whoosh.

Where oh where has the past month gone?
I always have the best intentions of...
oh...
keeping up.
documenting.
remembering.
capturing.
But I always seem to fail at that. Prepare for an epic post ahead. Full of photos, most of which were previewed on facebook.

Went to Wisconsin and Chicago over Memorial day for Mara's stunningly beautifully perfect wedding. Started in Racine with my parents to get Ev adjusted into hotel living for 2 days.
Learned that Ev loves the Dairy State, particularly Rocky Road ice cream (seen above) and fried cheese curds. Ev also loves Wisconsin weather and hanging out with the grandparents.

We then headed to Chicago for the very beautiful wedding of one of my very dearest friends. Took Ev to the Shedd, which would've worked better had he not gotten up at 5 that morning. That might be my least favorite part of traveling with a little.

Had a ridiculous amount of fun. Mara's wedding meant all of us girls were together, and I got to catch up with some of the best people I know. Ev got to meet everyone and ran around the hotel lobby making friends with every 20-something girl there. Mike's sister met us so that we could go to Mara's wedding solo-- our first night out in almost a year? Did I really just say that? Wow. It was such a wonderful night... it was gorgeous and intimate and hilarious (at the right times) and genuine and SO very Mara + James. I took so few photos (good thing I'm not a wedding photographer. hee.), and just enjoyed being there.
(Aren't they perfect?!)
Have some very funny photos of Mike dancing-- but those are nowhere to be found at the current moment. I have to say that I maybe love my husband the very most at weddings-- he usually comes off as so reserved, but weddings... not so much. He's the most fun. Ever. Love him, even when I can't keep up with him.

It was then back to the Ray for something I didn't expect to have. Fortuitous. Amazing. All of my best friends from high school all together in the same place at the same time. One in town to give a physics scholarship-- as she is the only physicist to graduate from my high school. Impressive, right? The rest of us are pretty smart too, I swear. Hee.

So, so, so many laughs were had-- immediate reconnection, just like the old days. It was the best feeling. And this one just makes me smile so big. Mamas + babies. But really, aren't we still 17 and laughing at everything and anything? Hmmm. Maybe we still are?

... and then we were back home and playing soccer and being HOT and then my Megs came for a visit. Ostensibly, she came to see Taylor Swift with me-- which was AMAZING, and we got carded (twice) which made me feel young (which was good, given that we raised the average age there a good 10 years, I swear). Tay put on a great show, but the best part of Meg's visit was Meg. There is nothing like having an old friend in your home and just BEING together. Made my heart happy. And Ev? Well, Ev loved his Meh-Meh. In fact, still looks up at random blonde women and asks, Meh-Meh? And then looks infuriated like, oh, geez, just another impostor. Sheesh.

We did our very best to wear Megs out with trips to the pool and forcing her to take pictures of the baby. FORCING. Really. The one above is one of my favorites of Ev. Ever. I love his crazy crazy hair covered in 10 tons of SPF 70. If he'd just keep his cute hat on...

See, it's a way cute hat.

And she's a way cute Meh-Meh, who we get to see again next month. Seriously. How spoiled have I been this summer?!?

Did I mention that Meg happened to be here the weekend of our soccer championship? There were times when I wondered if Mike and I were crazy to choose to play together this spring. But the longer we played, the happier I was-- it was our time together, to do something we both love, albeit one that he does WAY better than I do. He was by far and away the best player on our team-- he made us work as a team. However, we had to play without him our final game due to an errant red card. Mikey's first red card in 26 years of playing. ... but in overtime, with penalty kicks-- we won! The Champions of the old folks, we are.

He's funny, right? Ha. The refs appreciated his shirt.

... then our Meh-Meh left, but this lovely mark did not:

... do not accidentally block Eddie's shot, or you will be marked for a good week afterwards. In fact, I am still carrying said bruise 8 days later. I'm awesome like that.

And then you have this past weekend-- Jeff and Natalie's wedding in Charleston. The 5 hour down drive there was not the most fun ever, as the small one does not believe in being in the car. But the rehearsal dinner location made up for the drive in spades and gave me my all-time favorite photo I've ever taken. All due to the light and the water and the cute subject, nothing at all due to me, of this I am certain.

Sigh. My boy. He's getting so so so so big. He was so patient at the dinner-- and consumed about 2 lbs of macaroni and cheese when it finally got around to the eating time. Jeff and Natalie were so gracious to have us there-- we had the best time. Live bluegrass, amazing food, and did I mention the perfection of the location? Oh, that's right. I did. I maybe did accidentally let Ev knock down a table of votive candles, but I'm pretty sure that was the only casualty of the night. Oh, and 47 trees were killed by Ev and mama occupying ourselves with the sensor-activated paper towel dispenser in the bathroom during the pre-dinner speeches. Other than that, all was well.

My boys. How much do I love them? Sigh.

We spent the next morning at the most fantastic park-- seriously, Charleston does it right. It was hot. HOT hot, and this is coming from a North Carolinian. We melted, but Ev had the best time running around and swinging. Mike and I looked at each other and wondered what we did before him-- he is SO MUCH FUN. And busy. Just a little busy... and we love it.

... I left Ev and Mike to nap during the 1.5 hour ceremony, which I think was a wise decision, given the duration I just listed. The ceremony was just lovely, and the reception was insane-- in a good way. The 300-ish people, however, sort of overwhelmed Ev and clearly made me forget I brought my camera. We ran around empty ballrooms and ate about 50 goat cheese stuffed artichoke hearts together and finally found a quiet corner to eat bunny grahams and read books with the other 16-month old there, whose diaper bag had gotten locked in the room where we were having dinner (NOT fun for that mama). We survived waiting for dinner to start til 7:30, but did almost lose it a few times during the speeches and first dances. That is a long time for a boy to wait to eat. Um, and a mama, to be honest. Thankfully, there was a dancefloor, and Ev busted a few moves during the waiting. Not surprisingly: he ate about 2 lbs of mac and cheese for dinner again. Hee. Whatever works to wash down those artichokes, right?

We sort of thought someone would sleep in after going to bed at 10:30, but we had a bright-eyed Ev at 7:30, ready to take on the day. So to the beach we went... which we weren't sure was going to be a huge hit. He's sometimes not the biggest fan of the pool, and shows no interest in the sandbox. Period. Ever. Oh how wrong we were-- he LOVED it.

He would've stayed all day, I swear to it. I have never seen him so enthralled by something as he was the ocean. It was the best. Made this beach-loving mama's heart happy. And then we headed home. And someone actually slept in the car, thank you beach. And now we're all still recovering before the next epic trip.

... I'm sleepy typing all of that. Maybe I should try to update more than once a month, eh? Sigh. So many things to work on as always.

Happy Wednesday, friends.

xoxoxox.