This past weekend we were "on the road again" ... from GA to Memphis, TN for my cousin's wedding! As I mentioned earlier, I LOVE Memphis - one of my favorite places to visit (for lots of reasons), so I've been pretty excited about this trip. The BEST part, too, was that Chris was ACTUALLY GETTING TO GO WITH US! It's amazing when he gets to go on some of these trips, too, so that made me all the happier. I took tons of pictures (no surprise to anyone), so buckle up .... and ENJOY our weekend in Memphis :-) We sure did!!!!!
Happy boy in the car, after a 2 hour nap!!
Jake eating "tiger chips" as he called them (aka cheetos). The boys got to pick out a snack at the gas station on one of our bathroom stops. In case you are wondering, Cole chose mini-sized PB ritz sandwich crackers.
This was attempt #5 ... Chris FINALLY smiled and didn't make a silly face (now I know where Jake gets this from) ;-)
I was especially excited that we were staying at the Peabody Hotel! I've been to the hotel several times growing up and seeing the ducks, etc. (my grandparents actually used to dance on the rooftop of the Peabody all the time when they were young - again, so much history for me in this place), AND since the reception was at the Hotel (way way way cool), we stayed there, too, so this is Jake seeing the ducks when we walked in the Lobby! Let's just say Jake was all about this hotel, too! The boy has good taste!
My Uncle is the VP of the developing company Belz, so he has his own set of duck prints outside the Peabody Hotel. Kind of like Hollywood. He's a star! We walked up and down this street several times throughout the weekend and Jake was sure to mention "Uncle John's duck prints" every time :-) I mean, let's face it .... it's pretty cool.
Walking to the Rendezvous. Oh my gosh, I can STILL TASTE IT and smell it! If you haven't been, add it to your Bucket List ... NOW!
We managed to eat here twice while in town for 3 days ... not bad!
Rehearsal. Jake and Kevin walking down the aisle. It was hilarious, b/c Jake was talking to him all the way down the aisle.... typical Jake. Just like his Daddy .... oh, wait - his Mommy. Oh wait ... pretty sure both of us!
Waiting to walk down the aisle at the rehearsal. These 2 boys sure do think they are big stuff over there with that beautiful bride to be!
WEDDING DAY!!! Before the wedding with Daddy! Just a side note, when we picked up Jake's tux from Men's Wearhouse on Thursday, we had the final fitting - and everything looked good, so they told us they would bag everything back up and we could be on our way. When we got home, we made sure we had all the components for the tux, but didn't try it back on (isn't that why we had just been there in the first place)?! So, an hour before the wedding when we were changing Jake, we put the pants on ... and the waist came up to about his chest!!!!!!!! So, thanks for some safety pins, we were able to pin the pant legs up about 8-10 inches, but how annoying! I can only imagine that there was some ring bearer out there who had Jake's pants ... and there would be no remedying that, so a huge bummer for them! Thankfully, we were able to see it as a minor glitch and now have a story to tell :-)
Cole looking pretty sharp in his suit :-)
Jake was getting restless about 15 minutes before the wedding - wanting NO MORE PICTURES and said he didn't want to walk down the aisle. Thankfully, that attitude passed quickly.
Killing some time before the wedding starts... (no pictures of walking down the aisle. I took video, which I posted in the previous post).
Everything was just perfect!!
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Moehring!!!!!!!!
Look at THAT handsome guy on the left, sporting the robe ;-) He's so awesome!
Worth and Jake
Cole with Papa Dee, Uncle Hal, Rebecca, and Josh....
Lookin' sharp!
Jake wanted Chick-fil-A on the way to the reception, so what the ring bearer wants, the ring bearer gets (within reason, of course)
The food at the reception was out of this world: fried green tomato bar, shrimp and grits, fried chicken, mac and cheese bowls, and the famous BBQ SUNDAE!!! Gloriousness.
Dancing the night away!!! They had a blast.
SO HAPPY! SO HANDSOME!!
Life doesn't get much better than this...
Birgitta and me ....
The First Dance .... ("Brown-Eyed Girl)
Uncle John, Aunt Alice Marie, and Andrew looking on...
More family looking on....
Father/Daughter Dance ("My Girl")
Father/Daughter .... and Groom/Mother-of Groom
THIS BAND WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I'm telling you, this wedding was outstanding - so much FUN!
Andrew and Aunt Alice Marie :-)
Anne Marie and Andrew ... so sweet :-)
Anne Marie and Andrew and Mark and Kimmie!
Jul dancing with Cole ....
and Jake :-)
Worth and Patience!
Rebecca and me before they had to leave :-(
The boys dancing away! As you can see, Jake is now in tennis shoes :-) He was starting to get blisters on his heels from the shoes, so Chris took him upstairs to the room to get his tennis shoes, so he could keep dancing!
The beautiful cake!
Drinking some much needed water ....
AND eating cake .... at 10pm :-)
Chris dancing with Cole .... the boys were starting to get a little tired at this point....
Still hanging in there, though - but barely! There's my beautiful momma!
Aubra with Cole and me!
ANNNNNNND, they're out :-)
Getaway carriage :-)
Rose petals.... love it!
So romantic :-)
And they are OFF....
Jul and me putting on flip-flops to head out to Beale Street (thanks to Mom and Dad for watching the boys, so that we could all go out with the rest of the cousins)!
Beale Street was CRAZY packed!!!!!!!
BUUUUT, not the next morning at 7:30pm when we headed back down there for some coffee (I was in dire need, since I went to bed at 2:30am and got up at 5:30am - I'm not 21 anymore, that's for sure, but it was SO WORTH it. It was great hanging out with cousins and some of the bridal party ... those opportunities don't come around too often these days, unfortunately).
This is the same street we waited 30 minutes to even GET ON about 5 hours earlier!
Waiting for the ducks to arrive at the Peabody on Sunday morning. They arrive at 11am every morning and head "home" at 5pm every night. It's a big deal ... I could give you the history on it all, but just google it ;-)
The Duck Master talking ....
The ducks are about to come down off the elevator from the 12th floor....
It lasted all of about 4 seconds - ha!
BUT made this kid really happy :-)
He's so big now! What in the world?!?!
We found the BRIDE the next morning :-)
Jake wanted in the picture, too!
Headed up to the rooftop of the Peabody ....
The Mississippi River is still so high!
Jake wasn't a huge fan, since it was so bright and so hot! (That tall building in the back ground is the building my Uncle John works in .... and on a random note, we have gotten locked out on the rooftop of that building before - that sure was an interesting day. Dad had to repel down the building to get us all out. Just joking - about the Dad repelling part, but that would've been extra cool, if that part of the story had actually happened)!
The duck palace!
THIS is why Mom hates being on the rooftop ... TOO.FAR.DOWN!!!!!!
One of the rooftop rooms my grandparents used to dance in all the time ... so cool!
Brunch/Lunch/Dinner at Aunt Alice Marie and Uncle John's house. After leaving the Peabody on Sunday morning, we headed to the Dudas household where we got to spend the day with family. Love. Anne Marie and Mark were there, too ... so perfect! Thank you guys for making the effort to do that. It was so great spending extra time with both of you - and everyone!
Sad, b/c we are about to leave.
Like a brother....
We stayed at a hotel near the Dudas' house on Sunday night, and Jake said, "I want to stay at the other hotel, not this one." Ha! We've obviously now set the standard high for him :-) Trying to get a picture before heading back to Columbus, GA.
We made it home safely .... and here is Jake with his Thomas lantern shining brightly last night when he was asleep (Anne Marie and Mark gave this to him for being the ring bearer in the wedding, and they couldn't have picked out a better gift)! I can't say enough how much FUN we all had. More family blogging to come later...
Father/Daughter dance (I was right by the band and speakers, so.... that's why it sounds the way it does).
Here is Cole enjoying watching them dance - and wanting to get on out there and move himself!
We made it home safely .... and here is Jake with his Thomas lantern shining brightly last night when he was asleep (Anne Marie and Mark gave this to him for being the ring bearer in the wedding, and they couldn't have picked out a better gift)! I can't say enough how much FUN we all had. More family blogging to come later...
Father/Daughter dance (I was right by the band and speakers, so.... that's why it sounds the way it does).
Here is Cole enjoying watching them dance - and wanting to get on out there and move himself!
Click on "older posts" for another picture and video I posted earlier today :-)
