The Chelaru Family: Chad and Krista's Wedding week part 1

Oh man where do I begin. This last week was so full of activities that I could write a novel. I will try to break it up in a couple of posts. The first bit of chaos started before even leaving our house. Our HOA decided to replace all our driveways in our subdivision. Of course that meant ours was being poured on Fri, since we had to leave Sat morning. We were not allowed to walk on it for 72hrs after it was poured, so the only way I was able to get the car loaded and packed was to set our ladder on one side of the fence, and a table with a chair on the other. Yep, I totally looked I was breaking and entering my own house. I am not even going to get into how difficult it was to heft our luggage up and over that fence. So 3am on Sat we got up and left. I know everyone thinks I am crazy for insisting on that time, but with a toddler, it makes sense to me. The more time he sleeps equals the less time Vic and I have to keep him entertained for this 24hr car drive. Thank the Lord for making people smart enough to think up portable DVD players. This little invention was the lifesaver of our trip. Jack did amazing, as long as he had a DVD on and snacks readily available. Also, since I am the lucky one that gets car sick in our little family, I was the one that drove 85% of the time. Vic was totally fine with it, since all he wanted to do was work. Have I mentioned I am married to the biggest work-a-holic ever? So we embarked on our little journey. Let me just also say, I am retarded. I am just putting that out there. I didn't put together that the 4th of July weekend would mean no available hotels. So, when I finally sat down to make reservations my options were: A: drive 17hrs to Bismark ND or B: stay in an overpriced ($200+) in a closer location. We chose A. Which means even though we left the house at 3am, we didn't get to our hotel till after 7pm. We hardly even stopped for anything either, just the gas station and the occasional pee breaks. Upon arriving to the hotel, Jack got his second wind and was HYPER!! Luckily, this hotel had an awesome water park inside. Vic and I walked our tired tushy's down to the pool, and Jack played for almost 2hrs. By the time we got back to our room, showered, and were told many times there was a baby alligator sleeping in the bathtub, we all finally crashed. We took our time getting ready the next morning, having breakfast, and drove the remaining 5hrs to Alvarado, MN. Once at my aunt's house, we couldn't even get our car unloaded. Jack saw Eli had his pool out, and wanted to go swimming instantly. My uncle Daryl and cousin Adam got Vic to play boccie ball with them, and I was content just hanging out with my aunt. My brother and Krista came over shortly after with fireworks, and we all just hung out and relaxed. It was a very good start to our little vacation. Here are some pictures of the trip so far...