A Weekend Adventure

This past weekend was joyous. 

Truly. 

We drove to La Crosse, WI. 

We saw many interesting things on our drive. 

It both rained and was beautiful. 

We had lunch at a downtown restaurant, met my parents at the hotel, checked in, got settled, and then Husband and I headed out. 

We lucky two got to go to my friend's daughter's wedding. My parents and the kids were just going to hang out in La Crosse. And mostly that meant swimming at the hotel and playing iPad. But I can't complain because it was a nice getaway for everyone. 

The bride and groom followed the new trend where the cocktail hour is before the ceremony. The bar opened at 3:00. Husband and I got on the first shuttle from the hotel to the venue. Mostly because I didn't want to be late. 

We took a picture together in the mostly empty room. This was a delightful choice as it turns out. The photographer also took a picture of us early. (Yay!)

So the wedding was in the outdoor courtyard. And was supposed to be at 4:30 but then they decided to push it up to 4:15 because of rain. Well moving 250 guests isn't the easiest job and by the time we got outside it started raining so we all went back in. 

They started passing appetizers. Everyone had another drink. Chatting abounded. And then they hustled us all back outside. Everyone got seated and it started to rain. Like really rain. 

So the venue handed out ponchos. And it was hilarious. I have NEVER laughed so hard at a wedding ceremony as I did putting on my poncho. 

They announced that they were going to go for it but that viewing the wedding was now optional. Me and my group sat right back down in our ponchos. We were definite C-level guests. As friends of the bride's mom we were not going to make a fuss or complicate anything. 

As our friend got walked down the aisle it was raining steadily and the friends of the couple were whooping. It was a hoot. I've never "woooooed" at a wedding before but I am glad to have had that memory. 

All the bridesmaids and groomsmen came down the aisle in the rain. The absolute moment the bride walked outside it stopped raining. And stayed rain-free for the whole ceremony. Which was lovely and special and full of joy. And a whole host of guests in ponchos. 

Please note the wine glass my friend Barb is holding. That's for me you see. I had seen this trend to collect rain for rainy-day brides. So we did. And it's sitting on my counter right now--it's been filtered and now it's disinfecting with sunlight. I am going to have our priest bless it and they can use rain water from their wedding to baptize their babies. 

Here is Barb, Linda and I after the ceremony but pre all the way dry. 

The rest of the wedding was incredible and joyful as well. During the Daddy-Daughter dance, she had her sisters and mom join her for the second verse. Honoring the little family of 5 she came from and it was the most special moment to witness. 

We did spend the rest of the night protecting the rainwater-filled coffee cup with our lives. Never wanting it to be cleared by the staff. It was an adventure. 

Back at the hotel everything was fine. 

My mom liked the doors in the bathroom. 

After we left La Crosse we headed out to Husband's hometown for a special pizza lunch. Because we are grown-ups and we can if we want. 

Then stopped by the orchard to hang with the family for the afternoon. It was delightful. I hope there is always a wedding in La Crosse so we can have an orchard weekend without spending all weekend there. 

It also doesn't hurt that on the very first day of Fall the weather finally decided to play along! 

Our drive home was also lovely. We started in Wisconsin. Drove through Minnesota. Most of the day in Iowa. We considered crossing the bridge quick to claim 4 states in one day but decided against it. 

Oh, but the Dyersville (Where the Field of Dreams is) McDonald's had the Croc both M and I wanted. (We have M names.) Those are now on our backpacks delightfully. 

And that was our weekend adventure. It was so much fun. The kids saw all 3 of their grandparents in one day plus two of their great-grandmas! How nice is that? 

We got apples. We went to a wedding. We smiled and laughed. We saw family. 

It was good.