North Carolina

This weekend is the long-awaited, much-anticipated destination wedding (North Carolina) of Louis and Cristina. It is currently 11:17 on Saturday night, post-wedding. Andres is conked out in his bed after a night of partying while his sister remains awake, fighting the good fight against sleep, trying to win the party. (She is now out of her bed and into mine, and shows no sign of fatigue.)

It has been a big weekend. Thursday night was Celia and Andres' first flight, and they got to experience that thrill twice--from Boston to Baltimore, and then Baltimore to Norfolk. They both did great. I was apprehensive, thinking that one of them would have a meltdown as soon as the cabin doors shut, or that we would have to wait through an interminable tarmac delay at Logan, or that one of them would get airsick. Miraculously none of that happened and we arrived safely and sanely in Virginia, greeted by a smiling Baba and Tita.

(Actually, it turned out that flying was the easiest part of the journey. Celia through a fit at home when we were trying to get her into the hired car that would drive us to the airport, and Andres had too much energy from experiencing his first flight that he tore all around BWI, nearly knocking over some unsuspecting travelers.)

The kids have been looking forward to this trip for a while. And it seems to come at a good time for them. Andres is old enough to appreciate that North Carolina is different than home, and Celia is old enough that traveling with her is not a total pain. It's our first real family trip, in many ways. (Weekends in NJ do not count as trips in my book.)

So: we arrived late on Thursday night, headed to the airport hotel, and then got the kids to bed late late late. Friday was another travel day, as we packed up our bags again and drove from Norfolk to the Outer Banks (OBX as the locals say), stopping alternately for bathroom breaks and lunch, making it to The Sanderling Resort and Spa just before the 3pm wedding rehearsal. Andres made up for his previous late night by napping for 3 hours in the car.

The weekend forecast for Boston had been sunny, mid-70s. Beautiful weather. Somehow, coming a few hundred miles south did not result in warmer temps! We arrived at the beach ready for sun and surf, but were instead greeted by stinging gusts of sand, clouds, and cold. It was an ominous way to begin the weekend; after the very brief rehearsal, we all scampered inside and considered the real possibility that Cristina's beach wedding would take place inside.

But the receding tide must have pulled the bad weather out to sea, because today dawned warmer, sunnier, and certainly better than yesterday. And the sun was still shining (and the surf was still chopping) at 6:15 pm when, about 15 minutes earlier than planned, Louis and Cristina took their places outside.

As he was for Sarah and Mike's wedding, Andres was the ring bearer--though this time he actually walked (barefoot!) down the beach and delivered the rings to Louis. Celia was a flower girl. She was accompanied down the aisle by her older first-cousin Trinity, and the pair dropped rose petals that were quickly grabbed by the swirling wind and deposited all over the beach. Their work done, both Andres and Celia took a seat next to Natalia and watched their aunt get married.

Processing in with a shell.

Flower power.

I am prone to fits of reverie so it should come as no surprise that this wedding inspired some memories. It seems like only a couple years ago that Natalia and I were married; though in reality, it was 7.5 years ago (or, perhaps more accurately, one house and 2 kids ago). On that night in October, 2004--the night David Oritz hit a walk-off homer to beat the Angels in the ALDS--kids seemed far away, a mere glimmer in the distant future, easily ignored given all the excitement of our wedding day. And though both Natalia and I had talked before our wedding about how many kids we wanted, thinking about the kids we were going to have was a bizarre exercise. How do you envision your children before they are born? I tried to imagine what it would be like, and I found it terrifying--an anonymous Jed or Gustavo or Ines or Jane invading my home, waking me at night, relying on me for soothing and support.

But now, 7.5 years and a lifetime later, here we are. My Andres and Celia are very much real, and both seem so grown up. A ring bearer and a flower girl, making their parents, grandparents, and aunt (and new uncle) proud.

Watching the ceremony.

Perhaps not watching the ceremony.

After the party ended and everybody had retired to their rooms, ready to settle in for the night, I was reminded of how young they still are, however. Andres declared that when he got older the was going to marry Celia because they were in the same family. How touching, I thought, that he enjoys the company of his sister to much that he would consider marrying her. And how creepy too...but he gets a pass there, as he is not yet 5.

Celia is now asleep in our bed (12:40) clutching her blankie and doing her best to kick Natalia and me out of her way. No doubt she'll be awake before both of us, ready to hit the beach and see her newly-married aunt and uncle. One more day of vacation before we hit the road back to Norfolk and then fly back North. And if that leg of the trip goes smoothly as well, then I bet more family vacations are in our future as well (though I may need some more small-scale trips before I formally sign off on Disneyland).