Brooke and Claude's Wedding Extravaganza

A few weeks ago,

we headed back to Destin, Florida
for my friend Brooke and her love, Claude's wedding.

It's funny because before I met my friend, Brooke,
I had never heard of the "panhandle" (the area of the US
where Destin is nestled) before, no less the city of Destin.
I never thought that in my life, we'd visit 3 times (to date)
Before this trip, Andrew and I had lived there for about 3 months,
the first summer that we were married.
And before that, a few days visiting about a month before we got engaged ...
So I guess you can say, Destin will always be special to us -
And I'm sure you'll find us going there again.

Anyways, no reason to get ahead of myself,
back to this trip ...

Brooke and Claude's Wedding Extravaganza.

A few months before we left,
I realized that I was going to be busy ... maybe very busy.
Between all the activities and hanging out with the bride,
I know it was going to be pretty stressful for Andrew to handle
both Sophie and Blake alone. I mean, Sophie is amazing
but Blake, well, he's definitely a mommy's little guy,
still amazing but has the ability to cry and cry and cry
until safely back in mommy's arms.
So my parents took pity and kindly offered to
come along to help us out ... and little did we know,
how appreciated this help would be.

While my parents began their journey in Atlanta,
we were not as ambitious and started our trip 2 hours away in
Mobile, Alabama.

We spent the night in Mobile ...
and Sophie was excited to get going to Destin.
Check out her Hello Kitty pink suitcase ...
and her one shoe!

Though you can't see Blake, he's in the photo.
What I noticed was that for the first time,
the kids could see each other in the car.
And they loved looking at each other!

Our first stop ... even before the hotel ... was lunch at our favorite
hole-in-the-wall, local seafood restaurant - Dewey Destin.
I dream about Dewey Destin ... even still ...
so it was a treat to come back to something so yummy!

No seafood for Blake so instead, he enjoyed his fruit squeezie!

The funniest story at Dewey Destin
was while we were there, we were introducing Sophie to the pelicans.
She loved looking at them and talking to them ...
and all of a sudden, Sophie says (to the pelican),
"Bird, this is my bwoder Bwake ....
DON'T EAT HIM!"
... how funny is that!

Sister and Brother ...
typical faces.

Obviously I was anxious to see Brooke, the bride, so Andrew
dropped me off to help with some bridesmaids duties
(program putting-together) while he and the kiddos went
to scope out where we would be staying for the night ...

Kristen, Brooke, Liz and Jane Hart

Look at those pretty programs!

The first night, Brooke's aunts and uncles on the Lee
side threw a big cocktail party for the bride and groom
to start off the weekend of celebration ...
The only bummer was that we were over an hour late
because Blake was so upset that his parents were leaving him
at the hotel ... what saved the day was my parents and Sophie,
walking Blake up and down the hallway in his stroller.
He fell asleep ...

Night one ... cocktail party!
Charlotte and Brooke

Brooke and ALL the bridesmaids
Megan, Blakele, Alison, Brittany, Liz, Brooke, Charlotte, Jane Hart
Alison, Leah and Kristen

Bride and Groom
Brooke and Claude

The next morning, we woke up to this ...
I'd never seen weather like this before Andrew and I lived in Destin
for a summer ... I mean, look at those angry clouds -
we were definitely in for a rainstorm.
But as I learned that one summer that we were here,
rain came and went ... and could clear up as soon as it arrived.


After a walk on the beach and breakfast
with my family, I headed to the bridesmaids luncheon.
It was a big to-do - not only the bridesmaids were invited but
also Brooke's relatives and closest friends.

Coconut Cake

Bride!

Pretty Roses ...

Sisters

Sweet toasts!

Bridesmaids gifts

Gorgeous earrings - the pretty bridesmaids gift

Shawls to keep warm ...

Friends!
Brooke and Charlotte

As I might have mentioned previously, I was going to be busy ...
yes, definitely having fun but busy, busy, busy ...
So, I rejoined my family just in time to switch hotels ...
and get dressed for the Rehearsal and Dinner.
Right before I got dressed for the rehearsal, Blake got sick.
I was hoping that maybe it was a one time thing
but he just didn't seem to be himself.
It was so sad ... and I was so torn - to go to the rehearsal ...
or to stay with my sick little guy.
By the time I left, he was feverish and totally lethargic.
All he could do was cuddle into Andrew and close his eyes.
So we decided that I would go but Andrew would stay.
Thank God for my parents who took
over complete care of Sophie ... and for Andrew, who held Blake the entire
time I was gone. All that TLC did wonders because by the time I
got back to the hotel a few hours later, Blake was at least 75% better!

Rehearsal

Claude and Brooke ... the Groom and Bride!

The weekend just flew by ...
and before I knew it, it was Wedding Day!!!
The day we had all been anticipating for months ...

All the pretty Mrs. Richardson things ...

I spent the morning with Brooke and the bridesmaids
at Brooke's house getting ready for the walk down the aisle ...

Brooke's headpiece for the reception

Why hello Jimmy Choo!
So nice to meet you ... I think you are just LOVELY!

Kristen Lee (Brooke's Cousin) ... getting pretty ...

Pretty Bride ... Brooke getting her makeup done ...
I LOVE this photo ...

A moment between sisters ....

And then, Brooke's big moment had arrived ...
it was such an incredibly special day and I was so happy to be a part of it.
I'm so happy for such a sweet friend ... that she was able to find the love of her life.

Brooke walking down the aisle with her dad

Mr. & Mrs. Richardson!

Then, it was PARTY time!
When Brooke decided to get married in Destin, the reception
location was an obvious choice ... Granny's house. Brooke's
Granny passed away several years ago so being able to celebrate there
was so special for her. For me, it brought back memories of my first visit to Destin
and having lunch with Granny - sandwiches and soup in the kitchen!

It was decorated so beautifully.
There were food and bar stations set up all over the yard.
The food was delicious - Sushi station, raw oyster bar, salad station,
stuffed grouper (caught fresh by John Lee, Brooke's dad) station,
Risotto and beef station ... and they even brought in their favorite bartender
from the Bahamas, where the Lee family owns a vacation home!

Brittany, Brooke, Charlotte

A little blown out but here's our family portrait at the wedding

So rare do we get a photo together ...

And then before I knew it ...
Brooke and Claude were newlyweds, leaving on a boat.
And the event we had waited so anxiously for,
was over ...

The next morning was kind of bittersweet ...
we were leaving back for Mobile for our trip home and my parents
were leaving for a week touring some of the southern parts of the US.
But before we left, Andrew and I wanted to show everyone where we had
been and lived the summer we spent in Destin ....

Walking on the boardwalk

Sophie loved running around the boardwalk .....

Boat Fun!

One last lunch at Dewey Destin's ...
My mom got Sophie to eat in the most ingenious way ..
"Close your eyes Sophie and guess what you're eating"
It worked.

One of our favorite places ... Rosemary Beach

Grandparents and Grandkids ...
My parents were about to leave on a week long trip
so everyone was saying goodbye ...

To cheer Sophie up from the goodbye ...
we introduced her to our favorite ice cream shop ...
Brewsters.

She cheered up.

We headed back to Mobile for our flight back
And the next morning, went exploring.
Our original idea to go to the kids museum was a bust
since it seemed that all downtown activities were shut down on Mondays

So we braved the rain and headed to the battleship instead.

Finally, a photo of the kiddos and mommy!
Can you believe it????

One last photo of Andrew and Sophie from our trip ...

What a great trip ...
We can't wait to see John, Susan, Brooke and Britt (and Claude and Erasmo too!)
for Britt and Erasmo's wedding later in the year ...
counting down the days to the Bahamas ...