The Poco Loco Olsons: Cousin Frank's Wedding

Last month, my cousin Frank got remarried and we were invited to be part of the celebration. So, the morning of the wedding, we piled into the van and made the trek down to Portland.

Knowing that we'd be traveling on Memorial Day weekend, we were keen to avoid as much holiday traffic as possible, we we timed our time on I-5 very strategically. For the most part, we had an easy drive. We did encounter some slow downs in/around downtown Seattle (no surprise there) and near the bases south of Tacoma (again, no surprise). We got to our hotel in time to get settled and take a few breaths before changing into our wedding clothes and heading out to the church. It was rather hot that and we were quite grateful for the AC in the car... and later, the pool at the hotel.

The ceremony was sweet. My cousin basically cried the entire time. The priest was quite a character, and even brought Joy dish soap in to the mix. Troy did the readings, many of my cousins were in the wedding party (y'all clean up real good!), Troy/Staci helped performed the lasso portion of the wedding, and I was the Eucharistic minister. WHEW! I'm pretty sure Eric and Conor were most excited when I suggested they avoid wearing their blazers because of the heat. (Yeah, increasing my chances for winning wife/mom of the year right there!) :)

The reception was held at the Elks Club that very kindly had AC. A few of us (me included) were plagued by sore feet, but at least no one had to melt in the heat. (My van's display registered 102F when we left the church!!!) We were asked to offer marriage advice to the newlyweds, which we all did ... including our kids (see below). The band was quite good and many a twirl, boogie, and twist was performed over the course of the evening. At one point, I tried to get my cousin Ron's little girl (4) to dance with Conor, to which she replied, "EW! I don't dance with BOYS!" (Oh how she'll change her mind on that in another 10 years of so!)

I had a great time catching up with my extended family members, many of whom I haven't seen in years. The kids had fun meeting new (to them) cousins and dancing until they were exhausted. Annika and Conor were most tickled, however, when my Aunt Marie gave them $2 bills. Who carries those around with them?!?!?! Our kids didn't even realize $2 bills existed until she handed them to the kids.

After the reception, we make the short trek back to the hotel. The kids and I hopped into the pool while Eric lounged by the side of the pool. Eventually, we hit our pruny fingers and toes limit and headed back to our room, only to be invited by Troy/Staci to come over to their room for pizza (Bonus!!). We quickly changed into dry clothes and had a little post-reception reception. We recounted funny stories and shared memories from the day and our previous excursion to visit this side of the family during our childhood years. We fondly told stories about visiting our grandma "back in the day" and (perhaps) made her a bit of a known entity for our kids, who never had the chance to know her.

We practically fell into bed that night, to say the least! Lots of fun, but so tired. :)