Wedding Bells

I majorly failed at taking pictures at Jana & Billy's wedding. :(  I guess it took a little more to be a bridesmaid than I realized.  Good thing "photographer" is not included in a bridesmaid's duties!

Beautiful Bride!

"Bopa" & Jack

Sack race!!

I have no idea who these people are, but I thought it was hilarious
that they were gathered around admiring Kyle and the boys' master piece!

Note to any unmarried Brinkmans:
Remove hidden spare keys from vehicle before wedding.
Uncles, cousins, and brothers are not stupid!
Note to brothers and cousin:
YOUR DAY WILL COME!

Burrito Man

Jack was thrilled to get his rice & beans in a tortilla.

Keepin' it clean...

...FORGET THAT!

This kid could've cared less about books until
about a month ago--now he loves them. (YEAH!)

Time for another trim.  Had to wear the cape after he saw dad
wearing it for his haircut.  Curly hair is pretty forgiving, thankfully!

Shower at the Coop

The girls and I got to throw a tea party

WEDDING SHOWER FOR JANA
(woooo-ho! :))

a few weekends ago for some family and close friends.

We held it at Sweet Annie's in the chicken coop.  What a great setting!

Robyn, who owns the coop did all the food, decorating, and serving.
She was a wonderful hostess!

It was a rainy day, which ended up being kind of fun in the cozy little coop.

Next up...the wedding...less than two weeks away!! :)

Here's a sneak peak at Jack's possible wedding outfit...minus the bow tie I hope we can con him into wearing for a few pictures at least!  He wasn't happy w/ me because I put his loafers on him instead of his Teva's--he wanted to go play outside, not get dressed up for no reason.  (I had to see if it fit!)

Ham Ball

Jack is turning into more of a ham ball when the camera comes out.  Usually you only get this face if you ask him to wink, but sometimes it come out when he sees the camera.  It's funny sometimes...as long as we can still get a decent picture too!  The second two pictures are courtesy of Alisa--she said she told him to smile and this is what she got.

"Maybe if I wink at her mom won't be mad
that I dove my hand into the enchilada sauce."

Last weekend we...

...had a visit from the DeYoungs...

:)

Slightly different skin tones :)

They've got a whole set of clothes between the two of 'em!

AND

...introduced Grammi & Papa to the Iowa State Fair...

Not sure what everyone saw, but whatever it was, Ryan missed it.

AND

...took Ditty for a ride...

Smoothie Face

No real need to explain how much Jack enjoyed his breakfast this morning...

YUM!!

*WINK*

The "facial hair" eventually spread into a unibrow,
side burns, chest hair, etc., etc.  ....BATH TIME!

Mackinac Island

Ryan and I helped drive some of the youth group kids up to camp in MI this past week and were free to vacation while they were at camp.  So we jumped on the chance to go to Mackinac Island.  I was afraid I'd built it up too much in my mind, but I was not disappointed!

"Mighty Mac"...headed to the U.P. 

Ferrying over to the island...loved the old lighthouse!

Our hotel from the ferry

I was in love before we even pulled ashore!

Our view from the front porch rockers.

The Island House
We loved where we stayed: great view and just a short walk from
the busy downtown area of shops and restaurants.

There were some pretty impressive private homes on the
island and TONS of very impressive flowers.

One of my favorite things was the sounds of horses hooves on the pavement.

The Fort

The Grand Hotel
We had to wait to take a tour in the morning, as we were not dressed for the 6:00
evening dress code when we first rode by.  Ryan forgot his suit coat, and I my dress.

Another cool hotel and restaurant.  We decided we might as well
celebrate our anniversary a little early with dinner here.  Well worth it!

One of the big things to do on the island is to tour the
8 mile coast by bike or carriage.  We chose bikes.

Beautiful!

Pit stop on Huron

There's just something about no cars!

We went up to the highest point on the island and got a great view.
For those who are familiar with the North Shore of Lake Superior
it was very Pincushion-like...a picture just can't quite capture it all.

A trail straight from the highest point to the fort
...smart British army!

Relaxing on the lawn by the fire with an awesome view.
What a way to end a day!

Thanks to mom and dad and the kids for keeping Jack so we could 1. survive the 12 hour drive, and 2. enjoy some time just the two of us!