Over the River and Through the Woods...

... to Grandmother's house we went this weekend. Although it was more like over a few rivers and through  construction on the New Jersey Turnpike.  We headed up to Grandma Mangiaracina's this weekend for a few reasons - partly because we had a wedding to attend on Long Island and mostly because James was finally going to meet some of his Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.

We dropped Lucy off with Grandma and Grandpa Q. on Friday night and hit the road. The drive up was slightly brutal, but we managed to make it to Long Island in one piece. 

James was a trooper ~ he slept the entire car ride, had a bottle upon arrive, doled out some smiles and then hit the hay until the next morning.  First thing on the agenda: visit Gennaro Jewelers to have my engagement ring and wedding band re-sized.  I have not been able to wear them since about month 3 of my pregnancy so it is pretty awesome to get them back on my 1/2-size bigger fingers.

After our errand, it was time to head home and party like it was 1999 with the family.  James, thankfully, was in a good mood and let everyone hold him and kiss on him.  Don't get me wrong, there were a few fussy moments, but all in all everyone got to see our sweet little boy with smiles on his face.  Cousin Renee fell in love immediately. So much so that she would not give him up!! 

It was a great day, followed by a great evening.  We there to attend the wedding of Ed's good friend Patty.  The wedding was at the Garden City Hotel and it was black tie optional so it was a chance for Ed and I to shed our spit-up covered clothes and get all dolled up.  Aunt Adriana, Uncle John and Uncle Joe were on hand to baby sit and what a great job they did. We put James down before we left and he continued to sleep well into the night.  When we woke up, Aunt Adriana fed him, changed him, played with him and put him down again with no real drama.  What a pro!!

The wedding was lovely but unfortunately we were so tired from the drive and the day that we bowed out a little early. The bride looked gorgeous, the food was awesome and the band rocked so I'd say it was a huge success.

 

Wedding highlight ~ Bill Pinkey, one of the original singers from The Drifters, was there and put on a small concert for the guests.  Who are The Drifters, you ask?  Well they sing things like "Under the Boardwalk", and "Up on the Roof".  Apparently, he is a friend of the guy who owns that band that was hired to do the wedding. And the guy who owns the band is a close personal friend of the groom. And that is probably more information than you care to know, but needless to say, it was cool. 

So there you have it.  Lots of fun crammed into a short amount of time. We headed home first thing Sunday morning and once again, James managed to snooze the entire ride.  We feel very lucky that we have a kid who can adapt to our go-getter lifestyle.  :)  Later that day we enjoyed a birthday dinner with some neighbors at a Japanese Steakhouse ~ but more on that later.