I continued the final leg of the Midwest tour by driving back around the lake to Chicago and then up to Wisconsin on Friday. One of my best friends Sarah and her fiance Ben are getting married in just under a month. This weekend all of the wedding party got to hang out at a lake house up north so we could do some pre-wedding bonding. Friday also happened to be Mary Ellen's birthday so we were full of celebration.
Somehow we piled the first seven people and all of our stuff into the car so we could ride together. We had to make a snack pit stop at the Oasis and get a Wisconsin pic at the coolest Wisconsin sign which made the trip a bit longer than it might have been.
Late in the afternoon we pulled up to Chris's lake house we'd be spending the weekend at. One of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's homes, there was more than enough space for all ten of us.
The weekend was a great mix of just being together, adventures, being "chill", playing games and wedding party bonding. That first afternoon we did a little adventuring on the rocks and made up a choreographed routine to I Want To Dance With Somebody per Mary Ellen's request.
Once Kat, Steven and Nate all joined us we were ready to party. I loved that our dinners and breakfasts were gathered around this giant table. I love that we set the table and ate as a family and sat there long after we finished eating.
We played the newly-engaged game and tested Sar and Ben's knowledge of each other. There was a birthday cake with candles for Mary Ellen. We had an enthusiastic game of Fishbowl and our team dominated.
Saturday morning we drove into Milwaukee for a surprise adventure: Tactical Laser Tag.
As opposed to traditional laser tag when you just try to rack up kills and avoid getting killed, this was all about working as a team on four different missions. The five of us and one little twelve-year-old were the only girls in the group of 34 playing. The boys underestimated our ability to play the game and our team ended up winning the whole thing. We're intense.
Although we don't support actually shooting anyone or training people for violence, the whole thing was a blast.
The arena we played in was crazy cool and I can understand why all these local gamers come back so often. Kat crawled into the red buildings basement, Ben yelled the loudest, Michelle carried the bomb, Mary Ellen and Sarah were more valuable then they realized and Alex was way more into then he originally expected. The boys even entertained the idea of coming back for the tournament that night for a nano-second.
We went out to eat lunch in Milwaukee, the boys played frisbee when the girls went in the hot tub, watched March Madness basketball, had a fiesta for dinner, played 4 on a Couch and family, made ice-cream sundaes, tried What Were You Thinking and stayed up so late. On our last morning together we ate breakfast, cleaned house, and watched I Found the Gown until all the laundry finished.
This weekend was all that I hoped it would be-- full of community, adventure, conversation, relaxing, eating, playing games and enjoying being together. Having the ten of us spend all of this time together was one of Sar and Ben's best wedding ideas. I'm so excited for us to be reunited at the end of the month for the final wedding festivities and the big event itself. We all love Sar and Ben so much and are incredibly excited for them to get married.
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