Summer is over and it's kind of bittersweet. We spent my last day off as a family, we are hoping to make it a tradition. Last year we went to the Children's Museum, but this year we went to an indoor playground called Lost in Fun. There are a few different rooms, one with playground equipment, one with a bunch of bounce houses, a basketball court and a room that glows in the dark with a big foam pit. Nola spent the first half hour cleaning. She is her Dad's daughter.
These pictures aren't great, but she is hard to photograph when she's having so much fun! After Lost In Fun we had some ice cream.
It was a good day. A great way to end a fun summer!
We got to sightsee a bit on our last day in Pittsburgh. We started the day with a big breakfast at the Pancake House with my parents.
Then we went to the The Market to look around. There was a restaurant called Nola!
We also found a good ice cream place!
We rode the incline, which is like a little house that takes you up a big hill. It was so hot. And the line was long. I think I would have rather gone shopping. At least there were great views at the top of the hill!
John's grandma threw a party that night for our families. It was nice to relax and talk more with everybody that was involved in the wedding. Nola commanded a lot of the attention. She ran around, played soccer, did some magic, and ate more cookies.
Jessica wouldn't let Nola win :)
Nola and Uncle John looking at the stars.
It was a nice way to spend our last night in Pittsburgh. John's family was so welcoming and fun. And a little crazy, just like us.
The best part about the weekend was that Nola left with a new Uncle, and she is super excited about it!
Like most weddings I've been in, this one started at a hair salon.
The women at the salon were great. They let us drink mimosa's and gave us a whole section to hang out in. They even let me bring Nola at the end to get her bangs cut (goodbye bruise) and do her hair. Plus, my girl showed me how to tease me hair. By the time this posts, I will own a teasing comb.
After hair and makeup we went to the venue for lunch and to finish setting up. Jessica's ceremony and reception were at the same place, Succop Conservancy. It is beautiful. And the weather was PERFECT for Jessica's big day.
The ceremony was so sweet. They wrote their own vows. It was very emotional for everyone involved. Including me.
Jessica surprised John by having the Pirates mascot come after the ceremony for an hour. Nola was terrified of the Parrot. She thought that if she touched the ground he would get her so she spent the whole hour being held. She just hates people in costumes.
The reception was in the same area and it was a BLAST!! Jessica had cute decorations with lots of bight colors. During dinner Nola walked around and picked up as many decorations as she could find and rolled around with them on the dance floor.
And Boca took her for a spin.
Speeches were after dinner and in true Reynolds fashion we prepared a little performance. Sara changed the words to Party in the USA so it was about Jessica and John and we each sang a verse. It was a hit and after we were done I felt like I could finally relax and have fun.
Father/Daughter dance
Nola had fun too. She especially liked the cookie table.
Cookie tables are a Pittsburgh tradition. Friends and Family bring cookies to share at the reception. We brought a few dozen from Eileen's cookies. We were the only people there from Nebraska so we had to represent.
Nola danced all night. She was literally on the dance floor the entire time. I was shocked she didn't crash after all of those cookies.
I've put my chairs in the Go Red for Women auction for the last three years. You can check out my first year here and second here. This year the winner wanted me to paint a set of end tables that have been in her family for a few generations. She gave me lots of quotes and creative freedom. Here is what they look like primed (the chair is a different project).
And after- I'm really happy with how they turned out. They're pretty fun, and I like that they match but aren't exactly the same.
If you are interested in getting something custom painted, visit www.swirlsandstripes.com for details and pricing.
Thursday was Jessica's birthday, so some of her friends that were there for the wedding and our family celebrated at the rental house before going to the reception site to decorate. Before we left, Nola ran into the railing of the deck and immediately got a bruise on her forehead. Awesome.
We unloaded a bunch of stuff at the reception site and started hanging lanterns. We had to hustle back to get ready for the rehearsal, but made it with some time to kill.
She loves taking pictures. It's actually a really easy way to distract her when she starts being crazy.
The rehearsal was smooth and Nola even made it down the aisle (spoiler alert: that was the only time). We got some cute pictures and Sara and I even had some time to talk privately to the rest of the bridal party about the speech we were planning.
Father of the Bride and Groom fist-bump.
The dinner was at Buca di Beppo, one of Robert and my favorite restaurants. It was delicious, as usual, and Nola only went a little bit crazy.
Jessica and John said some really nice things and we got to spend some time with my Grandpa Bill and Lyda. After dinner a few of us went to a bar that had a nice patio. It was overlooking the city and as a train flew by us we realized it use to be a train station. This picture was taken.
And we laughed a lot. My siblings crack me up.
Kyle is wearing one of Nola's sweaters. He was cold.
