Hot American Summer!

We took a trip back to the States in late July into August, to coincide with our friends Kris and Vibha's wedding in Michigan. We started the trip with a week in St Louis, where we enjoyed spending time with lots of family and friends. We made a visit to the Arch with Grammy (which Charlotte had been hotly anticipating for ages!), made arrangements for some house repairs to be done, celebrated Paul's grandpa's 94th birthday, enjoyed Mexican food, got our nails painted, jumped in the bounce house, loved time with friends and their kiddos, and spent too much money at Target :) Chris and Colleen came into town to visit us too! All in all, a great week. 

Charlotte at the top of the Arch!

Target find -- PlayDoh cookie "baking" kit

Paul's family watched Charlotte from Wednesday til Sunday so we could drive to Michigan and attend all the wedding festivities. It was our first time attending a traditional Indian wedding, and we both absolutely loved it. We drove to and from Michigan with Kirsten and Dan, which was awesome. We attended the Sangeet the first night at Vibha's family's home, where the ladies had our hands painted with henna (called "mehndi," which is used for celebrations and symbolizes that the woman with her hands painted can do no work while her hands are painted. Ok with me!). We also enjoyed hearing Vibha's aunts singing and drumming traditional songs for Kris and Vibha, and had a delicious Indian meal served under strings of lights in the backyard.

Kirsten and me post henna application. The thicker black ink crust flakes off,
then leaves the traditional brown stain underneath.

Mehndi on my hand!

On Thursday, we picked up the guys' suits, then ate lunch at a great spot in East Lansing. That night was the Groom's Dinner, which was held south of East Lansing at a beautiful inn. We enjoyed a great cocktail hour, visiting with friends and meeting new people, and a delicious dinner. They then opened up the mic to let people speak about Kris and Vibha -- it sounded risky ;) but was absolutely lovely and touching. We finished up the evening with drinks at a hotel bar.

The next day was the wedding! The guys had their own timeline, but Kirsten and I went and got our hair done before getting dressed at the hotel where the wedding & reception were being held. We then met up with a group of wedding guests and Kris' family to learn some basic bhangra dancing for the Reception of Baraat. The Reception of Baraat is when the groom rides on a horse (or elephant, in India) to where the bride's family is waiting to receive him. The horse is surrounded by dancing family and friends to impress the waiting family! Kirsten and I were among those who got the most practice beforehand, so we helped to lead the group in the dancing. It was SUCH a blast, I absolutely loved it. It was mostly freeform dancing with certain moves, then as we drew near Vibha's family, we did a choreographed part. I wish I could go to another wedding and do more bhangra dancing before I forget how to do it!

Kris on his horse for the Reception of Baraat

After the Reception of Baraat, we all went into the hotel/conference center to the room where the wedding took place. A lot of the service was spoken in Vibha's family's native language, but some English was mixed in to help us out :) There are some beautiful traditions, including the use of a sacred fire, the guests sprinkling the newlyweds with flower petals, and having both sets of parents heavily involved in the ceremony. Both Vibha and Kris looked amazing in their traditional Indian wedding garb as well.

We then really enjoyed the reception, which started with an outdoor cocktail hour and then moved inside to a fabulous ballroom. We danced the night away in our fancy clothes!

Paul enters the reception with one of the bridesmaids prior to the introduction of Kris & Vibha

We had a lot of fun and didn't get much sleep that night. The long drive back to St Louis the next day was a little rough! Charlotte was up and waiting for us when we got home that night, and was happy to see us :) We spent Sunday with Paul's family before leaving early Monday morning to head to Maryland to visit with my family.

Playing with expanding sponge animals from Target... that dollar bin find was worth at least an hour of entertainment.

Coloring at Grammy's countertop

Tasty donut at the airport! She ate the icing and sprinkles right off the top.

We had a nice, low-key 5 day visit to my parents' cottage on the northern Chesapeake. We took rides on the motorboat, visited the local library and playground, swam every day and even jumped off the dock at high tide, ate crab cakes and ice cream at a nearby restaurant, got to see Aunt Allie again!, watched lots of Olympics coverage, and generally enjoyed some R&R. Paul and my dad were both working from home during the day, but it was great to have them around and they were pretty flexible with playing with Charlotte on request :)

Baking with Grandmom! (and yes, we still lick batter in our family! You only live once.)

Hanging out on the back deck with Aunt Allie

Charlotte's first tubing adventure (quite slow!) with Mommy

The world clearly did not want us to leave the States this time, as we were delayed repeatedly as we waited on our overseas flight at JFK. Charlotte was tired and crabby, but luckily slept almost all night on the plane despite lots of turbulence. We got home and made it through the first day of jet lag, but the next morning Charlotte had her first tummy bug, or whatever it was. She has only ever thrown up after transatlantic flights... sensing a theme here. I assumed it was motion sickness, but I don't think it should cause someone to first be sick almost 24 hours after getting off the plane?? Poor thing felt a lot better after a couch nap with mama. 

Delayed and not happy about it

Poor sickie!!