Kansas City Reunion and Cleveland Wedding October 2025 - Part II

 I didn't take any pictures in Cleveland! Sorry!

Monday October 20

Back at the airport, heading home.

This little adventure hasn’t had a lot of downtime so it been hard to find time to write. But it’s been fun! It’s just if I wait too long I can’t remember everything interesting that happened.

We had two short flights yesterday morning to get to Cleveland. We flew Southwest; there just aren’t that many options between KC and Cleveland! We had one 40 minute flight to St Louis, a 40 minute wait, and then a 1 hour flight to Cleveland. Both flights were short enough that there wasn’t really time to do anything. My next crochet project is something called an Amish puzzle ball. It consists of a bunch of little stuffed wedges in different colors that fit together. I had time on each flight to do one part of two wedges and that’s all!

When we landed in CL it was gloomy and raining. Our Lyft driver was confused. We think he might have just started being a driver and his English was pretty marginal. He was having trouble driving and navigating at the same time! When we got to the hotel he stopped in the street across from the entrance and we had to show him where the driveway was so he could pull up.

It was only 11 AM and we felt very fortunate to be able to get an early checkin. We got settled and then went downstairs to get something to eat. Because of the rain we didn’t want to go out so we ate at the hotel and it wasn’t very good. We didn’t really care though.

Then we just went back to the room to rest and even sleep a little before it was time to get ready for the wedding. I put on my nifty black dress (from Nuuly of course), put on my jewelry and makeup, changed purses and put on the shoes and we were ready.

Downstairs in the lobby things were really hopping. There was a Browns football game about to end and people were starting to head home in their rain ponchos or partying in the lobby. It was very difficult to get a ride share! We finally got one, or so we thought, but the driver never not very close to the hotel. Finally Lee tried to call him. He answered, but hung up on Lee and then cancelled the ride! We were aghast! we had about 15 minutes to get to the wedding! It was too far to walk (and I wasn’t walking in those shoes). There was a taxi driver sitting in front of the hotel. We banged on his window and asked him to take us. He asked where it was (said he wasn’t going anywhere near the stadium) and agreed. Whew!

The wedding was in an old repurposed warehouse by the river. It was very cool with exposed brick walls. We were on time, but there wasn’t any time to spare! We found our seats, waved to Shirin, my cousin, and then it began.

It was a straight up Jewish wedding, very traditional. The bride’s family is Conservative (in-between Reform and Orthodox) so they did all the things. The bride and groom walked around each other 7 times, the bride wore a veil, there were traditional Hebrew prayers, songs and blessings. It was pretty great. I really don’t think I’ve ever been to a completely Jewish ceremony before, that I can remember. Almost all of my cousins (and us as well) married non-Jews so the weddings were a mixture of traditions and faiths. I enjoyed it and of course Lee cried.

After there were cocktails and snacks before dinner. I had a lavender gin fizz and Lee had a martini. I tried different snacks, they were all good!

We took our seats. We sat at the same table as David, Debbie, Shirin, and Robin. David and Debbie are the parents of the groom and Robin is David’s cousin on his dad’s side. That was pretty much everyone on the groom’s side of the family. Because of that I’m especially glad we went.

They did the first dance and the hora before dinner. People put a lot of energy into that hora, it got a little frenetic. They were hoisting the bride and groom in chairs and bouncing the chairs up and down. I’m glad they didn’t drop anyone!

Dinner was good, much better than the usual wedding fare. The shorts ribs were especially delicious. I ate some of Lee’s and I wish I had gotten it too, but I got the salmon.

After the toasts and a little dessert the band started to play. It was good but really loud and we opted to bow out at that point. We couldn’t hear and we were pretty tired.

Fortunately we got a ride back to the hotel without any trouble! I guess the football game was over and things were calming down.

I slept until almost 6 this morning. It wasn’t raining anymore but I opted not to work out. I was tired and ready to relax a little. Lee went downstairs and got us some coffee and me a sweet roll and we just hung out in the hotel room. We were going to a brunch at the bride’s parent’s house at 10 am.

Our driver to their house was a 80 year old grandma. She was a hoot, and a perfectly good driver too. We talked to her the entire ride, about grandkids, cremation, the odd things that happen when people die, you name it. It was a great ride.

We were the first ones from David’s side of the family to show up. I got myself some food and settled down, listening to conversations around me and enjoying the antics of a couple of babies and toddlers in attendance. Eventually we settled in a corner with Jon, the groom, and Barry Posen and his wife. Barry is David’s best friend since pre-school, so he seems like part of the family. 

We talked about getting German citizenship and our feelings about that. I’ve got all the paperwork but I haven’t really gotten started yet. And we talked about the various stories we know about how my mother’s family left Germany. It’s funny how the basic facts we know are the same but some of the details are different. And when Shirin came we talked about the different pieces of what we knew about our mothers coming over from Germany, and different memories we have from growing up. It really made me feel like our parents were still around, and maybe they are, in a way.

At around one thirty we said our goodbyes and took another Uber back downtown to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That is such a great museum. I think we both really enjoyed it. There are so many short videos and almost every single one would suck me in. I would finally tear myself away, afraid that if I didn’t keep moving I would run out of time.  But we were finished after about an hour and a half.

We walked downtown and went to a Vietnamese restaurant. We split a Pho and a Bahn Mi and they were both very good. Then we walked back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. And here we are. This has been a very nice vacation, but I’m tired. I’m ready to not go anywhere for a while, at least until Emi’s birthday!

Kansas City Reunion and Cleveland Wedding October 2025 - Part I

Kirby, Emi and Her Cast, Leo Behind the Curtain

                                                

We’ve been here since Thursday evening but there hasn’t been a good time to sit down and write. But here I am, Saturday morning at Mark and Mary’s new house in KC. The younger generation is heading to the zoo. The old fogies and just hanging out, at least for a while. Later some people are going to the No Kings protest. At one point I considered it but my heart just isn’t in it. I don’t even want to talk about it. I’m just not optimistic about where we are heading and I don’t think a protest, even a great big one, is going to make any difference.

Ok, never mind. We dropped the dog’s off at Rita’s Thursday morning and headed to the airport around 11. Our flight took off right on time. It was short compared to going to California, only a little over an hour. Much to our surprise Kansas City has a brand new airport. Their old airport was pretty nice at the time. Their new airport is REALLY nice. And the signage was great. No problem finding the shuttle to the rental cars, or finding our way out of the airport.

Our Airbnb is very nice, for a change. It even has a pool although we didn’t pay to have it heated and it was pretty cold. It was fairly warm here, however, so the kids enjoyed it.

We are staying with Sarah, Eric, Leo, Kirby, Dan, Kelsey and Emi. Emi broke her leg a few weeks ago but she’s being a very good sport about it. She’s starting to walk on it, which she’s not supposed to do, but it’s hard to keep a 2 yo down for long. She only has to wear it for a few more weeks. Little kids heal fast! Anyway we’ve all learned something; you’re not supposed to take your kids down a slide in your lap. I mean everyone has done that at one time or another. Daniel feels terrible but who knew?

Lee sent Sarah and I to get carry out at French Market. He had been there before and said it was great, but initially we didn’t understand how it worked. When we got there however it all made sense. There were lots of premade dishes and we picked out 3 pastas, 2 green beans, 1 meat dish, 2 salads, a charcuterie plate and some crostinis. We had just the right amount of everything except too many green beans and salad, and not enough crostini. The boys basically ate the charcuterie plate for dinner! Oh and some very good chocolate chip cookies!

In the morning I work up too early, darn it, 4:30 am. I stayed in bed until after 5 but then I got up. Once it was light I went for a run. There was a great park, Meadowlark, very close to the house, and I ran around there. It’s so much warmer here than in Minnesota, highs in the 80’s yesterday, and pretty humid.

We headed to Mark and Mary’s as soon as I was finished with running and had cooled off and taken my shower. We basically spent the entire day at their house visiting with everyone, which meant Cathy, JA, Kate and Erik and their 4 kids, Andrew, Calina and their 2 kids, Elsa, Sam and Blake and Elsa and Sam’s kid too. We had a great time! Their house is beautiful and spacious with lots of good places to sit and relax, both inside and outside. There were big swings hanging from trees and lots of places for the kids to run around as well.

Around 2 pm Cathy went and brought Joanne over. She’s almost 95 yo and has had some health issues in the past year, plus moving to Kansas City has also been stressful. But I think she really enjoyed seeing everyone and just hanging out with us. She stayed until around 6 pm, so a long time. It was really great to see her.

We had bbq for dinner. Mary bought a LOT of bbq, nobody went hungry! And she had also bought a carrot cake and a chocolate cake. There even was some cake left!

We went back to the Airbnb around 7. I went to bed around 9 and slept a lot better, until almost 6 am. Leo and Kirby got up a little before 7. There were in their room fussing with each other so I said why don’t you just get up and come cuddle with me on the couch. Leo looked at the clock and said, it’s 6:58, we can’t get up until 7! They literally would not leave the room until the clock said 7! Well trained kids, at least sometimes!

Soon Emi was up as well. Kirby picked up Go Dog Go and started reading it. He’s only 5, and that’s a second grade level book! He needed help sometimes, but he read a lot of it all by himself! He was very persistent too. Once he started that book he would not stop until he finished it! I was impressed. And Emi was a little enchanted. Periodically she would come over and announce Kirby Dog Go!

After a while Lee and I headed to Mark and Mary’s. Sarah, Daniel and fam went to the KC zoo with Kate and Elsa’s families. At first just me, Lee, Cathy, JA, Mark and Mary were at their house. Around 1 everyone except Lee and I went to the No Kings protest. In spite of my negativity I was heartened to see how many people showed up. I wish I thought it would matter.

Lee went to get Joanne. And soon Ann Schnell showed up as well! It was great seeing her, I think I hadn’t seen her seen Dan and Kelsey’s wedding. She has been doing a lot of traveling and stays very busy staying active in Fayette community affairs.

Joanne, Emi and Daniel

                                    

Eventually the younger generation returned. They said the zoo was great, but the kids were pretty wiped out; it involved a lot of walking. Leo and Kirby went in the other room to rest for a bit but they eventually joined the other kids swinging outside.

Suddenly a rainstorm blew through. It didn’t last long, but it rained hard. It drove everyone inside, at least for a while. It was getting close to dinnertime anyway. Mary tried another place where she was able to buy large pre-made pastas - lasagna, spaghetti, mac and cheese, and salads. They had to cook for various times so I worked out when each one should go in. Only thing was because we had so many of these big containers in her oven at the same time we probably could have cooked some of them longer. But they were all very good.

Sunday October 19.

Eventually it was time for Lee and I to head to the airport. We have a very early flight so we stayed at the airport Marriott last night. First we dropped Joanne off at her apartment. Then we headed to the hotel to check in. I took the bags up to the room while Lee returned the rental car. Before too long we were in bed.

I had my alarm set for 3:30 AM, but I was up by 3. I was a little nervous about just getting up and heading right out the door, so I didn’t mind having a little extra time to drink a cup of coffee and eat a little something. But we were ready to catch the shuttle to the airport by 4:15 and at the airport by 4:30.

Of course the airport was buzzing. You wouldn’t think it would be that early but there are always a lot of flights scheduled first thing in the morning.

Now we’re sitting at our gate, about to embark on part 2 of this adventure!

California August 2025 - Los Altos and Los Angeles Part II

 When I left off we were about to fly to LA.....

L to R: Lee, Scott, Susan, me, Amy, Mark, Barbie, Jim, Michael

Saturday

Our flight to LA was quick and easy, about 40 minutes. We retrieved our bag without a problem (after almost leaving our garment bag with Lee’s tux and my dress on the plane!!!).Then we tried to find the Lyft pickup area. What a nightmare! There are signs that point the way to the Ride Share area, supposedly, but no driver is allowed to stop at those areas. We finally asked someone but their explanation didn’t help much. “Walk that way 5 minutes”. Walk where and why? Finally a bus that said “to Ride Share Area” stopped at one of the signs. We started to get on the bus but the driver told us that if we got on the bus it was a 30 minute drive to the Ride Share parking lot, but if we walked FIVE MINUTES THAT WAY we would be there. Oh! Once we figured out their system we were fine but a little clear signage would have been very helpful. That was the worst Ride Share system I’ve seen yet. Hand it to LAX to screw up something that should be pretty straightforward.

Fortunately our driver was very patient. He said it happens every day. I bet it does.

The drive from the airport to the hotel took about 50 minutes. Rush hour on a Friday in LA. Fortunately our driver could use the express lane so it wasn’t too bad. Our hotel is in Koreatown. It’s kind of a rundown area of LA, that is slowly gentrifying. 

The hotel is fine, just kind of odd. The walls in the halls and the rooms are covered with distressed concrete. I’m sure it’s supposed to look cool but it mainly looks like it’s under construction. The room was designed to be arty, but only barely functional. Absolutely no place to hang a towel. No drawers to use to unpack. No place to put a suitcase (so we put ours on top of the desk, lol). And instead of a coffee table in the small sitting area there was a somewhat dangerous piece of art that looked like a bunch of blocks. I told Lee to be sure to steer clear of it if he got up in the middle of the night!

We had time to change clothes before it was time to head to dinner at a Korean bbq place. Supposedly the “good” ones don’t take reservations and you have to get in line for them at 5, but we made reservations at one for 7, and it turned out to be great. We ordered a combo meal which was way way way too much food, but we got 3 different kinds of meat, veggies, lots of sides, and salad. I can’t possibly list all the sides, but my favorites were the kimchi (of course), the kimchi rice, the corn with cheese, the pickled daikon. There were sweet potato noodles, rice paper, oxtail soup (dislike) and bolgogy (which I never even tried). I’m sure there were other things too but I forget. Hanu K BBQ.

It was fun and delicious. We had so much left over but oh well.

From there we went straight to the welcome party at All Seasons Brewery. It was in a nicer part of town. They had a section of the brewery cordoned off for us and we got pink wristbands for the open bar. Nice! There was food too but we were not hungry!

It was great to see my cousins. Amy, Mark, their kids, Barbie (the MOG), Susan and Scott Holt, Michael and Jim. We sat at a high top and screamed at each other for a while because it was INSANELY loud in there!

Lee and I left a little after nine and when we got outside I told Lee I felt like I had just been to a rock concert! 

I woke up early, unfortunately, especially since there wasn’t any coffee available until 6:30! I got a coffee and a blueberry scone and a coffee and a croissant for Lee at the coffee shop in the lobby, although he slept until after 8!

I used Strava to figure out a running route. I ran along Wilshire toward the nicer area and then back along a residential street. I think tomorrow I’ll just run on the residential streets, out and back. It felt good to run, but the first mile was a little sketchy.

We ate brunch at a restaurant across the street from the hotel. Now we’re just sitting in the hotel lobby, mostly waiting for our room to be cleaned and for it to warm up a little. then we’ll go sit by the pool instead.

Sunday.

The pool was very nice, hot in the sun, very comfortable in the shade. My cousin Susan and her husband Scott were there and after a while other cousins showed up as well. We had a nice time sitting around chatting. I put my feet in the water to cool off but didn’t bother to swim. I didn’t want to take another shower!

Around 3:30 it was time to head up to the room to get ready for the wedding. Amy and I were both complaining about the terrible lighting in the bathrooms making it hard for us makeup challenged ladies to apply our faces. She took her makeup mirror over to the window. I don’t carry a makeup mirror since MOST nice hotels supply one (but not this one!). I took the book lamp into the bathroom and that helped.

I really liked the dress I rented from Nuuly this time. It was a lovely bright pink in satiny material with a subtle flower design. It fit me perfectly! When we went down to the lobby Susan and Scott were already there. Guess what? Susan’s dress was pink as well! And when Mark and Amy came down Amy’s dress was, guess what? Pink! We got a picture of all three of us together. What are the odds!

Off to the venue, The Ebell of Los Angeles. They let us inside around 5:15. The ceremony was outside in a garden. Some of the chairs were on a grassy slope, some on a balcony, some on a patio. It was a little unusual. Fortunately the weather was still perfect, low 70’s with a little breeze.

We all waited patiently. They were a little late getting started but before too long it began. First came their dog, haha. Then Tarek with his mom and dad, Barbie my cousin and her ex, Wahel. Then the bridesmaids and groomsmen. There was no room for them to stand around the alter so they all sat down. The flower girls were adorable in their little pink dresses. Their dad had to help them walk down the aisle (their mom was one of the bridesmaids, Alex’s big sister). The little girls were twins and they did a great job scattering their flowers.

Then we turned around and Alex appeared at the top of a staircase with her mother and father. She was absolutely a vision in loveliness. I think the entire wedding party gasped and sighed in admiration. We soon had tears in our eyes. I basically cried throughout the ceremony, and so did Lee. Their vows were incredibly moving and their officiant was very good. He even had us all close our eyes and breathe for a bit after the vows because we were all feeling so emotional.

After the ceremony there was a cocktail hour, both inside and out. Good drinks, great snacks and hor deoveres.  They had this very interesting thing that was a part of Vietnamese culture where you could pick some spices, put them in a large jug of water, and write on a card why you chose the ones you did. I chose a star anise because it’s pretty and versatile. Supposedly they will drink this concoction on their first anniversary! Sounds kind of gross to me! Then they herded us into the area where we had dinner. 

We sat at a table with all my cousins. I sat next to Scott. He's been married to my cousin Susan for years and years but I had never really talked to him much before. He asked me lots of questions about all sorts of things. It was an interesting conversation.

The dinner was pretty meh, but I’d had lots of snacks beforehand so I didn’t care. The toasts were fun. I loved Alex’s parent’s toasts, once again very moving. And I loved her sister’s toast! Her sister is 8 years older and the toast was all about her relationship with her baby sister and how they became the best of friends. All the toasts were great.

I hardly knew Tarek at all. He is over 10 years younger than my kids, and we’ve never lived anywhere close to Barbie and her family since they left St. Louis. I first met Alex earlier this year when my Aunt Ray passed away. But after this wedding I feel like I know both of them much better.

After dinner there were desserts, coffee and dancing. I snagged some desserts (okay a LOT of desserts, they were great) and we snuck out soon after. It was after 10 and we were tired.

I slept until 6:45 this morning, yay! I went to the gym and rode a bike for a little while then came back to the room and packed. We’ll go to the farewell brunch in a little bit, check out, and head to the airport.

We had a great time at this wedding. I have lots and lots of cousins, and I'm the oldest one, so all their kids are gradually getting old enough to get married. We're going to another wedding in October! I love weddings!