If you missed it, find Part One here…
Sunday of Labor Day weekend was the Big Day – Brian & Jill’s (Brill) wedding. We didn’t have to be to the Conservatory of Music (where the ceremony was being held) until 3 pm, so in the morning, Jeremy, Jen, Jensen, Travis, Emma and I walked down to Golden Gate Park to see what we could see on foot.
It was a beautiful day, and the park was very pretty, but after the first 1.5 hours or so, the kids – and adults (namely me and Travis) – started having meltdowns. It was Emma’s naptime, and Travis and I still haven’t figured out how to not let Emma’s meltdown cause us to meltdown. Fortunately, Emma fell asleep on the walk back to the house, but poor Jensen was not happy to be in his stroller the whole way home. Unfortunately, while Jensen went to take a nap at the house, Emma woke up (after a much-too-short nap) and was wide awake. Of course. On the day we need her to take the best nap, she takes the worst. What are ya gonna do.
We got ready for the wedding and made it to the Conservatory. It seemed like all the kids were acting up and throwing tantrums. Aye. Emma seemed to be on the verge of a meltdown but shortly before the ceremony started, she got her second wind and actually did really well. We had her notebook and pencil, as well as some snacks, stashed out at our chair, and those kept her occupied for the whole 20 minutes of the ceremony. The other kids in the wedding were a little harder to tame, but overall, they all did well.
Emma was totally shot after that, so Travis and I grabbed some cookies from the cookie reception, loaded Emma up in the car and drove around for 15 minutes before pictures. She was out cold in 30 seconds flat, and we just carried her in her carseat up to pictures, so she totally missed out on those. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Jensen wasn’t in any pictures either, because he wouldn’t sit still.
After pictures, we piled in the minivans and drove over to the bowling alley where the reception was being held. It was a fun atmosphere! Dinner was burgers and fries. There was dancing and bowling.
Thanks to my uncle Noel for the great wedding shots!
Travis and I played almost a whole game before feeling like we had to take Emma home – it was 10 pm at that point. The reception went until 11:30, so we didn’t miss a ton, but I was still sad that we had to leave early. Duty calls.
The next morning, Brian and Jill hosted a brunch at their place. It was fun to see where they lived! It’s a small apartment/townhouse but has this fantastic courtyard area outside their door (actually in back, in between several houses) so it feels tropical and cozy – so unlike a traditional apartment. Jill’s dad made awesome Norwegian pancakes, and we had turkey bacon, chicken sausage, fruit, doughnuts and mimosas. Since we were out of the city (they live in Oakland), it was HOT. It’s amazing the difference in temperature across the bay. (No pictures of this, unfortunately.)
We stayed there until naptime and then did some sightseeing. We drove down to Ghiradelli Square to try and ride the trolley, but once we saw the crazy long line, we reconsidered. We ended up eating lobster bisque at Scoma’s and then headed back to our car.
We then drove past the Painted Ladies (very anti-climatic because one of them was having work done and had scaffolding covering the front), through Chinatown and over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was Labor Day that day, and holy tourists batman! They were everywhere. It was near impossible to drive but the views were beautiful. (And full disclosure, it was so cold at the first viewing point that I didn’t even get out of the car! Travis took these photos.)
After the bridge, we headed back to the house and ate dinner. Brian and Jill came over and hung out for a bit, which was nice.
The next morning, we all flew back home. Travis and I ended up getting a whole row to ourselves, which was awesome. Emma loved having her own space, and she even took an hour nap during the flight.
My parents had been on the same flight, and they parked in the same off-site parking, so we got to our cars at the same time. Emma wasn’t in the best mood for a 2.5 hour car ride, so my parents hung out with us while we let her run around outside for a while (we tried to go to a park but it ended up being an indoor park!) and then ate dinner at Q. Cumbers, a salad bar buffet restaurant. A big salad hit the spot after a weekend of rich food and sweets. Then we hit the road and went home! Emma slept the whole way home, but once we got to our house, she was wide awake. So we let her stay up for about another hour, then put her to bed. It took her over a week to get readjusted to Central Time!
In hindsight, I wish we had gotten a babysitter for the wedding. We didn’t get one, even though we had recommendations, because we weren’t sure about having someone we didn’t know take care of Emma (the tricky thing about a wedding out of state). But I think that even if we had just had a sitter at the reception to watch her while we enjoyed the festivities, it would’ve enabled us to really enjoy being there. Just a thought, in case you have a wedding coming up and are wondering about what to do with your kiddos!
Congrats again to Brian and Jill!
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