Sage goes Swimming

Two weekends ago we were in Hampden at my mom's and Sage had her first real swimming experience. Earlier in the summer Mike and Dave took her kayaking. She fell in a few times trying to go back and forth between the two kayaks. She really did not care to be in the water at all, but we just thought that it was too early in the season and the water was too cold. I thought for sure we would have better luck in August in the swimming pool. Even though she doesn't even like taking a bath, I thought after swimming around she would really enjoy being in the water.

But, I was wrong! She does not like to be in the water at all! Mike tried to coax her in with some treats, but she was not very trusting. She would sniff close to him and then quickly retreat. Mike finally had to pick her up and bring her into the pool with him. She was so cute swimming around, but she did not really enjoy it. She just kept swimming to Mike or trying to swim to the edge instead of going after toys.

As soon as she was out of the water she was running around like crazy, trying to get dry. She was rubbing up against the floats, deck, and towels to try and wipe the water away. Shortly after that Mike picked her up and took her in for another swim. She swam around a bit more than before and actually would go towards the toys, but again did not really seem to enjoy it at all. Hopefully as she gets older she'll have more opportunities to swim around in the water, and she'll grow to love it. I have my doubts though. :(

Move # 3 - Storage to the House

Move # 3 was a success! We were homeless when we came back from the honeymoon on Sunday, and by Monday at 10:00 AM the house was ours. Mike went immediately to Budget to rent a truck and fortunately he had his dad and brother Phil meet him at storage to start loading everything up. I also lucked out because Mike's mom and Sarah met me at the house to help me clean before everything was moved in.

The bottom floor was pretty much ready to go when the boys arrived. They brought in most of the furniture for downstairs, and then the rest went into the garage. Once the upstairs was vacuumed and cleaned then they started assembling beds and bringing in the bulky furniture. We did what we could, but by 5:00 we were all exhausted. So, we took a little break. Mike's mom started to put together dinner and I went to pick Sage up from daycare. She was certainly confused when we arrived at the house. But, she just walked around, sniffing and exploring the place. I think she is very excited about her new home!

After dinner, Mike's family headed back to Littleton. Mike and I did a little more unpacking and then went to bed early, because it was a long day. Plus Mike had to go back to work on Tuesday. The process has certainly been very slow - unpacking, organizing, and finding a place for everything, but we are getting there. I should be able to post pictures of the house all put together soon. Especially, with our new living room furniture!

Move # 2 - Dunstan's Landing to Storage

I think we were a little crazy to even think about moving out of the apartment the day after the wedding, but we did it! We woke up Sunday morning, went to church and then met up with family for breakfast. Afterwards we went to Mike's apartment to 1. clean up from the girls getting ready, 2. pack up what was left lying around, 3. load up the truck and 4. ship it all to storage.

Thankfully, Mike's mom was able to stop by and pack up all of the refrigerated items. My mom and grandmother helped me with packing up the leftover things. Mike along with his brothers, sisters, my brother, and his dad were able to work on loading the truck and making sure that it would all fit! It probably took about 3-4 hours to load it all. Then after my family headed home, Mike's family went to storage to unload everything. Kelly was a huge help with stacking and organizing things, so that it would all fit from the truck into storage. It was a close call!

While they organized the storage unit I stayed behind to clean and vacuum the apartment. I even had time to take a little nap on the not so comfortable floor. When they returned an hour later, we packed up what was left into the cars. Phil and Jane went in one car, because they were headed towards Boston. Then the other five of us and Sage crammed into Mike's car to drive to his parents house in Littleton, MA.

Once we arrived we had a lovely dinner, opened a few gifts, organized our luggage for the honeymoon and then went to bed!!! Unfortunately, after the wedding my camera decided to stop working, so I do not have any photos of the moving preparations. But, I was able to snap a few when we got back and started to unload it for move # 3 - into the house!

Thank you to everyone who helped! We could not have done it without you!

Honeymoon

After the wedding on Saturday and then all of the loading, packing and moving we did on Sunday, we were looking forward to the honeymoon. We left Mike's parents early in the morning and they dropped us off at Logan Airport. By 8:15 we were in the air and headed to the Dominican Republic.

The airport in Punta Cana was all open and looked like a bunch of huts grouped together.  It didn't take very long to find our luggage, but just as soon as we had it in our hands there were workers there to grab the bags and whiz around the airport looking for our transportation.  We just tried to keep up with the guy, as he wheeled our stuff to a bus that would take us to the resort.

Our room was not available upon arrival, so we tested out the buffet and lounged around for a few hours. It was of course very HOT, which I enjoyed (Mike not so much). That night, once it had cooled down, we walked around the resort a bit, tested out the train system, viewed the casino and then watched a magician show. When we got back, Mike tried to fix the alarm clock and accidentally tripped the power. We had some difficulty communicating that to the staff at the front desk - that we needed lights, they thought we needed towels. Unfortunately, they did not show up to fix the problem until the morning, so we spent the first night without AC.

Tuesday we enjoyed our first cocktail, while waiting for our meeting with the transportation Co.  They gave us info about the resort, the activities and of course the excursions available. We decided to book the ATV/Buggy experience. Later in the afternoon we headed to the beach for the first time. Mike of course spent time under the shade of the palm trees, while I soaked up the sun and the water was pretty warm.

On Wednesday was the excursion.  We were the first to be picked up, so we spent about an hour on the back of a pick-up truck, with not very comfortable seats.  When we got there they explained the safety guidelines and agenda for the day.  Unfortunately, we only had $5 with us, so we could not afford to buy the bandannas needed to cover our faces.  So, we resorted to using our t-shirts!  Our buggy was not very good and we ended up stalling 3 times.  The scariest part was when it happened, but the rest of the group kept driving.  Once we were started again, we had to try and catch up to them, while driving on the side of the road, with regular Dominican traffic whizzing by. 

On the buggies and ATV's we visited the beautiful Macao Beach and a cave with a swimming hole.  Then we returned to the ranch and had the opportunity to go horse back riding.  Mike of course ended up with the smallest horse and it refused to go anywhere.  One of the guides had to keep hitting the horse to get it to catch up with the rest of the group.  I thought my horse was going to be stubborn as well.  But, once the guides started going, my horse took off and at least stayed with the group.  It was quite the experience! 

For the rest of the honeymoon we spent time at the beach and in the pools. Again I spent my time in the sun, while Mike relaxed in the shade.  We of course took full advantage of the swim up bar.  We also experienced the flea market, which was quite stressful. The people would follow us around waiting for us to buy something.  However, we did not see anything we liked, so we bought all of our souvenirs at the local mall.  It did actually rain the very last night we were there, but it only lasted about 10 minutes.  

The food was the most difficult part of the whole trip.  Each night we had to call and make reservations at one of the restaurants.  The first few times Mike thought the staff had hung up on him, after finally getting through.  We realized later that he was just put on hold, so that they could get someone who could speak english to take our call.  We tried the Thai, International, French, American Grill, and the Italian restaurants.  We were certainly full each night, because of all of the different courses, but the food was not very impressive.  We would rather stick to the breakfast & lunch buffets.  Oh well.

Overall, we had an enjoyable, memorable, and relaxing time, but we were of course anxious to get home on Sunday. Phil and Jane picked 

us up and we headed back to Mike's parents. Sage was of course very excited to see us. We enjoyed a nice dinner, made a plan for the 

morning, and then went to bed. It was going to be another early morning - heading back to Scarborough to close on the house. 

Wedding Day ♥ Part I

The day was absolutely AMAZING and went by so quickly! It was gorgeous outside - the sun was shining and it was not too hot! As I mentioned in another post we started the day by decorating for the reception at the Wyndham. Then Katie, Sarah, Ashlea, Meg and I headed back to Mike's apartment in Scarborough to start getting ready. We managed to sneak in a quick drive by the house and a DD stop beforehand.

Tasha arrived around 10:00 to start styling our hair. Sarah was up first, so that she could work on Ashlea's hair afterwards. Katie made a quick trip to the store to try and find some flowers to accessorize our hair. Then we mixed up some mimosas and just enjoyed the early afternoon. Clare stopped by around 11:00, but decided to head over to the Wyndham to get some before shots of the reception decor. Then she came back to get some snapshots of getting ready, the dress, the shoes, etc.

Around 1:15 Sherri stopped by with all of the bouquets and my mom's corsage.  She left us with very strict instructions not to set the bouquets down flat.  Then she headed to the church to deliver the rest of the flowers and help with boutonnieres.  

We were a very efficient group!  We had make-up, shoes, jewelry and the dresses on and were outside ready to go by 1:45 at the latest.  It worked out perfectly, so that Clare had enough time to take photos of the girls together.  Dad and Jon arrived in style by 2:00, so we were also able to take the Ireland family photos.  The limo pulled up just in time as it started to sprinkle a tiny bit (a little good luck).  We decided to take advantage of being ready early and drove to the church to watch as the guests arrived.

The ceremony went by so fast.  One minute we were listening to the readings and the next we were being announced as Mr. and Mrs!!!  Deacon Roger did forget to say "you may now kiss the bride", but we took care of that on our own (with some whispered reminders from the girls).  It was wonderful to have family and friends be there and to take part in the actual ceremony through readings, music, candle lighting and as part of the bridal party.  

Then it was time for photos, while the guests enjoyed some hors d'oeuvres and drinks during the cocktail hour at the Wyndham.  We were introduced right away and Mike and I went right into our first dance.  Then we had the toasts and blessing, so that dinner could be served. During dinner Mike and I visited each of the tables, so that we could talk to all of the guests and thank them for coming.  We of course went through all of the traditional dances, rituals, etc and then we danced the night away (including the hokey pokey, chicken dance, cupid shuffle and the cha cha slide)!  It was so much fun and the day/night went by so quickly.  It was an amazing day and I am thankful for all of my friends and family that were able to attend and help make the day even more special!

There are plenty more photos to share.  Hopefully I will be able to put together a slideshow soon and add it to the blog post!  Enjoy!

* MRS. OSLIN