Wonderful Wedding Weekend

Congratulations to my niece Jenna and her new husband, Micah. They were married this past weekend in Baltimore, MD. It was a beautiful, traditional Jewish ceremony. Both the ceremony and reception were held at the Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards which made it extremely easy for the many out of town guests who attended. There were also many attractions within walking distance, including the Red Bull Flugtag. This is an event hosted by Red Bull in many different cities where people create their own homemade flying machine and attempt to fly it off a huge ramp over the water. Each team performs a little skit before launching the plane and pilot directly into the water in most cases. There were some commercials featuring these contraptions that you may have seen. I didn't get to witness this first hand but did hear all about it. Dom and I didn't do any sightseeing unfortunately but are hoping to do a return trip in the near future with the girls.
We arrived in Baltimore in the morning on Saturday and checked into our room. As soon as we opened the door of our room the doorknob fell off on the other side. Kinda of funny, kinda not. Considering this was a really nice Marriott and not the Bates Motel you really don't expect the room to fall apart. Within 10 minutes of settling into our room there was a knock on the door to fix the broken door knob. Great service but a little disturbing as we hadn't even called anyone to come fix it yet. Soon after we grabbed some lunch with my parents and one of my aunt and uncles on the main floor of the hotel. While having lunch the groom stopped over to stay hi and insisted he wasn't nervous. Yet, anyway. My brother, the father of the bride, wandered in to sit and chat for awhile as did Jill's boyfriend, Miles.
After lunch my mom and I went to the bridal suite where the bride, her mom and her bridesmaids were having make-up done for the wedding. My husband took the only key to the room and went to take a nap. I was having a great time hanging out with the girls when I realized I couldn't remember what my room number was. After admitting this with some embarrassment it was suggested I stand out in the hall and just holler for my husband. After deciding that I might possible be thrown out of the hotel for causing an uproar I was able to find out my room number. (Thanks mom.)
The afternoon flew by pretty quickly and before I knew it we were dressed and ready (a wee bit early) for some family pictures and the signing of the Ketubah. The Ketubah is a beautifully decorated marriage contract signed by the bride and groom and two witnesses. Next was the ceremony, that included lovely wedding vows written by the bride and groom to each other. Many tears of happiness were shed. I had no tissues with me, never even crossed my mind that I would need any and I was sitting in the middle of a bunch of guys who of course have no tissues. It wasn't so bad. Then my nose started running. My dress was short sleeved, so that wasn't even an option. I somehow managed to keep myself presentable so that I wouldn't have to walk out into the crowd with snot running down my face.
The reception was fun with lots of dancing and yummy food and cake. I met several people including my brother's neighbor from Michigan. He was so funny. It was definitely one of the best weddings I have ever attended.
We attended breakfast in the morning with the bride and groom and then it was off to the airport for our flight out. I was one of the lucky passengers to be chosen for the random search as we went through security. My underwire bra proceeded to set off the wand and I was treated to the full pat down. Nothing like being felt up by a total stranger in public. They don't say' Thank you for flying the friendly skies' for nothing apparently. Other than that the flight was uneventful. We left the airport to gather the children and animals at their various locations and then settled in at home. We left the airport before my parents and unknowlingly left with the baggage claim ticket. Normally not a big deal except their luggage didn't show up. They were able to find it with only a small delay. And normally they wouldn't have minded a little extra delay except that upon returning home my dad was headed to Pittsburg, NH to go Moose hunting. He was not a Happy Camper but everything turned out okay!