Tuesday, April 22, 2014

S is for 'Specially Special

Today is the day in which I shall attempt to recap the weekend that was, so everybody strap in. Daughter1 phoned home with her happy news about 9:30 on Thursday evening.  Not that we were all sitting around the phone or anything. I played it cool. Okay, not really, but I did manage to say a simple hello, what's up? and she said, 'You Know!!'. 

Yes! Since February, but I may have mentioned that here already. ahem.   

Daughter2, her boyfriend, the hubs and I had a nice day on Friday. We had lunch out then went to see Draft Day, which we all liked. Kevin Costner knows how to make a sports movie, plus he's aging very well. Just sayin'.  

I have already recapped the Friday night festivities, which you can read about here, so I won't re-tell that bit again now. You're welcome.

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day, and we spent most of it outdoors. I realized pretty quickly that we are a house geared towards girls, because right away the boys asked if we had a glove, a ball, anything they could toss around in the backyard. I have a teeny tiny tennis raquet belonging to Molly the American Girl Doll. Will that work? 



Hubs literally sprinted down to the basement and came up with our old lacrosse sticks, a ball, and his mitt, and the three guys proceeded to play some some version of catch. As an aside, please pay no attention to our grass. It's been a long winter, and we're still down in the 30's at night so, yeah.  


It was convertible weather (with a jacket on), so hubs took Daughter2's boyfriend for a spin in the little red car.



And then he talked the guys into a hike through the woods to the top of our hill. Hubs has been swimming in a sea of estrogen for thirty years, and I'm so happy he's gaining a son. 



  While the men were being manly, we girls mostly did this-


You can't help yourself...it sparkles! A lot. 



We did wrangle them inside to dye Easter eggs, and once they saw they had no choice they quickly got on board. We all felt it was important for the fiance to see the intensity with which his future wife tackles this project.


Saturday evening hubs and I had arranged for a little celebration, NYC style. We had a driver pick us up at the house, then headed into Manhattan for dinner.


We dined in a restaurant in the Village called One if By Land, Two if By Sea, which at one time belonged to former Vice President, Aaron Burr. It was his carriage house, then later a pub and brothel, and finally a restaurant beginning in 1910. Do you know much about Aaron Burr? As it happens, neither did we, so I made a little trivia game for the car ride over, and we educated ourselves. Any excuse to play a game my hubs would say.


The restaurant is rumored to be haunted, but we saw no signs of that during our visit. One if By Land is always rated as one of the most romantic restaurants in NYC, and I have to agree. The setting is intimate, with lots of low lit chandeliers, wonderful food, and just the right level of attention from our very nice wait staff.


Hubs made the loveliest, most heart felt toast, which made the bride and her mama a little teary eyed. And the sister was quietly sobbing, but what can I say? We're an emotional bunch here.



As we drove home we noticed the city had kindly lit the Empire State Building in pastels just for us, or possibly Easter, but we prefer to think it was for us.


Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful and there were baskets and breakfast, and then church and more picture taking. The boys are almost used to me and my camera. Almost.


Can I just say too, that one of my most favorite things is looking down a church pew that is filled with my people? My heart feels like it wants to just spill right out and over.


After church we had our traditional lunch menu of baked ham, pineapple stuffing, deviled eggs, and roasted asparagus, and then the guys played pool while we girls may or may not have opened up the box that has held my wedding dress for the past thirty years. I think I'll save that for another post. Maybe.

And I guess you know what happened next. In what always feels like the blink of an eye suitcases were being loaded into the car, and goodbyes were being said, and grown up children were boarding trains and planes until the next time.

"Where we love is home-home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." 
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. 

14 comments:

  1. Great looking family. You are a busy lady. Hope you are making new blogging friends during the #challenge. I'm stopping by on the 22nd day and having a wonderful time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Has a date been set? This weekend went by too fast for me, also.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AWESOME!!! Congratulations. So happy for you and your daughter. Blessings

    ReplyDelete
  4. The picture in the restaurant of the six of you is just lovely. You can see how happy the newly engaged couple is!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good grief, I'm sitting here all teary eyed after reading your statement about the church pew. I feel the exact same way and it happens all too rarely for me.

    What a beautiful celebration for your lovely daughter and future SIL.

    What an exciting time!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great news indeed! What a nice celebration too! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I enjoyed every word of this. What a magical celebration. And your daughter's are sparkling like her diamond, the way it should be!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a fun weekend - I can tell everyone was on cloud nine the entire time :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the picture of you all in the restaurant. Everyone looking at the camera except the newly engaged, who are gazing at each other. Perfect! Congrats to all, and happy planning! When we were planning my daughter's, I told her two things: 1. the wedding is not more important than the marriage, and 2. through the fun (stress) of planning a wedding, we will still be friends. :) And we are, of course. It was so much fun, actually, and I know you will think so too. Enjoy. (And did she try on your dress??)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you thank you for such a wonderful weekend and for making it so memorable. Love all the pictures- so happy to have everything documented.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Those pictures are sooo incredibly sweet! Hubs must have been in complete heaven having a couple of guys around!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well, I read Shannon's blog before I got to yours, so I already knew some of this, including whether you did or did not look at your wedding gown...

    You have such a beautiful family, and the photos are wonderful!! Such excitement and more to come!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a lovely way to meet you and your family - in the midst of happy news and big joy!

    We're not so far up the Hudson from the city - maybe someday we'll try that restaurant.

    Again, lovely to meet you and your family! =D

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a perfect lovely weekend!

    ReplyDelete