wedding weekend {part 2}

(Nothing like a week off blogging.  Lots of crafty {paid}projects coming in.  Yay!  Hmm, where was I?  Ahh, wedding recap).

After an interesting night of kids sleeping in the same room (fail) we were up, repacked and on the road by 5:57.  3 minutes to spare!  The games, snacks, and presents were ready as were the kids!

 

Yes, ignore the fact that Ellie is not 2 yet and is forward facing.  No way was I making that girl rear face for an 8 hour drive. :)

Jenna may not have been quite as perky as the kids were.

 

We caravaned in three cars.  Us in 1.  My mom, Grandma Hoerr, and Grandma Pohl in 2.  And my dad, Grandpa Hoerr, and eventually Casey in 3.  For the next 7 or 8 hours, we drove.  We stopped a couple times for gas, food, and stretch breaks.  In general, the kids did awesome. Owen better than Ellie as he can be distracted by movies and activities more than Ellie can. We were all pretty excited to enter the small town of Emmetsburg, Iowa.  We all stopped for a late lunch at McDonald's and then checked in at the Wild Rose Casino and Hotel.

 

We got everything unloaded and failed at trying to get the kids to nap.  I was able to help get all my crafty things unloaded and start to help a bit with the decor.

Casey, mom, Phip, Kara, and Kara's dad

 

Then, we showered and headed about 15 miles away to the church where Kara grew up.  There was proof of this as we found Kara's confirmation picture.

 

can you find her? :)

The rehearsal went very smoothly, minus the bucket of tears my dad cried which of course made everyone else cry.  When he teared up welcoming everyone, I knew I was done for.

sibling heart to heart

Grandparents! - my mom's mom and dad's parents

rocking the coral dress

AHH - how cute are they?

Uncle Casey chatting with Ellie

the mailbox I decorated for their cards

 

After the rehearsal, we drove back to Emmetsburg for our fabulous dinner at New Sprouts.  It was an awesome space (especially for the small town that is E :).  The atmosphere was great and the food was delicious!  We met a super sweet couple at our table that had a 6 week old, so we bonded talking mommy-stuff.  Our kids were pretty obnoxiousness and ran all over the place the whole time, but luckily no one seemed to mind too bad.

 

 

 

brothers

my dad welcoming everyone

loved the lights

the couple of honor!

 

Towards the end of the night, I led a quick round of the shoe game.  Kara and Philip sat back to back holding one of each their shoes.  I would ask a question like "who was the first one to 'know' this was it?"  And then they would raise up the shoe of the person they thought would best answer the question.  It was a neat way to get to know them a bit more and get to hear more of their story!

After the great dinner, we headed back to the hotel and got the kids to "sleep."  Then I went back to the ballroom and helped do the set-up!

Finally, it was off to bed to get ready for the BIG day!