Brad's Cousin Kelly's Wedding in Alexandria

Ava taking one of her 15 minute naps on the ride back after the ceremony (missed nap time!) Sorry - no pics of Ava looking without the binky!

A tired Ava with Brittney L.

Brad & I (first pic without Ava in forever!)

Roy, Lisa, James, Layne, & Lori

Ava being silly as usual

Mommy & Ava all ready for the wedding

We packed up on Friday to go to Alexandria, MN for Brad's cousin Kelly Estrem's wedding. As usual, we were amazed with all the gear we end up packing. It seem to get worse with each trip! The drive went remarkably well. We only stopped in Marshall which is a little over an hour away. We drove the last three hours without stopping and Ava did well. She took a couple short naps, watched her DVD, and dumped several goldfish and cheerios all about the backseat. We were thrilled she didn't cry the whole way! When we got there, we swam in the hotel which Ava loved and also visited Roy, Lisa, and Layne at their house which was nice. Saturday, we met up with Lori and James and rode with them to the wedding which was about 40 minutes away in Elbow Lake. That car trip was not so good for Ava as she was ready for a nap (I think James was getting annoyed!). The ceremony was beautiful with great music. We enjoyed it and Ava made it through about 3/4 of it before we had to take her out to run around. The reception was held right next to our hotel which was very convenient. It was great to visit with all the relatives we had not seen in a while. We thought we were going to have to leave the reception by 7:30 pm as Ava was not doing very well, but then she turned a corner and decided she liked Brad's cousin Julie and her daughter. It was nice for Brad and I to have a little time to just visit without having to keep an eye on Ava. We headed back to the hotel shortly after 10:00 where we all crashed from exhaustion. (Yes- we are old!) Sunday, we had lunch with Roy, Lisa, and Layne and then headed home. It was a very fun weekend and nice to get away, but as always, great to be back in our own beds again!