Excited to get on the plane for the first time (Evan and Annie) with Sam, the old pro :)
We had to wait for Jeremy's brother, Kyle, at the airport...luckily there was live jazz in the atrium that the kids and I enjoyed while Jeremy haggled with the baggage people about why they were or were not responsible for the smashed handle on our checked bag (we received a $25 Air Tran gift card...woohoo! That makes up for it!)
I had fun sitting off to the side on a bench and watching the people watching my kids. The boys laid down with their heads on their backpacks (copying the dozens of army recruits waiting to be picked up to head to basic training that were laying in the same position). Annie brought her doll and laid it carefully under her blanket next to the boys:
Annie went back and forth, sitting on Sam, laying on him, putting her doll on him, etc. Sam put up with her antics for awhile, then said "Annie! Go away!" She's lucky it was Sam she was messing with, not Evan!
There was a big dinosaur skeleton/statue...look out, Sam, it's about to eat your head!
But Sam stays cool and searches for his own snack:
This is the only good picture I got at the rehearsal dinner. It's hard to be relaxed when you are trying to help a stubborn almost-two-year-old eat hot spaghetti while wearing white (both of us were...what was I thinking??)
The wedding was on a Friday morning at a beautiful old plantation-style mansion...felt very Jo-jan (see the title of my post if you don't understand that word). The cousins enjoyed being together at the wedding...here's Sam, the "ring-bearer" (more about that below) and Hadleigh (Kyle's daughter) the flower girl:
Two handsome guys :) Jeremy performed the wedding:
Our family at the wedding...totally impossible to get a good family picture while wearing heels and a dress and in the middle of a graham cracker snack:
Jeremy's brother, mom, dad, grandma and grandpa (who is called "Papa"):
Here comes Sam down the aisle, taking his job so seriously. What was his job? Well, he was heart-broken to hear that he wouldn't actually be carrying the rings but instead, cheap imitations of the rings, and then on the day of the wedding, the pillow was accidentally forgotten, so he became a junior groomsman. This is a point that is very important to him, so please don't mention that he was the ring-bearer or he will correct you and be a little frustrated with you for not understanding the ins and outs and specifics of these important roles:
Here comes Stacey down the aisle--she looked gorgeous and I LOVED her veil!
The sweet ceremony--my sis-in-law Danielle (married to Kyle) and the mother of the bride (Glenda) watching, John (Jeremy's dad) giving Stacey away, Jeremy and Jack encouraging the couple to have a marriage based on Biblical principles, and the audience sweating in the Georgian heat :)
And the sweetest thing of all was Jae's smile as he couldn't take his eyes off of Stacey:
Well, at least this is what I gathered after looking at the pictures because most of the wedding I was managing this:
and this:
No, just kidding, I got to watch most of it.Here's Sam and Gamma (Glenda):
Here's Evan and Annie salivating over the "Candy Bar" at the reception that was strictly not open yet:
The reception...so classy and southern!
Instead of cake there were delicious cupcakes! I think I ate four. I'm not kidding.
This is what happens when the Candy Bar is open and cupcakes are served:
Sam starts fighting imaginary enemies with a dinner knife (actually, that happens on a
Here was a theme of our trip to GA (oh, that reminds me of the British lady voice on the GPS in the car that would say "Gah!" instead of G-A for the names of state roads...it was funny but I guess you would have to be there). Anyway, one of the themes of the trip was "Hadleigh's Little Doll Named Annie":
Annie loved the attention...
...most of the time:
Here's all the cousins on Jeremy's side together! (Evan 3, Sam 6, Braeden 9, Camden 3, Hadleigh 6, Annie 1):
Cousins with a frog--so much excitement!
Camden and Annie...the cutest little gremlins you could ever lay eyes on! (But don't take your eyes off of them, not even for a second...)
Braeden had a birthday party while we were there and invited us to join him at his party at the park. It happened to be extra hot that day...Jeremy's grandparents were troopers for showing up and staying for quite a while!
Did I mention that it was hot? Thanks, Danielle, for all the water bottles!
It is becoming a tradition to take cross eyes pictures everywhere we go, I guess:
Sunday we went to church with Kyle and Danielle and had a really nice, relaxing day afterwards. We went to BBQ lunch with some of Jeremy's family (Aunt Kathy, John's sister, is pictured here...we sure love spending time with her!):
Sam calls this face "Up Eyes":
Cross Eyes at lunch:
Our little family went for a scenic drive (thanks for lending us your car, Aunt Stacey! We really appreciated it!) and loved looking out the windows at small houses with screened in porches and large estates. We even found a covered bridge and took a walk in the woods:
Another frog--this one was so tiny it sat on the end of Sam's finger (Evan and Annie would have nothing to do with it):
I'm not sure why the bridge is covered and what's so special about covered bridges, but it was fun to look at and listen to cars drive through on the wooden slats:
Annie looking through the bridge into the swamp...I doubt there were alligators but imagined there were and that was good enough:
Around a bend in the road, we found a guy selling boiled peanuts. We bought some and tried one and wished we could get our money back...I ate a few more when I got over the fact that they tasted like very large pinto beans, not peanuts--but seeing as beans are Jeremy's least favorite things in the world, I think he was glad when we finally got them out of his sight (and smell):
We spent the afternoon with the extended family at their rental house that had a powerful air conditioner :) and a park across the street:
Isn't he handsome?
Pa J (Jeremy's dad) with the kids...he has such a sweet and patient way of playing with them...I love watching them together:
These two, Evan and Camden, could have been brothers...they were the same height with the same hair and the same love for the swings:
It was really great to see Jeremy's grandparents (who live in Kansas City):
I enjoyed my time with my sister-in-law, Danielle (we go back to college days before we were both married)...she's the only one who knows what it's like to be married to a Lundgren (well, now Jae does too :) That doesn't really mean anything except that I'm glad to have her in the family!)
Like all families (I assume), there was a lot of time spent sitting on the couches and talking about anything and everything with the t.v. going in the background and kids coming in and out:
Saying goodbye is always bittersweet--I love seeing my husband with his extended family...it's like getting a glimpse into all of what makes him who he is, because I know him as my husband and all our memories together, but they knew him as a baby and a boy and a young man and they all love each other unconditionally.
Our last day in Jo-ja was spent in downtown Atlanta...the big (free) attraction for our kids was the fountain at the Centennial Olympic Park.
The boys got right into the action...
Annie needed me with her at first...
"Mommy, come on!!!"
But finally she headed off on her own, and, as usual, was followed around by adoring older girls:
We explored downtown and rode a super high elevator to a great view of Atlanta.
We wanted to have dinner at somewhere uniquely "southern"--someone said the most authentic Southern cooking we would find would be in a greasy joint attached to a gas station...I think we found a good one. Mrs. Winner's, where the fried chicken came with a gallon of sweet tea and at least a gallon of grease. We tried valiantly to make a dent in the tea, but had to throw most of it away:
Oh, and we had fresh Georgia peaches for dessert in the hotel room (yes I'm letting my kids eat juicy peaches right next to the comforter and over the carpet...I guess that's one of the perks of staying at a hotel--I don't have to clean up the mess!)
The end.
