Weddings: Love'em or Hate'em

Our good friends from medical school, Beau and Ally, got married on Friday night in a small ceremony. Both girls were asked to participate, Elizabeth as flower girl and Ava as ring bearer. This was Elizabeth's second gig as a flower girl and she was pretty excited to participate. I think most of the allure centered around the idea of eating cake. I know that is why Ava willing went along. However it tough for a 2 year old to behave when the wedding is scheduled right at her bed time. Plus, Ava took an earlier nap then usual because we had to got to the doctor to get shots for school. As for Elizabeth, she was pretty giddy because I don't think she napped at all. She has taken to laying down and resting quietly but it is not the same as "sleeping." Needless to say, the girls added their own unique flair to the wedding as only little kids can.

Instead of preceding the bride down the aisle, Elizabeth stood at the base of the stairs tossing all her flower petals on the floor while the bride passed her. Even some coaxing from the audience couldn't get her to leave her post. She insisted that she had to pick up all her flowers before coming to sit down with the rest of us. As for Ava, you could hardly get her to sit still. She kept stomping around the room, looking out the window, pulling dead leaves off of the plants, and tossing a small plastic sheep at the bride. Finally, we got her contained and she managed to hand over the ring pillow at the appropriate time. By the way, Casey was an angel the whole time.

Note the cute, but totally useless baby shoes.

Anyway, we managed to survive the ceremony and the girls added some humor which covered up our giggles at the officiant who spoke with a strange accent (but only during the ceremony).

Elizabeth willing posed for some pictures, and helped with the cake. Ava did her own thing. The only time she sat still was to share some cake with Dad and Elizabeth. I believe that Ava's opinions of weddings are that they are a lot of work just for a piece of cake and that she rather stick to birthdays.