A Fairytale Wedding

The whole reason we made a big family trek across the good ol' US of A was to be able to attend the nuptials for my cousin Moriah. Well, actually she's my cousin's daughter so I guess she's my 2nd cousin or cousin once removed or something like that. In any case, she's my cousin. We don't exactly have a huge family so it was important for us to be there to support her. The incentive of seeing Mickey made the draw even stronger.

The wedding took place in a lovely courtyard at the Disney hotel. I guess I really wasn't sure what kind of wedding it would be. I mean, I've never been to a Disney wedding before. Would the Disney characters be in the wedding party? Would Mickey do the vows? Would we be wisked away from the courtyard via roller coaster to the reception? Ok, ok....I really didn't think any of that would happen. Those things don't exactly scream "classy wedding" and it was definitely that...very classy. Of course, Disney did get woven in subtle ways into the festivities. We had adorable Mickey shaped fans (which I was extremely grateful for because the New England family was a little warm sitting in the hot sun) and at cocktail hour, there was a wonderful string quartet playing beloved Disney songs.

Due to a mix up of directions, we arrived just as the ceremony was starting so we quickly slipped into our seats to see the bridesmaids walk down the aisle. As quickly as we slipped in, Mike had to slip out with Cade. That little fella is not one for sitting still so to minimize interruptions to everyone else, they walked around.

Father of the Bride, Allen and (Obviously) the Bride, Moriah

My Handsome Lap Buddy for the Ceremony
(Cute but him on my lap made me swing the fan faster.)

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Satkin

After the ceremony, while the bridal party was taking pictures, we had some light refreshments, some good cold water and let the boys run wild.

Dylan had a great time chasing birds with cousin Brooke.

Cade was really off his game for most of this trip. I don't think the heat was helping the little crank ball. As we went into the hotel to make our way to the reception hall, a Goofy sighting saved the day and helped turn his frown upside down.

The reception was great. The boys had a great time dancing on the dance floor until the food came. After Cade ate, he was ready for his afternoon nap. So Mike had to make an early exit again with Cade to take him back to our house for nap time. While out in the parking lot with them getting car seats switched around, I missed some important stuff like the toasts. I heard Allen did a bang up job (I expect him to repeat the performance for me someday).

Applauding the Wedding Party

Clink! (It's apple juice, I promise!)

Cutting a Rug

These guys were quite the entertainment for all.
It's worth noting that this entire time, the only music available
was soft background music. The DJ wasn't doing his thing yet.

Ahhhhh!

The Sleeping Prince

Cake!

Dylan and I danced and danced and danced. It ended being me holding him and dancing quite a bit. I definitely felt like I got a great workout that day....holding a 40 pound kid and jumping up around in platform shoes is no easy feat! Dylan was so pooped out that he fell asleep in Pipaw's arms as we were saying our (long) goodbyes to the family.

It had already been a long day. The whole gang went back to the house and rested. After being hot for a good portion of the day, it was decided that it was time to check out the pool. Of course, we didn't actually get to go in the pool until evening had set in and it was getting pretty cool out. I opted to stay out of the (heated) water and let everyone else have the "fun" while I enjoyed on dry land with a jacket on.

Mimaw and Dylan
This was about the only time he strayed from the ladder. He felt more comfortable holding onto it.

Daddy and Cade
We were trying to keep his body mostly submerged (this photo being a quick exception)
because they were definitely staying warmer in the water and not out.

Silly Pipaw

Being outside of our normal home life, it was challenging just to get the normal stuff done like getting ready and doing meals. It was great to have Mimaw and Pipaw around to help with those sorts of things. Add in lots of sun, crazy activity and abnormal sleep schedules....it was exhausting to do a "normal" day. With the big excitement of the wedding, a low key night at the house definitely made everyone feel a little less rushed and a lot more relaxed.