Last Thursday, Sophie and I packed all of our dresses and fanciest clothes and threw them in the trunk of the car.  Armed with thousands of fruit snacks and a full tank of gas, we headed West to the North Dakotan prairie.  Twelve miles out of town, we made our first stop.  We drove for what felt like forever, making frequent stops to get treats and use the bathroom.  Somewhere along the way, the landscape changed to prairie.


By the time we passed through Fargo, songs started to blend together, This Land is Your Land morphing into You Are My Sunshine.  I told Sophie that we were getting closer and began to feel a glimmer of hope.  Until we saw the sign that said 188 Miles to Bismarck.  That's when Sophie cracked.


To keep her occupied, I gave her my camera.  Then spent the next ten minutes with my arm stretched over the seat back, trying to retrieve it.  One shoulder cramp and forty pictures of the dirty footprints on the back of the seat later, I succeeded.


A million hours later, we finally arrived in Bismarck and spent the evening swimming and resting in preparation for the next day's big event.  The marriage of our friends Kathy and Pat.  Here are Mr. & Mrs. O'Brien enjoying their first dance.


Inspired by the promise of dancing, Sophie stood on the sidelines, waiting for someone to notice her.


She waited, positioned herself near the boys, hand by her side ready for holding.


Before the band really got going, the kids took over the dance floor, whipping each other around and falling to the ground.


Not only did we get to join our friends in their wedding celebration, but we also got to hang out with Sevda.  Sevda crouched down to get closer to Sophie's level, Sophie crouched down to do whatever Sevda was doing.  I could understand this thinking, I've always like to do whatever Sevda is doing too.


We took loads of pictures that night, wanting to make sure we had plenty of pictures of each other.  I don't really know who else was at the wedding, but Sevda and Sophie appear to be everywhere.


Back to the event at hand, we managed to remember to get a picture of us with Mrs. O'Brien.


Here's a picture of Kathy's new brothers-in-law taking a vote with all the O'Briens to determine whether or not they should allow Kathy into the family.  She made it in, but just barely.


We had a great time that night - good food, great music, fun crowd.  And by the end of the night, we were all exhausted.  We rested up a bit, then hit the town on Saturday.  Sevda, Sophie and I did a little shopping then went out for lunch.  Sevda paid for our bill with a stockpile of currency that she'd collected on previous trips.  Sophie thought it was awesome, seeing all those coins stacked up.  It just reminded me of the old days when we'd scour our apartment for enough cash to make another run to Bruegger's.


We ended the weekend with one more festivity - a picnic with more and more great food.  Even though Sophie could barely tear herself away from the playground to eat, when she did, she wanted to sit "right by that girl".  I cleared some space, and settled her in next to "that girl".


The next morning, we woke up early and packed all our loot.  Even though we were excited to get home, the thought of a full day in the car was daunting.  We stopped to take a look at some buffalo, excited to see the rare and elusive Albino Buffalo.


I felt kind of a kinship with that buffalo.  After all, our legs are the same color.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. O'Brien!  Thank you for including us in your very special day(s), for giving us a reason to get together with good friends, and for bringing us to North Dakota.  We had a great time.