One Crazy Weekend in Cape Breton!

This past weekend one of Phil's groomsmen from our wedding got hitched himself to his long-time girlfriend. Adrian and Andrea have been together nearly 9 years. So we sent the kiddies off to Nana-and-Grampy Land, hopped in the car with Nick and headed to Cheticamp to celebrate with them.
The drive up was long and uneventful. There was a bit of excitement near the causeway when we realized that this was Phil's very first time in CB, but he didn't get the full Cape Breton experience until the next day seeing as it was approaching midnight when we crossed. Hard to be impressed by her beauty when it's frickin pitch black outside. We finally landed in Grand Etang, just before Cheticamp, at Nick's parent's place around 12:30. I went straight to bed.
The boys were required to be at the groom's place for the afternoon (they were both standing for him) so I went to visit with my friend Janet and her parents at their summer home on the other side of Cheticamp. I love visiting with Janet's parents, her mom has a gift for making you feel comfortable and taken care of. Immediately upon my arrival I was offered food and tea. We sat around the kitchen table and chatted until it was time to get ready. Since the wedding wasn't until 7pm, we ate an meat pie (chicken and pork) which was very good. This one was from the local co-op (before leaving we bought one to take home) but Janet's mom has promised to give me her recipe for homemade meat pie (I had one years ago on a visit and it was delish!). Then we got gussied up and off to the Acadian Centre we went.
So, I knew I wasn't in the city. And I knew I was probably out of my element. But this point was really driven home when I stopped at a bank machine on the way to the wedding. As I came out of the bank...I heard a "moooo". I stopped. Heard it again. I looked around, there was no one in sight and Janet's giving me an odd look from the driver's seat of her car. "Moooooo!" I nearly ran the rest of the way to the car. I got in, and asked Janet if she'd heard the moo. She hadn't but it didn't seem to suprise her. When we met back up with her parents I asked her Dad and he said "Oh, that was probably a moose" Then he laughed at my shocked expression. Then told me there are cows nearby and it being a calm night that is what I heard.
(Did I mention already that my friend Janet and the groom are related? Distantly, but they are cousins of sorts. Small world).
Finally we get to the main event.
The bride was stunning in her gown, her mom spent many hours working away on it and it was beautiful;

The ceremony was lovely, and the couple looked so very happy;

After the ceremony pics were taken while everyone pitched in to rearrange the chairs around the tables and suddenly you could smell all the wonderful food from the kitchen.
These are the groomsmen;

From left: My handsome husband, Nick, Adrian (groom) and Johnny. I never think about how short my man is (he's got about 6 inches on me, so he seems tall from my angle) until he is standing with his buddies...none of who are shorter than 6ft. But he fits with me!
The happy couple;

Once the furniture was settled, they started the dance. I had done fairly well through the ceremony, only tearing up once briefly during the vows when my husband caught my eye and smiled at me, but when Andrea took the floor with her Dad they played a song referring to that Dad loved her first and I lost it. There is only so much sentimentality a pregnant woman can handle. Janet got me some tissue while Phil and Nick had a good laugh at me. Once the tears started I could not seem to stop, I bawled the entire song. (I'll find out from the bride what the song was and I'll post a link here, when you see the lyrics you'll understand).
Then the moment I'd been waiting for: they opened the buffet. The idea was that you could pick at the finger foods and dance too. I gotta tell ya, try to get yourself invited to a lobster fisherman's wedding. Bacon wrapped scallops, lobster rolls, crab rolls, crab dip...yum yum yum! My god, the food was fantastic.
We danced, we made merry. Adrian also happens to be the first cousin of a friend of mine from school, so I got a chance to catch up on Jay through a chat with his Dad (I've not heard from Jay since I got engaged 3 years ago), found out he met a girl on vacation in the Dominican and married her last month, he's now in Minnesota. I didn't get on the dance floor as often as I might have before, but the baby doesn't seem to like momma shakin her booty...I felt sick by the end of every song I danced to(or maybe it was the food I ate too much of?).
I got Nick to take a pic of Phil and I (we rarely get us in the shots at these events since I am usually behind the camera)

And a remarkable thing happened: we got a nice pic on the first try. That NEVER happens for us.
It was just after midnight when I got my next big hint that I was at a country wedding; a fight broke out on the dance floor. A FIGHT! At a WEDDING! I was shocked. But the bride and groom were not. In fact Andrea got in there in her wedding finery and told the instigator exactly where to go and how to get there. He was carted out, and once outside he removed his shirt and offered to fight anyone who would step up. Inside, we got back to dancing. (Once the dance was all over the cop showed up and arrested the sh*t disturber. And that's not a typo...there was only the one cop. One of the 3 of Cheticamp's finest).
Afterwards we gathered at the Cheticamp Motel for the after party. We didn't stay too long, but it was fun. I fnally got to bed around 3am.
The next day we went to Pleasant Bay (where the couple lives and their families) to the groom's parent's place for the gift opening. We had to go over some moutains;

Beautiful scenery and we saw some moose:

We got to the house and were told by the groom's mom that she understood that we wanted to get on the road so we could get back to our kids, but we were not allowed to leave until we'd eaten. No need to tell me twice!
They had a beautiful cake, the flowers are made of white chocolate...

But they realized late at the dance (when it was over) that they'd forgotten to cut it.
There was live music in the livingroom;

And lots of people talking and laughing all over the place. We feasted on crab sandwiches, a delicious seafood chowder...I ate so much I was certain I would not need to eat anymore for a week at least (that lasted as long as the big stop, where the baby requested beef jerky). We had to get on the road before they actually got to open any gifts, but it was such a nice time.
Coming back over the mountain it was dusk. Which means the moose were out in force and due to the lighting you can't see them until you're on top of them. We crawled over that mountain, which was a good thing because had we been going the speed limit or a bit faster we'd be wearing the bull that sauntered out in front of us as we came around a corner. The two females off to the side would not have been impressed with us at all.
I fell asleep just after we passed through Cheticamp, and woke up just before we came back over the causeway. About an hour's nap, enough to have me be wide awake for the rest of the drive and long enough of laying on my left arm in an odd way to make it hurt until yesterday. It was a really busy trip, but lots of fun. I didn't get to see my kids when we got home because they were both sound asleep, but Cam did not have school yesterday so we got some time together and Grace was handing out happy hugs and kisses all day. They had a blast out at my parents place, and it was really nice to get away and know they were well taken care of. Even if my Dad did make oh-so-hilarious jokes about having sold them and keeping them in the closet with duct tape (he's so fun-nee).
I did get some Christmas knitting done, I have nearly completed Aaron's present. I'd show you, but I am not sure if he checks this and if I ask him he'll want to know why and then he'll tell me "no" so that he can see his present. After Christmas I guess.
That's all for now!