This past week was very busy around our house. I left on 10 Feb to fly with Logan to Wisconsin in preparation for my sister Megan's wedding on 13 Feb. Wednesday morning we all got up at 0430 in order to drive to Denver for our flight. When we got there at 0545, we unloaded the car, TJ drove away and I drug all of our things and a sleepy Logan to the bizarrely barren check in desk. There was a single clerk there and she said that the flight had been canceled due to the snowstorm that hit the mid-west. I asked her when this was canceled, and she said the night before. Not that I'm calling her a liar, but we checked the website for AirTran the night before and everything was normal. She said that I had been bumped to the 2:50pm flight to Milwaukee instead. I called TJ who was already on the highway. I decided not to make him come back for us since he had an important meeting that he was already going to be getting to just on time. So, 8 hours of layover in the airport with a 2 year old. Fun? Right?
I couldn't check our luggage until 4 hours before our flight, so I drug the luggage cart with Logan's carseat, our suitcase and coats while simultaneously pushing Logan in his stroller. We went to the food court area and I got some coffee and Logan had some juice and snacks I had packed in the diaper bag. Did you know that there are an odd amount of birds in the Denver airport? Yeah. Totally. Logan loved watching peck around the seating area we were dumped at. After about an hour there, I packed us up and moved us to the seating area by the check in desk. Logan was still in a really good mood, and I didn't want to wait until he was freaking out before I moved us. I let Logan run up and down the little hall there since no one was around. He had a blast. Then I decided it was time to move again. We went to a different area of the food court and let him play around there with another little boy. We sat there until it was time to go back to our check in desk. When we got there, we were a couple of minutes early. I let Logan run around a bit more, then I drug all of our stuff and us to the check in desk. OH MY GOSH. I made it. The lady at the desk said that we were awesome and super cool and lots of nice things since we waited so NICELY for such a long time. No prob. HA!
After we checked our bags, I pushed Logan through all the security areas where I got searched and chastised for having a pediasure and juice for Logan. Sorry buddy. I just did this INTERNATIONALLY and had no issues. I guess Denver is extra special. Whatever. I apologized and told the security dude how nice he was, that he smelt good and that he was very understanding. I got through with a slap on the wrist. Blah. I then found a book store, got some water and a book and trucked down to our gate to se where it was. Then I found the USO and schlepped all of our stuff up there. THANK GOD FOR THE USO!!!!!!! They had a children's play area and big comfy leather recliners to sit in. It was clean, quiet, had multiple flat screen TVs with the news, sports etc. on them. For the next 4 hours we played with toys that were "new" to Logan and I got to read a book.
We easily got on our plane, and Logan was exhausted by time we started taxiing down the runway. He was fast asleep before we even got up in the air. I was VERY happy about that. Logan woke up as we landed in Milwaukee. Megan was there to pick us up. She drove us to a McDonald's where Logan got a chicken nugget happy meal and ate the whole thing. My mom met us there and took us the rest of the way to Madison.
Thursday I helped my mom get things ready for the wedding and we went shopping at a couple places to get some last minute things. Logan was able to remember my mom and dad and Lucy. He calls my dad "Bumpa" and my mom "Mamaw". Friday we got up and loaded all of the wedding supplies into the cars and drove to Racine. We set up the church and finished making the wedding programs. TJ flew in that morning and drove a rental car down to the church. It was nice having him with us! The rehearsal went well that night and the dinner was fun. Logan was ready for bed early that night after all the action from the day.
Saturday morning we all got up early and went and got some coffee. At the church all of the ladies got ready together, with a couple of hairstylists there to do our hair. My mom was at the VFW where the reception was to be held getting that setup with my dad. Megan's fiancee, Dave, had his family pictures before the wedding. Megan had a photographer there taking pictures of us getting ready and of the groom's family. My mom finally got done with the VFW about 15 minutes before the wedding. Unbelievable. We were getting worried!
The wedding was beautiful and Megan and Dave looked happier than ever! Logan freaked out right before he was supposed to go down the aisle. He was screaming "Noooo waaagon!!" (He was going to be pulled down the aisle with the flowergirl by a friend of Megan's.) The flower girl was almost 1 year old. Everyone thought it was the little girl because Megan's friend ended up carrying her down the aisle rather than pulling the two in the wagon my Dad spent FOREVER painting and getting ready. TJ took Logan up to the balcony. No one saw Logan, so they blamed the girl. HA HA ha Ha!!! TJ took about a trillion pictures of the wedding. Logan only made a noise when I sang and played piano during the ceremony. "Mama???" Megan had two of her friends do a couple of readings. They did wonderful and it added a lot to the wedding. TJ took Logan back to the hotel for a nap before the reception. After the wedding, our side of the family (sans TJ & Logan) had their pictures taken and so did the ladies. After all of the pictures were taken, a limo, a stretch hummer. I've never been in a limo before, so it was pretty fun. The bridal party ended drinking the entire 12 pack on the way to the reception so Megan and Dave decided to have the driver take us to Woodman's (a grocery store) and buy some more beer. They were completely aware of how hick and trashy it was to do this, but they didn't care. They took a lot of pictures of the ordeal and it was hilarious. Megan in her wedding gown, in the liquor department. Sad, sad sad. We were all like a three ring circus.
At the reception in the VFW the beer was free and most of the younger adults present were getting pretty uh, happy. The food was not as bad as you would think for a VFW. My mom made a bunch of cheesecakes for Megan and Dave as their wedding cakes since that was Dave's favorite. My mom is a hero for doing that and getting them from Madison to Racine in one piece. The Best Man and I gave toasts and the night was spent dancing to the worlds worst DJ. Well, maybe not the worst. But he had a playlist that was over 15 years old. Meh. TJ and Logan left before the toasts were done, and I left with my mom and dad. I know, I know...I'm a party pooper. But the majority of the wedding party didn't get back to their hotel rooms until 4am. And they were puking and hung over even at Megan's gift opening the next day. I have a 2 year old who doesn't care if mommy is hung over or tired. So that my friends, is why I left early. With my parents. Whatev'.
The gift opening was awesome. Megan and Dave got a toilet plunger (?) two deep friers (?) towels, sheets, obligatory picture frames and photo albums they didn't register for. Not to mention the crazy amounts of money that they fanned themselves with. They are so putting it in the bank and paying bills.
Monday TJ, Logan and I all headed to Megan's and picked up Cody and Oscar to fly on the plane with us. OH MY GOSH. The TSA dudes at the airport made us take them out of their cages to be scanned. We refused until they pretty much got every agent in that sector of the airport to tell us that we HAD TO TAKE THE CATS OUT OF THEIR CAGES. TJ refused to carry a cat through the scanner, so I had to take each one out and try not and get my eyeballs gouged out. I told those guys that they better get an extra shirt and a first aid kit because my cats do not like their cages. They agreed. I got through it all with minimal scratches because I held the cats in a hog tie hold. We were praying with every ounce of our beings that the cats, especially Cody, would not HOWL the entire flight. And apparently there is a God because the cats did not howl, and as soon as the plane was in the air, Logan fell asleep. Well, maybe God has a sense of humor because TJ got seated in a different part of the plane. Next to a rather large woman who insisted on having the aisle seat, wedging TJ in the window seat. Ha ha ha ha ha. And then? Our plane got stuck on the runway because we waited for several passengers whose connecting flight was running late. Then because we waited for those yo-yos for 30mins the plane needed de-iced. The whole ordeal made us 50 minutes late. Logan was AWESOME the whole time. The flight was great, we made it home fine. The cats adjusted to their first night here. None of our fish died while we were gone.
Logan and Oscar are so happy to be back together. They are playing and having fun together. I'll take a bunch of pictures, promise.
TJ turned 30 yesterday. He freaked. The older guys harassed him. Poor TJ. He came home and we had a margarita. He doesn't want to do anything. He is really, really depressed about being 30. I'm scared about him turning 40.