It's all about LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

I'm back :) WOOT! My post has been delayed longer than expected since I had to wait for pictures from the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend (and by weekend I mean the one previous to this one - are you still with me?) ... what a great one it was!

The overall consensus for the weekend could be defined simply as love. No time was wasted getting the excitement started as we headed out on Friday night for the wedding of my cousin Randy and his beautiful new wife Londisa. Randy is my age and it's hard to believe we're at that 'getting married' age considering all the fun times we shared together as little kiddos.

Let's go back in time a little to reflect on some of those moments ... annual Labor Day trips to Cedar Island and Kings Point (don't worry about telling me I have those names mixed up - it's our little inside joke) with the family (consisting of Aunt Cher, the Big Guy/Uncle Paul, Kelly and Randy) were always highly anticipated and for good reason too. Glitter wigs. Accidentally getting on the 'backwards' line for the Racer. The Screecher (arms up, of course). Non-stop laughter. Gemini rides x 1000.

So as I watched Randy as he said 'I do' to the love of his life, it hit me that we're all grown up now. I'm looking forward to recreating the Labor Day tradition with the next generations!

After the outdoor ceremony overlooking Lake St. Clair, we headed inside for the reception. The room was buzzing with rumors that a dance-off may take place ... Kelly and Dylan vs. Eric. Although that didn't officially happen, believe me - there was dancing! In fact, over the course of the night, I'm pretty sure we saw moves from all decades - especially the 80s (think roger rabbit and a little sprinkler) - recreated classics from Miss Christine Dance Directions, and energetic, entertaining Albanian dance (featuring the bride's family). I'm sure an official dance-off will take place soon, when Kelly and Dylan have perfected their choreography and wheelbarrow toss.

Moving onto Saturday, where once again, the theme of the day was love. We made our way up to my Aunt Barb and Uncle Rich's home on Lake Charlevoix to celebrate the marriage of cousin-on-my-dad's-side, Rich(ie) and his beautiful new wife, Tracie. This was actually a celebration after the celebration, as Rich and Tracie were already married a few weeks ago in the Turks and Caicos. (Luckies!)

While some dancing did indeed take place at this celebration, too - it was the little kids in attendance that provided all of the entertainment. Have you ever realized how kids make everything exciting? Who ever thought that a group of adults would ever sit around for hours watching 2-year-olds stomp on a 'air balloon' that shoots a foam 'rocket' 15 feet into the air? Well we did. And we liked it.

After the guests ate, the kids decided the little duckies in the lake needed dinner too. So in typical fashion, we 'adults' followed closely behind them to see what kind of entertainment this would bring. It didn't take long for the little ones to pick up on the fact that throwing rocks was even more fun than throwing popcorn to the ducks. My cousin Erin and sister Brooke were quick to reprimand their boys - Owen and Trace - telling them, "Don't throw rocks!"

Now, I, still single with not a child in sight, respond by saying, "That's probably a good idea. We wouldn't want the ducks to get hurt."

This comment was greeted with a look of confusion. "The ducks? We were envisioning more along the lines of rocks hitting other kids in the head." Oh. Yes. That would be bad.

A couple minutes later, however; it was confirmed that my fear was actually the one that came true. A little duckie spinning in circles in the lake was not a good sign. It was dancing or getting ready for a game of 'Pin the Tail on Mother Goose." No. It had been hit. I still think about that duckie today and I hope it's okay ...

Is my nephew the culprit?

Or is Owen making his escape?

Dad trying to save the duckie :(

Lessons learned: 1) Kids are so awesome 2) Duckies are cute 3) Don't throw rocks at either of them :)

The weekend fun did not end there, but I think I'll save the rest for a separate blog post as to not overwhelm my readers (Brooke and Micah).