What I did on my summer vacation — My brother got married!

You might have noticed it was a little quieter than usual here last weekend — although Trish and Zack did an admirable job helping to keep things humming along (thanks, guys!). We were all out at my brother’s wedding in beautiful Monterey, California for several days, so I thought I’d share some of our trip photos with you.

No one was prouder of his uncle than Mr. 7, who doesn’t get to see his idol often enough — my brother just got back from another overseas tour, so it’s been a while! He was also very, very impressed by both the medals and the sword, as well he should be. 🙂

And here’s me and MashupDad. We clean up pretty well, no? lol, and I did end up wearing this dress I found at Nordstrom Rack, which was a better choice for the occasion than my first try (which I actually wore to the rehearsal dinner).

And lest you think the kids are always photogenic and smiling, here are the expressions you get when they have been waiting in fancy pants for too long for a photography session to begin. But isn’t the background gorgeous? The wedding was outdoors on a hotel plaza on Monterey Bay.

… Where this crazy large seagull kept following my Mom around. Who, by the way, has lost 75 lbs over the past year and a half — doesn’t she look amazing? Go Mom!

We did of course also make time to visit the world famous Monterey Bay Aqarium, and here’s Mr. 7 posing with my other brother under a school of sardines! His family lives in California, so we also got to visit with them a bit on this trip — it’s not often our scattered family is able to get together in one place.

If you ever make it out there yourself, do be sure to leave plenty of time for their amazing jellyfish exhibit!

And did you know that the San Jose airport has a piano? Junior High Guy sat himself right down and played everyone a tune, because he rocks.

I’ll leave you with a more casual photo of the newlyweds, who are now off on their honeymoon — and wish them both all love and happiness!