I’m not typically a big fan of recap posts, but this past weekend was just too good not share. Here’s a brief (ha!) rundown of how things went: Thursday morning I woke up bright and early…or dark and early, as the case may be at 4:30. We fed the kiddos as usual and then I planned to pack up to head out for the weekend while they were sleeping between the 4:30 and 7:30 feedings. Lucky for me, they were awake the whole time and screaming at me for part of that time. Yay. But, I successfully packed all our stuff for 5 days (4 nights), including two dogs and the Chariot stroller into our new (to us) Ford Flex. There were a few people who read my last post and really wanted to know what the new car was, so…there you go, a Ford Flex. I left about 9:00 and was absolutely exhausted and thank goodness we didn’t have much planned for Thursday.
Friday was a big day. We walked about 3 miles (round trip) to get some coffee and a scone in the morning with my mother-in-law. Unfortunately, I wasn’t all that prepared for the chilly Santa Fe morning, so we had to piece a few things together to make sure the kids were warm enough.
Yes those are socks on her hands.
We’re Green Bay fans, what can I say? Also, the hat Rylan is wearing is an “adult” size?? 
He looks like a little jailbird, but a jailbird probably wouldn’t have argyle socks/mittens.
After our walk we had lunch with some old friends, the ones who got married in Philly back in May. (Read about that trip here, here, and here.) Then we prepared for the evening’s activities: party at a friends house and then watch a 50 foot paper puppet burn with 30,000 other people standing in the dark on a baseball field. Fun, right? Yes, so fun! In Santa Fe, there is a very pagan feeling tradition of burning a huge paper puppet called Zozobra. He’s stuffed with bits of paper that have notes on them about things that people want to burn away: worries, regrets, bad memories, etc. He goes up in a ball of smoke and fireworks, all the while groaning and waving his arms. The crowd goes absolutely nuts yelling things like, “Burn Him!!!” and if you’re with our group of friends, just to go against the grain, “Fire hurts, free Zozobra!” Our group of friends has been attending this celebration in various states of inebriation for as long as I can remember. You can read more about it on the official Zozobra website.
Patrick was even able to joins us for Zozobra! He left the hospital and drove straight to Santa Fe and made it just in time. Unfortunately, he hadn’t eaten dinner so after the burning we went to get some food. Sadly, we chose to go to the worlds slowest Sonic (you would think with a name like Sonic there would be no such thing as worlds slowest). We were there for…wait for it…drumroll…AN HOUR AND A HALF!!! Then we went to bed. And it was late, like really late…and the babies didn’t sleep. It was fun. Saturday we took turns napping and feeding babies. And feeding babies and napping.
Obligatory twin pic. They melt my heart.
And then we mobilized and went to a great rehearsal dinner for our dear friends. I may have had a margarita or two, and everyone else certainly did. When we were finally asked to leave, we headed to a bar at a hotel where some other wedding guests were staying. Our friends Andy and Mike (later nicknamed Miggity Piggity, you’re welcome Mike), had a tamborine, guitar, and banjo-lele (mini banjo that looks like a ukulele) with them and as the night got later, they began to play. We were the only people left in the bar and shut the place down singing Wagon Wheel and Feliz Navidid (yes, Merry Christmas at the end of August). It was awesome. I’m sure not everyone is super excited to see/hear how it went, so I won’t force you to watch the (very poor quality) video, but if you want to, here they are: Wagon Wheel & Feliz Navidad.
This is how much fun we had shutting down the bar (one advantage to being driver is that I remember all the details!).
Sunday we did more napping and feeding babies and feeding babies and napping. And then we went to a wedding!! I’m sure I’ve said this before, but LOVE weddings. It’s so fun to get dressed up and feel like an adult. But, my favorite thing about this wedding was getting to see some of my very best friends in the whole world. I am so lucky to still be good friends with the people I grew up with. We all shared adolescence in Santa Fe, a place meant for old people and rich people (sorry, it’s true), and we made it fun. Though we probably participated in some activities some might find unsavory, or even illegal, we certain formed close friendships and bonds that will last a lifetime. Our group of friends is so goofy and fun, and really, really smart too! I think I’m the only one of about 10 of us who doesn’t have some sort of higher degree! But man, we know how to have fun. I mean, how many people can say they have friends who can convince the mother of the bride to dance the “unicorn” during her daughter’s wedding? (Here, you can try too: Open a beer in a bottle. Turn on some jams. Put bottom of beer up to forehead, like a unicorn horn. Dance. You’re welcome.)
The food was incredible. Yum, I love food.
Somebody at our table decided that the butter was for dipping the bread into. I’m not sure it was suppose to be a fondue party, but oh well.
Yay for the bride and groom and our crazy friends!
As with all great weddings, when it was time to leave the wedding venue, no one was ready to go home. The plan was to head to Evangelo’s, a local dive bar. So, we marched up the street, again singing Wagon Wheel and Feliz Navidad and headed for the bar (there seems to be a theme here…). When we got there, it was discovered that the poor bride had left her ID in her hotel room and they WOULD NOT let her in. And so, the singing on the street continued. Andy on the banjo-lele, Miggity Piggity on the guitar, and my lovely husband on the washboard. Yup, the wahsboard, in a suit and tie. It was amazing. We gathered quite a crowd full of all sorts of people, like the guy who looked about 12 years old and was wearing sweatpants, or the guy wearing some sort of jersey that looked like a cop uniform, or the two ladies who were wearing next to nothing and kept proclaiming that they were moms out for the first time in months. There was also the guy who was so excited to dance that he set his cigarette in the crack in the sidewalk, danced a song, and then picked up his cancer stick and went on his merry way. It was really incredible and I hope, a fun way for the bride and groom to end their wedding evening.
So that was my weekend, maybe more fun for me to re-live than for you to read, but it’s out there now! Also, it was SUPER amazing that Patrick had three whole days off in a row!!! I do want to give a shout out (that’s a special Santa Fe way of saying thank you) to my mother in law who watched our kids 3 nights in a row, a friend of hers who helped and a friend of ours who helped.
I also want you all to know that we were gifted an amazing scarf and tie (that Patrick wore to the wedding) that was hand woven by a good friend. It was absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend patronizing her online shop, shopsixandseven.com , before the holidays.
