Weekend Recap: Wedding, Walking, & Strawberry Picking

It's Monday Eve, but I had a fabulous 3 day weekend after working 1 day last week, so I really can't complain too much.  And, I get to look forward to one of my favorite holidays this week--the 4th of July!  I would write another post on Ben's progress, but it would just be repeating over and over how awesomely well he is doing.  Surgery did not knock him down one bit!  His sleep schedule was a little messed up, but fingers crossed it is almost back on track.  Just as the doctor predicted, he is only eating in 3-4 ounces at a time, but even that is improving and he is almost  back to his pre-surgery appetite.   The video below was taken about 4 hours after surgery.  He hasn't slowed down since!

I was obviously off of work for Ben's surgery last week, but he was doing so well that I couldn't justify taking any more of my sick leave.  I worked Thursday and then took a vacation day on Friday for my good friend's wedding!  It was such a perfect ending to our week.  We were really living large because we had an OVERNIGHT baby-sitter (my mom.)

Getting ready for the wedding.

The ceremony was beautiful; you could tell that they put great thought into the planning.  As you can see below, Christine was an absolutely stunning bride.  She looked so happy and relaxed up there.  Oh, and her groom is pretty good looking himself!  (I am bummed because my pictures are not the greatest.  I must have been so nervous that Ben was going to let out one of his famous screeches that I couldn't concentrate on my pics.  For the record, he was an angel.)

Christine, I apologize for the poor quality.  I'm so annoyed with myself!  I might as well have had Ben take pics.

After the ceremony, we went to check in to the hotel and wait for Benji to be picked up.  Nana was a bit late so we had to kill some time.  What is the first thing that came to mind at 5:00 on a Friday?  Happy hour!  We hit up the hotel bar/lounge/lobby until I started feeling like a bad parent for drinking with a baby.  So, we moved the party to our room.  Ben could only crawl back and forth on the bed and bang on the large windows so many times before we were needing another drink.  Happy hour is not what it used to be.  ;)

When we finally (ok, we were not actually that late) arrived at the reception, we were instantly in awe of everything.   The Milwaukee Art Museum did not disappoint.  My few photos do not do the place justice!  It is such a gorgeous venue and you can't go wrong with the lake as the backdrop.  To top it all off, Christine has impeccable taste so everything was as classy and elegant as can be.

While I did not know a ton of people there, those I did know were some of the best people out there!   It was great to catch up with my old roomie Caitlin and her family as well as my friend Jamie who I studied in Spain with back in the day.  I should also mention nearly the entire 2003 Marquette men's basketball team was there minus D-Wade.  (Hah!)  Christine, Caitlin, and I travelled to the Final Four together in New Orleans, so of course many great memories came flooding back.  I cannot believe that was 10 years ago!  Sigh...but back to the wedding.  It was amazing.  Every last detail from the flowers to the band to the candy bar and late-night food was just perfect.  Andy and I had a blast dancing the night away.

It was almost midnight when we left and we did not realize that Summerfest was closing at this time as well right down the road.  There were oodles of people leaving the area so it took a little longer than anticipated to get back to the hotel.  On the way home I realized that I do not like staying out late these days!  I also remembered that waaaasted drunk people are annoying.  If I'm going to be up in the wee hours of the morning I prefer to be up with my little babe.  But I prefer all of us to be sleeping at this time. Despite feeling like an oldie, we had a fantastic evening.  As always, these fun nights go so quickly!  I wish I could say I slept like a baby that night, but I was up bright and early the next morning.  I missed my sweet boy so much!

Campus Town East Room 122!!                                               Beautiful wedding, weather, bride, etc. :)

On Saturday, we had big plans to go to the zoo and then to a BBQ, but unfortunately we did not do either of these things.  Andy went trap shooting in the morning (he is now obsessed) and then we had a lazy Saturday afternoon.  We did venture out to the hardware store for about 10 minutes, but Ben was totally loving his naps so I was not about to impede on those.  And since early to bed means early to rise in this house, Ben was up with the sun today.  When you start your day at 5:00am, you have plenty of time to walk to Panera for breakfast.  While Andy initially shot down my great idea, ("No way!  Do you know how far that is?!?!") he was loving it after he remembered there were some trails we could take to get there.  Ben was in heaven as well.

How cute is that fire hydrant booty?!

After a quick cat nap in the stroller, Ben woke up and was ready to go.  Between making friends (ie flirting with girls) and playing with his cup at Panera, he was a happy camper.  It was initially kind of chilly but that was probably because it was so crazy early.   It was a great way to start the morning, especially since our workout routines are lacking these days...

And last, but definitely not least, we went strawberry picking this afternoon.  Strawberries are definitely one of my favorite foods so picking them every year is a must.  (Even last summer when I was preggo and it was 9 million degrees outside.)  We went with a bunch of our friends and their kiddos and it was a total blast!

While we love our Ergo, Ben wasn't a huge fan of it while Andy picked strawberries, so I held him and we pointed to the good ones.  ;)  Benji was a fan of the loud, stinky tractor ride we got to go on though.  He was also interested in the strawberries so I made the mistake of letting him hold one.  Nice mess--oh well!

After picking more strawberries than I am sure we need, it was time to hit the road.  Although Ben was as smiley as can be with his friends around, he was also exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly on the way home.

OK, this is officially the last thing.  I cannot neglect to mention that Ben got to see yet another one of his gfs today.  Maddie (and her parents) came over for a little visit!  He of course had to show off his battle wounds and his parents had to brag about how tough he is.  I think she was impressed. ;)  They played together so nicely and I am not sure, but I think they were communicating in their own language.  Babies do not get any cuter than these two.

Blurry, but you get the point. :)

Good night, all!  Have a great week!