Wedding Shower Weekend #1

Emily is blessed to have two wedding showers scheduled in celebration of her upcoming marriage. The first was held in Charleston. Alina took Gretchen and stayed with Nana, Shannon and Emily at a gorgeous downtown hotel.

We could not help but stop and pose near the hotel's courtyard fountain and lush plants. Emily and Tom always look great with their movie-star smiles!

Alina took Gretchen for her first-ever "swim" in a pool.... in this case, the pool was a rooftop saltwater 1 ft kiddie pool.

Emily and Shannon were anxious to spend a few hours sun bathing and dipping in the ocean. Meanwhile, Gretchen explored the beach for the first time, crawling around between the blanket and sand. These days, she loves drumming on tupperware or taking small objects in and out of containers.  (e.g. who needs expensive toys anyway???!!!)

Time to check out the ocean. Gretchen dipped her toes in the waves as the water washed ashore but wasn't interested in sitting down.

Three generations of Laurie women at the beach!

Sunday arrived and so did the main event of the weekend. Emily's future mother-in-law and sister-in-law organized this shower, with help from other dear friends in Charleston. Theme: Charleston tea party. Attire: sundress and hat.

After the flurry of activity getting ready at the hotel, we hopped in rick shaws to be pedaled to the Battery. 

Destination: The historic Pink House.

Emily, Alina and Gretchen waited outside as the final guests arrived.

Besides a tasty array of appetizers and finger foods, Mrs. C create personalized tea cups, commemorating Emily and Tom. Very elegant!

All the guests felt stately and sophisticated in our sundresses, fancy hats... seated in the beautiful drawing room overlooking the ocean.  We watched Emily excitedly open her gifts.

Elegant Baby Gretchen with Elegant Nana!

Time to cut the cake.

As the party finished up, we all congregated on the porch, posing in front of the ocean view and waving at tourists who snapped photos of us.

Alina sat down in a rocking chair with a sleepy baby who fell asleep in about 2 minutes flat.

This was Gretchen's first "big trip" away from home -- and it showed. All the time around new people, new noises and new sights proved to be a little too much for our youngest baby. This was not an easy trip for Alina and Gretchen... but it was still worth it due to the joy of participating in Emily's wedding shower!