Atlanta

Our best friend Tim got married over Labor Day weekend, so we made a kidless trip to Atlanta, GA.

When we got into Atlanta on Friday evening, we met everyone at a Karaoke bar.  It was an interesting place.  You rented out a room and sang only to your friends.  It was definitely an experience.

Leading up to the trip, we were SO excited about our first Airbnb experience.  We rented a large, southern charmer with Patrick and Emily.  When we got to our house, we were quite disappointed.  

It looked like the guy had professional pictures of his house taken, and then he bought two large dogs.  The place smelled like dog and was covered in hair, slobber, and teeth marks. In addition, some of the pictures were very misleading.  Here's what the backyard looked like in the photos:

And here's what we actually got:

The beautiful dining room had been turned into the dog's room.  

Thankfully, the owner immediately refunded us half our money when we complained.

Tim and his brothers have a tradition of wearing silly suits for each other's rehearsals.

Janelle's dad is the vice president of ticket sales for the Atlanta Braves, so the rehearsal dinner was at the brand new Suntrust Park.

For supper we had a sushi buffet and other amazing Asian hors d'oeuvres.

After dinner, we were able to go out onto the field!

I got some pictures from my parents.

Zach was a groomsman in the wedding, and he and I sang.  The song we sang is one of my new favorites.  It is called The Summons. I love the fourth verse.

This picture needs a little background.  Tim is the director of L'Arche Atlanta.  It is an organization that brings people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities together in community.  All four of the core members who live in the L'Arche house were in Tim and Janelle's wedding.  John was a best man, Patrick read scripture, Terry gave a blessing, and Corbin played flute and bagpipes.  Corbin is blind and has other disabilities, however, he is an extraordinary musician!  He can play anything after hearing it only once.  I had so much fun talking to his mom about his giftedness and hearing Corbin play.

So happy for this beautiful couple!

Heading home

Reunited!

We had such a wonderful trip!  It was great spending kidless time with Patrick and Emily, and seeing other friends from college.  We also loved getting to know Janelle and all of their friends.  

Thank you to my parents for spending four days with our kids! 

State Fair and Pentatonix

I know I say this every year, but I love having the state fair in Grand Island.  It is such a fun family event.  This year we went three times.  On Saturday we went as a family, on Tuesday I went on a field trip with my students, and on Thursday Monroe and I went so she could do the rides.  It was a great time, as always.

The week leading up to the fair, we tried to take pictures with many of the hay bales around town.

This was the boys' favorite spot

Graham

Pierce

As we were walking by some cows, an owner asked us if Monroe wanted to pet one.

That night, Zach and I went to the Pentatonix concert.  Pentatonix is our favorite singing group, so it was crazy that they were in Grand Island.  We got to see one of their last concerts with the original five members.

Before the concert, I went to get Zach and I supper.  It took forever, and these three were missing me :)

Oh how I love the Cello!

It was an awesome concert!

This is my childhood best friend, Chelsey.  She is the entertainment director for the State Fair.

Chelsey gave our boys State Fair T-shirts when they were born, but we forgot to wear the shirts on Saturday.

On Thursday, Monroe and I went out to the fair right after school.  Finally, it was her night to ride the rides.  We saw a number of friends while we were there.

Monroe and Breckyn were twinsies

Monroe was tall enough to ride some of the big rides.

Yes, she is the one screaming.  She loved it!

We love the State Fair!