Up on the airplane, nearer my God to thee

My parents risked our lives this past weekend by taking me on my first airplane flight. No, the risk wasn't from air travel, which is safer than car travel, especially when the driver is cooing at a toddler in the rearview mirror. No, the risk was from our fellow travelers, who mom and dad sincerely feared might lynch us if things didn't go well. Thankfully, I was OK once I got on the plane. The gate, not so good. But it's all a memory now...

Naturally I wanted to take as much of this experience as possible on my own two feet...


Why did we fly on Memorial Day weekend, you ask? For my uncle Dave's fabulous wedding in Pittsburgh, where Franco Harris was in attendance. Yes, that Franco Harris. Though, depending on which of the women in the family you asked, he was Frankie Harris or Frank O'Hara... We Hays women have to master college basketball -- surely that's enough.

I'm getting sidetracked. It was a super-fabu weekend. I got acclimated to hotel life...


...Mom and I made ourselves beautiful...


... and I admired the fruits of our labor.


Then I watched pretty ladies strut on a catwalk...


...and worshiped Aunt Jane's fabulous sparkly shoes.


Finally, we tore up the dance floor at the reception:


Bedtime? What bedtime?

--Maddie