North Carolina...part 1...

You want to know what makes for an amazing weekend? Gathering in the state of North Carolina with all of Steve's siblings and many of their spouses to celebrate our nephews wedding. What makes the weekend even better...no kids, not even my nursing baby. I would be lying if I said I didn't cry as I dropped Cannon off at our neighbors house, I was having separation anxiety. In fact, the day before leaving I was ready to pack his bags and bring him with us. But I'm counting my lucky stars that I was able to spend the weekend enjoying family, staying up extremely late having the best conversations, exploring the area - all without a stroller, carseat or working around nap time. We had the best time.

We got in really late the day we arrived and we were exhausted, but that didn't stop us from having a good time and taking a couple selfies.


We stayed in this cute, quaint bed and breakfast, Lions Gate, in Wake Forest.

We took every room and had the place to ourselves. We woke up to a fresh cooked breakfast each morning and I'm still dreaming about the pears in caramel sauce!

We had several organized events as part of the wedding, but we also found some time to explore a bit.
The ladies attended a bridal luncheon while the men went skeet shooting.

I didn't find out until the end of the weekend that Steve won the shooting contest - he totally downplayed his awesomeness!



After the luncheon we crammed into a van (we brought our nephew's girlfriend with us along for the ride and I'm sure she thought we were crazy by the end!) and we went on a little adventure.

Let me just say - these women are awesome and we had the best afternoon. We knew there was a temple somewhat close so we went there first.


Since we were accustomed to being smashed into the van together we decided after the temple we'd hit up Duke University. It is beautiful in every aspect. The grounds are luscious with blooming flowers and the buildings have such character and rich history. We saw Duke play in the final four a few years back so it was fun to be at their campus. I was wishing Steve had been there to enjoy it with me - when he found out we went without the men he was a little bummed!






I'm not sure why, but I loved this bench just outside of some of the student housing. I would've sat in it to take a picture, but I was fearful someone else might sit next to me!!


After our lengthy road trip (and a stop at McDonalds for drinks and Dairy Queen for treats), we attended the wedding rehearsal dinner in the backyard of the bed and breakfast. Have I mentioned how beautiful the area was? The trees were beautiful and mature and the grass was thick and green - spring arrived just in time for us.

We got our first glimpse of the soon-to-be married couple and they were grinning ear to ear the entire time. They were so happy and grateful and just excited. It was fun to just watch them interact with each other with such adoration.

Steve and his oldest brother (father of the groom) are almost 16 years apart, but you wouldn't know it. They are friends before brothers and it shows in their jovial conversations and their manner of joking with one another. I love that we're close with him and his family. (Thanks to our years of living in Milwaukee near them - time I wouldn't trade for anything.)

Speaking of brothers...they all have a good time together!







It's hard to gather 9 siblings, so when they are together - you take a family picture. This is what 50 years of marriage looks like for Steve's parents:

That is a lot of living and a lot of years of raising children but the result is pretty amazing.

To be continued...