A little getaway and birthday wishes

Yep, today was my birthday....and my sister's too.  Love having a sister to celebrate our special day together.  LOVE being a twin.  Can't imagine life without being one, really.  We will be getting together this weekend to celebrate.  That makes me happy.  I celebrated today with my dumplings and hubby.  It was F.U.N!  More on that later.

Anyway, these photos here are looooong overdue, as in almost two weeks overdue.  But here they are.  I kept my promise....better late than never.  So I'm posting them.  Our trip to Ponte Vedra Beach...

(with a mix of iPhone photos thrown in) 

Havi came with us.  This is how she travels all the time in Patrick's car. So he decided she'd get away with us too.

After we settled into our hotel room, it was time to grab dinner.  We walked over to this great little Italian restaurant, where my sister and her crew met up with us.

I tried to get a shot of Caleb with his cousins.  Tried is the operative word.  Josh has a mind of his own. I guess I better get ready for that when Havi comes home. lol

The kids played a little as we sorted out rooms and keys.  Caleb was so precious with Josh all weekend.  He is ready to be a big brother to an itty bitty sister!  He's so helpful and compassionate.

Next morning we grabbed breakfast and hung out a bit in the rooms before we headed to the beach.

Yes, that's sand you see in those beautiful, long eyelashes!  It was all over his precious little face!

That night my sister and BIL watched the dumplings while Patrick and I went to a pre-wedding party.  Dinner was held at a restaurant overlooking the water.  It was breathtaking!  And here is the gorgeous couple, Jesse and Shylie.

We had such a fun evening meeting new friends.  We sat at a table with two couples from Alabama.  They know the bride's mom and dad from when they all used to live in Alabama.  To say we hit it off would be an understatement.  We laughed all night!  Seriously.  My mouth hurt from laughing and smiling so much!  New friendships were formed that night.  It's amazing how much we all had in common.  Crazy.

Next morning we had breakfast, or rather attempted to have breakfast.  We waited an eternity for our food to come out.  We were quite grumpy about the whole thing because the littles really needed to eat.

Caleb tried to keep Josh busy by playing with him.

Then it was back to the room/s for chill-axin, as my kids call it.

Then Patrick and I had to clean up for the wedding.  My sister snapped a few photos of us before we left, with my DSLR and iPhone.

Then she snapped a few of Madeline, who escorted us downstairs.

Then there was the wedding.  Ah, the wedding.  Shylie was gorgeous.  Jesse was handsome.  The setting- surreal. It was held at the TPC Sawgrass.  For those of you that aren't up on your golf courses, it's kinda like the 5th Major.  A-mazing!

And this was the view from the clubhouse overlooking the 18th green (beyond all the people.)  I had to keep pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming this up.  The ceremony was absolutely perfect.  So moving.  So full of love.  The atmosphere was sensational.  The music, the dancing...oh Patrick and I were cutting it up!  We truly had a fantastic weekend.  We couldn't be happier for Shylie and Jesse and feel so blessed to be in attendance at their wedding.  And I have to give a big shout out to my sister and BIL for watching the dumplings so we could attend all the events.  We couldn't have done it without you two, or should I say four. lol.

Well, even though today is my birthday, the celebration is going to continue into the weekend.  So I will have lots of photos to share.

Oh, and on the paperchase to Havi, we should have had our Article 5 picked up from the consulate yesterday and overnighted to CCCW@ in Beijing. So the official wait for TA has (likely) begun!  Though I probably still need to confirm it.  We should expect our actual invitation to travel in another 2-3 weeks.  We are getting so close, I really need to do something for the girls' room!  lol. And time to start nesting!