June I - Wedding deserves it's own post...

June was a VERY exciting month for our family.  Ryan and Justin got married at the Omni Parker House in Boston on June 2nd.  The wedding was so beautiful.  They had about 150 family and friends who traveled from all over the country to help them celebrate.  Some people are curious about what a gay wedding is like.  The response is simple.  It is EXACTLY the same as a "normal" wedding.  My Uncle Gary, who is a Lutheran pastor, officiated the service, just as he did for his own sons and for myself and Ben.  Same ceremony. They then had an awesome reception (some of which is a little hazy in my memory).  All the traditional wedding stuff; cake cutting, first dances, mother/groom dances, great food, great bar and some late night shenanigans.  

It is hard to put into words how upsetting it is to me when people don't support gay marriage.  Part of me blames their ignorance or unaccepting nature.  Part of me blames their upbringing that they were either to sheltered by their parents or very uneducated. Part of me blames human nature and being scared to accept new things. Part of me blames their religion, which makes me the most mad.  I thought Christians were supposed to be accepting people (WWJD and all)? Part of me just gets plain old annoyed and wants to scream, "Why the fuck do you care and how the fuck is this making your life any worse". I'd probably get arrested or into a fist fight so I restrain myself.

Instead I just say to them that it is only bettering the lives of two wonderful people who deserve to enjoy the same joys of marriage that all the rest of us do.  Oppressing a group of people is just so wrong in so many ways.

OK, I don't usually get political or preachy on here but sometimes I have to rant (might happen again come November election time). Now back to the wonderful day and the celebration.

My pictures really aren't very good because I was a bridesmaid and Audrey was a flower girl so we were busy.  Then we got down to the partying so I forgot about taking pictures.  Check out the pictures below and you'll see it is just like any other wedding celebration you've been to. I'll try to post some good ones once I get them from Ryan's photographer.

Sawyer trying on his wedding get-up before we left.  I was worried he wouldn't want to wear it because he hates "button shirts".  He actually loved it.  I think he knew he looked handsome. 

Duck Tour the day before the wedding.  We took up the whole duck boat with all the wedding guests.  It's a great way to see the city of Boston, from land and water.

Rehearsal.  They were nervous!

Audrey at the rehearsal dinner.  She was excited about her jewels.

The ceremony.  It was wonderful!

Ok, there was one non-traditional part.  Dancing down the aisle after the ceremony to Dancing Queen.  It was fun though.  I highly recommend it.  

First Dance

Speeches.  They were all great.  My dad's was awesome!

Audrey and Justin's sister Lindsey.

Mother/Son dances

Sawyer dancing with Grandma Rapp before she broke her wrist =(  He loved dancing with his grandmas.  After the wedding I asked which part he liked best and he said, "Dancing with my Gwandma's". 

Audrey dancing to Dynamite, her fav song.  

My dad and some of his best friends.  I love this picture.

May

May is always the busiest month of the year.  We have birthdays, Mother's Day, dance recitals, tball, softball, Girl Scout Camp and end of the year school stuff.  May was such a whirlwind I will do my best.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

 My friend Kim and I led the girls' Daisy Troop for the past two years.  This was our first year at camp.  We opted for the "cushy" camp because we wanted to stay in a cabin with a bathroom and didn't want to cook our own food over a campfire.  I wonder why?  It was Mother's Day weekend so we felt we deserved it.  We have 18 girls in our troop but only 12 went to camp.  I had a lot of anxiety over going to this camp but it turned out the be really fun.  I only slept 2 or 3 hours both nights in my little bunk bed but the girls really bonded so it was worth it.

The following weekend was Audrey's dance recital.  The girls improved SO much this year.  I couldn't believe how great they did.  They were cave girls and did the Ice Age song, Everybody Walk That Dinosaur.  Super cute!!!

Audrey started coach pitch softball this year.  This was a little out of her comfort zone.  It started out rough as she got struck out every time she batted for the first 3 games.  Can you believe the have strike outs for 6 and 7 year olds? However, after the first few games she got a fair amount of hits. She was one of the first girls on her team to get another girl out.  She may not be the best from an athletic stand point on the team but she really understood the game and knew where she should be at all times  

Sawyer started tball this year, which I love.  Tball is hilarious to watch.  Sawyer really enjoyed playing, except on the 95 degree days.  He was SO excited about getting his first trophy.  He talked about it all season and couldn't wait for the final game!  Below are some action shots of my star athletes =)

Sawyer finished up preschool in May as well.  He will go to Young 5s next year.  He'll be gone everyday but only for 2 1/2 hours in the morning.  He is sitting by his BFF, Johnny.  Those two were attached at the hip all year.  It was weird for me because Sawyer is happy to play with kids but is also happy alone.  In preschool he was always surrounded by a bunch of kids and that surprised me.  His teacher said he was a leader in the class.  He was one of the older kids since he has a November birthday but that surprised me as well.  It was probably nice for him to spread his own wings a bit and not have his older sister bossing him around.

Sawyer and his teachers.  Audrey had the same ones and they were great.

Audrey turned 7 in May!! Seven sounds so old!  We had a small party with a few girls from her class.  They were so much more mature and easy to handle than when we had her party in Kindergarten.  This year Audrey matured a lot.  It's crazy how much changes over a year. She asked for a Kindle and gardening gloves.  I know, it sounds like something a 70 year old would ask for, not a 7 year old.  She continues to love to read.  Luckily my best friend Brandy teaches 4th grade so we got to go raid her classroom for summer reading.  Otherwise I'd either be broke or driving to the library every day.  Audrey continues to love school and learning.  She is still super smiley and positive.  She has a flare for the dramatic and is still sensitive.  She makes friends easily and is definitely not shy!  

If you can believe it, our June was busier than our May.....

April

April started off with a spring break trip to Anna Maria Island, FL.  Normally we'd be desperate for warmth but our summer weather pretty much started in March this year so it wasn't as bad.  We were desperate for some time away though and to just hang out as a family.

We drove the 20 hours because airfare is crazy!  Ben decided it would be easiest to drive through the night so the kids would sleep.  It was long but other than a crazy/scary 1:00 am detour in a crazy/scary town in TN they slept.  When Sawyer was awake he talked and asked questions non stop.  Movies are not his thing.  He always has a stream of random questions.  These are a few I remember: "How many moons does Jupiter have?  How many bears would it take to push over a boulder? How many miles in  Tennessee?"  This went on for much of the 20 hour drive.  Luckily it's been a few months so the memories are starting to fade.  I was just glad, "Are we there yet?" wasn't one of his favorite questions.

We stayed right on the beach which was great.  We had a little hiccup our first night with a puke fest explosion from Audrey which led to a trip to the ER.  We juiced her up on Gatorade and Zofran and she was better by the next night.

Anna Maria Island is so beautiful.  So much prettier than most of FL.  It reminded me of Sanibel and Captiva, just cheaper.  The kids loved the ocean, as always.  That was where we spent most of our time.  You can see from the pictures that we were happy and relaxed.  On our way back home we made a stop in Tampa to see my Papa.  Although he's 85 he seems so much younger!  He's our inspiration on how to grow old but still have fun!

 Also in April was my brother and Justin's wedding shower.  We held it at my mom's house and it went awesome.  Everyone was so happy for them and super excited to travel to Boston to celebrate their marriage.

 Excited flower girl!

On to May......

I'm catching up...

I've been informed that I'm a little behind. I tried to get my brother to ghostwrite for me but that didn't work out. I'll try to do a month by month update from April on.