Good morning from rainy Chicago!

I just dropped Ishu off to school and came back completely soaked. Poor choice on my part for wearing the winter coat WITHOUT a hood.

I am not prepared to pull out my work for the day. So I’m going to do a quick recap of our weekend in DC. Well, actually Virginia. But, y’know. One and the same.

We touched down Friday night and left Sunday afternoon so it was a quick turnaround. But it was still worth it to see family. Especially because our flight was less than 2 hours both ways.

Dad and Nikku picked us up from the airport. Which was exciting for all of us because we haven’t seen Nikku since November. Once we all got settled in the car, Ishu kept asking where Nikku Chacha went (cause he couldn’t see him in the front passenger seat). Ha.

Nikku also brought Ishu some Lion King swag. Stuffed animal Simba and a Lion King backpack! Ishu was so excited to open up his presents and celebrate the last few hours of his birthday. (Of course, he thought the entire wedding was a big ol’ birthday bash for him, so, y’know…birthday celebrations all weekend long!).

Saturday morning, we got to sleep in a bit since the baraat didn’t start until 10:30am. Similar to last time, Ishu was more interested in the drone taking video of the baraat rather than the baraat itself. This kid loves dancing, but there’s something about a moving dance party with a LOUD dhol that makes him…well…not so interested.

Once we got inside and settled in, he kept repeating, “But *I* want to get married.”

The wedding began. We watched Pooja walk down the aisle. And the pandit began the service. 10-15 minutes into the ceremony, it started pouring down rain. So most of us sought shelter indoors, watching the rest of the ceremony from the big glass windows.

Rain is good luck on wedding days! So nobody was that disappointed.

We took Ishu up for a nap before the ceremony was over. He ended up sleeping for FOUR HOURS. Which was great. Because he was nice and refreshed for the cocktail party and reception.

The cocktail party ended up going longer than expected. Fortunately, a group of kiddos took a liking to Ishu and they all kept one another entertained. Ishu was – at one point – rolling around the floor and wrapping himself in the curtains. At which point, we broke the rules of entering the ballroom and took him inside.

That’s all he wants.

A big stage and music to dance to.

While everyone entered the ballroom and took their seats, Ishu burned off some of that energy dancing to the music.

Eventually, he sat down while they announced the newlyweds. He also sat down through most of the performances. Although he did keep asking, “IS IT MY TURN YET?” But he remained sitting at the table. At one point, he wanted to get closer to the stage, but simply sat at the corner of it, taking it all in.

I feel like every wedding we go to with him gets a tiny bit easier. As he starts to understand the expectations.

And, mostly, I love that Indian weddings are always filled with kids. So nobody is all that surprised if a kid pops onto the stage during a performance, y’know?

He danced the night away. When the stage got too crowded, he hung out with all the Dadis and Babajis in the lobby of the hotel. But was reeled back onto the stage when they brought out the foam glow-in-the-dark sticks. He danced a bit, brought them out into the lobby, and made everyone sing him Happy Birthday, pretending the sticks were candles.

We all eventually passed out around midnight (except for Nikku who is still young and in his 20s, so he went to the afterparty and came back at 4am, ha).

On Sunday morning, we packed up and drove 15 minutes to Sterling, VA. Where I got to meet some of Ankur’s extended family for the first time. I’ve heard so many things about them and to get to meet them face-to-face was really special for me!

They were so thoughtful and got Ishu so many (dinosaur-themed!) gifts for his birthday along with a dinosaur cake. He felt so special and I felt so much love from them. I was so glad we were able to spend a few hours with them before heading to the airport.

And that concludes the wedding weekend!

It flew by and we are back over here, trying to fall back into routine.

Ishu’s officially a big three year old kid who is in the process of transitioning classrooms. He was not thrilled to be returning to reality on Monday morning. I mean, who is after they got so much love and attention from family all weekend?!

Now we just have to convince the family to come visit us. I mean, May and June are really the BEST MONTHS around here! COME ON FAMILY. We’re waiting.