Missy's Wedding

My only cousin on my Dad's side, Missy, got married this past weekend in Des Moines.  We met my parents at the Hilton Garden Inn on Friday night.  The kids were wound up and excited to be staying at a hotel.  It was like they had never been in an elevator before as excited as they were!

On Saturday morning, one of my best friends from college, Brooke, and her husband, Aaron, brought their kids, Avery and Eli, to the hotel to swim with our kids.  It was SO nice to catch up with Brooke and Aaron!  It had been way too long!  I definitely wish we lived closer to them so we could get together more often.  After we had lunch, Brooke and Aaron left and our youngest two took a nap (Kayley was wiped out from all of that swimming!).  In retrospect, we shouldn't have let Kayley take a nap.  We had to wake her to get ready for the wedding and it wasn't pleasant for anyone.

The wedding was at Happy Apple Celebrations, an apple orchard.  It was a beautiful ceremony and the bride looked beautiful!  Unfortunately, all of my pictures of Missy were blurry or too far away.  I'll wait until she posts some on Facebook!  The wedding was a little warm though as it was in the 90s and an outdoor wedding.  Ryan and Kayley didn't handle the heat very well so Andy took them back to the shade during the ceremony.  Kayley came back halfway through and had a mild (but relatively quiet) freak out about a grasshopper that was near her.

Ryan wasn't too interested in sitting at the table during the reception so he and Andy spent a lot of time outside.

Ryan in the shade during the ceremony

Posing in front of the tractor on the property

They loved the hayrack

I am pretty sure Andy missed his calling
as a professional photographer

Andy forcing Drew to hug him

My selfie with Ryan (first ever by the way)

 

Grandma and happy Kayley!

 
Sunday morning involved more swimming before we headed home.

Really happy after a good night's sleep!

Ryan is excited to get in the water

Andy is a great dad.  He spent hours in the pool
with Ryan on Saturday and Sunday

Andy, Drew and Ryan in the background
and Kayley practicing her backstroke in
the foreground

Still practicing!

"Mommy watch!"

Splash from Drew

It was a fun weekend and great to spend time with our family!