Quick, Fun-Filled 4 Days in America

I landed in DC on Wednesday afternoon, just as Ali and Jonny arrived, and Eleanor, Alison, and Kevin greeted us in the airport! The amazing weekend commenced then and literally every minute was fun-filled until I (all too soon) had to board the plane back to Germany on Sunday afternoon.

Wednesday evening was low-key...with warm welcomes from all the Campbells, relaxing by the pool and checking out all of Alison's awesome (and hippie) yard growth, and having a sleepover like the good ole days.

Thursday we woke up bright and early (hey jet lag!) to a wonderful homemade breakfast compliments of David, and went to collect Peter from the airport. Peter and David probably see each other least of the Carroll/Campbell best friendships, so the reunion was sweet for them. And we went to Chipotle for lunch, which was a huge treat for me since I crave Mexican food on a daily basis here in Germany. Afterwards, we stopped in to check on Granny and Gramps, who casually mentioned that Alison was wearing next to nothing (pictured below, clearly fully clothed hahahah).

With embraces and excited greetings, we welcomed my parents to DC and the full Campbell/Carroll reunion was almost complete. I had gone five months without seeing my parents (longest time ever!) so, needless to say, I was excited to see them.

 

Thursday night we broke off from the wedding festivities to go to my cousin Carlton's house for dinner. They live in an adorable town house in DC, with 3 stories of exposed brick that is adorably decorated. The dinner was, as expected, delicious and it was wonderful catching up with Carlton and Ian. After getting lost in DC and having to run down the side of the interstate to bring Ali and Jonny toll money, we finally made it back to the hotel to catch a few zzz's before Fridays' festivities!

Friday morning was Eleanor and Kevin's Ghanaian ceremony. Although Kevin sounds very British and would call the UK home, his family has deep Ghanaian roots and it was fascinating to see all the traditions come out in this ceremony. The funniest, by far, was that Dr. Campbell had to walk me, then Ali, then Alison out on his arm, in African dresses, only to be rejected because we were not "Kevin's perfect flower"...the finally Dr. Campbell escorted Eleanor, the flower Kevin had picked, out and the real festivities began! Another hilarious surprise of this ceremony was when they pulled out a bottle of whiskey and we all took shots to "dull the sadness of losing Eleanor"!

 

Instead of a traditional Rehersal Dinner, the Campbells hosted a casual but extremely fun cocktail party on Friday evening. It included hilarious videos from Eleanor's time in Liberia, lots of live music by family members who may have had a few too many drinks, and plenty of laughter.

 

Saturday morning Ali and I headed to the Campbells to pick our flower girl flowers and help Eleanor and Alison get ready. They really did not need any help, as they both looked beautiful, so the whole Carroll clan (Jamie arrived Friday night!) took a field trip to explore DC before the wonderful wedding. 

 

It was great fun, playing tourists with the whole family, so here are a few snaps from our quick adventure! 

 

Sunday morning, there was a magnificent brunch with "The Omelet Man" cooking made-to-order Omelets. Once again the whole Campbell-Carroll crew was together and we sat outside by the pool reminiscing on the festivities of the night before while we ate the delicious breakfast.

 

 All too soon, however, we were tearfully hugging goodbye, Jonny was singing The Goodbye Song, and we all parted ways. I could not have imagined a more wonderful weekend with some of my favorite people on this planet, but it sure was hard to say goodbye again.

And now, the big question, who will be next to get married from the Carroll/Campbell clan?!

xoxo