Andy + Mallery

Andy and Mallery's wedding itself was gorgeous.  It was at an outdoor venue outside of Minneapolis with beautiful landscaping and scenery - and the temperature couldn't have been better.

Sadly, the mosquitoes decided they were going to crash the party, so the majority of the evening was spent either swatting the pesky creatures or dousing yourself in bug spray!  But aside from that, it couldn't have been a nicer wedding.

Here's Mer and Matt with the brood of kids.  We somehow got split up from them when we got seated and as a result Ryan and I sat part from our children. We joked that anyone not knowing Mer and Matt probably think that they have a very busy household with 5 kids!

After the wedding, there was plenty of time to walk around, make some s'mores, and take some pictures.

We were all dressed up.  It was the perfect time to try and capture some family pics...

Commemorating the wedding with a photo opp...

Gosh darn, have I told you how much I love these little ones?!  And how much I love that they admire each other so much!?

While our trip to Minneapolis for my cousin's wedding seemed very short, we were thankful to be together with my family for the evening and catch up on life.  I hadn't seen most of them for a long while, so it was nice to be able to chat with them and spend the evening together!

My cousin Megan, her daughter Hadley, her husband Ben, my cousin Tony and his girlfriend, Nina.

My aunt Margaret, my sweet great-uncle Tom, and the father-of-the-groom (my uncle) John.

My mom with her brothers - John, Tony (with Hadley), and Wade.

The wedding was a wonderful event - full of lots of love and laughter! Congrats to my cousin, Andy and the newest member of the Merry family, Mallery.

Wedding Bliss...

My cousin, Andy, got married this past weekend in Minneapolis.  We made the journey to Minnesota to share in their special day and were thrilled that we would be able to spend the weekend with Grandma Jane and the Kempers too.

Prior to the wedding, we soaked in all the time we could with our family.  We knew that the weekend was going to fly by, so we wanted to make the most of the time that we had!

We spent plenty of time in the pool...

We went to the Mall of America.  The mall is a bit overwhelming for the average adult, let alone 5 little ones.  They were amazing little shoppers...

The little ones headed back to the hotel to take a nap, while the ladies stayed at the mall to shop our little hearts out...!  Sullivan hung with us for a short while and then headed back to the hotel.  She tried her darndest to hang with the big girls!

I had the best time shopping with these ladies.  It brought me back to the good old days where we marathon shopped for hours on end!  It was nice to relive those memories.

Because we marathon shopped right through the kids' nap, they met us back at the mall for more shopping and dinner once they woke up!

At dinner, Grandma Jane joked around with her chopsticks...

Monkey see, monkey do...

We also did some late night dancing at the mall...

The day of the wedding, we needed a couple of things from Target.  Mer, Ryan and I decided to pack up the kids and do a little (more) shopping.

A few things from Target turned into a little more than a few things.  

Like popcorn for a snack...

And a trip down the toy aisle where plenty of treasures were discovered...

Honestly, taking five kids to Target seems a bit like herding cats.  And while you could say that we might have done a bit of that, they were awesome little shoppers.  I was so proud of how well they all behaved and acted in the store.

So much fun packed into a short weekend.

More on the wedding festivities soon...!

State Fair - 2016

The State Fair in Indiana is a big deal.  The 17 day ordeal (yes, 17 days!) typically draws hundreds of thousands of people, like 900,000 - us included.  The weather this year was less than desirable.  We thought about going to the fair several times, but the weather just didn't cooperate.

Finally, this past Friday looked like it would work out.  The news reporters were saying, "Today's the day to get to the fair.  There is little chance for rain and the sun should shine."  But if you know anything about Indiana weather, you know they are very unreliable.  We took our chances after the girls got home from school, despite the rain that was falling as we left our house.

Ryan assured us that it was a pop up shower, it was moving north away from the fair and all would be fine. "It's not going to rain."  Fast forward about an hour...

That's us (and about 75 other people) huddled under a tent trying to stay dry.  Except that the tent had a massive leak in it and didn't do it's job!  Sullivan Grace was a mess - terrified of the storm that had very quickly blown in.  So after contemplating what to do, we made a mad dash in the downpour for the nearest building. 

Famous last words - "It's not going to rain."

Divine intervention must have taken shape, because low and behold we happened to run right into the building that housed all the rabbits - Sullivan's favorite animal and near obsession.  

It most definitely took her mind off the storm and what was going on.

I can't even describe the magnitude of this building filled with rabbits.  There was an insane amount of them.  Sullivan asked if we could take one home - which was answered with a quick and resounding, "NO!"  But there was a sweet lady taking care of the rabbits that allowed our girls to pet one.  That seemed like a good compromise to me! 

There was a small break in the storm so we made a dash into another building.  We saw all sorts of things.  If nothing else, the storm forced us to see parts of the fair that we normally overlooked.  It was refreshing.  It was fun.  It was a nice change!

We saw cookie contest winners...

The state's largest vegetables...

A pluthora of Bicentennial displays...

Quinn and Sullivan were even asked to help repaint a historical marker sign that will eventually be on display once the painting is finished.  That is a pretty awesome experience to know you had a hand in helping restore something that will be on display!

Eventually the storm did pass through.  We were able to enjoy some yummy food...

Rode on some fun rides...

And take our iconic fair picture...

It's hard to tell, but Quinn and Sulla are together making a heart with their hands.  

We heart Indy!!

This year's fair was unlike anything we've experienced before.  It's one that we will remember for years to come.  The famous last words will echo loudly, "It's not going to rain!"

Getting Ready

Getting ready to head back to school required a couple different things... school supply shopping and a Pooley family fun day!

The weekend before school started, I headed to Iowa to pick up the girls (who had been in SD while we were on vacation).  Grandma Jane, Quinn, Sullivan and I had an evening to spare - as we were spending the night in Iowa City before making the journey home the following day.

The girls were anxious and antsy to school supply shop.  They asked a few dozen times before we left on vacation.  But sadly I was in survival mode before our trip and had no desire to shove supply shopping in there.  So they were beyond elated when I told them we could school supply shop in Iowa.  They were even more elated that Grandma Jane was there with them!

We got back from SD - thrilled to all four be together again.  We had a blast in Belize, but man alive, did we miss those girls!! To celebrate being together again, and the start of the new school year, the girls wanted to go to Ben and Ari's - a local mini golf and arcade.

We had such a great time playing and laughing.  But the fun couldn't stop there - a stop by the gas station for slushies was calling our name! It was a marvelous way to end the day of fun!