Andy & Laura, part 2

Grandma Jane sent me some photos last night...Including some of Andy and Laura (imagine that!) I'm thinking they'll be plenty more of those - they had a photographer taking oodles of pictures. Something your dad and I neglected to do.

Grandma Candy and the flower girl.



The ringbearer!



The bride and her Dad.



The happy couple.



The mixing of the waters. Clear liquid + milky liquid= blue liquid.
Afterward Mike asked me if this was one of Andy's chemisty tricks. Um, sort of.



Zoe pointing out a PLANE! after the ceremony. By the way they walked down the aisle just fine by themselves AFTER the ceremony.



Later, Roman was making nice with Hannah, another niece of the couple.



Zoe took a seat too - for a moment there all 3 were sitting together, looking quite darling!

Andy & Laura's Wedding, part 1

The plan:
Keep the kids in the stroller as long as possible...Often this is the plan.



Often it works, for awhile.



We had a hot, hot day, but found some shady spots outside or stayed in the air. Outside seemed to work better though.



All smiles (!)



I didn't get any photos during the ceremony, but there is video out there somewhere. Zoe wouldn't walk down the aisle and didn't even want to carry her flower basket, so I carried her. Actually I had to keep her from the basket for the 15 minutes before the service. Timing, my dear. Roman did end up walking with his Dad and dutifully carried the ring bearer pillow.

We sat down in the second row with them and let them snack on pretzels (food- the great pacifier, hmmm maybe that's a bad habit). In the midst of a quiet moment during the ceremony- a song- both of them spotted a plane and rose to their feet, pointed and said "Plane!". Thanks for that guys. It got a laugh.

It was a very nice ceremony and I'm very happy for the bride and groom!

Once again, Grandma Candy was there to give a hand (or two).



Aw pshaw!



RahRah made himself at home. Shoes on the furniture? Hmm. Well they were new. Apparently we have no manners.



The princess.



I'm not sure what got Roman's attention, althought this was after the ceremony and Andy and Laura were outside getting some photos taken on the green.

Steppin' out

Or at least eating in, black socks and shoes required. Pants? No, not required (or preferred) for pre-wedding peanut butter an jelly sandwich lunches.



Funny thing - you guys love those shoes. I think it's the click clack sound.

Black shoes and socks are optional for dishwashing as well.



Putting dishes away? We prefer white sandals in this house.

The big prep

We survived the rehearsal, although you two started making "nests" with the dead grass that you picked up off the ground. That's the thing about learning about things, you just find you must participate in it. We have a bird nest in our back yard...well that means you need to make your own nest.

So we let you wander...Then we blocked you in the middle of the table for dinner at Buca.



And actually we had you wedged between Grandma and Daddy.



Keeping busy for awhile with a pen and paper placemat!



I sat across from your uncle Dan and aunt Jen. Apparently I was wound a little tight. Aunt Jen told me to take a few breaths.



I took that advice and spent the last half of dinner with Zoe and Roman circulating between your dad and me. You two enjoyed yourself.

Between rehearsal and dinner is...

Playtime at the park!



Conveniently located just down the road from the wedding location.



Rocks inspire concentration.
Hey, it's better than dirt from my perspetive.




And your Dad, looking all 50's cool. Hot day - and he's not so much more than a t-shirt kind of guy (which, no doubt as you read this you already know!).



Look - something you can ride together...Nope, you wouldn't give me a gander. Nope, you didn't stay on it too long. I keep wondering what age 3 will look like. :)



Maybe a lot more digging action.



My brothers would dig big holes in our yard. They were MUCH older (20, maybe...No, I kid). Bottom line: lots more "fun" ahead, much of it beyond our control. Oy!

I love you guys, even if by the time dinner came around today I really, really wanted a beer. !

Sometimes you gotta wake a sleeping baby

Although I don't know that we can call you babies anymore.



It's amazing all the little connections your brains are making. I recently had an epiphany. Send your kid to daycare - it'll make you think yours is brilliant. Why? Because they'll do something and you'll think they spontaneously figured it out. Probably not true...It may be something they picked up from their wonderful child care provider (Shawn!) or Grandma, or yes, even dad (:))!

These two are coming up with more and more. Stringing words together. "Noisy motorcycle". If you've been to our house in the summer you know why this comes into play (busy street!). Zoe took the umbrella out of my work bag (better than the laptop!) and asked me to open it. I did. A minute later she went and got her "little people" patio table/umbrella and was telling me that it too was a 'brella. Good girl!

Zoe's pretty good at her "thank you", although often it's when she should be saying you're welcome, but I'm not going to complain. "Thank you, mommy" just sounds so sweet coming from her little voice. And "bless you" in response to a sneeze. 'Neeze.

Meanwhile, back at the Bat cave, these two had to be stirred from their sleep this afternoon so we could go to the wedding rehearsal and wedding party dinner.

Oh boy.
Yes, you are almost two.
You know, I just forget these things. :)

Someone's got her toesies painted...

..for tomorrow's wedding.
Not bad for a squrimy kid. A few smudges, since fixed!

Someone doesn't like it when...

Mama takes away the orange crayon she's been eating.
Nope, stain hasn't come out.

Earning your keep

Okay, you're almost two so we must ask you to start pulling your own weight around here. Like helping your Dad with projects around the house... Maybe a little hammer pounding.



And a little ladder climbing.



Your dad got all the old siding off the garage today (with a wee little few hours of help from me).



So you had fun checking on his progress and assisting in the effort.
Go team B.

music in the park

Sometime in the not too distant past we decided to venture out and listen to some music in a nearby park. We just happened to be reading the suburban paper with a notice and thought, what the heck.
It was brief since we got there late (Us, late? Surprise! ;),but it was fun. Mainly you two walked in circles around our blanket, which was perfectly fine by me.



You two are pretty good an applause as well.




Plus, Zoe got to work on her distracted driving skills while we loaded up the car to go home.


I joked about how Zoe was talking into the Select Comfort remote a few months back. Not long ago it might have been funny that she was talking into an ipod. Not so much anymore (yeah, I know an iphone is not an ipod..but a onesie that says ipeed or ipooed is still funny - and unrelated). I'm convinced by the time you two are old enough we'll all be carrying around a device that does way more than we can imagine now. Or, we won't be carrying around a device, but we'll stll have some magical way to be connected. Wow, this line of thinking really starts to sound big brotherish. We've all voluntarily connected ourselves to these tracking devices. Okay, mama tired. I'll stop now.

When I'm laying on the grass, sometimes this is what I see looking down at me

Here, kitty, kitty

Whilst eating lunch on the deck of Grandpa Jon and Grandma Jane, you two were distracted...



By a wandering neighborhood cat. Ha! I got ya.



But I had to chase ya!



Although this cat wasn't exactly running away. Even with this...



and this...


and ...




This cat reminded me of our dearly departed Sam when he was younger.



He'd just plop on down and let you scratch him.



Apparently this one will even let you dance with him.



Alas, the cat grew tired...or the kids grew tired. Hey, what's that barking noise from over the fence?!