Let's See if We Can Ruin a Wedding

Love was in the air as two of my favorite friends were about to get married. Sarah looked stunning in her gown and Marc was the picture of sophistication in his Seersucker suit. Friends and family members were gently shielding their eyes from the sun and wiping away the tears as the soon to be married couple read their self-written vows to each other in the fading afternoon sun. Then Micah snatched Malorie's pacifier and she let out a squawk. Micah began to wail when I took the paci back from him and returned it to Mal. Rachel cut her eyes at me as she attempted to calm Micah, but it was far less hurtful than the ice cold glares I was getting from the people around us in the pews. Mal, discontent from missing her afternoon nap, squirmed onto the lap of the man sitting next to me, wildly clawing at his expensive pants with hands soiled from eating a cookie, as he looked back in bewilderment. Micah instinctively sensed his best opportunity to escape and broke free from Rachel's clutches, crawling down the aisle toward the altar leaving Rachel grasping as she crawled after him in her formerly pristine dress.

I do not often have nightmares, but if I did, my kids ruining a wedding could easily keep me up at night. That is why we asked my parents to come to Jacksonville to watch the twins instead of taking them with us to Virginia for Marc and Sarah's wedding. Luckily for us, my nightmare scenario outlined above never happened, as the kids stayed home and bonded with their Grandma and Grandpa Klug, as well as their Great-Grandpa. The wedding was our first overnight endeavor without the kids instead of a struggle to contain them in a foreign environment, a dream instead of a nightmare.

Rachel was far less comfortable leaving than I was but I attribute that to the fact that I leave the kids all the time, heading to Gainesville or work. Rach had some serious separation anxiety when we left for the airport, but she was lulled back into a comfortable state by the near constant updates streaming into her phone from my mom. Grandma sent about one hundred thousand status updates throughout the weekend that convinced Rachel that the twins were doing just fine without her. In fact, from all accounts, Micah and Mal had a great time with their babysitters. Micah got to skip a nap on Friday (although he ended up falling asleep during dinner) and Mal learned how to ride the toy horse in the living room. Both received major snuggle time with their grandpa and plenty of bonding with grandma.

In reality, Marc and Sarah had the picturesque wedding that people dream about. No kids disrupted the ceremony. Rachel and I had a great time with friends that we had not seen in far too long, like Matt and Jaclyn and Paul and Nicole, who got footloose. We truly enjoyed our weekend without parental responsibility. We even got to close out a bar on Saturday night. OK, fine, it was a California Pizza Kitchen, and they closed at 10 pm, but in our defense they did have a bar. Then, after the wedding reception, I slept like a baby knowing that my babies did not mess up any weddings this weekend.