Family Wedding Vacation 2012

Chad’s New ToothbrushChad, 15 years old, forgot to bring a toothbrush. His mother, Lizzie, was irritated, went to CVS and got this little kid toothbrush for him mostly to pass along the irritation. MAJOR BACKFIRE. Chad’s response: “Score, look it even has a suction cup so it can stand up, Thanks Mom!” July 24th, 2012

Brent, Conchetta, Lexie and Kristina LesserTimes Square New York City Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Museum of Modern Art, New York CityKristina and Lexie in front of Monet’s Water Lilies, left my DNA on it about 10 years ago, resisted touching this go round. July 25th, 2012

Kristina and Lexie, MOMA, questionable art, in our opinionQuote from Conchetta, “My favorite piece: Twin, by Robert Ryman. He has SIXTEEN ALL WHITE, square canvases in many museums around the world. He is known as a monochromatic, abstract, modern artist. REALLY?” July 25th, 2012

Conchetta and Liz Honer, classmates throughout middle school and high school, reconnected in NYC

Sbarros block north of Fifth Avenue. Other dining venues throughout our trip: Subway, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wendy’s, Little Ceasars, etc. I was beginning to crave fruits and vegetables. McDonald’s was reserved for restroom use, we managed to avoid eating in any. July 25th, 2012

Hiking in Lake Mohigan State ParkFamily friendly, dog park, meandering trails with cascades too. The kids loved it. Rich Farm (five generation working dairy farm) about two miles away. Had the best ice cream there I have ever had. Orange Dream – Vanilla mixed with Zested Candied Orange Peel. The place was packed and local word is they easily serve 3,000 to 5,000 people a day. Wonderful. July 25th, 2012 and August 1st, 2012.

Covered Bridge, Lake Mohigan State Park, ConnecticutAshley (Lizzie’s husband’s niece), Caitlin, Chad, Blake, Dave (Lizzie’s father-in-law), Chase, Kristina, Ed (Brent’s uncle), and Lizzie. Covered bridges are a favorite of Conchetta’s, having visited the bridges of Madison County, Iowa several times. Lizzie had this picture taken to tease her since she opted out of this side trip to go into New York City instead. July 25th, 2012

Beautiful park, Lake Mohigan State ParkBrent, Ashley and Chad, July 25th, 2012

Cousins and great friendsCaitlin (16), Chad (15), Ashley (19). Log fallen across the stream at Lake Mohigan State Park. Cascades were upstream and covered bridge was downstream. July 25th, 2012

Carolyne (18), Caitlin (16), Ashley (19), Chad (15)Teenagers finally tire of posing and this is the response to “Smile”. Kristina posted it on each of their walls on Facebook (BOOM!). July 25th, 2012

PEZ factory tourPez Factory, highlight of Chase’s (4 year old) trip. All 18 of us visited at one time or another and several visited twice. Half went on July 25th, the other half on July 27th, second trip on Aug 1st.

Had never had fresh Pez before, soft and melt in your mouth. The factory floor was a hive of activity filling the Halloween and Christmas dispensers. Pez tablets (technical term) are compressed sugar, flavoring, color. YUM! July 27, 2012

Day of the wedding – first stop Beauty Salon, hairdos and makeup

Lexie, Izzie, Kristina and Kristina. By the way, whatever they did to mine (supposedly a half updo) by the time we arrived at the wedding venue, my daughters all said, “Fix Mom’s hair – they did something weird to it.” Score for me!

Candlewood Lake Club Bridal SuiteMe and Lexie, Kristina, and Izabella (three flower girls, junior flower girl, Corinne – Brent’s great-niece, had not yet arrived). July 26th, 2012

Junior Flower Girl and Junior Ring BearerBrent’s great niece and great nephew with Brent’s Aunt Judy. Corinne’s junior

flower girl dress was too long and her mother was smart enough to bring another white dress with her – such good planning! July 26th, 2012

Conchetta, Brent, Kristina and Lexington LesserTaken before the start of the wedding, although the flower girls were miffed they could not have flower petals in their baskets until right before they walked down the aisle. July 26th, 2012

Lizzie and Chad JohnsonStill not sure why we didn’t get a photo of Lizzie and Chad with their sons, Chad Jr (groomsman) and Chase (ringbearer). July 26th, 2012

My grandchildrenBack row: Blake Knox, Chad Johnson, Izabella Knox, Lexington Lesser, Caitlin Knox. Front row: Chase Johnson, Kristina Lesser.This was before the wedding, before fruit juice on the front of the dress, cake on the lapel of the suit jacket, jackets on, boutonnieres in place. July 26th, 2012

Bride and BridesmaidsConchetta Lesser, Annie Manjuck, Kristina Knox, Caitlin Knox, Lizzie Johnson. July 26th, 2012

Chase with flowers for Aunt TinaChase ready to give Aunt Tina (self-proclaimed Aunt Awesome) flowers before the wedding, perfect timing by the photographer. July 26th, 2012

Perry walking his daughter down the aisleWe got this shot from at least four angles, four different cameras, and every single one of them was a great photo. July 26th, 2012

Perry, Brent, Kristina and IDirections from the photographer: Okay, ready, smile, move quickly the storm is almost here and I have more shots I want. LOL! July 26th, 2012

Bridal Party (missing junior flower girl, Cory, and junior ring bearer, Colton)

Back row: Scott, Chad, Mike, Brent, Kristina, Lizzie, Caitlin, Annie, ConchettaFront row: Blake, Izabella, Lexie, Teenie, and Chase July 26th, 2012

Kristina on waterfront for after wedding photosThe photographer was setting up a pose with Kristina looking behind her as Brent approached, Chad was snapping and managed to capture this as a stand alone photo. Everything about was perfect. July 26th, 2012

Chad and BlakeNotice: Jacket has already been removed. Standing on dock watching the storm move in, and move in it did! Rained buckets, wind gusts around 40 mph, hailed, rained some more and then moved out – all in about an hour and a half. July 26th, 2012

Wedding Dance

Mother (Joanne) / Son (Brent) Father (Perry) / Daughter (Kristina)

Cha Cha SlideLexie standing behind her Mom so she can learn the dance steps. Papa behind Lexie offering additional instruction. At one time there were four generations on the dance floor, including the two grandmothers in their mid 80’s. July 26th, 2012

Peanut Butter Jelly TimeThumbs up for all who know Family Guy’s “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” Kristina, Chad, and Caitlin, of course, although Chase practiced it but by that time he was tuckered out and refused to come onto the dance floor. July 26th, 2012

Car Rides 21st Century StyleAt the start of the drive into NYC grandkids decided to go through my purse. Apparently I had almost all of the “OG (Old Grandma)” items necessary – including but not limited to star mints, gum, safety pins, wet wipes, etc. Kleenex – FAIL. Duct tape – FAIL. After that out came car ride entertainment.

Car ride entertainment, a little different in the 21st Century. I Pads, I Pods, I Touches, Cloud computing. Brent asked what time it was and three I Pods started blaring, “I’ve had the time of my life (16 year old’s choice from Dirty Dancing)”, “Peanut Butter Jelly Time (11 year old’s choice from Family Guy) ”, and “My Time (10 year old’s choice from WWF theme song)”. They all cracked up and Brent still was not told the time. Yikes!

Holy Cow! NYC with 14 in tow.We managed. Brent, Kristina, Caitlin and Annie left earlier than planned and ended up visiting an Urgent Care for Caitlin – $166 later they were told, “It’s viral and we can’t do anything for her.” Started with St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Times Square, Central Park, and ended with the Met in a drenching rain. July 28th, 2012

The teenagers making a devotion.St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I told all of them, light a candle and say, “Thank You” (had to get my grandmother 2 cents in). July 28th, 2012

Last day – Beardsley Zoo, Bridgeport, ConnecticutLast stop, gift shop. Zoo animals one and all, my family! August 1, 2012

Brent and Teenie (Kristina) LesserConchetta and her family left Connecticut on Saturday evening for a New England tour of zoos, museums and lighthouses. They were waiting to take a Bar Harbour cruise in New Hampshire when Conchetta took this photo. The rest of us stayed in the Milford, Connecticut area and enjoyed it as much as we would have had we travelled about. July 29, 2012

Brent and Conchetta’s rental car. Car just stopped and wouldn’t go any farther.

National Car Rental, they would be happy to replace the vehicle as long as Brent rode with the tow truck to the rental car location. They would then replace the vehicle with another – Rental Car FAIL! York, Maine. July 30, 2012

On the beach, York, MaineSurprisingly warm water. July 31, 2012 *Footnote: Car trip to Yosemite next summer rethought.

Big sandy beach. July 31, 2012*Footnote: 2 wk vacation in Maine replacing Yosemite.

Conchetta, Teenie, and LexieKraft Macaroni and Cheese National Headquarters, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1, 2012

Misquamicut State Beach, Waverly, Rhode IslandPlanes, trains, and automobiles. Can’t forget carriage rides in Central Park. Farms, cities, beaches, factories, museums, lighthouses, laughter, and great company always. Wedding trip has come to an end, a good time was had by all. August 2, 2012

Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness together, Brent and Kristina