"Bee's" Wedding

We started our Labor Day weekend a day early, pulling the kids out of school Friday, packing the car up once again, and traveling six or so hours east to Lafayette, Indiana, home of Purdue University and most importantly, "Bee's wedding", a day that's been a topic of conversation at our house since Bri, Mila's sweet teacher at daycare, asked Mila if she would be interested in being her flower girl.  Mila has had a special connection with Bri this past year, even getting to know Tyler a few times when they both came to babysit.  They are such a sweet couple and we knew it would mean a lot to Bri to have a small (but spirited) piece of her life here in Cedar Falls as part of her wedding day.  

Nothing makes the kids more giddy than a road trip and a hotel stay.  And after spending most of the day in the car on Friday, and pulling into town about fifteen minutes before the rehearsal was about to start, our first night was quite the test of our patience!  They were antsy and wound up, and Mila refused to do anything flower girl related.  She even laid down at the end of the aisle in absolute defiance when she was told it was her turn to walk down the aisle.  As I went to bed Friday night, I had pretty well convinced myself there was no way Mila was doing that aisle.  And my optimist husband even agreed with me!

But I tell you, it's amazing what a full night's sleep, a box of donuts, and a beautiful day will do for a little girl's attitude.  That, and a well-developed narrative (and a little bribery) thrown in to the mix, too.  Mila had brought her Elsa doll along for the weekend, so it only seemed fitting that as I threw open the curtains Saturday morning, I sprang into a lively rendition of "For the First Time in Forever," from Frozen.  You know, the one that goes, "The window is open so is that door, I didn't know they did that anymore..." where Anna and her ice queen sister (who Mila quite fittingly adores) get ready for coronation day.  I told Mila that Elsa had informed me that Bri's wedding was like coronation day and that Mila could pretend she was in fact getting crowned princess of Arendelle.  She jumped into my world within seconds, and never looked back.

After getting her hair styled into the most adorable Elsa braid with Bri and all the other bridesmaids, we had most of the morning to take our time and explore this cute college town as a family.  The city was old and charming, evidenced by its beautiful, character-filled buildings, old brick, and cobblestone streets.  Being a college town, everything was well manicured, but trendy, with neat shops, local restaurants, old theaters, coffee shops, and candy stores on every block.  Our hotel was just three blocks from the church, right on Purdue's campus, so we all got ready for the wedding and walked to the beautiful brick church when it was time.  Right in the center of a city street, the gold plaque on the side of the old Methodist church read that it was the oldest church in Lafayette.  And I just couldn't get enough of the faded aqua doors and steep iron stair rail.  It was a photographer's dream location!

And so was this girl who was extra good at posing in that pretty dress of hers... ;)

Mila got her stubborn streak out the night before and was nothing short of precious for the entire day.  From the minute we slipped her sweet dress on, she just fell right into character.  She loved looked in the full-length mirror in the hotel room, and loved the way her shoes clicked on the cement even more.  She didn't walk down the sidewalk on our way to the church, but strutted.  She loved being told that it was her job to help the little ring bearer, even though he was just a few months younger than her, and it was sweet to see these two little strangers connect on a similar mission.  And thanks to one adorable backpack full of little trinkets that Bri had lovingly gifted Mila the night before, Mila knew exactly what she had to do in return.  And she did it so good!

After a successful trip down the aisle, Mila once again strutted her stuff out of that church, this time displaying her earned backpack for all to see.  Then after bubbles, a few pictures, and a nice walk around Purdue's campus, we danced the night away in a gorgeous ballroom in the famous memorial union.  It was pretty fun to just be us, knowing literally no one except the bride and groom.  We danced, took several funny pictures at the photo booth, and stayed until Mila finally lost it after spilling a little hot cocoa on her dress.  That was our cue! 

While it started off a bit stressful, we had the best day Saturday and were so glad we made the trip to bless a girl who had blessed us and especially our girl with so much love this past year.  Mila girl was precious and we were so proud of her for rocking her role as flower girl, not once but twice this year.  She's proven to us all that life really is about faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust.