Wedding at the Thousand Islands

The real event that brought my entire family out to New York was my sister's wedding. Janelle and Mike decided to get married at Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands. It's a beautiful location, and fortunately the weather beautiful as well. It was one of the few days that there was no rain and few clouds in the sky.

The day before the wedding we were picking up some last minute items at Walmart, and my dad happened across some Hawaiian print shirt that were on sale. He got it in his head that he needed one, and we all walked away to do other things. The next thing we knew, we saw my dad and brothers walk around the corner wearing matching shirts. It was so funny that we decided to get one for Mark and Mike (who were not there with us) and not tell them about the matching. When we all went to dinner that night, they all just showed up wearing the same shirts.

The day of the wedding I managed to burn a hole in Mark's pants with the iron, so we had to do a quick last minute shopping trip for new pants. Fortunately, we all made it to the island on time. Janelle got to get dressed in the upstairs of the 'Playhouse' on the island--a really cool building with no apparent architectural style. They don't normally let visitors go up there, so I was glad to get to see it. She and Mike were married under a gazebo and had photos taken with all of the beautiful stone buildings in the background. I didn't take a lot of pictures as we had to let the photographer do her job, but I imagine they will be gorgeous when she gets them back.

After the wedding and a dinner reception at a hotel overlooking the St. Lawrence River and Boldt Castle, we got to go on a boat tour of the area with Jessica's father. He's sort of a certified expert on the area after spending so much time there growing and doing a dissertation or thesis on the history of the area. We enjoyed seeing the fabulous homes and the clear, blue water and just feeling the wind in our faces. I snapped a few photos but somehow managed to miss getting any of Jessica and her family (who had been visiting in the area and came to the wedding). But we very much appreciated their willingness to show us around some more!

After the wedding, Mark, Joel, and Dani left for their respective homes and Janelle and Mike headed off to Disneyworld. That left the rest of us to continue our driving tour of New York state. We drove east through the Adirondacks and spent the night in Plattsburgh. The next day we ferried across Lake Champlain and spent some time wandering around Burlington. Finally, we left Dad, Mom, and Doris at Fort Ticonderoga and drove back to Ithaca. Jeff and Jessica flew out the next morning, and our lives are settling back into normal. . . for now.

All of the water pictures below are from our boat ride on the St. Lawrence River.