The Wedding.

This is the completely true story of one of my best friend's weddings. I swear, just like I couldn't make up the lives of my extended family, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

This was the first time I was an actual bridesmaid in a wedding for someone I truly care about. Me and Catherine met our freshman year of college and although we only lived in the same city for that one year, we still managed to maintain a close friendship for the years to come (at this point it's almost been six years).

Luckily for me and the other bridesmaids, Catherine picked out a flattering dress for us all to wear, my downfall would be the shoes. Although, I didn't know that in the beginning. But that's getting a little ahead of myself.

Wedding week started when I flew into Denver the night of the bachelor party. Sean (the groom) and all the other bachelors/bachelors for the night were out n' about running amok in the city of Denver when I got back to Catherine and Sean's house. The bride and female counterparts of the bachelors were all having a BBQ and trying not to cringe too hard at the thought of what those silly guys were up to. Catherine seemed to be the only half of a couple who had adapted the "out-of-sight-out-of-mind" attitude, which didn't surprise me because at her bachelorette party she didn't even bring her cell phone out for the night of festivities.

Although it was technically the night of the bachelor party, that didn't stop us ladies from drinking too much wine and staying up until 3 am. Well at least me, the bride, and the two sister-in-laws-to-be did. We had some really good conversation but I made the mistake of drinking white wine, which will guarantee a headache the next day no matter the amount of wine I ingest the night before. One glass, seven glasses, it's all the same.

The next day I woke up and met all the brothers/groomsmen. They were all hungover and my favorite part was poor "uncle Jason" wearing a Hello Kitty headband and getting jumped on by his lovely, energetic, and very audible nieces. We said a quick 'hello, nice to meet you' before Catherine and I helped load up her mom's minivan and made the four hour drive to Gunnison, CO where the wedding was being held. Grandma Marlene was in the passenger seat, little Clark the dog was in his kennel in the trunk, and me and Catherine proceeded to sleep the entire ride there. I'll note here that it took us about an hour longer than it should have, probably because Grandma Marlene was in the car and Betsy (Catherine's mom) was afraid of driving too fast over the mountain passes.

But we all arrived in one piece and little Clark didn't make a sound the whole trip. Then we unloaded the van, including 'the dress' and sat down for a nice steak dinner with Catherine's parents and grandmother. Bill, Catherine's dad, began the 20 Questions game the moment I arrived and tried his best to get me drunk (probably not but it felt that way) in a matter of 15 minutes of me being there. I could write a blog alone dedicated to Bill, because he is such a character but I won't. However, he does play a starring role in this story.

I should probably mention one of the reasons we arrived almost a week before the wedding. The wedding wasn't until the following Saturday but because we were going to have to participate in a separate Catholic ceremony that upcoming Tuesday morning, we made the drive a little early. This topic was one that brought about what I can only politely describe as 'tension' among the family. It was a sore spot and not a fun conversational talking point. Catherine and Sean were not too thrilled about having to do a separate ceremony, but it was really important to Bill, so they reluctantly agreed. When we got to Gunnison Bill and Betsy filled us in on how difficult their local church had been about performing the original ceremony, which was intended to be outside, and would be outside on Saturday. I don't know much about the Catholic religion, I grew up Protestant, but they are still both facets of the Christian religion. And one would think that there is no place that a person, or a group of people could be closer to God than outside. But maybe I'm just a forward-thinking person, or I don't know, using reason and logic. But anyways...

We also drove up early to help with the final wedding preparations. Centerpieces, linens, flowers, etc. I had promised Betsy at the bridal shower/bachelorette party that I would be her slave the week before the wedding and I am a woman of my word. So Monday we began bopping around town trying to tie up all the loose ends and doing some shopping for all of the get-togethers that we had planned leading up to the wedding: family dinner, cocktail party, rehearsal dinner. Sean arrived that afternoon just in time to run with Catherine to grab the marriage license from the county clerk's office.

The next day we had what I have nicknamed the "practice wedding" or the "pretend wedding." At the lovely hour of 9 am might I add. It was only the bride and groom to be, Catherine's parents, Grandma Marlene, myself, the deacon and his wife. From the moment we arrived I knew it was going to be a struggle to maintain a straight face throughout. The deacon make a big to-do about the marriage certificate and informed Catherine and Sean that they could not, under any circumstance, take the license to be filed. They might "lose it." Because two twenty-somethings who already have their own house could not possibly be trusted to file a simple paper...

The original plan was to not take that certificate and get a new one for the actual date of the wedding, without giving away too many incriminating details. When we talked to the deacon however, we realized that plan was out the window. But we proceeded with the ceremony anyways. As is the norm with typical Catholic masses, there was a lot of parroting phrases back at the deacon, sitting, standing, etc. I tried my best to maintain what I hope was a serene expression, but knowing me, I probably rolled my eyes a couple of times despite my best efforts. The best part of that ceremony was when Bill was whispering to Betsy behind me. He was using a "kid whisper" which really isn't a whisper at all, it's talking at normal volume while believing that no one else can hear you, even if there are only six other people in the room. The good thing about that morning was we got it over with early in the day and early in the week. We were done with it, even though in retrospect some might call it a waste of time. But I will defer to God on that one.

The stress of all the last minute details was wearing a little on the bride so that night we went out for a drink with Sean and his best man a.k.a his brother Jason. This is not before we put some of extra vodka we had leftover from the bachelorette party to good use and made some emergency jello shots for wedding week. This is when Bill gave me the adorable nickname "Jello Shots" that he used for the rest of my trip, even though it wasn't just my idea to make them. I'm pretty sure Catherine and Sean chimed in also. But back to Tuesday, after a few lemon drop martinis Catherine was feeling loads better. Plus a little time away from the house/parents/grandmother probably helped as well. We didn't get too silly that night, partly because it was a Tuesday night in the tiny town of Gunnison and the bar closed at around midnight and partly because we had to be up early the next morning to go pontoon boating at Blue Mesa. We were looking forward to a relaxing day on the boat, some sunshine and swimming, and the test of little Clark's doggie life-vest. This was our last chance to relax a little before the rest of the family trickled into town throughout the week.

Oh, how wrong we were.

When we woke up the next morning it was overcast, but that didn't deter our plans. Like an idiot, I forgot to pack a jacket or hoodie of any kind so I just wore a sundress over my bathing suit with my hair down to cover my shoulders. We packed a cooler with sandwiches, chips, a couple beers and some jello shots and piled into two cars. Then we drove to meet Jason the best man and Sean's mom Dawn at the lake. There were nine of us total and somehow we loaded onto a pontoon boat for six to eight people. Like a motley crew similar to that of the group from Gilligan's Island, we set off on our little adventure. It was Sean(the groom), Catherine(the bride), Dawn(MOG), Jason( the best man), Matt (groomsman), Bill(FOB), me (bridesmaid), little Clark, and Grandma Marlene.  It was chilly the moment we got on the boat and soon we were all covered in towels and huddled together to try to keep warm. We attempted to thaw ourselves by taking a couple jello shots but it was nine in the morning and jello shots are much better when the sun is shining (at least in my opinion). Bill gave us the grand tour including the complete unabridged history of Gunnison, Blue Mesa (the largest body of water in Colorado), and the surrounding areas.

Then it started to rain. Right in our faces. Grandma Marlene's knees were knocking together next to mine, and everyone else was sufficiently cold. So, we made the decision to call it a day on the boat and head back to the main land. We were almost to the dock, in fact we could see it from the boat. I turned to ask Catherine a question and turned back around to face Jason and Dawn. Then there was just a wall of water rushing towards me. And that's when time slowed down a little. My jaw dropped, I heard Catherine shouting "GET TO THE BACK OF THE BOAT" to Jason and Dawn and my arm instinctively wrapped around Grandma like a seat belt. Bags were floating and then rushing over the back and sides making me feel like I was in a scene from the movie Titanic. And we all know how that movie ends. I'm sitting there and my only thoughts were "Oh my god I'm going to have to jump in and save Grandma, she does not seem like a strong swimmer" and "well, there goes half the wedding party..." Then all of a sudden Dawn is yelling that her keys are in her bag and next thing I know Catherine has yanked off her dress and jumped in the water. Meanwhile, Bill is yelling "get the tackle box, get the tackle box!" If we weren't so panicked at the time, I would have laughed then and there at Bill's priorities.

But I didn't have time because little Clark tried to jump in after his mom. Jason picked him up and threw him into my open arm. So I have Grandma in one arm and Clark in the other and all I can do is sit there. Catherine managed to get all the purses, shoes and bags that fell in the water. The tackle box, being heavy, promptly sunk to the bottom and the visibility was not the best so there was no point even trying to salvage that. Dawn's purse was completely soaked but her keys were in it, thank god. At this point I want to mention that all the boys on board waited until little 5-foot-nothing Catherine jumped in like superwoman and saved the day. Now they were scrambling trying to lift her out of the water, probably to redeem themselves a little.

My purse that had my phone, Catherine's phone, my wallet and her wallet magically made it through this disaster completely unscathed. No water damage whatsoever. My bag actually floated, or should I say my mom's bag because I was borrowing it.  I couldn't believe it. I only discovered this when we were back in the warm car with little Clark strapped in next to me. Needless to say, we were all bonded after that near-death experience. We went back and cleaned up, then drove to Crested Butte for lunch. We had definitely earned it that's for sure. The rest of that day is a blur. We were tired from waking up so early and from the after-shock of almost sinking. More people came into town that night. But I vaguely remember going to bed early.

The next day there were more errands to run and a cocktail party to prepare for. The party was an opportunity for both Catherine and Sean's families to meet and mingle at least once before the rehearsal dinner and the main event. We helped prepare all the food (mostly appetizers) and made berry mojitos for that evening. Most of the wedding party was in town by this point and a few more stragglers were arriving during or after the party. It was nice to meet the extended family and put faces to all of the names I had been hearing about for the past few months. We finished all of the jello shots that night (the Hervey fam can drink) and as the "keeper of the shots" I got roped into taking more of them than everyone else. We had to explain to the little girls that this was "grown up jello" and not suitable for children. I made a bet with Ryan, the middle brother, that if he did a keg stand I would do one also, if they designated someone to hold my dress. And unluckily for me, Ryan is a ornery thing. So guess who did her first keg stand since college? This girl. But on the plus side Grandma and the little ones had called it a night at this point so I didn't feel like I was scandalizing anyone. No one saw up my dress (thank you Cassy) and I didn't fall over, so I considered it a win.  I blame it on the stress of the wedding preparation finally getting to me.

Friday morning I helped Cassy, the maid of honor, with her speech because she was super nervous and wanted a second pair of eyes. Plus, writing is kind of my thing so I figured it would be nice to lend a helping hand. Then we brought more stuff to the property where the wedding was being held and had the rehearsal. The big drama of the day was that there were only half the number of champagne flutes that we needed, so we scrambled around a bit trying to remedy that mishap. Sean ended up having a friend from work bring more flutes from Denver.

The rehearsal took twice as long as it needed to and it was all thanks to the numerous interruptions made by big Bill Nesbitt. This was even after we told him that we had written out a schedule that detailed the wedding day events and the schedule was split into 15 minute increments saying what was happening and who needed to be where. I kept making eye contact with Matt, Catherine's brother and my buddy down the aisle, and we kept cracking up because it was so ridiculous. Finally, I got the bright idea to physically hand him a copy of the schedule that we had emailed to everyone in order to speed things up a bit. That seemed to curb some of the questions but as I had come to learn over the course of the week, Bill likes to be involved in everything and liked to try to figure out or plan things that had already been planned or figured out. By everyone else. And like days before.

We managed to finish up the rehearsal and then we sped back to try to get ready in time for the rehearsal dinner that evening. But not before I painted Grandma Marlene and Aunt Laurie's nails. I was sitting there painting the ladies' nails in leggings and my Blackhawks Stanley Cup Champions tee shirt, with wet hair and no makeup. Then Grandma looks at me and goes "oh, you're not wearing that to the rehearsal dinner are you?" in her Minnesota accent that I was quickly learning to mimic. By the end of the wedding I had my Grandma Marlene accent perfected. As much as I had teased Sean about wearing my Blackhawks tee shirt to the wedding, because he's a huge Red Wings fan, I wasn't actually going to follow through with it. And it was so hard in that moment to try not to laugh. But I managed to squeak out a "no, I'm going to go get ready after I'm done with your nails" instead. This wedding and all the events surrounding it was good practice for me to learn to bite my tongue in social/familial situations. However, once alcohol is added to the mix, my filter goes right out the window. I didn't say anything too bad though over the course of the week, or nothing I can remember now.

I managed to get ready just in time for Cassy and her boyfriend Jensen to pick me up and head back to the hotel where the dinner was being held. I was staying at a family friend's house who had graciously offered up their place as extra lodging for select relatives and friends (myself included). They had a pretty amazing library, so I felt at home knowing all those books were in the house. Although, I didn't have very much time for reading because we were so busy with wedding things. But anyways, we were off to the rehearsal dinner which was the first time we had all eaten since breakfast. It was a casual dinner with pizza and salad from a local place, but it was just what we needed to re-energize. We took some pictures and mingled with family and friends. Then Sean gave out the groomsmen gifts, flasks with each of the guy's names on them and shot-gun-shell cuff links. After we, the bridesmaids, gave Catherine her scrapbook with pictures and recipes that we had secretly made for her. Poor Cassy didn't even get out two words before she started crying as she gave Catherine the book. Jason jokingly said "well that takes a lot of pressure off me now" because he had been stressing about his best man's speech also. But we were hoping she got the tears out then instead of the next day during her big speech, with way more people and a microphone.

There was more drinking that night, I had started to notice a trend at this point, and we had a little after-party at the house where most of Sean's dad's family was staying. They had a shuffle board type game and we brought tons of leftovers from the rehearsal. I got the chance to talk to Sean's dad and step mom a lot that night which was fun because they are two of the sweetest people and a model couple. The main thing I remember from that night was Catherine giving Jason a hard time about "being born in the 70s" (Jason, if you're reading this...sorry buddy haha). She kept saying "hey, is anyone here born in the 70s?" And he would reluctantly raise his hand...then we would all laugh. This happened multiple times. The car ride back to the hotel was hilarious because there were like eight of us piled into a five person SUV and the whole time Jensen, Cassy's boyfriend, kept feeding me and Catherine random gummy bears. I'm not sure where the gummy bears came from and I didn't ask. I couldn't tell who was sitting where or who was touching who, but we all fit and made it safely back to our respective rooms. I decided that this was the perfect time to write my card to Catherine and Sean congratulating them on their marriage and whatever tipsy thoughts were in my head at that moment. Then I fell asleep and woke up promptly at 6 am before my alarm even went off.

I think I had this secret fear in the back of my mind that I was going to "miss the wedding" or show up late, which would probably never actually happen. Someone would surely call me or come over and physically wake me up. But I was wide awake and ready to go. I made a mental note to order a small coffee because it seemed that I didn't need the extra caffeine anyways. The girls, myself included, showed up at the property around eight or eight-thirty. Catherine went into organization-mode and started helping finish up with decorations and center-pieces. Finally, we shoved her back inside, into a chair and made her eat a bagel and drink a mimosa. Rory and Melissa, the hair stylists, showed up around nine and started with the bridesmaids and worked their way up to the bride. The couple of hours before the wedding was very frenzied. There was a lot of running around, zipping, hair spraying, safety-pinning and mimosa drinking. At one point I was pinning one of the groomsman's vests because it was too big then the next minute I was on the ground in my bridesmaids dress pinning someone else's pants. Who knew I was quite the tailor?

We took bridal party photos while the guys were off somewhere taking the groom's party photos. The only time Sean was super traditional was in his request to not see Catherine in her dress before she walked down the aisle. Catherine wanted to get all the pictures out of the way so the guests wouldn't have to wait before the reception, but Sean was adamant in his decision. So the big reveal was delayed until the ceremony. It started drizzling briefly as we finished up our bride/bridesmaids photos but we weren't discouraged. We popped back inside the bridal suite to freshen up before the ceremony, to take some silly pictures and to put the final touches on our ensembles. Then all of a sudden it was go-time. I was super nervous because I was walking down the aisle first. This is the point in the wedding where I almost made a fool of myself. Let me set the scene for you...I was walking downhill, on slightly wet grass, in a full length gown and three inch wedges. I'm not gonna lie, I stumbled a little bit when my foot went in a hole. But luckily for me Matt came through with his promise not to let me fall and we remained upright. I probably blushed a lot. But I tried to ignore it and hoped not every person was starting at me at that particular moment.

Catherine looked like a princess as she walked down the aisle. But I managed to keep it together and didn't cry (I did wear waterproof mascara just in case). Thunder interrupted the officiant a few times and one of the flower girls, in typical kid whisper, said "Aunt Michelle, did you hear the thunder?" Yes, sweetheart. We all heard it. I was in between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry the entire time. We walked out of without a hitch and then rushed off to take wedding party/family photos before the rain started. It was windy and the sky was a little apocalyptic looking but it probably made for some really out-of-this-world pictures. Kinda like an "extreme wedding" or something. I'm really curious to see how they turned out actually.  For part of the photo shoot, the wedding party was standing on a bridge while one of the photographers took photos from below. The green from all the trees probably looked amazing in contrast with our dresses and the formal attire.

After the photos were finished, that's when it really started to rain. We walked into the reception in our pairs and got sufficiently wet on our way to the tents. I didn't care at this point because most of the picture taking was over and because what else was I going to do? It was time to rally. First there were the speeches by the best man and maid of honor. Both of them did an amazing job despite their nerves. Although, I was a little pissed that some of the other guests were talking during the speeches. I understand that these speeches can be boring to people who aren't super close to the couple, but if that's the case, don't come to the wedding or at least be respectful. A few other people randomly decided to make speeches as well. Billy, Catherine's older brother, gave a hilarious speech and even rapped a portion of it. After the speeches the wedding party got in line for food, then the rest of the guests lined up. We ate, or tried to but people kept coming up and talking to us, and then naturally the drinking portion of the evening started. We had these plastic cups with straws and lids that we had been drinking mimosas in while we got ready. Well, let me put it this way, after dinner my cup remained filled for the rest of the evening.  We ran out of beer at some point but big Bill went to get more, per the request of the bride (even though she had said from the beginning that she thought we needed one more keg). Cassy caught the bouquet and her boy caught the garter. I didn't even try to catch the bouquet. In fact, I think I looked down at my drink to make sure the lid was properly fastened then I looked up and it was over. I'm not sad I missed it. I think the bouquet toss is probably my least favorite part of a wedding.

Then there was a lot of dancing. I did multiple "fill-in-the-blank" slides, and cha-cha'd the best I could. Sean's dad stole my beer while we were on the dance floor, but he gave it back. All of Sean's side of the family were dancing machines and were so much fun. Even Grandpa busted a move! It was amazing. Catherine's brothers were really fun on the dance-floor also. I think the large quantities of alcohol were a contributing factor because Matt isn't normally the dancing type. But that is typical of any wedding; you see people dance that you might never see dance otherwise. Catherine had a mini freakout in the bridal suite that can be attributed to months and months of stress. But she perked back up and danced the night away. Until like 10 pm when we decided to change and head to a bar for the "after-reception-party." That's when the night gets blurry. I think I drank every type of alcohol that night. People kept buying rounds of shots and toasting the bride and groom. And I distinctly remember Sean handing me a shot of some unidentified liquid and telling me "I'm the groom." So of course, I took it. It was whiskey. *shudder* But what was a girl to do? There was more dancing. I remember a dance-circle where Matt dance-battled some random guy and did this weird little trotting move over and over again. It was pretty hilarious to say the least. I was still wearing my garter from the wedding, but the shot of tequila that was originally in it, was gone by then. Someone thought of the brilliant idea to bring the guest book to the bar and somehow I was dubbed "the keeper of the guest book." I wrote a lengthy entry sitting at the bar, beer in hand. To which Jason, the best man, asked me "geez woman are you writing a novel?" Sidenote: I was not. But it was a really funny little note.

The next day we had a fun time reading all the entries, especially the ones from people at the bar. I'm pretty sure the bartender even wrote a little note to the newlyweds. When I could finally stand and after I had taken a shower, we went to brunch. Then we loaded up as many presents as we could in the car and headed back to Denver. Catherine and Sean were flying out the next afternoon to go to Michigan and I was heading back to Phoenix around the same time. The drive back to Denver was way quicker than the one to Gunnison, thanks to Catherine and Sean's driving. We were all pretty tired so we went to bed pretty early and then the next day Sean's dad Mark and his wife Rhonda took us to the airport. We said our goodbyes and our little whirlwind of a wedding week was finally over.

These are the things I took from this wedding:

1) Weddings are not really for the people who are getting married (sadly).
2) Weddings are stressful.
3) Bringing multiple families together for a celebration is tricky.
4) I might elope when/if I ever get married. At the very least I'll get a wedding planner.
5) Apparently it's good luck for it to rain on your wedding day (thanks Grandma).

But, that being said. I wouldn't trade our experience for anything. Overall, we had such a fun time and I got to know both Sean and Catherine's families so well. They are all great people and we have tons of crazy/fun/ridiculous memories.

I am so happy I got to be there for Catherine and Sean on their big day and look forward to being a part of their new life together! So raise your virtual glass to the happy couple!

Sorry, that's as cheesy as I'll get. I swear.

I'm definitely going to be a pro for the next wedding I'm a part of. And like I said at the beginning, I couldn't make all this stuff up if I tried.

                                                                                  ~~~    

A La Noche, A La Donde Vas, A La Bibliobecca: a.k.a the Family Vacay in Espana.

I know this is a long time coming but I've been a busy lady this summer and I'm using this week to catch up, so your patience is appreciated.

My family recently traveled to Spain for vacation in the beginning of July and my Auntie Michelle was the best at speaking Spanish. So, Auntie Michelle, the title of this blog is for you! ;)

It's hard to remember every detail of a two-week trip to a foreign country but I'll try to recall some of my favorite moments or memories. However, it's probably going to be the "reader's digest"version of our vacation. Even with my stellar memory, I sometimes can't remember every single detail. So just be prepared. I may forget a thing or two.

First let me list the people who participated in our Spanish adventure: my mom, my dad, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Brian, my sister Kelsie, my sister Brie, my cousin Jordy, my brother Ryan, myself and a cutout of my cousin Dillon's head because unfortunately he couldn't make the trip at the last minute. It's okay, he got a grown-up job with the Padres and we are super proud of him. But we did have a lot of fun taking silly pictures with his face and having random strangers come up and ask who he was. We told them he was Justin Bieber.

The trip started off smoothly enough, our flights were easy and we made all of our connections, which is saying a lot based on our previous traveling history (i.e. our Italy trip circa 2005). We started in Madrid where we met up with my little sister Brie who was studying abroad in Florence. In Madrid we attempted to stay awake and avoid jet-lag by touring the palace gardens right by our hotel and hopping on a 'hop-on-hop-off' tour bus, but the humidity made us all drowsy and almost everyone ended up falling asleep on the bus(except me because my contacts were stuck to my eyeballs and I physically couldn't close my eyes). So we reluctantly went back to the hotel to take naps in order to reset our time-clocks. I'm told some people went out to dinner later, but I slept straight through the night until 8 am and woke up completely refreshed.

The next day we went to the Royal Palace of Madrid, to the Museo Nacional de Prado, and the Retiro Gardens. It was as if we were trying to make up for that first day, but we saw a bunch of art and architecture, and the gardens were so massive and beautiful. I would have liked to get lost in those gardens for a couple of hours with my journal and my ipod but we had places to see, so we moved on.

That night we went to see a flamenco dancing show, which was such a cool experience. I haven't done any research on the subject of flamenco dancing but from what I observed it's all about movement illustrating the passion behind the dance. The way those dancers could move their feet was amazing. It was kind of hypnotizing actually. I'm not sure if it was a mixture of the dim lighting and the sangria but I felt as if I was in a little trance as I watched from my seat. If I tried anything like that, I would fall on my face for sure.

The next day we left for our villa that was in the town of Altea towards Valencia. It was about a four hour drive and we ended up stopping at this cafe in the middle of nowhere and ordering sandwiches from this sweet woman who we tried our best to communicate with.

The house was near the beach town of Calpe and was right on a golf course maybe five to ten miles from the beach. The place was pretty spectacular; there were five bedrooms, a large kitchen area, a dining/living room area and my personal favorite part of the house--the back deck which included a pool and a view of the golf course. Not too shabby right?

We spent the bulk of our time in Spain with that house serving as our home base. From there we toured the area going to various churches, castles and even a monastery which was one of my favorite sites from the entire trip (although that trip we made on our way to Barcelona). The monastery sits on the very top of a hill and there is a gondola that takes visitors to the very top of said hill. There's also a famous sculpture that looks like stairs leading to heaven where tourists take pictures of themselves ascending the steps. My cousin Jordy, my uncle Brian, my sister Kelsie and I got a picture of us standing on the sculpture and it looks like we are photoshopped in because you can't see the ground in the photo. My dad was actively not looking as we took the picture because he is not a big fan of heights. I can still remember the trip we took to the Grand Canyon but that's another story.

One of my other favorite parts of the trip was meeting these women on the boardwalk who made their own jewelry. They were so wonderful and patient as we picked out various pieces and used our fractured Spanish to converse with them. They kept telling my mom and aunt how beautiful we are and honestly, who doesn't love being told that? Especially over and over again in Spanish.

We went the beach a few times and did beachy things; towels, blankets, beers, mojitos. Most of the beaches were topless beaches since that's pretty much the norm in Europe so no surprises there. I did not participate in the topless tanning, because well, two words: sun burn. Ouch! No thank you.

Moving on...

We signed up for a guided mountain bike tour that I have now nicknamed "The Ride from Hell" and I don't think anyone who participated will disagree with the title. Except for maybe my brother, but he's used to riding 80-90 miles a day on a bike and he's one of those freaks who enjoys it. Although, he does it on a road bike and in my limited experience with bikes, I prefer road biking to mountain biking.
Overall though, I don't trust bikes just like I don't trust horses. I think it's a control thing. But that is not the point.

The real twist is that we all thought it was a mountain bike ride for beginners that toured around the city, the beach and then a little ride to see this dam/castle. What we didn't know was that the ride was 30 miles, it was one of the hottest days of the year, and we each only had one water bottle. I made it about 15 miles before I tapped out and turned around. In my parent's defense they honestly didn't know what to expect, but I think it's safe to say they will never sign me up for another bike-themed family outing ever again, or at least not for a long while. And I'm okay with that.

After Altea we went concluded our trip in Barcelona. We dropped my brother off in Valencia on our way so he could bike and catch part of the tour de France. The rest of us stayed at the Hotel Gaudi and there was the coolest (and supposedly the most underrated) Gaudi museum right across the street. We could see the sculptures on the roof from my parent's balcony.

We shopped a lot on the trip in general, because my Aunt Michelle shops like it's a sport--and she is a gold medalist in it--, but we did the majority of our shopping damage here in Barcelona. That is where I found the most amazing leather jacket that I cannot wait to rock once the weather gets cooler in Boston. The best part is being able to say "Oh this? I got it in Barcelona. No big deal." I could seriously go on and on about this jacket, but I won't. You are welcome.

We only went out one night during our whole trip, and by go out I mean went out to some bars, nightclubs or pubs. Barcelona is a huge party city but since we were with our family it wasn't really that type of trip. But apparently in Barcelona, if they see four girls in their 20s walking down the street it can be guaranteed that said girls will be approached every 5 feet asking if "you girls wanna party tonight?" Even if the girls in question are just trying to find gelatto (I'm talking to you Jordy and Brie). And if you tell these club promoters that you are traveling with your family and point back to your uncle and dad, they will disappear in approximately 1.5 seconds.

But we did go out one night and we ended up at the Cheers bar in Barcelona. It was basically just a simple Irish pub. There we met a couple of American guys who were traveling around and then the highlight of the night was when we met the British stag party. The bachelor was wearing a super girl outfit complete with a blonde wig and what I can only assume were nerf balls for his--ahem--lady lumps. There were probably about seven or eight of them altogether and we hung out with them for the rest of the night. They could not get over the fact that we were all related and that we were 'so good looking'--their words not mine haha. It was just nice to talk to people in English and not have to deal with the language barrier for one night. And it was fun being out with just the girl cousins.

My favorite part of the city of Barcelona itself was probably the gardens in the park where the artist/designer Gaudi lived. They turned his house into a museum so visitors can walk through his house as well. We bought a couple of drawings from an artist in the park where he explained that there was a different image when you rotate the picture upside down. I chose a picture of a tree that when it is flipped upside down shows a woman's profile. The architecture and art in Spain is so distinct but until I visited I would have pegged it closer to work of Italian artists. Gaudi in particular was interesting because he designed spaces that were aesthetically pleasing but also ones that incorporated the practical function of the room/furniture/space into the design.

Overall it was a good trip and we had a lot of funny moments that I didn't mention here. We drank lots of wine, sangria, cidre and beer. Everyone except for my dad did Jordy's 10 minute abs that made it hurt to laugh for a few days. We ate a lot of paella, and a lot of things that we weren't sure that we actually ordered. But it was an experience that's for sure. Some of my favorite moments were the times where we split up into smaller groups because nine people together at all times can test a person's patience. Though, I am glad that everyone was able to make it because I felt safe traveling with such a big posse.

Hopefully it is one of many more combined family vacations to come, and hopefully we can get the complete group to attend the next time.

I will close with the near-nonsense words of my Auntie Michelle...

A la noche, a la donde vas!!!

                                                                               ~~~