Wedding Reception

Are for celebrations. Uncle Rob and great Uncle Ron to the left, to the left. Cake to the front and center. (recurring memory: Never heard this song, and apparently I may be one of few, judging by the amount of people on the dance floor moving right along...)

Some little guy and little girl had a lunchbox full of goodies (Toy Story! Hello Kitty! - hello Kitty;).

Zoe helped herself to the wedding favor - a nice chocolate bar with a custom label. A label your dad worked on by the way. Did you, could you admire his graphic design and production skills? No. CHOC-O-LATE. And a white dress. Amazingly I think we avoided getting it ON the dress.

Lawrida and Roman looking on at Shannon and Grandpa Mike's dance.

Roman and the groom, Mr. S. 

And the bride!

The wedding party got a turn on the dance floor. Where was Zo?

 Out in the lobby. Dismembering flowers with your Dad's cousin Ron's fiancee, Ashley.  Why? Mr. Microphone Man (the DJ) had a booming voice that totally freaked Ms Zoe out.  

The wedding party had an introduction before dinner. I walked Roman and Zoe into the dining room. We made a quick loop back to our seats and by the time we were ready to sit down, Zo was covering her ears and hysterical. We had to leave. I took her outside and we sat in the back of the van for awhile. Roman and Dad joined us a few minutes later. I think Ro wondered where his sister went....So we missed all the speeches and toasts...But we went back for dinner. And didn't stop moving until midnight.

Roman had a good time playing with his new cars.

He had plenty of playmates, including Grandpa!

Mr. Microphone must have been yapping up a storm.

Shameful mama moment: Sometime later in the evening when I picked Zoe up to dance with her and she plugged her nose. Sam Adams Octoberfest beer breath belongs in the realm of stinky animals. Touche, my dear.

And despite the blank look stare, Mr. Roman continued on to rip up the wedding reception floor. Dance floor? No luck, he wanted nothing to do with it. Running circles. And later the kids told me that someone told them to stop running. What's amazing to me is that they were ABLE to tell me this. Did I care that they were running? Apparently not ;) 

March!

The wedding one, that is. Jared and Amanda

Rob and Kristen (and then some other people who aren't related :)

And here comes the little Flower Girl and Ring Bearer.

Not walking together like they did at rehearsal. The started to take a left just before I took this shot, but got pointed in the right direction.

You two took your time. Zoe would slowly pick a petal and put it down.

And Roman inspected!  You can see Barb, Ashley and Jake in the background.

Almost there!

I was waiting to be recognized by one of them since I was sitting on the aisle. Nope.

They got some M&Ms as their reward and I didn't hear them during the ceremony.

No pointing and calling out "plane!" during the ceremony (like your uncle Andy and Aunt Laura's wedding).  Nope, we got to focus on the couple. I love that dress! The weather was perfect, the sun was just going down. It was lovely.

And the new Mrs S gave Roman a smooch!

You didn't notice me (or your dad who came to sit next to me) at this point. Which I suppose could be seen as a good thing.

Did I tell you the M&Ms came with stickers and a stamper? Soon Mr. And Ms. B were covered. which was fine, but I didn't want to get that dress all stamped up! I think we avoided that.

And we did a few more family pictures out back.  

But then it was reception time!

pre wedding photo ops!

Pam, Jared, Amanda and Lawrida

Jared, Amanda, Grandpa Mike

 Roman, Jared, Amanda, Zoe and Grandpa Mike

ditto - all looking at the camera!

Us!

Aunt Shannon's mom Maureen, fitting Roman with his corsage. Supervised by Zoe of course. Little Miss inspector.

Looking good!

Almost ready!

Okay, one more shot "back stage"!

And then it was time for mom to go find a seat...

The big day

We meandered over to the wedding party who were in the midst of taking pictures.

Your Aunt Shannon looked stunning - I really loved that dress!

And you two were lucky enough to take part.

I can't wait to see the professional photos!!

And the running at the camera - we re-enacted that one today on our hike. :)

All dolled up! Pam confers with you two before the ceremony. 

And  Grandpa Mike gets Roman all buttoned up.

What's the best part of the wedding?

Cake, of course!



Although fond of silverware, Zoe and Roman decided it was best to dig in without the formality it entails.




Zoe even polished off half of Grandma Candy's cake!



"Cake", right up there with "ahs cream cones". At random intervals Roman will call out for one or the other. Often the "all gone" statement works to end that. With Roman repeating "all gone" and putting both hands out, palms up, to indicate there is none to be had. That wasn't the case at this point. Nope, head down and focused on matters at hand!



A little fingerpainting?



Yeah, this country club isn't inviting us back any time soon.



At your aunt Laura's bridal shower, one of her aunts said something about "having couth". I asked what that meant. Manners, apparently. I was familiar with the word "uncouth", but hadn't thought of it without the "un" part. Apparently, Zoe, you have yet to develop couth.



Table manners be damned! (And yes, she licked BOTH sides of the plate)



We stayed until just after 10 - the kids hit a cranky spot before then, but we made it thru. We had taken two cars, and I was alone with the kids. When we got home I turned around and saw this:



Zoe needed that blanket over her head to get to sleep. Goofy girl!