11.9.12 ~ Vera and Chas got Hitched

Our trip to San Diego went as well as it possibly could. We drove to DC, flew to Dallas, connected to Irvine, and then drove to San Diego. Our kids were awesome. Liam watched movies, played with toys, annoyed fellow travelers by running around and bumping into people in the Dallas airport, and was generally happy. Nora got a little fidgety and fussy at times, but mostly enjoyed sitting in her Mama's lap. She slept for almost the entire second flight which was great for me since I got to sleep too. I documented the trip via Instagram:

Hitting the road and leaving hurricane-destroyed NYC behind. 

Found a Starbucks on the turnpike that had power.

Checking up on the safety instructions.

Waiting to board in Dallas. 

Sleeping on the plane.

Sleepy kids at the baggage claim.. but we made it to Cali!

Glad we made it!

After our long journey we settled into our hotel room and woke up the next morning to the beautiful San Diego sun. Well, to be fair we woke up at 4am about three hours before the sun because our jet lagged kids wouldn't stay asleep. But anyway - once the sun came out we forgot all about our long trip and sleepless night and enjoyed seeing Vera and Chas's new house, getting our nails done, rehearsing the wedding for the next day, playing on the beach (where we discovered that Liam and Chas are kindred spirits), and partying it up at Chas's parents' beach house.

The next day, Nora and I went over to Vera's house to help get ready for the wedding while Liam and Jason hung out with Jonas, Brittany, and Heiko. Nora was such a delight the entire time. She took a little pre-wedding nap on Vera's climbing crash pad and played around on the floor while we all did make up and hair. The child is extremely serious and doesn't hand out smiles easily - but she is also extremely content. Throughout our whole trip she let all kinds of people she didn't know well hold her.

And Liam - he bonded immediately with Heiko (who we shared a hotel room with) and my cousin Patrick's son Ciaran. Then Liam proceeded to have the most fun at the wedding out of everyone. He ate, he danced, he played, and then he crashed.

The wedding was beautiful. It was truly a DIY wedding. Vera and Chas pulled the whole thing off in their backyard. And the food came from food trucks which is cooler and yummier than any caterer. And it was so wonderful to have my family together. It was also cute to see all of the cousins together in one place. I miss all of my siblings and their kids all the time. Now Helki needs to get married so that we have another non-Christmas excuse to all be in one place! Helki and Justin... come on!

And we got another decent family picture: