Summer's End...

It is with a bit of a heavy heart that I make this post, as the title indicates that our glorious summer vacation is coming to an end. But, not before we had the chance to do some pretty fun things! We spent a long weekend at our parents' beach house on Lake Michigan, (which included some quality time with Violet in the sand) took Violet on her first trip to the zoo, had Violet stay at Grandma's house overnight without Mom and Dad, ate lots of corn on the cob, went on our first camping trip (on which we forgot the camera :( ), and frantically got ready for the upcoming school year. So, I thought I'd leave you with some pictures of the end of Violet's 2nd summer. Enjoy!

Summer, 2008

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Happy Anniversary!

Ben & Charissa
August 2, 2003

Today marks 5 years that Ben and I exchanged vows in an outdoor setting at The Big Red Barn in Iowa. How time flies!

The Wedding

Blowing bubbles at the reception

I'm finally getting around to posting about Violet's first flower-girl role. I say first because shortly after my brother's wedding, my sister and her boyfriend announced their engagement. So, it appears that Violet will be reprising the role of flower girl next fall.

It was quite the experience for Violet, well at least for her mom! The week of wedding festivities began with shopping for her dress. We found out very quickly that Violet LOVES pretty dresses, but does not like the salespeople. We were shopping in one of those stores that the salespeople bring the dresses to the dressing rooms for you, and after we had gathered about 10 possibilities, this really nice salesman came up and took the dresses to the dressing room. Unfortunately, Violet was convinced that he was taking her dresses away, so that got the whole process off to a rather tearful start.

I was already dreading having to fit her into multiple dresses, and starting off on this foot did not help matters any. We managed to get her calmed down and there was another little girl trying on dresses as well, so they got to twirl for each other. We got Violet into the first dress, and it was gorgeous (and secretly I knew it was the one we would end up with, but grandma wanted to see the others). We took her out to the big mirror outside of the dressing rooms, and she was such a princess--twirling and smiling at herself. But...then she found the big bow right in front, and decided she didn't like it. It was safety-pinned on, so it was removable, but of course, this is one of those stores that if you damage the dress, you buy it. So, I'm trying to just take it off so she doesn't rip it off, and then the lovely salesman starts saying, "No, no, don't mess..I will fix...don't worry..." and that freaks Violet out again! So the rest of the trying on process was completed with a crying Violet. Not much fun. But, we got the dress, and got Violet out of the store and appeased with some chicken nuggets. Phew!

Practicing at the rehearsal--she didn't actually throw the flowers at the wedding.

Fast forward a week to the wedding...Violet did fantastically. Ben and I were so proud of her--she isn't even two and cooperated very nicely at the rehearsal, practicing her walk down the aisle and giving silly smiles to the bridal party. We did have some bribes--Violet had gotten attached to some little 2 in. care bears from my childhood, so we had two with me at the front of the church, and one she carried down in her basket.

Dress is on...we're ready to go

The wedding also went well; the only hitch was that she and the photographer did not hit it off very well, so she wasn't in many professional pictures, and because Ben and I were trying to keep her happy, there aren't a lot of pictures period. I've made a note to make sure I take someone along to next year's wedding just to snap candids! She successfully made it down the aisle with little fuss (I don't think my brother and sister-in-law chose to video tape the ceremony) only asking for Mom the last 10 ft or so, and only giving the photographer a life-threatening look when he popped out to take her picture) and danced with Mom with the bridal party at the reception. It was a great evening, lots of fun, and I've decided that there is just not a good time for weddings if you have two-year-old. No matter what, you're going to run into nap time!

Grumpy face--this is what she did if she decided she didn't want to do something!


But really, she's such a princess!

That's the story of the wedding. I hope you enjoy the pictures. It amazes me just how big she is getting, and the fact that she's doing all of this before she's two!