Part III-The Party Bus and Reception

Oh the party bus...SUCH good times. Nothing like a place where you are handed a drink as soon as you step aboard. Here is what I DON'T recommend-letting my brother make you a drink. My Captain and Diet Coke was at least 3/4 Captain (not that it stopped me from drinking it, mind you) and my Red Bull and Vodka was almost all vodka and tasted like cough medicine. On this bus I got to see my father drinking champagne from the bottle and my mother drinking Captain and Coke. We went through three bottles of champagne in record time. Granted, there were like 20 people on the bus, but still. When we arrived at Forest Park for pictures, everyone was pretty well buzzed. We got out and "frolicked" in the grass, took some pictures and it was back on the bus! The alcohol was flowing and the dirty rap songs were playing (I'm pretty sure my mother was horrified). We dropped mom and dad off at the reception site and the rest of us drove around downtown St. Louis on the bus and continued to drink. We went past the Cardinals new stadium and yelled "STAN!!!!" everytime we passed the Stan Musial statue....once we arrived back at the reception site, parts of it become blurry. I remember going inside and I'm pretty sure we stopped to go to the bathroom. The announcement of the wedding party was blurry-I couldn't hear what they were saying, so we all just kinda paired up and walked in......as the Star Wars theme played (and the boys were all wearing jester hats-it WAS April Fools Day after all!). As we all sat at the head table we realized my brother was not there. The groomsmen went to find him, and find him they did-puking in the bathroom (sorry to publicise this Timbo-but this is good stuff!). Well, no one remembers Tim drinking so much, then again, the rest of us were drinking too. At one point, Dave, Polster and I got Tim out on the veranda and laid him down. He looked like a dead body laying there. Seriously. I didn't want to leave him (we were seriously afraid he was gonna die of alcohol poisoning). Julz-the wedding coordinator-made us all leave and she promised to take care of him (she rocks). The good news is-Tim made a miraculous recovery and by the end of the night was out on the dance floor with us.

The reception was great, although when they announced it was time for the Maid of Honor and Best Man to give their speeches, I panicked. Luckily, I was just buzzed enough to have the guts to go speak in front of 250 people. I remember shushing the crowd and telling them to be quiet so I could talk....I really don't remember much of my speech, but all the stuff I wrote that I thought would be funny was (I loved hearing the crowd laugh!) and I got through it without crying. Robert's speech was great too even though he was so nervous. Once back at the table the bride and groom assured us the speeches were great. Can't wait to re-hear it on the video......After that, the dancing began. I knew my family (the Baumgartner clan) would be out on the dance floor all night long. And they were. Uncle Nick is a dancing machine!!!! And little Kira has some moves (not bad for a 3 year old!). The band, The Ultraviolets, were GREAT! I did get a little sad when they played "Jesse's Girl" as I was really missing J at that point. To deal with it, I put myself in the middle of the dance floor and danced to my song!!!!

It was all great, it was clear the bride and groom were having a great time (which is really what matters). By the end of the night we were all absolutely exhausted and just wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep. After a rather lengthy wait for transportation (long story, I won't go into it-it will only re-upset the bride!), we arrived at the hotel around 1am, and crashed.

On Sunday, the immediate families met at Jon's parents house for a brunch and to watch them open all their gifts. I'm sure Corningware and matching towels are exciting...actually what was exciting was all the cash they received (after seeing all that I decided maybe marriage wasn't such a bad idea after all!). It was sad saying good bye to them (and weird to say good bye to my new "brother"!), but we all had to go (I was heading to J's where I drove straight into tornado alley. No one was hurt, but there was a tornado at J's house. On my way there, I get a text message that says "Just got hit by a tornado". WHAT?). Anyway, as we speak, the new Mr. and Mrs. Baumgart are on their way to Jamaica (while the rest of us deal with the aftermath of the storm from yesterday).

I may be biased, but I can't help but think that this marriage is gonna be one of the good ones. Sometimes you see two people that clearly belong together. This is my sister and Jon. I love you guys so much. Welcome to the family brother! :) Have fun, be safe, and don't drink too much Red Stripe while in Jamaica!