The Twin Cities Will Never Be the Same

Our whirlwind but fun weekend in Minneapolis for David's brother's wedding began Friday afternoon when we left the Nashville airport to go north. This was only my second time to visit David's hometown, and obviously Dawson's first. He did great at the airport and on the plane!
"What? We can go now? Are they serving snacks?"
"I'll get your bag, Mama..."

"...is this our gate?"
He fell asleep as we were taking off and woke up right before we landed. And no, I didn't give him Benadryl. After we arrived in Minneaoplis, we stopped by the church so David could practice singing and had a late dinner at Aurelio's. It's a local Italian restaurant - one of those tucked-away places - and they seriously had the best ravioli I've ever eaten. David and his dad used to eat here all of the time...
...and so he was excited to bring Dawson here. As you can tell, they both loved it.

On Saturday, we had brunch with David's boss and his family, and then it was time to start getting ready for pictures and the wedding.
"Ugggghhhh...there's a sweater vest, too??"

David's brother, Tom, and the newest Mrs. Fletcher, Lisa, were married at the church their family grew up in. David's other brother, Steve, was the pastor, and his sister, Sue, was the wedding coordiantor. His other brother, Paul, was the photographer and his wife, Renee, played the piano. David sang "From Here to Eternity" and "I'll Be There." So, basically, they're the Partridge Family of weddings.

My honey belting it out. Dawson was mesmerized by his daddy singing, and clapped after each song. However, it was after this point that he start getting pretty restless sitting in the pew. I let him do pretty much anything he wanted so he'd be quiet, including playing with my camera. Exhibit A:

It was also at this point that the distraction tactics started to fail. There was quite a bit of squirming and fussing, until I stood him up on the pew, pointed at Tom and Lisa right before they kissed and said, "Hold on, buddy, we're going to clap! Get ready!"

You may kiss the bride...
Had you been sitting in the church at this very moment, all you would've heard was Dawson saying, "OOOOOOHHHHHHHH!" as they were kissing.

I do believe everyone in the sanctuary was laughing. That's my son - the comedic timing was spot on.
After the ceremony, there was a brief reception in the lobby. Dawson got to meet a lot of the church members that David grew up with...even some older ladies who taught David in Sunday School when he was a little boy.

We then headed to Tom's house for a full reception and dinner in his backyard. Dawson had fun running around and meeting the rest of his Minnesota family.
"Uncle Jeff, if you make fun of my mama's accent one more time, I'm gonna beat you like you stole somethin'!"

Sunday, we met David's best friend, John, his wife, Shelley and their two kids for breakfast. Dawson put the moves on Dani pretty fast...
And also made friends with Johnny...



We had a wonderful time! Congrats to Tom and Lisa!