Wedding Fun!!

The rest of our trip was spent on the east side of the state. When we got into town Emily got a sneak peek of the flowers, from the bride and groom.

The days leading up to the wedding passed quickly and before we knew it we were heading to the rehearsal dinner. Em got all dolled up for the night.

We celebrated at a local Japanese restaurant, as a nod to Chris and Erica's roots.

Turns out, Em loves Japanese food! She cruised through a gyoza, miso soup, a LOT of rice, and a few edamame.

All done!

She was passed around a lot that night, but fortunately there were lots of open arms.

However, her favorite spot was definitely with Dadda.

Next up: the wedding day! The ceremony and reception were at an amazing metropark, which was complete with a tunnel under a pond. In a word: awesome.

 

 

 

 It looked like there were fish swimming in the sky.

No ceremony pics, since Matt was up front and Em and I were walking around (to keep her quiet). So here's the reception.

The happy groom came over to surprise his flower girl.

They played with big bird and cookie monster, naturally.

 It was really great spending time with family!

 

  

 

Em's favorite part of the evening was definitely the dancing. 

We ended the night with a few attempts to get a good family pic.

The day after the wedding everyone gathered at a cider mill for cider and donuts.
As soon as we arrived Matt spied a wood duck.

 Which he showed to Em.

More family pics.

 

The rest of the trip was spent hanging with Grammy and Grampy.

And an old baby doll of Aunt Steph's which Emily rarely put down. 

 

The trip ended sweetly with a kiss.

 

Autumn in Kalamazoo

After a surprisingly uneventful flight, thanks to Em's newfound love of Elmo, we made it to Michigan!!

But before the big wedding (the reason for our trip) we spent a few days with my folks in Kalamazoo. We started our stay with an outing to the Verhage Apple Orchard.

To our surprise Em liked the cider, and enjoyed a few dixie cups full before we got home and read the label more carefully. Apparently it wasn't pastuerized, and neither small children nor elderly should consume it. Whoops.

Em's a big fan of balls these days, and every pumpkin she saw was a "bah." She was busy noting all of them ("bah, bah, bah, bah") when something caught her eye. Something big. She just needed a ride over...

She soon found her ride :)

 

We enjoyed the animals, until we saw this sign. Then it was time to go.

 

But not before posing for a pic. Emily had a great time!!

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Over the next few days we enjoyed some much needed relaxation. Matt and I read books and watched cable television - such luxuries! Emily was fitted for her first pair of hard soled shoes (size 5), got her hair trimmed (!), and took evening strolls around the neighborhood. We had to say good-bye to Grandpa a little early, but not before he and Em discussed PSU's season and had some laughs.

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For our final hurrah, we stopped by Binder Park Zoo on our way over to Detroit. It was Emily's first trip to a zoo!

We saw monkeys.

A cheetah.

A stuffed elephant.

And peacocks.

Along with a swamp.

 

Thanks for taking us, Grandma!

Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease

Before our big trip home to MI, Emily came down with Hand-Foot-Mouth disease. It started out with a high fever and lots of crankiness, then we found out one of her playmates had the virus and after hearing her symptoms Em's pediatrician confirmed that she did too. Despite the horror stories we'd heard, it wasn't too bad. It was definitely a tough week for all of us, but goldfish and pedialyte popsicles got us through it. After a couple of days Em started drinking milk again, which was a huge relief since we were really worried about dehydration. Fortunately she was nearly back to normal when we flew out, and she stayed healthy the entire time we were away.

Amidst Emily's bout with Hand-Foot-Mouth, she did manage to have a bit of fun. First we introduced her to stacking blocks, and she placed 8 in a row - that's our dexterous girl!

Then she went shoe shopping, to celebrate.

 

Ball!

We just made it back from an awesome trip to Michigan to see Uncle Chris get married to Aunt Erica. We had a wonderful time and will post videos and photos soon. On our layover in Denver, while we sat waiting at the gate, Emily looked at something, pointed, and in her high-pitched voice said, "ball!" I turned to look at what she saw, and it was the back of a bald man's head.