All Dressed Up with A Place To Go

Boy, did my boys look good -- and I mean ALL of my boys (M, R, and T.) They were all in Uncle Dan's wedding last week and they all wore tuxedos! M was a groomsman, R was the ring bearer, and T was a greeter, passing out programs.

First, was the rehearsal on Friday night. The boys (R and T) wore matching sweaters that Gramma gave them (she gave them to my boys and to her other grandsons). We brought in the boys Leapsters (educational handheld video games) and headphones so that they could be quiet and occupied in the church when they weren't needed. This is how they looked for the half hour that they had to wait before R's turn to practice. (T never had to practice, so he happily played the whole time.)

Then R was called to practice walking in with H, his cousin and the flower girl. They took their jobs very seriously and walked as calmly as they could down the aisle after all of the bridesmaides walked down. They also had to stand up with the wedding party during the whole wedding. Here they are waiting to practice. (H is holding the "practice bouquet" that we made at the bridal shower.)
After the rehearsal, we dropped the boys off at M's cousin's house so she could babysit them (and get them to sleep) while M and I went to the rehearsal dinner. It started at their bedtime and we wanted them to not be too tired for the wedding the next day.

On the wedding day, M had to leave with the other groomsmen bright and early at 8:00 AM. I'm not sure why they had to get together so early, the wedding wasn't until 2:30. My boys had to be at the church at 1:45, so we had a nice morning together. First we had a great breakfast at the hotel buffet (made to order omlettes, waffles, plus more.) Then we read four chapters of a book that R got for Christmas. After that, it was an hour swimming in the pool. After swimming, the boys took a quick shower and I bought them a crazy-expensive hotel-movie ($11.99) so that they'd have something to occupy them while I showered, dried my hair, curled my hair, and put my make up on -- all in peace. Somewhere between drying and curling my hair, I fixed the boys some lunch -- a floor picnic of a banana, apple slices, cheese and crackers, and chocolate milk. (The fruit and milk was snuck up from the breakfast buffet. Shhhh.)

I took the boys to church in their street clothes, bringing the tuxes along to put on when we got there. (Who knows what dirtiness could happen on the 30 minute drive!). We joined the groomsmen in the church basement, which the boys loved because it had a pool table, air hockey, and foosball game.
The wedding went without a hitch. I forgot to mention that I was also in the wedding. I read a poem and successfully got through it without crying. Though, I did cry plenty later on in the wedding. How is it that I forgot to pack kleenix in my purse??? Anyway, everybody did their job wonderfully. T was a hit in his handsom tux passing out programs; R didn't trip or run as he walked down the aisle; and M looked great standing up with the groomsmen.

After the wedding, there were pictures at the church and pictures at the reception. The two-hour dinner was four courses, with sorbet before the main course to cleanse the pallate. (T was excited because he thought it was dessert and the dinner was over.) It was pretty late by the time dancing started (9:00, our time) so the boys were bushed. R could have dance all night, but T got pretty tired. R danced with the flower girl all night -- they were so cute. T danced with whoever would dance with him, getting a bit crazy when he did. Here are some great dancing pictures.

The ring bearer and the flower girl, dancing the night away:

The mother of the groom (gramma) and T doing the swing:

R and H looking pretty darn proud, cute, and adorable:

At 10:30 I took them back to the hotel so they could crash. They were pretty proud for staying up until 12:00 EST like big boys!