It may have been guessed by my lack of blogging that I have been away/busy for a while. That would be correct! We just got back from a week in the Okanagan for my brother Adam's wedding.
We had the most amazing time. I relaxed, had fun, drank beer and wine, ate/snacked lots, played games, won and lost at ping pong, attended the rehearsal dinner for the wedding, WENT to the wedding, left Dom with Gramma & Grandpa for the night, and hung out with the family all week.
My parents rented a house in Kaleden, and we all stayed there (Mom, Dad, Jeff, Marta, Adam, David, myself, Dominic, Scott & Courtney). Jam-packed! It was a carriage house on a property with the main house being lived in by the owner. There was a pool, outdoor kitchen/bath/shower/sauna, trampoline, donkeys/chickens, orchard, and 360 degree view. We were on top of the world... or at least the small town of Kaleden.
There are SO many pictures from the week. I'll try to just pick the highlights, but it's going to be tough to make this a reasonable number...
Let's start off with the place we were staying.
That is the homeowner's house, but seriously so gorgeous.
View from the carriage-house balcony. Yes. That's a koi pond you see... the pool is past it down some stairs.
So many huge koi fish in the pond. They'd all come rushing over if you walked by, with the hopes of being fed.
Grapes surrounded the balcony! Gorgeous, but also nerve-wracking when you bring a dog who eats everything! *Fun fact: grapes are poisonous to dogs!* (We knew this going in, just had to keep a close eye on him!)
View looking the other way from the balcony. This was our first night and it was a little bit smoky. The rest of the trip was gorgeous and clear though.
This is Duke. The gorgeous, relaxed Mastiff X Great Dane who roams the property. Such a gentle heart.
Complete with a putting green...
View from the trampoline, which is just beyond the pool
They have two donkeys and some chickens on the property who also were lovely and gentle creatures. They had a view of the wedding venue too!
Small orchard on the property
This is the room where David and I stayed. It had an open part at the top of the wall which opened to the main area which had some bunk beds, another queen, some couches, TV and a ping pong table. We weren't sure how Dom was going to be able to sleep with all that noise!
Lucky for us, this utility room was adjoined to ours. We set up the play pen in there and with the sound machine on we could be loud and play ping pong all night if we wanted to! Win!
Upstairs was another bedroom and bathroom, the kitchen and a small living area. Very cute. We spent most of our time at the pool though.
I quickly snapped a picture of the carriage house as we drove away on Monday. Oops!!
Okay. Enough of the boring stuff. Let's get to the fun! AKA the nothing-ness! Sitting by the pool, eating food, doing the day to day routine stuff. The rest of the family spent a lot of time helping out with wedding prep. None of that could happen at our house as the rental agreement stated we weren't allowed guests. That meant I couldn't do much to help as I wanted to keep to Dom's nap schedule. Shucks... I guess I'll just hang out here all day...
Amy, this could be a Sweetlegs ad! Haha
My brothers and I grew up with a trampoline, so it was fun to relive some of those times. Bum Wars! It turns out we were much more in shape when we were younger. Half the time someone gave up because they were two tired, and I think most of us were sore the next day.
Evening Crib
The owner said the donkeys don't like new dogs. Sherlock won them over apparently.
We went for a walk our first morning and saw three deer!
I'd say they're each equally excited about this arrangement
Sherlock & Shadow spent most of the week in the house. Thank goodness it was air conditioned! They were both really well behaved the whole time.
Courtney and I playing some floating beer pong!
Little squinter
Oma and Dom floating
You can have kids and still have fun... You just have to keep your knees shut or else you pee a little. Haha!
Jeff & Marta in 40 years? (Minus the facial hair for Marta hopefully)
Always standing
Found this little pool in the poolhouse. Dom liked this more than the big pool I think. More independence for him. He sat and splashed for over an hour, on multiple occasions. Lifeguard on duty!
NAKED BABY!
What happens when baby takes 3 naps a day? This... lots of this.
Nightly ritual
Nice glass of wine in the hammock. Pure bliss.
I did go on a couple outings throughout the week though...
Dom meeting cousin Reese, who was born just one week after him!
Took Sherlock down to the park to chase the ball a couple times!
The Frog Cafe at Linden Gardens (where the wedding was) for breakfast!
Love this shot of Dom & Opa
There were a few kegs of beer that had been opened, but were leftover from the wedding. If nobody drank them, they'd have to be returned... This calls for a wine/beer/cheese night with the de Jongs! David watched Dom while I went down for a couple hours.
Marta, Courtney and I went to get our nails done in Penticton on the Thursday. On our way we saw some smoke up in the hill and thought, "Hey. Is that a forest fire? Nah... it looks too small... I bet it's just a factory plume or something!" 15 minutes later we got a text from the boys. There was a forest fire that broke out just behind the house Aly's parents rented (where the rehearsal dinner was scheduled to be that evening), and they were on evacuation alert. The boys hopped in cars and jetted to the house to get wedding supplies out just in case they were evacuated! In the end, the fire was squashed quickly with the help of some water bombers, but it was all very dramatic!
Our album cover. Can you tell I'm the least gangster person ever?
Thursday evening was the rehearsal dinner. Aly's parents rented a house up in Penticton that was also gorgeous. It was huge, and was able to host 35-40 people comfortably for dinner. My parents put together a delicious spread for us all to enjoy :)
Courtney modeling her new hat
We brought Dom's playpen and sound machine and we put him down for bed in one of the rooms in the house. He went right to sleep no problem, didn't cry on the way home, and went back to sleep until morning! Champion baby!!
Croquettes as a starter. I enjoyed watching croquette virgins try them for the first time. Lots of, "HOW HAVE I NEVER HAD THIS BEFORE?!"
Then comes the main event! The wedding day! Adam, Aly, their friends and family have put hundreds and hundreds of hours into the wedding execution. They thought of every little detail, from spritzer bottles and fans at the ceremony; to a champagne toast afterwards; to transportation; to cocktail hour with photobooth, games, snacks and mimosas; to exquisite decorations at the reception; to personalized name tags; to... you get the idea. MUCH of it was handmade by them, which is a TON of work, but made it so personal and beautiful.
Getting ready the morning of
The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous. You could not ask for a better backdrop. It was obvious to all in attendance how in love Adam and Aly are. I didn't have many pictures of the ceremony as everyone was asked to put their cameras away and just enjoy. Their photographer took many though! *Some of the below photos are not mine!*
Also, we didn't get a single shot with the bride and groom... Oops... Will have to wait for professional photos!
The ceremony was at the Old Kaleden Hotel right on Skaha lake.
The bridal party danced out to Crazy in Love by Beyonce & Jay-Z. FUN!
After the ceremony it was time for family photos. The photographer took a lot, but here are a couple we got in between :)
Jose, the photographer, was on my SALTS sailing trip in grade 8.
I can't wait to see Jose's photos. These just don't do it justice at all.
Oma was one of the flower girls, accompanied by Aly's Noni (Grandma)
Dom really loved the bling on Mom's dress
David's parents were SO generous and offered to come up to Kaleden for ONE NIGHT to watch Dom for us. David drove him back up to the house after the ceremony and they had him all afternoon and evening until we got home after the dance! It was incredible not to have to worry about him, and to just enjoy ourselves. A luxury we did not take for granted. We partied hard until the wedding shut down!
Dom's first selfie with Gramma!
Off to Cocktail Hour, Dinner and Dancing! The reception went really smoothly from my point of view. There were a number of speeches and performances/entertainment, but everything flowed nicely and the emcees kept things moving really well. The food was amazing (especially for wedding food), and I went back for seconds! I don't even know how to capture this whole day in words. There was so much going on.
A wild Marta skulks through the jungle. AKA the entrance to Linden Gardens
Aly hand-wrote all the names on their table arrangements. Wow! Just another example of the detail and effort that went into this wedding.
Just stunning!
The poor boys in their suits at the head table sitting right in the sun. They were troopers though!
Jeff was the best man, and he delivered an amazing speech, with Scott joining in for the last bit. That speech was all anyone could talk about the next couple days. Well done boys!
I keep thinking the butter is a Play button.
Table numbers accompanied by pictures of Adam & Aly at that age. Super cute!
The gorgeous bride
Better together
Scott looks a lot like Adam in this photo!
I didn't take any pictures at the dancing... because I was too busy dancing! I was telling the DJ to put something crappy on so I could leave and go pee. He kept playing the perfect songs! Such an amazing time! Also, my parents and Dave put together a slide show that was played before the first dance. Too much fun. The below photo was snatched off Facebook.
We drove home on Monday, and I slept a lot of the way. As did Dom! He slept from Penticton to Merritt, and then Hope to Aldergrove. We didn't make a single stop, and made great time!
Perfect sight on the way home! <3
Cheers to Adam and Aly. Wishing you a happily ever after, and eventually some cousins for Dom ;)
