Bare feet and "French Onion soup?"

Darcy attended her very first wedding on Saturday (along with the rest of our family of course.  I just didn't mention my other two kids as Kylie could be classified "an expert wedding attender" with six ceremonies under her belt, and Caleb attended his first wedding less than a month after coming home).  "Mr. Mickey" (my sister's husband's father) and "Ms. Cware" (Claire) tied the knot in an elegantly simple ceremony Saturday evening up in the mountains. 

There were five kids in attendance, and with 60% of that group being mine, the pressure to keep them under control was on!  There were a few wiggles, but overall the group behaved smashingly well.  With one minor exception...

When the exchange of the rings started, I thought I was home free.  Letting that thought run through my mind was probably my first mistake.  I think my middle child sensed my smugness, because suddenly my squirmy, but until that moment, quiet child pops his head off of my arm partnered with an, "Ouch!"  For a split second I considered scooping him and making a hasty exit, but I opted instead to see if I could find the source of pain.  A quick check of the ankle he was grabbing ~ oh, did I mention with his face winced up and now a louder steady voicing of "Owie, Ow, Ow!" ~ found some of his stupid silly bandz digging into his ankle.  Who knew that some of them were waaayyy to small to be worn on a three year old child's ankle? 

As his complaints of his discomfort began to get a little louder, I opted to take the least visible course of action and simply remove his shoe, sock, and silly bandz.  The deep marks left in his ankle and smile on his face as I gently rubbed it gave me the hope that I had solved the problem.  Second mistake.

I got distracted for a second, watching Claire give Mickey his ring and somehow missed my precious son removing his other shoe and sock.  This was brought to my attention just as Uncle Adam was starting the communion music and Caleb decided to head up to him, likely to assist in guitar playing.  So I did what I should have done at the first sign of trouble, scoop the offender and head out. 

As soon as we were safely out of earshot, my boy became remorseful and really wanted to go back to finish watching Mr. Mickey get married.  As we reentered, I realized that we could sneak into the communion line and then get back to our seats without being overly obvious.  Besides, he had been saying he was hungry, and we had rushed too much getting ready to give the kids a snack before the 6:00 service, so a piece of bread may help pacify him.  Sorta a goodwill gesture.  So I put my adorable little guy on my left hip and started down.  What I forgot was that my well dressed little guy, wearing Herringbone pants, a white dress shirt, red clip-on tie, and a black velvet sport coat was sporting "surfer dude" feet.  As in they were still bare.  And I was carrying him down the center aisle.  The quiet giggles as I neared the halfway point reminded me. 

Oh well, at that point there was not much to do but smile and keep going.  Third mistake.  Claire gave Caleb a pretty sizable chunk of bread.  I didn't think much about the fact that we have communion with the little tiny cups at our church and not the one goblet to dip your bread into.  So while I was focused on getting my bread from Claire, I hear a loud, "Uh-oh!" from Caleb, some sort of comment about French Onion soup from Mickey, and several more giggles from those in the first few rows.  When I went to dip my bread into the cup, there it was, a hunk of bread the size of Manhattan floating on the top.  Somehow I managed to suppress my own giggles...

Luckily Mickey and Claire love my kids and pretty much consider them their grandchildren as well.  The reception was lovely and our entire family had a wonderful time. 

 Before dinner we took lots of pictures.  Because it isn't that often that my three are "all gussied up."  And we all knew that white tops and meals weren't going to be too great of a combination...

I must have taken about fifty shots in this series.  Some with the mountains and trees in the background, some close ups of the kids.  I love this one.  Kylie was asking if I had gotten a good one yet.  Luckily for her I thought there had to be something worthwhile.  Of my three. 

But the cousins were there too.  Which of course meant that another fifty shots needed to be fired off.  Some were better than others.  Some were funnier than others. 

This was one of the "betters."  They were focused on the wedding photographer who decided to piggy-back our photo shoot and get a shot of all five kids while they were standing still.  Cheater.  Not perfect, but still a great looking group of kids!

Don't remember what made them start laughing, a real giggle session started here.  And then things went pretty south.  Fast.  Like my son making bunny ears on his cousin.  Who was not amused.  So then of course he just made them on himself...

Dinner time arrived and the kids were served a huge platter of chicken strips and fries.   They ate to their hearts content, and we snacked off their plates as we waited for the grown up meal.  And wisely, before the cutting of the cake, my husband decided to let my son ~ who was angelic during dinner ~ burn off some steam.

Well of course the girls had to go too...

As we waited for the cake, we were treated to a spectacular mountain sunset.  I got to savor the moment with my little man.

Thank you Mickey and Claire for letting us be a part of your special day.  And for taking my son's antics in stride.  And please send me a digital image of you two on your wedding day when you get a chance, 'kay?