The last two weeks have been really busy. Here is the whole story, with a sampling of pictures smattered throughout...
Our trip began early in the morning on July 10th. We left Omaha sometime around 5AM on a direct course for Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The trip was a piece of cake - Lily slept most of the time, and Aubrey and Ethan had a great time playing Eye Spy, 20 Questions, reading books, and playing with toys they packed for the trip. We made great time and were in Oshkosh sometime around 2:00. The wedding rehearsal wasn't until 4, so Heidi and I decided to give the kids a chance to let off some steam at a local park (South Park). Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures there. The highlight of that stop was Ethan's many turns on the one-child merry-go-round. He got a running start, grabbed the handle, sat down, and somehow figured out how to make himself accelerate. After spinning around for a couple of minutes, I tried to get him to walk to me. Needless to say, he had a little difficulty maintaining his footing! After he had recovered, he went back to do it again. It was rather entertaining.
At the wedding rehearsal, we met up with Heidi's brothers Mike and Andy, along with their families. When the rest of the wedding party arrived, the rehearsal went off without a hitch. Interesting side note - the presiding minister, Pastor Chad Graham, was a classmate of ours at MLC. It was great to see him again.
The rehearsal dinner was at the groom's parents' house nearby. Jake's parents put out a wonderful spread of prime rib, shrimp, potatoes, and yummy desserts (among other things, I'm sure). The boys (and men) played wiffle ball in the backyard until after sundown. Our family didn't quite have that kind of energy, and we ended up going back to Heidi's sister Beth's house. Aubrey had a great time staying up late with Wendi and her bridesmaids. All I remember is getting my jammies on and crashing. It had been a long day!
The Wedding
The day of Wendi and Jake's wedding went very smoothly. Aubrey is Wendi's godchild, and Wendi gave her the honor of being a flower girl. As you can see, she was really excited to be involved!
Wendi and Jake picked a passage from Proverbs for their wedding verse.Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New International Version)
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
What a wonderful set of verses to be chosen for the beginning of life together! In the institution of marriage, God has provided for all the social and physical needs of the family. Most importantly, though, the marriage that is made of three strands (husband, wife, and God) is not quickly broken because it's strength comes from the Lord. A marriage begun and kept with Christ as its center will thrive and will not break.
After the wedding, we ventured out to the reception hall. Aubrey and Ethan were absolutely exhausted after the previous day's travels and all the activity leading up to the wedding, so we let them sleep for a while in the car on the way out to the reception. The grounds were beautiful, and the setting was just right for Jake and Wendi's personalities. Nothing too fancy, kind of rustic, spacious, yet intimate enough to encourage conversation and ease. After dinner, the dance started. Aubrey was exhausted, but she was a trooper through the whole thing.
Ethan, on the other hand, was a riot! He slept just as much as Aubrey in the car on the way to the reception, but he had a little more energy than she did. Here's why...
Now, we don't have pop very often in our house, and when we do, the kids don't usually get more than a sip or two. I figured it was a special occasion, so Ethan got his own can of root beer when we got there. Of course, he loved it and nursed it throughout dinner. When the dance started, he was thirsty again and helped himself to a can of Sprite. Once again, I didn't think too much of it, and opened the can for him. As the evening progressed, I wondered where Ethan was since I didn't see him on the dance floor. I went outside to the coolers, and this is what I saw:
Here is the exchange that happened next:
Me: Ethan, where did you get that can of pop?
Ethan: It's Mountain Dew, Dad. I got it from the cooler.
Who got it for you?
I did.
Did you open it, too?
Nah, some big kid opened it for me.
And what are you doing now?
I'm just watching the lightning, Dad. It's pretty cool.
Maybe you should go inside, bud.
No problem, Dad. See ya in there!
With that, he jumped off the cooler and went into the reception hall. Heidi and I are convinced that without the caffeine, Ethan would have been a total bear.
We left the reception at 11:30, and were back to Beth and Fred's house in Fon du Lac by midnight. The night was still young, though. By the time we got the kids in bed and changed our own clothes, the rest of the wedding party got home. Peter (Beth and Fred's first son-in-law) decided to order some pizza, and we sat up chatting, eating pizza, and watching the beginning of Yes Man until everyone started losing it around 3 AM. This was a great end to a great day.
Catching Up
The next morning, bright and early at 9 AM, we met Heidi's best friend from her grade school days. We had a lovely breakfast at Burger King and had a chance to visit a little bit with Kate and Rob and their daughter, Chloe. It was great to meet up with them, even if it was for a very brief time.
We killed some time in Oshkosh at the outlet mall, and met Ethan's godparents at a park in Oshkosh. It was great to see Charles and Marti along with Elizabeth and Claire. Lauren and Hannah were at the youth rally, so we missed them. It was really nice to see what they had been up to and to hear about what had been going on in their lives since they moved from Florida.
After lunch, we made the trip back south to Watertown for our 10-year high school reunion. After a brief stop and Heidi's brother Andy's house in Dousman to get the kids settled in and to change clothes, we drove to LPS.
It was great to see many different people from our high school days, and we had a great time catching up with people over drinks, hors d'ouvres, and dinner. Prepardy was especially entertaining and nostalgic.
Heidi with Jill (left) and Kelly (right) at the reunion
It was especially nice to catch up with Mark and Jill and Ben and Megan, among the dozens of other people who were there.
The next morning, we had the privilege of worshiping with our classmates and some professors in the Prep chapel. Mark Schutz was our liturgist, Nate Scharf delivered the sermon, Liz (Hella) Sand played organ, Jill (Jabs) Schutz played violin, and classmates of ours who sang in Prep Singers sang an anthem, too. It was a lovely service, and it was great to see the continued use of our classmates' talents in worship.
We had more time to socialize after worship. We headed over to the cafeteria for coffee and fellowship. I can't say enough how wonderful it was to be able to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in several years.
Schutzes, Bergs, and Schmidts
After a quick McDonald's lunch and a nostalgic drive through Watertown (it felt weird to drive through town...), we stopped back at Andy and Sheri's to visit a little while, pack our things, and head on the road for about 3 hours up to Kaukauna to see my sister Jill and her family. By the way, the entire time we had been traveling in the car, Aubrey, Ethan, and Lily were fantastic. We got to Jill and Karl's, and the kids went right to playing with their cousins. We had a very nice visit there, and made the comment that we will not wait three years before seeing them again.
Aubrey and Ethan with their Schultz cousins
Kaukauna is not too far from Green Bay, so we hopped back on 41 and then jumped on 29 to go west to Heidi's parents' house near Minocqua. Remember what I said about the kids traveling so incredibly well the rest of the trip? Well, I think on this leg they finally had enough! Other than a couple of little spats, Aubrey and Ethan were pretty good, but Lily needed attention. We ended up stopping three times, and setting us back about an hour and a half. We can't say that Lily wasn't cute when we did stop, though...
We finally rolled into Grandma-and-Grandpa-by-the-Lake's driveway around 11:30 or so. Everyone was exhausted, but apparently that didn't put a damper on conversation. The kids and I finally went to bed around 1, but Heidi and her parents stayed up until 3:00 catching up!
Relaxing
It was wonderful to see many of our old friends and some family over the first several days of our trip, but the schedule was a bit crazy. Finally, up north, we could just relax with some fishing, relaxing, a visit to Wildwood Park, and just some general laziness. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
After a very nice visit for a couple of days in Lake Tomahawk, it was time to head to Minnesota to see my side of the family.
The trip across Highway 8 was very nostalgic for Heidi and me, since that was the route we would each take to come and see each other before we were married. Not much has changed along that route, which is amazing given that so many other things have changed a lot in the past decade or so.
We had a chance to visit with many of my brothers and sisters while at my mom and dad's house. They also got a chance to see Lily (some of them for the first time). We hadn't seen my brother Scott in a long time, and now that he is out of the Air Force, we should be able to see him more often. It was great to see my sister Kristin and her son Dylan, too. It has literally been years since we have seen them. As usual, Holly was there with Keenan and Ivory, and Jeremy made an appearance, too.
Ethan's Spider-Man birthday cupcakes (Thanks, Gramma!)
The next morning, Dad and I got up early for a round of golf at the Links while Heidi, Mom, and the kids hung out and played at the house.
Mom and Dad were set to go to Michigan for the annual Shark Shootout. Dad plays this tournament every year with Grandpa at Maple Hill near Saginaw. As of this writing, I don't know how they did, but I'm sure I can get a play-by-play next time I talk to my dad ;)
Mom and Dad left on Thursday afternoon, but we didn't leave until Friday morning. We spent the afternoon downtown at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Our pass for the Omaha Children's Museum works there, too. We had a great time exploring the museum, interacting with the exhibits, and checking out dinosaur skeletons.
On our way in to the museum, we saw the most interesting car in the parking lot...
Those are actual plates, trophies, and general knick-knacks that have been super glued to the car. There were porcelain figures, water spigots, buttons, magnetic letters, and all kinds of other stuff stuck to the car. The kids (and Heidi) were entranced by this zaniness.
After the museum, we went out to dinner at Red Robin, back to Mom and Dad's for an evening of rest, and then up the next morning for the final leg of our trip back to Omaha.
As I have said several times, it was really great to see people that we haven't seen for a long time and to catch up with family and old friends. We are certainly very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives, and we are thankful to have had the chance to see so many people in such a short period of time.
If you have read the whole thing, thanks for sticking with me! If you just scanned through to check out the pictures, that's ok, too!
Check back later for more updates.
