Eryn and Trisha decided to have their nuptial celebration in Maui, and I was honored to be a groomsman and stand beside one of my best (and few) friends on his big day.
For now, let me leave aside all the wonderful magnitude of this glorious union, and discuss how this affected my life directly.
First and foremost, I was asked to be in the wedding, and I was going to be there, no matter what. There are few times when a friend comes calling for help or support, and I've decided that I want to be the kind of person that will answer those calls if at all possible. The real question came regarding Diana (who was also invited to the wedding) and Allison (who was not (which is not at all contentious or objectionable, just a fact)). And even if she was invited to the ceremony, it still didn't change any of the core issues, which is that she obviously can't be left alone in a hotel room for a substantial length of time.
So, the immediate options:
1) Adam goes to Maui alone
2) Adam, Diana, and Allison all go to Maui
3) Adam, Diana, Allison and some babysitters go to Maui
(I know, I know... what a problem to have!)
An initial iteration of the wedding plans was for a small wedding in Maui and a larger party in San Diego. With Diana's busy schedule, we were content with me going alone, and she was content to wait for the party at home. Option 1 seemed like a front-runner.
However, the San Diego party was canceled, and more significantly, Eryn and Trisha moved to London. So Diana being present and seeing her Eryn and Trisha while she had a chance became much more of a priority.
We eventually decided on inviting Diana's parents to come along with us, and rented a small house a few miles north of the wedding location. This ended up working out really well.
We flew out on Friday morning. Diana, Allison and I were in a row of three, and John and Dawn were across the aisle from us with a fortuitously empty seat between them. Between playtime, lunch, and a nap on the flight, we didn't even need to resort to the Big Guns (the iPad) for entertainment for Allison. Easy flight.
Maui was beautiful. Every morning was spent watching Allison play on the beach, either at our own house-beach or at the hotel with friends. She's becoming more and more brave in the water, and absolutely loves running back and forth in the tide line. She'll sing to herself, or just stand and scream, or run back and forth up and down the beach, in and out of the water. It's a delight to watch. With the time change, the mornings on the beach were usually between 8 and 10am. Then home for lunch and a nap, and various afternoon/evening activities.
On Friday evening, I met up with the other groomsmen, where we received our matching track suits. I wasn't quite sure if it was a joke or not (still not sure, actually), but decided pretty quickly that I loved my suit. An off-hand comment by Rhiannon, uttered on the 6th floor balcony ("Do you think I could make the pool from here?") led into a 15 minute discussion of physics, gravity, acceleration, long jumping, and even a scale model test. I love stuff like that. Then out for a nice sushi dinner.
Saturday evening was the rehearsal dinner. Diana and I kissed Allison goodbye, and we all hopped on a bus to a beautiful bed-and-breakfast place, with multiple houses spread over a large property, all alight with tiki torches and native drummers and bonfire and stuff. Notable observations were the actual cultivation of cannabis (both indoors and out), as well as a clear glass window looking directly into the bathroom (Little Buhr got a good eyeful of Adman peeing). The whole place had the feeling of a nudist/sex colony, but (and?) the party was a great time.
Sunday evening was the wedding proper. I left earlier in the afternoon for official groomsman duties, and Diana followed later at the actual wedding time. Leaving Allison with her grandparents for the whole play/bath/bed routine really worked out (as far as I can tell) really well.
The wedding was really fun. Trisha has garnered somewhat of a reputation for being anxious in the limelight (for which I begrudge nothing… I was a huge wreck at my own wedding, complete with dry-heaves and retching before the ceremony). That said, she showed up on time and with a huge smile, and looked completely at ease. ("I've had some wine!" she giggled conspiratorially to the groomsmen when she arrived on the scene). I thought she looked radiant. "The Rev", as she called herself, was a particularly jolly lady, who conducted a really fun, spirited, casual wedding ceremony. Short, non-denominational, and with some local color. Pictures on the beach, then up to the hotel for cocktails and dinner.
At the cocktail hour, conversations naturally formed between various groups of people. When it was time for dinner, I was amused that the seating arrangement perfectly matched the natural conversation pattern we had just been enjoying. We just kept talking as we took our seats. Dinner was delicious. Speeches were given. Trisha's dad gave a particularly moving (maybe only to us) father/daughter speech which got me all misted up and Diana in full tears. The thought of the pride of Allison on her wedding day is way too much to handle at this point. I only hope to cultivate whatever emotional fortitude I'll need between then and now to not be a completely blubbering idiot should the time come.
After dinner, a select few of us bussed out to a local nightclub for more drinks and dancing and partying. Gabe and I shot virtual moose in the first hunting game I've ever played. I enjoyed a sorely missed Makers Mark. I listened with rapt attention to a quite detailed conversation between two female friends regarding the pros and cons of breast enhancement. I watched Gwen transform from wall flower to sex kitten in the time it took for the first few synth notes of "Just Dance" (correction "Love Game") by Lady Gaga to emit from the speakers. I don't remember what Norm and I discussed, but I remember enjoying it (as I always enjoy my discussion with Norm). I watched Crazy Legs Stup hit the dance floor like the good old days. Soon enough, it was time for me to get home and to bed before things got really out of control.
Monday evening, I think other people got together for dinner, but after the last couple days, Diana and I were happy for a quiet evening at home. After some bad nights of sleep, it was nice to be asleep at 9:30pm and wake up naturally at around 7am.
Tuesday evening was our last night. We enlisted some final babysitting help, and met up with the gang on the beach for sunset. There were a lot of beers left over from the weekend, and, well, we weren't going to let those go to waste, were we? Mike took some more "Little Mermaid" pictures at sunset. We threw the Shockey-ball around (my shoulder is still sore), and I missed actually watching the sunset because we were taking pictures of high-fives at sunset. We headed out to another sushi place, which was good as well.
Finally, on Wednesday, it was time to go. One more morning at the beach, then packed up and on the plane for a really easy flight home. Gabe and Rhiannon were in the seats in front of us, and I was glad that Allison behaved and we didn't have to be bad parents in front of them. Allison even had quite a little conversation with Gabe about the Bugs Life movie after we landed, which was fun to see.
We finally got home around 11:30pm, and now it's up and back to the routine.
All in all, it was a bit of a hybrid trip. I got to see my friends, but not as much as I probably would have liked. I got to see Diana and Allison, both together and individually, but not as much as I would have liked. I admit I was jealous of other couples who left their children at home and spent some quality time with their spouse, but all things considered, I think it all worked out really well. Allison was a wonderful traveler, and a good eater and sleeper and player for the entire time. Dawn and John were generous with their time, and convinced us that it everything easy and fun when we were gone.
I'm most happy for Eryn and Trisha. Eryn has spent a long time as a single-and-searching guy with so much to offer. I've watched him work through his Match.com dates with only lukewarm degrees of success, and am so happy that he found Trisha. I really do find her charming and a great match for Eryn. I'll never forget sharing a Jacuzzi with her, and her asking me with whispered excitement if I thought she and Eryn would get married. There was such an innocent schoolgirl hope in the question, and I am happy to see the fruition of that giddy dream.