It Takes a Village to Go on Vacation

I have a bunch of pictures to post of the wedding and the reception, which is good because I don’t really remember the end of the reception. It was a very fun time, the bride and groom looked fantastic and their friends are a friggin riot. Let’s just say after 7 hours of open bar, I’m surprised the state of New Jersey actually had alcohol left in it. But I’m proud to say that despite more beers than I could count and two double shots of Jack Daniels and Jagermeister, there was no vomiting! Although I did spend the entire day on Sunday holed up in my hotel room avoiding all noise, sunlight and people.

But before I get to the wedding photo essay, I want to thank all of our friends and relatives who are the best people on Earth. I realized that taking a vacation doesn’t just involve us anymore. It involves my co-worker Stephanie and her husband Adam who volunteered to take one of our dogs. It involves my parents who have already come through for us more times than I can count. They not only took Will for four days, but they also paid for Fenway to be kenneled in a nice place that socializes the dogs during the day so she wouldn’t have to be penned up all day. Words can’t express how grateful we are to them. And to my father-in-law Tom and his girlfriend Donna, who used their credit card to hold the hotel room for us because we didn’t have one available. And finally, to our good friends Vic and Alicia who were sneaky as hell and paid for the damn hotel room without us knowing. I am absolutely furious at them for doing that, and simultaneously touched and grateful that we have such unbelievable friends. Combined, they have served three tours of duty in Iraq and they are both personal heroes of mine. But as impressive as their commitment to fighting for our freedom is, that’s not why I love them so much. You just won’t meet better people anywhere you go. Seriously, I love you guys. But you’re still dead for paying that hotel bill. We’ll get you back, believe that!

Anyways, with the kid and dogs and hotel room taken care of we were able to enjoy the wedding. Here’s some of what transpired: