Girly Squealing Galore

I met up with Petey and Laurie at PDX and we headed out to Hood River. We made our way to the Draper Girls Farm where we were all (me, pete and laurie, chris and rowzee, erin and tony, and elly and chris) going to stay for the weekend.
We all knew the farm house was on a fruit farm, but the number of cherry trees was pretty awesome - as was the view! Plus there were raspberries, blueberries, and later in the year peaches!

I always get excited to hang with friends so a gathering of this many definitely got me going!!


We all had some wine and chatted (that's Erin with me at the picnic table) until it was time to head back into town for the rehearsal dinner.

No one really knew what to expect cause Ron's quite the unique character... what kind of wedding is this going to be??

The dinner was to be held at the White Buffalo on the other side of the highway from downtown Hood River.



We got there pretty much on time. We all got ourselves some drinks and sat around meeting up with a couple of people we hadn't seen yet (like Special K!) and talking about those who were yet to show up (Chris and Elly). Most of all we were reliving Ronaldo stories and whether or not they were appropriate for a family audience... ;)

Rose, Pete, and Tony had a list going and when we sat down to eat, the games began. We had all been tending towards the idea of having to self-censor, but the moment Ron's dad got up there and started talking, we knew it was all going to be pretty much fair game.

It took a while before Rose, Tony, and Pete got a chance to take the mic, and we were all cramped with laughter by then too. I've never been to a wedding or rehearsal dinner where the story telling and toasting was all aimed at being more of a "roast" type of event (started by the parents) rather than a sentimental summation of who the two are and how they're perfect for each other. We got the same image, but mostly through mischief!


I have to say that I've never laughed so hard at anything like it. The stories were so much fun, I wish I could have recorded them.
All the silliness was especially effective at making me feel like I knew Ron and Meredith much better by the end of the night than I had when I showed up a couple of hours earlier. It's always fun to meet people's parents as well, and man, Ron's parents were hilarious!
Also, Chris and Elly finally made it in from Seattle after getting stuck in some serious traffic. Unfortunately, they missed all the stories, but were still in time for plenty of beer and pizza!


In the end, we (mostly me - I wasn't prepared for the sunset temp drop) succumbed to the cold and the wind (damn the wind!) and headed back to the farm armed with two most giant pizzas that smelled delicious. There we had a nice fire and ate loads of cherries!