Saturday and despite the cold windy weather outside, the church was so pretty and very springy with all the green and pink flowers. Can you tell Whitney's favorite color is pink? Too bad you can't see her super cute hot pink shoes under her dress!

Ella got to come join us after the ceremony for some pictures and then party a little at the reception before bedtime. Her dress was so adorable, thanks DeeDee and Papa! I hate that she only got to wear it once, so I may dress her up for Easter in it because it is just too cute not to wear again.

After the ceremony, we walked back to hotel and of course Ella wanted to be right by Papa's side the entire time.

Hey guys, are coming or what? Sometimes her little feet just can't move as fast as she want to.

Ella learned to say "Happy Birthday Daddy" just in time for Mike's birthday. It comes out something like "happy bird daddy" with the emphasis on happy and daddy.

Of course, she didn't really want to smile when we tried to get a picture of all three of us, oh well.

Ella is so lucky to have two sets of such loving grandparents and she soaks up every minute with them.

Off to the reception where she enjoyed munching on the strawberries and crackers. Dinner of champions, right? And by the way, do you noticed she kept her pink bow in the entire time! I think she was too entertained by all the people and excitement and forgot she had it in!

Trying to get a group shot is like trying to herd cats, not exactly easy with a 20 month old but we tried our best.

Grandma and Aunt Kelly came to pick up Ella so she could go home and get a good night's sleep and we got to enjoy a great sit down dinner and some fun music. We quickly learned last weekend that we are not twenty anymore and going out two nights in a row isn't as easy as it used to be so we were pretty tired by the end of the night.

The cute newly married couple sharing their first dance!

And while we were not rock stars that night (Friday night maybe), the rest of the crazy crew definitely was and had a great time with a fun band.

The plane ride home was not fun and I am afraid if I write about it too much, I will start having flashbacks and break out in a sweat again but let's just say, we were so happy to see everyone and also happy that we don't have any more flights planned with Miss Ella for awhile. Or at least until she is hold enough to chew gum so her poor ears don't pop and cause her a lot of pain. Overall, the weekend was perfect because we got see lots of family and Ella got to spend time with lots of relatives who love her a lot. And most importantly, cheers to Brad and Whitney on a fabulous wedding and a great new life together!