Baby's First Wedding!

last weekend we attended a wedding of one of Dave's college roommate, Travers. we have known about this wedding for over a year, and it was a little exciting to think about going back when I was pregnant. i couldn't imagine what it would be like with a near 3 month old! i bought Olivia's dress back in December and it was a bit surreal to actually dress her in it when the day came.

not only was this LW's first wedding, but her first real road trip as well. The wedding was just outside of the quaint Danish town of Solvang here in California. It was a little over a 3 hour drive and she did amazing!

as with most events, she slept through the majority. when we got to Solvang, Dave had to drive (aka off road) the 30 minutes to the wedding rehearsal up some pretty major mountains so us girls stayed back and took a walk around town. i got myself some ridiculous Danish chocolate smorgasbord and immediately felt guilty after eating it. oh well!

then we headed to the Rehearsal Dinner, where Olivia was the talk of the town. (don't mind the creepy look in the bride and groom's eyes). i also proceeded to drop marinara sauce on my child, which i would later find out stained her outfit for good. right of passage maybe?

the next morning we ate at Paula's Pancake House, a local restaurant where i had my first Danish pancakes. delicious!

 not long after, we walked around Solvang some more and got our hands on our favorite Danish beer, Carlsberg! we somehow ended up enjoying it at a restaurant with ONLY Chinese tourists.

i asked Dave to take a picture of Olivia and i in front of the huge Solvang windmill. this is what i got:

me and Olivia, no windmill. can you guess who the photographer is in our family?

anyways, then we headed up to the farmhouse where the wedding was to be held for Dave to help set up and for some delicious Korean BBQ! the farmhouse and surrounding area was beautiful, though VERY off the beaten path.

after hanging out for a few hours, we headed back down the mountain to rest and gear up for an evening at the Solvang Brewing Company. It was probably 100 yards from our hotel so we walked over and enjoyed a decent amount of beer guilt free! i had the most AMAZING Danish sausage sampler with dipping sauces. i'm thinking about them right now and tempted to drive and get one. it's only 3 hours away!

the next day was the wedding and Olivia was a champ! She held up much better than I did, as I'm the one who fell in a hole when I got out of the car (i told you it was rustic), hurt my back, and bruised and scraped myself. but the wedding was beautiful and very "Travers and Jean."

 

 

i left my good camera in the hotel that day and was bummed because i could have taken even better pictures. however, i'm impressed with my iPhone as it is! here are just a few more shots of the farm that day:

 

we left just before the sun was going down because the wind was really starting to pick up and i didn't want a baby with a cold on my hands. and i was the sober one who had to drive my beemer down mountain terrain with no street lights. i'm so glad we left when we did because we made it back to civilization just as the sun disappeared! and that pretty much sums up our trip! Olivia surprises me every day with how easy-going she is and willing to go anywhere with us (not that she has a choice). she is an awesome traveler and i'm even more excited to take her with us on upcoming trips and show her the world!