June Road Trip #1
Jun. 13th, 2005 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
astra_nomerDH's cousin got married this weekend in New York, and we decided that we probably ought to go.
The kids weren't invited, which was annoying because what were we supposed to do with them? Did they expect us to find a babysitter in a foreign city? I came close to staying home with them and sending DH by himself, but we decided that relatives would like to see them so we dragged them along.
We drove up Saturday morning and stayed the night with DH's grandmother, who is on the other side of the family than the cousin. DH's brother, who lives nearby, came with his wife and two kids, and the three boys merrily rough-housed together, while the one girl sat and looked charming. But she's only 9 months old, and I promised to teach her to become a good tomboy when she's older.
The wedding was at 11am on a Sunday, "black tie requested." Which DH blithely ignored along with most of the other male quests, showing up in suit-and-tie instead of a tuxedo. The groom was quiet and reserved, while the bride was all weepy and on the verge of hysterics. I got the impression that she's kind of a ditz, so I wasn't really impressed with her. The mothers of the bride and groom both wore black strapless dresses. And here I thought black was inappropriate for weddings, except for formal evening ones. Given that I'd met the groom maybe twice and had never met the bride, I kept wondering if the whole trip was even worth it since we kept having to check on the kids, who were bored and restless.
The groom's sister, who was a bridesmaid, had a 15-week old infant, so they secured a spare bridal room to put the baby in. We were told we could keep the boys in there too, but the room was tiny. And eventually we were evicted so that the hotel could prepare for another wedding, but by then the cocktails room was open, so they had more room to run around in. But there was no place for the kids to lie down for a nap, so they made do without. But they stole lots of attention away from the bride and groom, as people kept sneaking away to visit with the kids, so I guess I'll call it about even.
The valet drivers at the hotel kept referring to our car as "the Hybrid," which got me wondering if they all took turns tooling it around the parking lot while we weren't looking. I was also amused when we pulled into the rest area in Delaware and ended up parking next to a Hummer.
We grabbed some food at the rest area, and soon after we sat down to eat, we saw a minivan parked just outside the window IN FLAMES. The whole front of the car was on fire, and I got edgier and edgier as the flames spread further and further back until the fire department finally showed up and put it the fire out. Meanwhile, people calmly sat around eating and staring, while PA announcements sounded something like this:
"Will the driver of a Ford Explorer with license plate XXXYYY please move your vehicle."
"Will the driver of a Ford Explorer, license plate XXXYYY, please return to your vehicle."
"The driver of the minivan licence ZZZ123 -- your car is on fire."
"Will the driver of a Ford Explorer, license plate XXXYYY, please return to your vehicle."
"All employees on the southbound side please return to your stations."
Because everyone had left their posts and were watching the fire instead of serving customers, of course. Fortunately, the rest of the drive home was without incident.
The boys behaved pretty well under some fairly trying circumstances, including long car drives, lack of naps, and well-meaning relatives. Hopefully our next trip out will be more relaxed.
The kids weren't invited, which was annoying because what were we supposed to do with them? Did they expect us to find a babysitter in a foreign city? I came close to staying home with them and sending DH by himself, but we decided that relatives would like to see them so we dragged them along.
We drove up Saturday morning and stayed the night with DH's grandmother, who is on the other side of the family than the cousin. DH's brother, who lives nearby, came with his wife and two kids, and the three boys merrily rough-housed together, while the one girl sat and looked charming. But she's only 9 months old, and I promised to teach her to become a good tomboy when she's older.
The wedding was at 11am on a Sunday, "black tie requested." Which DH blithely ignored along with most of the other male quests, showing up in suit-and-tie instead of a tuxedo. The groom was quiet and reserved, while the bride was all weepy and on the verge of hysterics. I got the impression that she's kind of a ditz, so I wasn't really impressed with her. The mothers of the bride and groom both wore black strapless dresses. And here I thought black was inappropriate for weddings, except for formal evening ones. Given that I'd met the groom maybe twice and had never met the bride, I kept wondering if the whole trip was even worth it since we kept having to check on the kids, who were bored and restless.
The groom's sister, who was a bridesmaid, had a 15-week old infant, so they secured a spare bridal room to put the baby in. We were told we could keep the boys in there too, but the room was tiny. And eventually we were evicted so that the hotel could prepare for another wedding, but by then the cocktails room was open, so they had more room to run around in. But there was no place for the kids to lie down for a nap, so they made do without. But they stole lots of attention away from the bride and groom, as people kept sneaking away to visit with the kids, so I guess I'll call it about even.
The valet drivers at the hotel kept referring to our car as "the Hybrid," which got me wondering if they all took turns tooling it around the parking lot while we weren't looking. I was also amused when we pulled into the rest area in Delaware and ended up parking next to a Hummer.
We grabbed some food at the rest area, and soon after we sat down to eat, we saw a minivan parked just outside the window IN FLAMES. The whole front of the car was on fire, and I got edgier and edgier as the flames spread further and further back until the fire department finally showed up and put it the fire out. Meanwhile, people calmly sat around eating and staring, while PA announcements sounded something like this:
"Will the driver of a Ford Explorer with license plate XXXYYY please move your vehicle."
"Will the driver of a Ford Explorer, license plate XXXYYY, please return to your vehicle."
"The driver of the minivan licence ZZZ123 -- your car is on fire."
"Will the driver of a Ford Explorer, license plate XXXYYY, please return to your vehicle."
"All employees on the southbound side please return to your stations."
Because everyone had left their posts and were watching the fire instead of serving customers, of course. Fortunately, the rest of the drive home was without incident.
The boys behaved pretty well under some fairly trying circumstances, including long car drives, lack of naps, and well-meaning relatives. Hopefully our next trip out will be more relaxed.
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Date: 2005-06-13 06:59 pm (UTC)