I need to finish this before I blog about other things…
Sunday morning I went to church with Mom and afterward I enjoyed the wildflowers on the church property while Mom attended a meeting.
Coneflower
Thistle with bee
Sedum perhaps?
Milkweed
That afternoon we had a cookout with my brother and his family at my Mom’s house. Not knowing what to cook for dinner, Kevin, Brandon and I went to a local Italian grocery store for inspiration. We found it in the meat department in the form of amazing store-made sausages and the produce department in the form of vegetables to grill. And in the wine department where I saw the bottle of wine that I was hiding from Tony Soprano in my dream about him a week before the untimely death of the actor who portrayed him. We decided our meal would be a tribute to James Ganolfini and Tony Soprano.
We ate well that night thanks to Kevin’s skill with the grill. We also had fun with Preston.
Not mentioned in the previous post is that Clare was scheduled to arrive while we were at the rehearsal dinner. Mom and her friend Richard were scheduled to pick her up at 7:30 on Friday night. She called at 3 or so to tell us she’d missed her flight and would not fly in until around 5 am the following day. Dean, great dad that he is, volunteered to wake up before dawn to drive to the airport to pick up his daughter.
I was able to sleep until 7 or so when Clare, after eating a Dad-made breakfast, climbed into bed next to me. We chatted a while, but I knew she was sleepy so I left her to sleep while I started my day.
We (except for Dean) again lazed around the house until it was time to get ready for the wedding. No one was completely satisfied with what they’d brought to wear to the wedding (except for Dean — but I was not satisfied with what he brought) so some grumpiness ensued during the getting ready part of the day.
Finally we were ready(ish) and we asked Jill (ex-sister-in-law who lives with my mom) to take our photo.
When we arrived at the church in Burlington we were dismayed to realize we were about a half-hour late. I’d forgotten to bring the invitation and we were given the wrong time (but we forgive you D.). We watched the end of the ceremony in the back room with Sheri and Jude, Dean’s nephew’s wife and son.
We had time to spare between the wedding and reception so drove around the countryside for a while. It always reminds me of Sunday afternoons in my youth when we’d drive my Grandma Patrick around and she’d exclaim at the state of a chicken coop or the new paint job of a barn on farms on which she used to live.
The reception was held at Randall Oaks Country Club. We sat with Diane, Dean’s sister, Mert, Dean’s cousin and her husband Tom. Also at our table were the pastor and the organist of the church where the wedding took place. The pastor had been pastor at the church we’d spent many Christmas Eves, so we had things to talk about.
Oh — I forgot to mention that the wedding was held on Dean and my 28th wedding anniversary. We were honored with our own dance — to the Anniversary Waltz.
My favorite part of the reception was watching the flower girls and their cousins dancing as you will see in the photos below.
When we drive a long distance we usually get a very early start — 5:00 am when we drive to Illinois. This time, however, we had other things to do in the morning and didn’t leave Bethesda until just after 2:00 pm. Oddly, Dean drove the whole way. Usually I drive for a while after lunch so he can take a nap. We brought our aged cat along — we had a pretty bad health scare a week or so ago (she has/had pancreatitis, it turns out) and I wanted to keep an eye on her. She’s a good traveler — she loves being petted and with 12 straight hours of attention, she was very happy indeed.
We arrived in Elgin around 2:00 am and didn’t get to bed until at least 3 but were rudely awakened by the trash collectors at 7:30 am.
We lazed around the house (well, the kids and I did — Dean visited his brother who lives in a nursing home a block or so from my mom’s house) for most of the day — Andrew had fun looking through Mom’s garage that is full of such exciting things as a CB radio, several toolboxes of varying shapes and sizes, and even a vintage hand-held massager.
That evening we headed to the “Big House” (Dean’s other brother’s house) in Hampshire for the rehearsal dinner for Dean’s youngest nephew, Nate and Marissa, his bride-to-be. It was fun catching up with all the family news and meeting Marissa’s family. Marissa’s grandparents told me I have a doppelganger in Arizona who works in a coffee shop they frequent.
Andrew watching JudeDiane and Dan (Little Danny) and puppybarn and siloSavannah and LeanneDannyDennisfarmland
