Ben and Ruth's Wedding

June 25th we celebrated the marriage of my brother, Ben, and Ruth. The girls have been eagerly anticipating the wedding...for a really long time...like since 2 minutes after they met Ruth and Ellie asked her when she was going to marry Uncle Ben.

They got married in Massachutsetts, about an hour outside of Boston. We left early Thursday morning and drove to Charlotte for our flight to Boston. Fortunatley we had Paul's paretns with us so we had one adult per child.

I can not imagine dragging that many children through the airport, along with all their stuff, with just me and Paul! We planeside checked all four carseats and a double umbrella stroller so we had a LOT to haul through the airport. I was very worried about it taking us a long time to get through security with all our stuff but they put us through the handicap line and all the TSA agents in that line were so nice and were great with the kids.

Our flight out of Charlotte ended up being delayed an hour so we had lots of extra airport time. Fortunately we discovered that the end of our terminal was virtually empty and had lots of windows so the girls enjoyed getting to look at all the goings on at the airport. They also found a little girl about their age that they made friends with. The kids were SO well behaved...I was super impressed.

They found a friend with an Ipad so that was entertaining for awhile.

Emmie was VERY nervous about the flight but I think that she was so tired of waiting in the airport that by the time it was time to get on the plane she was pretty much over the nervousness and was just ready to get started on our trip. Emmie announced to her sisters a few days before that she was sitting by me and Ellie ended up sitting with Gin-g and Ruthie sat with Fred and JP went back and forth between Paul and me. Everyone was very happy with their seating arrangement.


We flew JetBlue on the way up there and it was WONDERFUL. They have a TV at every seat and I had brought earbuds for the girls so they spent most of the time watching Nick Jr. They also had some coloring books and these great Usborne wipe-clean activity cards. They come in a box with 50 cards but I hole punched them and put 10 on a ring so each of the girls could have one and we could pass them around.

My favorite thing about JetBlue is that their snacks (or at least the cookies) are nut free and made in a a nut free facility. It was so nice to get our snack (a BIG snack by the way and we had lots of choices) and know for sure that it was safe for Ruthie.

When we arrived in Boston we gathered up all our stuff, took the shuttle to the rental car area and got our rental cars. We then headed to Boston Commons to do some sightseeing. The traffic between the airport and downtown is unreal and thank goodness I had done the drive before with my mom so I at least had an idea of where we were going. We made it in one piece and the kids were very glad to be able to have somewhere to run around. We first took them to the playground. It was nice but very crowded. We had heard that the Make Way for Ducklings ducks were somewhere near by so I did some quick searching with my phone and we headed over to the Public Gardens to see them. The gardens were absolutely beautiful by the way! We never did find the statue of the ducks but we did find the swan boats which go around the Make Way for Ducklings island. The kids loved the boats and we saw some real swans while we were riding!





We then walked FOREVER to find a place to eat.  Apparentlhy the girl at the swan boats and I have very different definitions of what constitutes a restaurant that is closeby. The place that we were going to eat had a long wait so we ended up at Stephanie's. It was really good!

After eating we hiked back to the cars and headed to the hotel! We were so glad to get there! We stayed at an Embassy Suites and had a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen and Paul's parents were in the room next to us. Emmie, Ellie and Ruthie slept in one room (we had a crib in there for Roo) and JP slept in a crib in our room. The Edwards ended up with a crib in their room by accident but it ended up working out great for some nice quiet naps for JP.
A few minutes after we arrived in our room my parents and Ben came by to hang out. The kids were so excited to see them! The kids played with Uncle Ben while I unpacked. And Uncle Ben fed them cookies.


Friday morning we ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel...omelets, pancakes, fruit, waffles...so good! JP ate every morning until we thought he was going to explode!
The girls and I then headed to meet Ruth and the bridesmaids at a nail salon for a mani/pedi! Emmie was the only one of my kids that had ever had one before and I'm not really sure that she remembers her first one. The staff was amazing with the kids and treated them like they were little adults. They got the full spa pedicure and absolutely loved it. A few days later Emmie was telling Gin-g about it and she was hilarious. You could tell she felt very grownup.







After getting our nails done we swung by the grocery store and got some lunchables for lunch for Friday and Saturday and some snacks.
When we got back to the hotel we went to my parents room and hung out with my parents, Ben, and my Aunt Joy and Uncle Bill.
Next we headed to the hotel pool. The kids were so excited about the pool!


After a nap for Roo and more pool time for the big girls they got showers and we headed to the rehearsal. Ruth had found them some special "practice" dresses and they LOVED them.



The rehearsal dinner was just a few minutes from the church and we met up with Paul, his parents, and JP there.


My mom's friend, Kathy, brought the girls some bags with toys and other goodies in them and the bags were lifesavers! They kept the girls entertained the whole night.

We ate some delicious bbq and then finished off our meal with a Ben and Jerry's sundae bar.


There were lots of toasts and it was really fun to hear what everyone had to say about Ruth and Ben.

Pic with my Aunt Joy and Uncle Bill

Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast with the family, including my Aunt Donna and Uncle Stewart, and then my parents and Ben got ready in their room and the girls and I headed to Ruth's parent's house to meet up with Ruth and the other bridesmaids.

the church!

The girls did great walking down the aisle and they were adorable, as when they got to the end of the aisle they ran and gave Uncle Ben a big hug. The wedding was beautiful and both minsters did a wonderful job. Ruth was a beautiful bride and I LOVED her dress. Her aunt had done some major alterations to it and it was just so Ruth.

Photo Credit Steph Stevens Photography

Photo Credit Steph Stevens Photo

Photo Credit Steph Stevens Photo

First official family picture with Ruth!

Family picture with extended family.

Photo Credit Steph Stevens Photo
I love this picture of the kiddos with Ben and Ruth!

We took almost all of the pictures after the wedding and their photographer was so good. She was especially great with the kids and had made a point Friday night to make friends with them and the girls were so cooperative for her.
After the pictures it was party time!

Photo Credit Steph Stevens Photo

We had an excellent dinner at the reception and there was lots of dancing and visiting.
Ruth loves to make cookies (and she's REALLY good at it...I don't particularly like oatmeal raisin and hers were amazing!) and so the favors were cookies that she and her family had made.

Photo Credit Steph Stevens Photo

After the wedding we headed back to the hotel and managed to get there at the end of their snack time so we loaded up on food and relaxed and visited with family.

Ruthie chilling with Papa

After a full day we were very ready for bed Saturday night after some packing! We got up Sunday morning and ate breakfast and packed and then headed to the airport. We had to return the rental car and then haul all our stuff on the bus over to the airport but the guy checking us in at the rental car place was so nice and drove us over to our terminal. It was great to not have to carry all our stuff on and off the bus! We met up with my parents and Fred and Gin-g and settled in to wait for our flight. I managed to snag a crabcake from Legal Seafood while we waited and we got the kiddos some food as well. I felt like a great parent as we got the girls McDonalds, it was the first time they'd every had it, and they did NOT like it. I'm ok with my kids being chick-fil-a snobs! While we waited in the airport the girls had a great time working on their sticker books from Ben and Ruth.
On the plane, our seats were all in the same area so we divided up the kiddos again and once again had a great flight.






We had such a wonderful trip and I was so proud of how well all 4 kids did with all the traveling...they were rockstars! We loved getting to visit with family and friends and be a part of Ben and Ruth's special day!