The reason he spent the weekend at Debbie's was because Ryan and I went to Manchester, Vermont, for Katie and Erik's wedding. Katie was one of my roommates at Notre Dame and we were fortunate enough to be able to study in London together, along with two of our other roommates, Katie and Kelly. We had some amazingly funny and crazy times traveling throughout Europe and back in South Bend. Katie has a wonderful family and I knew that this weekend would be incredible, especially since all my other roommates and their parents were also making the trip to celebrate.
We left on Thursday after work. Debbie had plans that night, but luckily she was willing to babysit the rest of the weekend and Sam, a friend and coworker, was kind enough to agree to sit with Connor on Thursday evening until Debbie was able to pick him up. This allowed us to make a significant dent in the drive so that we could arrive at a decent hour on Friday morning. We made it to Albany on Thursday night. We drove the last hour and a half on Friday, in the rain. It's a shame that the weather was so bad because it was supposed to be the prime weekend for fall foliage in Vermont. When we arrived, Ryan dropped me off at the bridal suite at the Charles Orvis Inn at the Equinox hotel. Katie and the rest of the wedding party had done a pilates class (SO SORRY I had to miss that!) and were supposed to go on a hike around the property, but the weather caused it to be cancelled so everyone was just relaxing and having some champagne and a little lunch. At 230 we had a brief rehearsal. Then the real fun began...
On Friday night there was a "welcome party" at the pond at the Equinox Hotel. This place was amazing. See for yourself at the hotel's website: http://www.equinoxresort.com/ The groom is from Texas and all the guests were "strongly encouraged" to dress the part. Luckily Ryan and I already had our cowboy boots! It was a lot of fun and after the buses brought us back down the mountain, the party continued at Mulligans. I paid for it the next day (obviously, when you are out of practice from not drinking for over a year because of pregnancy and breastfeeding, it is not advisable to jump back on the wagon by drinking approximately 364 vodka tonics) but it was well worth it.
A little blurry, but all the ND roommates and our parents decked out in our Western finest.
The after party at Mulligans
Meanwhile, back at home, the babies (rather, Debbie and Courtney) were entertaining themselves in the laundry basket. So glad we have expensive pack & plays and jumperoos....
The night was, in fact, so fun that I had to call my dad to come and pick Ryan up at the bar. I guess some things will never change! In my defense, before I called him to pick us up, I did do some investigating and found that Manchester, VT, does not have ONE SINGLE taxicab. Connor, if you're reading this someday, I'm sure your dad will be happy to do the same for you. I, on the other hand, will be catching up on all the sleep you've deprived me of over the years.
Saturday was wedding day. I was feeling a little rough while we all checked out the Orvis flagship store, but that's okay - its not like I could afford anything there anyway! It certainly was an impressive place, but I was much more concerned about where we were going to eat lunch. We (Ryan & I, my friends' husbands, and our parents - who all happened to be at the Orvis store at the same time) ended up at, surprise, Mulligans. After lunch, I felt much better and was ready to rally for the evening. I went back to the hotel, showered, got ready, and headed over to the suite where the rest of the bridal party was getting ready.
The wedding was at Hildene, which was the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Robert was, among other things, the Chairman of the Pullman Corporation and the Secretary of War. The house has a pipe organ that is over 100 years old. The mansion was home to their descendants until 1975. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the house, and the estate, are absolutely gorgeous! The weather improved significantly and the leaves were beautiful. The ceremony was short and sweet and then it was time to party!
The beautiful bride "cooling her heels" before the ceremony
The pictures don't do it justice, but if you want to learn more about the place, visit the website www.hildene.org/
Family photo. Dad looks so happy. Maybe it is because his birthday was the next day and he realized he is getting OLD.
Roommates minus the bride
After the cocktail hour we had dinner and then danced the night away. The band was wonderful and I had a great time. Ryan even VOLUNTARILY got on the dance floor a few times! This weekend/wedding was bit bittersweet for me because Katie was the last roommate to get married so now we no longer have a guaranteed reason to get together once a year. The four of us in the picture above all had babies within 9 months of each other so I guess we are going to have to start looking at vacations to Disney World or someplace similar if we want to get together now!!!
As much fun as it was, I was anxious to get back home on Sunday. I think it was almost harder leaving Connor this trip than when we went to Ireland since I am working now and don't get to see him much during the week since, by the time I pick him up, feed him, give him a bath, and we eat, it is time to put him to bed so I really look forward to the weekends. Debbie took him to Alex's soccer game and texted me this picture:
Clearly not impressed with Alex's moves.
Our drive home was loooong but we made it around 4pm. So glad to be home, but even more thankful that we don't have anywhere to go for the next few weekends!
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