4/10 Dave and Winnie's Wedding Day

I don't remember what we did that morning. Everything I remember is related to Dave and Winnie's wedding.

Since I was one of the bridesmaids, I was supposed to get to Winnie's suite at the Moana Surfrider by 1:30. Winnie scheduled it so I would be the last to get my hair and makeup done. I headed out around 1:10 with Mathis. Even though her hotel wasn't that far, I underestimated how long it would take with a baby slung to me. So, I got there a little late. No worries because noone was ready for me. The woman who ended up doing my hair and makeup was a makeup artist on Lost. A little trivia...in the second season of Lost she played the wife of a Korean man that Jin beat up. I liked how she did my hair and makeup, but I don't have any photos to show for it.

The photographers came around 2p to take some getting-ready shots. There were four photographers. Two of them left for a little while to take photos of Dave and the groomsmen. But all four were on hand to take portraits of Winnie. It was kind of intimidating because for every shot there'd be four cameras on her.

Around 3:30, Winnie, her matron-of-honor Liz, her step-sister Nan, and I with Mathis headed down to take the limo. When we got to the front, there was a huge, white Hummer limo waiting. I womdered outloud, "Dave, got a Hummer limo?!?" Both Winnie and Liz answered, "No, that has to be someone else's." But no the pimp daddy prom 2009 limo was ours and booked by the wedding planner.

The drive was scenic but rainy. Winnie was very calm, but a little disappointed that they weren't going to be able to get married on the Secret Island because of the rain. I'm still curious what that would have been like.
Below is a photo inside the limo. Doesn't Winnie look pretty?

When we arrived at the wedding site. Everyone was standing on the covered lanai. I handed Mathis off to Hansel, and then we waited in the limo while they moved everyone down to the tent. Because of the rain, the ushers had to walk people down one at a time under umbrellas. Very nice for the women, but I would have told the guys to just make a run for it :)

We got out of the limo and got ready to process down. I was the third to walk down and was greeted with some cheers. I'm guessing because I didn't wipe out in the mud. Winnie looked really beautiful processing down. The mist in the air and the umbrellas covering her actually added to the picturesqueness (it's an actual word) of the moment.

The ceremony was presided over by a friend of Dave's who was ordained via the internet. You always hear how people can do that, but I've never known anyone who had. During their vows with Winnie's back to me, I couldn't tell if she was getting emotional or just speaking softly.

It was a short but sweet ceremony (unlike this blog entry). Right after they took photos of the bridal party. I saw one of the photos (the photographers had set up a display later in the night), and it looked like something from a magazine. Man, the things you can do with lights. Don't get me wrong everyone looked good live but in the photo we looked cool.

Below is a shot of the happy couple after their introduction. I cropped out a light and a head and converted it to black and white because the glare from the light was worse in color.

During dinner I went up to the lanai to feed Mathis. Alex was up there pacing back and forth. I figured he was working on his speech. I thought that was cute. I know I should come up with a better adjective, especially for a guy, but I'm a woman and I cannot help but use the word, cute.

Most of the speeches came from Dave's side. A common theme was how lazy he is especially when it comes to eating. Apparantly, heating up food in a microwave is too much work for Dave. One of the groomsmen noted that the rain was meant to be since it was pouring rain on Winnie and Dave when he proposed to her in August in Central Park. Winnie's dad gave a cute (see there's that word again) sppech about Dave only being 33% worthy of Winnie while they were dating and now he's maybe 51%.

The best speech was from Ed and Tina's 5.5 yr-old son, Carter. He asked if he could say a few words and waited patiently for all the speeches to end. The waiting alone would have killed me. He thanked Uncle Dave and Miss Winnie for inviting him and wished them a happy marriage. Actually, I'm not sure about the second part. I was just impressed by his fearlessness and sincerity.

Their cake was cool -- a non-traditional, traditional cake.
Dave and Winnie gave a heartfelt speech and even Winnie said a few words. She doesn't like being the center of attention, which is hard to get around on your wedding day.

Winnie and Dave were thoughtful enough to hire two babysitters, who came prepared with a TV, DVDs, and all sorts of games and activities. One of the bridesmaids with three boys used their services. The youngest one was still jetlagged.

It was a fun, wet wedding that noone will soon forget.

Aloha, Oahu!

We recently went to Oahu for Dave and Winnie's wedding. It was our first family vacation as a family of five. The flight over wasn't so bad. I sat next to a couple with a 9 week old, who was awake more than Mathis but calm at the same time. Hansel for the most part sat with Maile and Beck. We realized early on that we had forgotten the kids' DVDs despite remembering to bring the player. Luckily there was a family sitting behind us, and we were able to borrow from them. Thank you, whoever you are.

We got in around 12n, so we ate at the Wahaina Coffee House, right across the street from the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and later went grocery shopping. There we experienced some of the pains of shopping with three kids. At one point, Hansel ran back to get milk while I was at the checkout with all three kids. The baby, who I had in a sling, was crying while I was trying to unload the groceries, and Maile and Beck were running in and out of the front door and looking at bakery items. During the latter, the checkout lady said, "Your son is touching the bread."

That night we ate at IHOP, and the kids had pancake for dinner. The next morning we decided to eat at IHOP again. The kids had pancakes again but a different kind.

That day Hansel wasn't feeling so hot, so I took the kids to the Waikiki Aquarium as part of the Girls Day Out that Winnie's matron of honor organized while Hansel watched Mathis at the hotel. We took a bus to the aquarium. It was the kids first real bus ride, and they had a great time. At the aquarium, each paying customer gets an audio-tour wand. I gave mine to Beck, and Maile had her own. Maile was listening; Beck just liked putting it to his ear.

In the above photo, Beck had just held a hermit crab. He was commenting on how it tickled.

Afterward, we all, including Winnie and Liz, took a bus to get to Halekulani hotel to have tea. Beck fell asleep on the bus less than 5 minutes before our stop. I carried him two long blocks to the hotel. Boy is he heavy. Hansel met us there to hand off Mathis and to take Maile and Beck back to our hotel.

Tea was nice. The portions weren't huge but filling. Liz ended up asking to take a couple of her small tarts to go. When she got the box, there were about six items in there. The waiter explained that the box was too big for just two. He was afraid they would slide around and get ruined, so he put more in as filler. So remember if you're ever in Waikiki and like afternoon tea, go to Halekulani and get a couple of your dessert items to go.

The next day I wanted to go to the Ala Moana Center to get a camisole-type tanktop (sans lacy trim). I had spent a week before the trip looking for a tanktop with spaghetti straps and no built-in bra, which makes it difficult to breastfeed, and I didn't want a nursing tank. I eventually found one but then proceeded to leave it at home. While we were at the mall we ran into Stew, Vicki, and Cameron in the food court, who were later joined by Alex and Roberta. They didn't eat at the enormous food court. They ate somewhere a little more civilized.

We headed back to the Hilton Village since the Yaus were coming and would be staying with us that night. After two days of not having a nap, Beck was very willing to have one even with Hannah, who's like his second big sister, around. Later while I hiked myself and Mathis over to Ala Moana Park for the rehearsal, everyone else hit the lagoon and pool.
Rehearsal dinner was at a Chinese restaurant. Hansel, the kids, and the Yaus came. The kids must have been hungry because they gobbled up the typical, visually unappetizing but good appetizers -- jellyfish and fatty beef slices. The meal was very good, especially the fish.
Dave's older brother passed out these blinking light things to the kids, which they loved and which did not cause any epileptic seizures (thank goodness). As a thank-you gift Winnie gave me a couple of bracelets and a necklace to go with the bridesmaid dress. Very thoughtful, especially since I didn't bring any jewelry or accessories.
Below is a photo of Cameron at the dinner, bringing new meaning to "double fisting."


I'm going to write a separate entry about the rest of the trip.

Photos from the End of March

I'm behind on updating our blog. I thought I'd post some photos that were taken after the last blog's photos before I write about our trip to Hawaii for Dave and Winnie's wedding.

Mathis at 9.5 weeks. I didn't pull out the play mat until 8 weeks or so. He's more interested in looking at himself than the hanging toys. And now he even smiles and talks to himself.



Mathis is a little over 10 weeks in the below photo. I love it when he smiles.

Then, Beck wanted a turn holding the baby. Would be a great family photo if we had used the timer.


I think Maile looks especially cute in the photo -- her smile and her body language. If you look carefully, her eyelids are kind of red. The day before she complained of a sore throat, and when I picked her up from school her eyes had a lot of mucus. The day of the photo was Hannah's birthday party, which Maile ended up missing because she was sick. Definite bummer, but better than getting everyone at the party sick.