Bits and Bobs

Since we were traveling much of the month most of our moments are in other blog posts.  But we did have some that were random and fun that didn't make other parts of the blog...

MadHatter being MadHatter.

She had just finished her Long Jump and found out that she would be going to the Jr. Olympics in TWO events.  Not bad since it was her first year ever running.

 S'mores over the new fire pit at Nana and Grampa's.

 The things this dog puts up with.  This is how MadHatter dries the dog off after swimming.

 Cake and donuts to celebrate both Stinkerbell and my birthday with Nana and Grampa since we were traveling for them.

 Nana and Grampa came over to help me finish unpacking the garage and kitchen.  Their cat, Chacha, decides she wants to tempt fate (and this isn't the only time).

 A typical afternoon in Florida summer.

 On the road to Jr. Olympics (we were home for about 10 days in July) and it was National Chicken Nugget Day.  What else would be for lunch?

 The road to North Carolina was long but fun - see next post on where we stopped and what we did.

After the road trip posts, you will find the Jr. Olympics posts!!!

You had me at Tequeños

With the ceremony complete we headed outside to find our children (they were part of the recessional).  This is what I found on the streets...

One wearing the flowers she carried and one with a handfull of petals to throw at the bride and groom.  Who emerged just seconds later to throngs (and I mean throngs) of spectators.  See below...

 There were people lined up on both sides of the canal.  I found out later that the spectators that were not guests thought that it was either a royal wedding or someone famous as the Dutch don't throw weddings this grand.

As the bride and groom took off through the canals on their boat, the rest of us climbed aboard our own vessels and spent the next 90 minutes cruising Amsterdam while we had tasty hors oeuvres and champagne and tried to keep our children from ending up in the water. 

 Just about the time, the waves started to get to me, we were disembarking at the reception site.  Once the stock exchange building built in 1896, the Beurs van Berlage is now a public space/conference center and in 2002 was the site of the ceremony of the current King and Queen of the Netherlands.  Now I see why they thought that it might be royalty getting married earlier.

And it was just as stunning and grand as you would imagine.  The greenery, the flowers, the table settings, the details - incredible! 

 

 I love their sense of humor.  The couple met on Tinder and if you are both Venezuelan/Dutch living in the U.S. so bonded over their love of Tequeños (trust me - try one - you will understand).  

We all had some more cocktails while waiting for dinner which gave me some time to snap some photos.

 Dinner came and with it the table fiasco.  Seems that our table, #36, did not exist.  It was nowhere to be found in the dining area, it was not on the wedding planners master list and everyone was in a tizzy trying to figure it all out.  Except for the 10 of us that were to be seated there (family and very close friends).  We just rolled with the punches until they finally got our table, #11, set and ready.  And then enjoyed a tasty, but lengthy, dinner. 

After sitting for so long, we were ready to party.  And party we did...To the same Venezuelan band that we have partied to at the weddings we attended in Caracas.  Yep, flown all the way in to keep tradition alive...

 And apparently, we partied without shoes...

And then fell asleep at about 11 pm only to wake up when the Cotillón started.  Sometimes called La Hora Loca (The Crazy Hour) it is a tradition and

not to be missed at a Venezuelan wedding.  Even if you are in Holland.

Around mid-night, a group of dancing girls and men on stilts and all dressed in crazy costumes enter the dance floor.  The music goes up in volume until you almost can't hear yourself think, and hats, masks, light up musical toys, bead necklaces, wigs, whistles - you get the idea - are thrown at you.  And now you are expected to dance, dance, dance, for the next hour.  Fully dressed in ridiculous gear.  And you will love doing so, trust me.

 And by the time we settled down and grabbed a mini-burger and fries it was 2:30 and we were all spent!  We had to say our goodbyes, even though we had been trying to wait for the Tequeños to come out because no Venezuelan wedding is complete without them.  We caught our cab, dropped our clothes where they landed and fell into bed just after 3:00 am.  We were exhausted but still buzzing from the excitement of our week in Amsterdam that finished with such a bang!

The signs of a great wedding!

We were off the next afternoon for our train ride back to Paris and our flight out the morning after.  It was a fantastic two weeks and it was so good to be back in Europe again.  I think a small part of us will always call it Home.

#Staarmaan

The Wedding!  It was finally here after almost a year of anticipation.  The girls were all dressed to the nines (and that includes the big and the little) and the men looked very dapper in their suits (again, both big and little).  As we were part of the wedding party, we needed to be ready just a bit earlier than the other guests as we had pictures to take with the bride beforehand.  Off to the Waldorf for some champagne, private time with the bride and getting our own quick family snapshots.

 B and his brother and our families.  We haven't seen each other in 6 years so we made the most of it.

That train though!  We had to wait for the rain to pass outside so the bride set up inside for some photos.

The rain let up!

We dodged the raindrops to get into the church where I ran into the groom!

We lined these guys up and sent them down the aisle...

And this is the only photo I have of them coming down the aisle as I was rushing to my seat...

We had great seats as we could see the bride and groom from the front.

First Kiss!  And then we were ready to party!