Wedding Day...

It was a beautiful morning for a wedding. But let me say this...my children will not plan a morning wedding. And it might have something to do with the fact that I'm not a morning person. Come to think of it, neither are any of my children. So I probably don't have much to worry about there. Anyway...

Caroline with my niece, one of the bridesmaids.

We hauled everybody out of bed early, threw on our fancy clothes (we changed Caroline into her flower girl dress in the parking lot), embraced the (first) beautiful sunny day (of our trip) on the way out the door and actually beat the bride to the church!

The ceremony was sweet. I loved the smiles on their faces. My nephew, Daniel, and his bride, Jenalyn, have been dating since, I think, they were 15 and 16 years old. It really was nice to see such happiness and commitment in two people obviously meant for each other.

My sweet, sassy girl managed to wrap around her finger pretty much anyone left in the room that wasn't already there. She was darling. The church didn't allow flower petals on the floor, so Caroline carried a basket of fresh flowers. The only catch was that the fresh flowers were arranged in heavily saturated floral foam that weighed about five pounds. Good thing she's strong because it took everything she had to haul that sucker up the aisle!

Caroline gave a "thumbs up" to Grandma,

eliciting a combinationof chuckles and snorts

from our entire side of the family. We are SO classy.

There were the traditional after-wedding shots taken...and the less than traditional moments of me resisting the temptation to tell off the photographer. He was really grumpy, and so was his assistant. He was less than patient with the adults and barely gave Caroline an acknowledgement of her existence. He lectured ME on being careful around camera equipment. I was, incidentally, just reaching over his monstrosity of a camera parked on the sidewalk in front of three-year-old and a dozen other people, trying to get the gum out of my daughter's mouth for photos. Then he posed Caroline on the bride and groom's lap and made no effort whatsoever to get her to smile. There were a few other things that left me unimpressed with his professionalism, but they're probably better left unsaid.

Nothing could have taken away from what the day was really about, however. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The party moved to the Grand Colonial, a charming reception hall with a beautiful ballroom and a lovely lawn out back. It was a pleasant afternoon, and we all had a great time. I think Caroline might have partied the hardest. Her dance card was quite full, and by the end of the afternoon she claimed her own soda from the open bar. It was, after all, a party in the middle of her naptime, and it wasn't like she was well rested going in to the day.

Did you notice, by the way, Caroline's choice of footwear for the party in the ballroom? What princess wouldn't pack her Cinderella glass slippers? She really wanted to wear them with her dress during the wedding, but she settled for changing into them at the reception. She clicked and clacked her way around the dance floor, blue lights from her shoes just flashing away!

They'll probably all kill me for posting this photo of them doing the Cha Cha Slide, but I'm doing it anyway. The kids really all had a great time! Abby and her cousin danced to the Hoedown Throwdown (it's a Hannah Montana thing) and got a compliment on her dancing from a former Rockette. Made her life. You'll notice Mickey is AWOL from the vast majority of today's pictures. He was running with the boys, snatching party favors and consuming frightening amounts of caffeine and sugar. Made a momma proud, I'm telling you. I did drag him to a halt for a quick photo with the girls out back.

Then I took advantage of having all the granddaughters on Jon's side of the family in one place and got a group photo. They have all changed tremendously in the last few years. It's startling to realize how much they've all grown up. One of these days, I'll scan the photo of the five older ones taken a few years ago. And then they'll really kill me.

After the reception, we all gathered back at the hotel, took a quick dip in the pool and ordered Chinese take-out. The actual time spent in the pool was minimal. That water was downright nippy! I think Caroline is the only one who spent any significant time in the water. Alex was sweet enough to get in and play with her. We spent the rest of the night plotting our last-minute course through New York City.

I wish I had a picture of Mickey with his pockets full of bubbles. Apparently, after the happy couple departed, he and his cousin mingled with the guests, acting as the official bubble collectors. I didn't notice until we got to the car to leave. Am I a great mom or what? Argh. The entire set of photos from the wedding day is here. There are quite a few I didn't post, believe it or not! From here, it's on to New York City!