One very long day.

Saturday, I woke up early to drop my parents off at Navy Pier because my father was being recognized for 40 years of dedicated service at his job. The award luncheon was on the Odyssey, so my parents enjoyed a two hour cruise along the lake while they dined and danced. I went home after dropping them off and cooked brunch for the family and got ready for the wedding.

After picking them back up we drove directly to the wedding which was about an hour and a half away. We didn't make the ceremony but we knew ahead of time that we weren't going to because the two events were cutting it very close. We arrived just as my cousin and his new bride were coming out of the church and everyone looked beautiful. After photos we all headed to the reception which was right across the parking lot.

We had a really nice time at the reception despite the 80 year old DJ ;). I have never heard so much Polka and Country music in my entire life. The father of the bride actually got me out on the dance floor to dance country (which I have never EVER done before) thank goodness he was a good lead. I was secretly wishing that the DJ would mess up on the song, like he did with several others, so it would end quicker...but I did ok. The food was excellent, they served fettuccini alfredo (my favorite :D), fried chicken, roasted pork loin, baked mosticcioli, Italian sausage with onions and peppers, seasoned potatoes and salad. All I can say is YUM! They also had some really good Italian beef...this one leads into a funny lil story so ask me about it.

I didn't catch the bouquet but John got the garter without even trying, it sort of just landed on him. He said he saw it coming in slow motion and was waiting for someone to jump up and grab it but no one dared, he's a pretty big guy :P. He and I got to dance one slow song and the rest of the evening I was forced (by a one and a half year old!) to dance to the worst music ever. Every time I went to sit down she'd come over to me and point giving me that disappointed look and she'd say "YOU DANCE" and then she'd point back at the dance floor and grab my fingers and pull me back up. Even as John and I tried to sneak out to get some fresh air she followed me to the door and pulled me back onto the dance floor. She is so lucky she was cute.

As the evening winded down we helped clean up the hall and to fold up the chairs and tables. That's when the DJ started to play some Beatles (YAY!) I danced a few songs, I pulled my cousin up for one and then we gathered everyone up and we all headed to my cousin's house. We stayed til almost 4am then made our way back to the city to drop off my parents and go home. I didn't crawl into bed til 6am!