Natasha and Kevin's wedding

The sheer amount of pictures from our California vacation threatens to overwhelm me. To maintain my sanity, I'm going to separate them by theme, with probably four or five chunks of pictures total. The first batch is the main event, the reason that brought us to California: my sister-in-law's wedding. Note for family: yes, Jonathan has a quadrillion and a half pictures of everybody and everything. So does Kathleen.   They may go up on Google docs eventually, but right now I just picked the ones with our immediate family, specifically.  

Ari being held by a bridesmaid at the rehearsal dinner.

My two biggest boys by the waterfall in front of the altar.

Aunt Lois.

Pointing out the amazing fantastic fire.

Ari showing off his pout to Uncle Mike and cousin John.

John, Mike, Ari, Lois, Dorothy waiting for the ceremony to begin.

My nieces Gabriella, Marissa, and Nicole.

Jonathan walking his mother down the aisle.

Xander did NOT want to be ringbearer.  He was very dubious about the whole thing.  Marissa bribed him with a blue M&M in her left hand.

Following the chocolate.

More walking.

Mission accomplished.

Pretty picture of the whole wedding party.  Note Xander in the background tugging Jonathan's hand.

They're married!

I liked this one, with the signs showing where all the bridesmaids are from.

Hanging out during cocktail hour.

 Dorothy, Ari and Sophie the giraffe.

Getting tickled by Auntie Lois.

Three out of four siblings: Xander with Etch-n-Sketch, Kathleen, Marissa and David.

Lois and Mike looking all cute and romantic.

Me saying "cheese."

Cocktail hour lasted til past usual bedtime, so I asked a waiter to bring some bread for Xander's dinner.  A fantastic fruit bowl showed up instead!

Amusing himself with the window blinds.

What the window looked out on: the bar area and gorgeous view.

Hamming it up: David, me, Marissa, Nicole, her boyfriend Tyler.

Mike, Liz, Lois.

The bride and her ring-bearer.

 
Xander pulling David's finger.

Oh so strong!

It was a crack-up.

Natasha and Kevin brought in a photo booth for guests to take pictures.  I have our photos around here somewhere, I'll have to put them online... but here are our accouterments.

Me eating cake. Ari's long passed out.

Cake is SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Family in the wedding party.

And then a series of Xander posing for the photographer.  These were taken from the side - the ones that the photographer took will obviously be much cuter!  It was after this 20-minute shoot that he recommended we get Xander into modeling.

All in all, it was a wonderful day, and we were so happy to be a part of it.  Next up, pictures from Disneyland.

Ah, three year-olds

For dessert this evening we had strawberry cupcakes.  We all loved them.

An hour later we went upstairs, and I went into the bedroom to put Ari to bed in his size 12-month (!!!) sleeper.

From the bathroom came teeth-brushing sounds, and I overheard Jonathan say this, lovingly and exasperatedly, to our eldest son: 

"Xander, there IS a difference between toothpaste and frosting."

Sappiness of the day

Actually, of a few days ago, but I forgot to blog it, so oh well.

At bedtime I was talking with Xander about growing up, and when he was a baby like Ari, and other things that I don't remember.  And he says, very seriously, "Mommy, when you're a baby, I'll put you in the carrier and we'll take walks."  "What?" I asked, confused.  "You have pictures of when you were a baby, on the wall," he clarified.

And at that moment I realized two things - one, he thought life was cyclical.  He saw my mother's framed pictures in the hallway of when I was young, and thought that I would go back to being a baby one day.  It reminded me of myself, when I was little and saved the "1987 Cat Calendar" for when 1987 came around again.  The months of the year and the days of the week always came back, so it made sense to me.  I can see how it would make sense to Xander.

And two - he wanted to take care of me!  Sniff.

"Mommy, I'm FLYING!!!"

So saith Xanderbugs as he pulled the lever to make Dumbo fly up and down at Disneyland.

We return to Cincinnati in a couple hours, and what an amazing trip it has been.  Highlights:

- Dinner with Sylvan and Deena at Lucille's Steakhouse
- Meeting with a personal trainer to find out that my knees are shot, and I literally can't do squats (thanks, Grandpa)
- Xander as ring bearer at Natasha's wedding (Jonathan was a groomsman, but Xander stole the show.)
- The photographer at the wedding telling us Xander should be a model, and wanting to be his agent
- Seeing Lois and Mike at the wedding and for lunch the day after.  Or as my son corrected me when I referred to them yesterday: "Mommy, not 'Lois.'  It's AUNTIE LOIS and UNCLE Mike!"
- Mike bringing over a new garbage disposal for my mom, Jonathan installing it, and then the irony that the outlet wouldn't work
- Visiting HUC Los Angeles, meeting mom's coworkers, and (no offense Sheryl) being reminded how much I love the HUC Cincinnati library
- Haircut and color with my most favorite stylist ever
- Free babysitting when I went out with Jonathan for date night
- Visiting with Holly and her family at the beach and her house (Xander's first time to the Pacific!)
- Ari learning to do a full-on army crawl
- Mom doing all my laundry
- Seeing the 60+ people that came through the house I grew up in at the open house
- In N'Out.  Jamba Juice.  Claim Jumper.  Katella Deli.  Katella BAKERY.
- Breakfast with Marleena and Antonio, and meeting Marleena's baby
- Touring my high school.  Hasn't changed a bit
- Disneyland with a three year-old.  Best and oddest trip I've ever taken:  Tiki room, Jungle Cruise, carousel (twice), Dumbo, It's a Small World, submarine ride, the train, the monorail.  I've never been before without going to Space Mountain or Star Tours.  But then I've never truly enjoyed a child's wonder at experiencing singing birds either.

About 300 pictures will follow.  But be warned... probably not for another week!

Post-Yom Kippur giggles

Via Stephanie's FB page, Ben Stiller's opening monologue last night on Saturday Night Live.  Click on the video to see - he's woozy from fasting, so who appears but Jewish Willy Wonka!

My first baby turns three tomorrow. I can't believe it!

The birthday party lasted about two hours and was a whole lotta fun!  We about hit our maximum amount of small people with six active kids and three babies, but Xander loved it, and that was what mattered.

The food pic is for you, Savta. :)

Cake close-up.  Yep, his favorite color is pink.  We support him.  No haters.

Jonathan's homemade cider in the crockpot was a big hit.

Crazy crazy crazy.

Cooking feverishly.

The littles watching the bigs.

Side view.

At one point, the ball tent contained Xander (3), Yasha (3), and Eden (4 1/2) inside, Ayden (2) was in the tunnel, while Charlie (2) and Liam (2 1/2) looked on from the side.  Insanity.

The adults' expressions say it all.  Note Ayden halfway through the tunnel.  And Simcha on top of a purse on the end table near the couch.

Hooray for Maura!

Nancy is so calm, Ari passes right out every time she holds him.

The living room held glory and wonder.  You can see the top of Xander's head in the bottom right.

Cake-cutting.  Xander contributed enormously to all the room decorations.

Hiya folks.

Opening presents.

Oooh, this is a great day!

Unwrapping very carefully, because the gold sticker....

Is the best part of the gift!

Max and Jack making new friends.

For those in my family: this is a child version of an adult yard tool called a leaf-blower. We have a real one because there is weather here.  Xander's new one blows bubbles.

Simcha getting involved in clean-up.

We also brought in homemade strawberry cupcakes today to school.

To say that Xander was thrilled would be an understatement.  Jonathan was really pleased too, because one of the teachers thought they were store-bought!