sigh of relief

we're home. jeff's brother got married yesterday and though it was a beautiful wedding and it was wonderful seeing family we haven't seen in years, it was also exhausting dealing with two small children the entire weekend. we even brought a babysitter with us and i'm still wiped out.

highlights from the weekend:

1. during the ceremony, kate flung her lolipop - by accident! - and hit jeff's brother in the foot during the bedeken which they did during the ceremony so all 250 guests were watching.

2. kate and jack slept in their own beds in an adjoining room for the first time. sniff, sniff. my babies are growing up.

3. after the ceremony we went to take family photos in a park. halfway through the photos, kate told me she had to go to the bathroom. there are no bathrooms in sight. i was in heels and a dress and kate was wearing a poufy silk dress. i scooped her up, kicked off my heels and ran across the park to a huge oak (?) tree. i took her underpants off and taught her to squat. when we were finished, kate said 'mommy! i learned to pee in the trees!'.

4. hanging out with our babysitter, michelle. she is best friends with jeff's cousin, jordie. jordie and michelle have, over the years, become part of our family and my kids adore them both. this morning when jack got up and didn't see michelle in the hotel room, he ran to the other room and came back asking 'where ma-shell go?' he loves her which works out well because kate thinks jordie hung the moon. we're really lucky to have michelle and jordie in our lives.

5. coming home we made the trip from philly to columbia in under 2 hours. record time and i didn't really speed.