Wedding Shower

My sister Lynn is getting married in just a few short weeks, and I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend her lovely wedding shower. Getting to and from the wedding shower, was, um, not quite so fortunate.

Gabe and I got up at the Butt Crack of Dawn (3:00 A.M.) and drove to Rockford, where we caught a bus which took us to the airport.
Gabe was so sweet, both on the bus and in the airport while we waited for our flight. He's an ambitious and curious little soul, so I took precautions.
(That blue blobulous thing in the bottom of the photo is the handle to the retractable dog leash I had attached to my intractably wandering son.)

The timing was perfect, and we arrived just in time to get caught in Atlanta's famous bumper to bumper traffic. The short 15 mile trip took us an hour, during which Gabe got carsick and vomited an enormous amount of innards all over himself and his car seat. My heroic sister Angie, who was buried between the two carseats in back, kindly did what she could to ease the situation.
When we were finally able to get off the highway, we stopped at the nearest available bathroom belonging to the very nice Mr. Hilton of Hilton Hotels. I surreptitiously sneaked into the lobby bathroom, carrying Gabe in his car seat. The rest of the bathroom clean-up sequence I will leave to your imagination. One poor unsuspecting soul did come in on us while I was bathing Gabe naked in the sink. Evidently she was very well brought up, because after using the toilet, she still washed her hands. (This was quite a feat considering the gelatinous pile of vomit floating gently in the bottom of the sink drain. She never even raised an eyebrow.)

(Side Note: If you should ever come upon a distraught mother bathing her naked child in the sink next to another sink filled with vomit, please react in a completely nonchalant manner and pretend that nothing is out of the ordinary, as though this happens all the time in the Hilton. You will earn undying gratitude from the Distraught Mother.)

Anyway, cleaner and much happier, Gabe and I and the rest of our party headed to the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel where the shower was held.
The place really reminded me of home, except that the Four Seasons has better lighting.
Ooooo, the food!
After an already long day, it was so nice to sit, drink, chat, and foist my child off on unsuspecting grandmothers!
It's always fun spending time with family, but it's especially fun when all three of us sisters get together. (I'm the tall one in the photo. I don't get to say that often. Did I mention that I'm the tall one?)
After an amazing tea, we all headed to Lynn's house. As soon as I walked in the door, I knew this was a place where Handyman would feel at home.
I mysteriously suffered from a sudden but serious onset of kleptomania. Thankfully, I couldn't think of a way to fit this delicious bit of melodic sweetness into my carry-on luggage.
Lynn and Rob's home is so beautiful, and it was a treat to see all the rooms. When I come back to visit Lynn again, this is going to be my room.
Since I already went into the minute details of the adventure of getting to Atlanta, I won't bore you further with trivial matters such as getting home. Delta Airlines came through with their usual flying colors (the skull and crossbones pirate flag should be their ensign) and put me through the trauma of 1) canceling two consecutive flights, 2) making me wait in a crowded airport with a toddler for SIX HOURS, and 3) causing me to spill an entire cup of Starbucks coffee in my purse. The last item alone should be a hanging offense. As I must be the only person on the planet who lives 45 minutes from the nearest Starbucks, that was the final straw.

Ah well, I managed to crawl my way home by midnight (instead of the planned 5:30). In spite of the hectic travel drama, it was such a fun weekend!