We cashed in a Christmas present from Andy and Jennifer for a weekend of bliss without Benjamin. No, no, that's not right. Benjamin cashed in HIS Christmas present for a weekend of fun and excitement with Uncle Andy and Auntie Jennifer. Actually, both are true. It was Benjamin's Christmas present - but it turned out to be our weekend of bliss.

I dropped Benjamin off with his aunt and uncle Friday evening and then met up with Mike back at home. We decided to stay in and get Chinese food because we had planned on taking a road trip the next day down to Lake Mills, Wisconsin for a half marathon that Mike had signed up to run. I ended up not going along on the trip though because I wasn't feeling well and my cousin, Erin, wasn't able to meet up with me as planned. And really, riding in a car with 5 potentially stinky male runners isn't exactly on my to-do list for this year. Maybe next year.

So while Mike was off running the Tyranena Beer Run half marathon and Benjamin was having a fun time at a park, I stayed home and caught up with some household stuff. Among other things, I painted a desk I had acquired for free in a new coat of a really brilliant shade of green and white for Benjamin's room. Mike's race went well. He said the weather, while marvelous for doing just about anything else outside on a November day, was a bit warm for running. After the race the guys all enjoyed some beer at the brewery and Mike was home around 9pm. We spent our second childless night at Whistle Binkies enjoying a live band.

Sunday morning we were both able to sleep in and then watch some tv while reading the newspaper, two things we enjoyed in our past life. Since the day was so beautiful we decided that we would get the most out of it with a bike ride. We both have loved riding independently but have not had the ability to go together since we were in college. It was awesome. We had a nice 14 mile ride all through Rochester. It was one of the nicest days I have had in a long time.

Even though we thoroughly enjoyed our time as non-parents, we sorely missed Benjamin and so we drove up to the Twin Cities on Sunday eager to see him. Before picking him up though, we had one last moment to ourselves over dinner at one of our favorites: Sawatdee, a Thai restaurant in St. Paul. Benjamin had a great weekend and is still talking about everything he did with his aunt and uncle.

We all spent a lovely weekend in Milwaukee for Erin and Dennis's wedding. I drove down Friday morning all alone in my sweet new ride, the Rondo. When I arrived to Erin's house, she immediately put me to work folding programs and when that was done we went to pick up her wedding dress and brought it over to the hotel. We were pampered Friday night by staying in the Penthouse Suite at the hotel, which was very very cool. The rehearsal was Friday evening followed by the rehearsal dinner, which was in the hotel next to ours at a Champp's. It was a really fun day and somehow we all kept Erin from getting too stressed out or nervous. All of us girls, plus our Aunt Debbie, spent some time hanging out in the suite before we all were too tired to stay up any longer. I got to share a room with Erin and was lucky enough to be the first person to see her on her wedding day!! We sang a rousing chorus of "I'm Getting Married in the Morning" and "Goin' to the Chapel" before crawling out of bed to breakfast. While Erin, her Mom, Stephanie and Sarah all went to get their hair done, Cicely and I spent some time decorating the suite.

Everyone came back in a couple of hours and we ate lunch, had our makeup done by a makeup artist, got dressed and headed over to the church. I think we all were starting to get nervous at this point because everyone was pretty quiet as we were hanging out in the Bride's room. After Aunt Mary and Kelsey arrived, Erin slipped on her beautiful dress and we all waited for our cue. I had a small scare as we lined up for the procession. The Priest asked me if I had put my reading up on the podium and since no one had told me to do that at the rehearsal, I had assumed that someone would be taking care of that the day of the wedding. Not the case. So luckily I had brought a copy with me and could run back to the Bride's room to get it. Phew! I was nervous before that, but after I was just a sweaty shaking mess, haha. The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch and everything was so perfect and beautiful. Before we knew it, we were on the limo bus on our way to have photos taken at a park. It was a cloudy day and it looked like rain was on its way, but fortunately it mostly held off until photos were done. They took some photos at a really cool location that had a bunch of old buildings and farms, which will no doubt be amazing! Mike was able to ride along on the bus with all of the wedding party, so Benjamin spent the time meeting and charming family with Grandma and Grandpa. He was such a very good boy all day! The reception was back at the hotel where there was a cocktail hour in the atrium followed by the dinner and dance in the ballroom. I somehow made it through my matron of honor speech with only choking up once, but with no tears, thankfully. Benjamin danced the night away with relatives until he could no longer keep his eyes open, so Mike brought him up to the suite where Erin and Dennis had provided babysitters to watch Kelsey and the other children. It was great to have the chance to talk with family members who we don't get to see often enough and we had a fun time dancing, too. Eventually we were both too tired to keep going so we gathered up a sleeping Benjamin and headed to our room. In the morning we met up with all of our family members staying at the hotel for a breakfast and a small gift opening in the suite. We said our goodbyes and started for home around 11:30 or so.

The three of us made a couple of stops on the way home to make the ride a little more fun. One of our stops was at the Tyranena Brewery in Lake Mills, WI. Mike and I sampled their beers and we all had a relaxing time hanging out in the tasting room playing games and watching tv. It was a fun time and really made all of us wish we could take a roadtrip vacation sometime soon. Benjamin is a pro at traveling - seriously. He likes to listen to his music, read books and color in the car and generally is just really awesome at it. We haven't pulled out the dvd player in the car for a year at least, it is great!

This weekend we are staying close to home. Mike is doing a training run Saturday morning and Benjamin and I are manning a waterstop. Should be fun!!