Wedding Weekend in Santa Barbara

We had a great mini-vacation to Santa Barbara for Courtney and Doug Olander's wedding on July 6. Courtney is a wonderful friend from my days at UCSB on the crew team. As usual, all of the "girls" were out in force, and it was an awesome weekend catching up with tons of friends. We also got to see one of Aaron's oldest friends, Brandi, and her boyfriend Josh. They hosted us at their beach pad. Not only were they great hosts, but they were the absolute greatest, best, most wonderful babysitters while Aaron and I enjoyed a night out for the wedding.

Another bonus was having my cousin, Doug, there as the wedding photographer. Doug takes amazing pictures of Waylon, but I was blown away at how beautiful his wedding pictures were of Doug and Courtney (a huge relief for me since I'd recommended him). Doug also did an impromptu photo session of Waylon at the beach, which turned out great (despite my rather strange choice of wardrobe--but in my defense I didn't realize it would be a photo shoot). To see Doug's fantastic photos of both the wedding and Waylon's beach photo session, check out his blog at www.dougmiranda.com/blog. As for my photos, there were so many great shots of good friends that there were way too many to post here. Besides, one of the blog's biggest fans, Kath Kelly, informed me in no uncertain terms that no one really cares about photos unless Waylon is in them. Thus, here is my Wayloncentric view of our mini-vacation...

Waylon instantly warmed up to Doug as we cruised the beach on Friday morning
Waylon was in heaven in Santa Barbara because he got to spend lots of time with dogs and spraying water. Brandi got to experience WFD's passion for hoses first hand, while their dog, Daisy, was extremely tolerant of Waylon's affection.

Waylon dries off post-beach visit

Naked! Outdoors! Waylon looooooooooooooved Santa Barbara

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL at the Mission rose garden. Aaron and I were thrilled to dress up and get out. (I was trying desperately to look pregnant and not just fat in this photo)

All the "girls" and some of the babies. One of the best parts about the wedding was seeing all the little kids get jiggy with it on the dance floor. Although it would have been fun to see Waylon in the mix, we were grateful for a night on our own.

Mr. and Mrs. Olander had an amazing, warm, loving wedding. It is always a treat to see two people totally in love, and the wedding also verified Aaron and my theory that bride's make the wedding. Courtney was so happy and having so much fun that everyone else did as well. Congratulations!!!