09/28/2012 through 09/30/2012:
Eric’s cousin Michelle got married! We travelled to Michigan for the weekend to join the celebration. Michelle had asked Eric to be part of the wedding. Eric’s job: carry a sign in front of Michelle as she walks down the aisle that reads, “Here Comes the Bride”. Eric had practiced walking and carrying a pretend sign up and down the hallway in our house. He was very excited about participating in the ceremony. When it was time to go to Michigan, Mommy and I finished packing on Friday morning, while Eric was at school. The plan was to pick him up from school and go directly to the hotel in Michigan. We were a few minutes late to pick him up due to some last-minute items that had to be found and packed. When we arrived, he was waiting with a couple of the preschool teachers, and he had been telling them all about the upcoming weekend. They said that he told them all the details: he was going to carry a sign, we would stay in a hotel, there would be a big party… He was very excited when we picked him up. He ran to the car and jumped in!
We arrived at the hotel and found a parking space. I saw Grandma D’s and Grandpa D’s car in the lot, so I announced that they had already arrived before us. We got out, unloaded most of our luggage from the trunk (as much as we could carry), and proceeded to the hotel entrance. At least, we thought it was the entrance. Grandma had seen us drive into the parking lot and hurried down to greet us. She directed us to the correct entrance, as Eric ran over to give her a big hug. I never saw his suitcase roll so fast! I think that Grandma was just as excited as Eric. We checked in and went up to our room. It was joined with Grandma’s and Grandpa’s room. This would be a fun weekend! Eric enjoyed being able to go back and forth between the two rooms. He talked to Grandma and Grandpa and told them all about his day at school and various other topics.
After our long drive, we got cleaned up and dressed to go to the rehearsal. Eric finally got to see the sign that he would carry for Michelle. It was a lot heavier than our practice sign (a piece of notebook paper), but Eric was up to the task. Michelle also presented him with a t-shirt to wear during rehearsal. It was a plain black shirt with white letters that said, “Ring Security”. Eric loved the new shirt. He was proud of his job. We also learned that the sign had a revese side that Eric would carry out with the wedding party after Michelle and Nick (her new husband) walked out together as husband and wife. The reverse side said, “…and They Lived Happily Ever After”. Eric did very well in practice and listened to all of the directions that were given to him by everyone. We all met at a restaurant for dinner afterward. Eric behaved well, and we ate some wonderful food. The bride and groom presented gifts to all of the wedding party including Eric. Eric received a large bag full of games and toys and coloring books! Eric was so excited!
Eric shows off his new shirt!
Eric explains to Mommy how the fountain works by trickling water from the upper bowl down through the lower bowls.
Eric practices carrying the sign.
On Saturday morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Deborah, and Uncle Jeff. Eric tried a new cereal that he had never had before: Fruit Loops. He insisted that he should eat them without milk to know what they really tasted like. He liked the cereal so much that he had the same thing for breakfast the next morning, too. After breakfast, Eric, Grandpa, and I went outside to fix a broken window on our car. We discovered on the drive up the day before that the driver’s window regulator was broken. I had replaced it twice before, so I was able to quickly remove the door panel, and we fashioned a makeshift “prop” to hold the window in the up position until I could replace the regulator after we got home. Eric was very helpful! He helped Grandpa and I look for a sturdy fallen tree branch to wedge into the door panel under the window. At one point, Grandpa had gone to the hotel front desk to ask if they had a small saw that we could use to cut the branch. As Grandpa was returning from the wood shed with a large bow saw, Eric ran over to me and said, “Grandpa is coming back with a chain saw. It’s really big!” I was pretty sure that the hotel staff did not loan Grandpa a chain saw. When Grandpa got back to the car, I explained to Eric that it was not a chain saw. I don’t think it mattered to him. All he knew was that it was a really big saw!
After we had repaired the car, we walked around the hotel grounds. There was a small pond with a walk path around it, so we walked around looking at all of the decorations and art sculptures that were placed around the pond. The hotel had been a 19th century boarding house for local artists. Grandpa and I talked, while Eric ran around. Uncle Jeff joined us after a while.
The “girls” (Grandma, Mommy, and Aunt Deborah) had gone over to the vineyard and the winery to help with the wedding decorations. Around noon, Grandpa and Uncle Jeff went to visit a local micro-brewery before the wedding. Eric and I went to Aunt Bev’s hotel and borrowed her room key to use the swimming pool. First, we ate lunch at Culver’s right next door. We played in the pool for a while until it looked like we had just enough time to get back to our hotel and dress for the wedding. Michelle had requested that Eric be at the winery for pictures at 3pm. We also ran into our cousin Chris, who was staying at the same hotel across the hall from Aunt Bev’s and Uncle Mike’s room. Mommy called to check up on us, while we changed out of our swim trunks. She was not too sure that we would make it back in time for the pictures, but I assured her that I had left us plenty of time. However, when we got in the car, I realized that I had been looking at the clock on my cell phone, which automatically adjusted itself to the locl time zone. The clock in the car does not adjust itself. That was when I remembered that the hotel with the swimming pool was about 15 miles west of our hotel and, it was in the central time zone. Our hotel and the wedding were in the eastern time zone! Yikes! We hurried back to our hotel, changed into our fancy clothes as fast as we could, and hurried over to the winery for pictures.
Whew! When we got there, it appeared that they were not yet ready for Eric to take pictures. Then Uncle Mike informed me that there had been a mix-up with the photographer, so we would take pictures at the vineyard after the wedding instead. Ugh! All that hurrying for nothing. Well, actually not for nothing, since Eric and I were given the very important job of rushing the programs over to the vineyard for the ushers to hand out as they seated the guests. It was almost time for the wedding, so I knew that Eric’s cousins Josh and Jake would already be seating the guests. We hurried to deliver our package. As we were walking back to our car at the winery, I heard the train crossing gates close and the sound of a train whistle. The commuter train regularly runs through, so Eric and I stopped next to the car and waited to see it “fly” through the middle of town. It was loud and fast. Eric thought it was pretty cool!
At the wedding, Eric did a great job carrying the sign and stood quitely next to cousin Michael (one of the groomsmen) until the ceremony was over and carried the reversed sign down the aisle to exit. Mommy and I were so proud! Later at the reception, Eric had a blast! He waited patiently for dinner to be served, helped in no small part part by his cousin Jennifer letting him borrow her iPad to play games. After dinner and speeches, the music was turned up, the head tables were cleared out, and the dancing began. Eric took full advantage of the opportunity to show off his moves! He danced for most of the night with only a few breaks. He danced with everyone. He was a real popular guy with the ladies, sometimes dancing with two or three at a time! He stayed out well past his bed time, but Mommy and I could not bring ourselves to stop him when he was having so much fun and behaving so well. He finally told Mommy that he was too tired to party any more. Mommy and Eric drove back to the hotel. I stayed a little while longer to see the bride and groom leave and rode back to the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa.
Eric looking so cool!
Eric strutted down the aisle escorted by his cousins Josh and Jake (ushers).
Eric waits patiently for the ceremony to finish.
Eric dances with Mommy.
Eric dances with the bridesmaids.
When I got back to the hotel, I found Mommy and Eric cuddled up together asleep in the bed. I gently picked up Eric, took him to use the toilet, and placed him in his bed on the floor. We regularly travel with a small blow-up air bed for Eric. The bed has a small leak, and Mommy had forgotten to re-inflate it before they went to bed. It was too late to make so much noise with a pump, so I lay him on the partially flattened bed, anyway. In the morning, Eric asked me, “Why did you put me on the hard floor last night, Daddy?” I felt bad, but there was simply not enough room in the bed for all three of us. Despite his small size, Eric takes up a lot of space in a bed. It was a fun wedding trip, but we were still glad to be back home and relax after such a fun-filled weekend.