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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Sundress!

Remember way back about a month ago when I was trying to finish a little sundress for Charlotte?  Well, I did finish it and we were able to take it on our trip.  Here's a picture of Charlotte wearing it.  I could have posted one of the 12 other pictures that I took but this is the only one where you can see her face.  She's such a wiggle-worm when I try to take photos.  I said, "Charlotte, stand up and show mommy your dress!" and she said, "Tada" and fell to her knees.
Bought this fabric during Textile Fabric's June sale.  Couldn't resist the French/ballerina theme.

The Wedding

Peter's brother, Robert, and Irene dated for nearly as long as Peter and I have been married and they finally decided to tie the knot.  They both live in London but Irene is from Naples, Italy so they decided to have the wedding in Irene's home town.  Secretly (or maybe not so discreetly), I had wished that the wedding would be in Italy, for selfish reasons.  I had never been to Italy.  So, now I'm able to cross another country off of my list!  We flew to Naples a few days after arriving in London.  Again, the kids were great on the flight.  We spent time exploring Naples and then we got ready for the wedding!  We had to walk to the castle where the wedding was being held so Charlotte rode in the stroller.  She fell asleep and slept during half of the ceremony.  Here she is, happy as a clam in 100-degree heat:
 We waited in the atrium (is that the right word for the middle of a castle?) before the ceremony began.  Alexander enjoyed climbing all over these cannon-ball things.  I couldn't miss the photo op!
Finally, the moment that we were waiting for arrived.  Actually, it wasn't a moment but a woman.  Happy Wedding Day, Irene!  Here she is walking down the aisle with her daddy!
 Alexander was the ring bearer.  It ended up being really casual so he didn't have to stand there the whole time with the rings, he just went up when they were ready to exchange.  I think he would have been quite the entertainment if he had stayed up there the whole time!
 The happy couple, looking pleased that the ceremony is over.  Let the party begin!!  Check out Irene's dress!  I don't know if you can tell but it was a very, very light lavender color; very beautiful!
 I love this picture of Charlotte walking (eventually running) away from the camera.  I was desperately trying to get a picture of the dress that I made for this occasion.  It was silk and I used a Children's Corner pattern called Louise.  If you look at the pattern, you wouldn't even believe that something so modern could come out of the outdated-looking photo that is pictured on the front of the pattern envelope.  Thank goodness for Sonya, at Children's Corner for suggesting how how modify the pattern to suit my needs.  Also, thanks to my friend, Amanda, who came over to help me learn how to make tucks (that we decided that the dress didn't need.
 The dress got pretty wrinkled because of the nap and the heat but she still looked beautiful!
 Peter and Charlotte enjoy the ocean (Charlotte stole a rose from Irene's bouquet; sorry about that!).
 I also love this photo.  I know she looks a little tired but the light looks nice and she has such a sweet little expression on her face.  Awwww.....
 This is the only picture that we have of our whole family during the entire trip.  I'm not super-pleased with how it turned out but seeing as it's the only one...here we are.  At least we coordinate.
And one last one with the happy couple.  The kids love their Uncle Robert and Aunt Irene!  Thanks for a lovely evening!!

A long absence

I seem to begin a lot of my posts with apologies for my lack of posting.  This time, I promise, I have a good excuse.  We went to England.  And Italy.  And England again.  And, before we went to England, I had baby showers to attend, birthday parties to throw, party dresses to make, and packing for 3 people to complete.  Maybe I should have written a few entries to post while we were away but that would have added to my list of things to do.  So, here I am.  We're back and finally getting settled.  Peter unpacked his suitcase right away...I've been pulling things out of mine the last few days but am still not quite unpacked.  I might be creative but promptness and neatness are not strengths of mine.  Sorry, Peter.
So, I'm going to try to share some highlights of our trip in the next few posts.  Be patient because I'm still trying to wade through all of the photos, laundry (not as much as you might think since my fabulous mother-in-law did most of our laundry while we were there), unpacking, and it's already time for back to school prep.
On the plane!
We decided to fly to England before going to Italy for my brother-in-law's wedding so we could recover (a little) from the jet lag before staying in a hotel.  Let me just take a moment to brag on my children.  They were FABULOUS!!!!!! on every flight.  We took six flights during this vacation and both kids were angels on the flights.  Even when we heard other children going crazy, our kids read books, ate snacks, played games, colored, and looked out the window.  Part of the reason that they were so good is due to planning.  I purchased a few new books/toys/games for each child and packed them so they could be discovered during the flights.  I also brought plenty of snacks and put them in the kids' bags. This planning made the kids excited  about the flights and kept them from getting too stir crazy.  We flew from Nashville to Atlanta to London.    The kids really enjoyed playing in Nana and Dad-Dad's back garden.  Look what we often saw in the trees and at the bird feeder:
It's a wild parakeet!
The kids loved the birds and helped feed them several times while we were staying at the Hamilton homestead.  In addition to birds, the kids also got to see a fox, a cat, and lots of slugs in the garden!