Trip to So Cal--Days 3 & 4 "The Wife"

Friday we were pretty tired, so we just laid low and hung out with my mom at the house mostly. We did make a trip out to target to buy an air mattress for me to sleep on because the fold out couch in the living room is super hard and doesn't fold out all the way, so you have to sleep diagonally on it. I tried it for the first night and pretty much got no sleep because of the bed combined with the fact that it's in the living room which is on the side that the street is on. I forgot how loud it is at night--sirens, motorcycles, trucks, alarms, trains...you name it and you can hear it from that room. Oh, did I mention that the weather was super hot and humid and my mom's house is pretty much like a sauna except for in the one room that has a little air conditioner? And no, that one room is not the living room. Anyway, I ended up sleeping on the air mattress in the den, which is not on the side that the street is on, with my mom. It worked much better that way. I've never been so grateful to have an air mattress before!

The next day was my cousin, Mitch's, wedding. It was in Long Beach outside next to the Queen Mary overlooking the bay. Very pretty, but very hot and very little shade. I stood in the back under a little potted tree/plant for most of the ceremony because I didn't want Naiya to get sunburned. The reception was really nice and it was fun to see everybody in my family.


Melia was a little dancing machine, like usual. Here's Melia dancing with GG (her Great Grandma). What you don't see is GG almost going down as Melia spun her around and around!


My cute girlies with Grandma Sue!


Here's Aunt Kitty looking jolly and Naiya looking not so jolly. It was a long day for Naiya with no real naps, but she was a little trooper. :)

Melia had been looking forward to 2 things about this wedding--"the wife", as Melia likes to call her, wearing the pretty white dress and the cake. Although we didn't really know Dianne, Melia pretty much attached herself to her side in complete awe through most of the reception. Here she is holding the wife's hand in their cake cutting pictures.


Here she is dancing with the wife during the mother son dance. I had to hold her back so that Mitch and Dianne could have their first dance without Melia in between them. Melia also refused to leave the wife's side during the bouquet toss. I had to physically take her to stand with the other single ladies. At one point, after most of the festivities had already taken place, Melia went and sat down with the wife and said, "So what should we do now?" I think Melia fully embraced this as her and the wife's reception. Mitch was a mere bystander.



Groovin with Uncle Ron.


Aww, so cute. Too bad my arm felt like it was about to fall off from holding this chunky monkey for so long!


Here's Melia living it up on the craps table! The dealer had come over to me and asked if Melia could help pick some cards to give prizes to each table. I said sure and the next thing I knew, she was up on there on the table gambling and drinking and having a good old time! :)

Funny side note: That night, as I was putting Melia to bed, I went to give her kisses and she said, "No Mommy. Like this." She then proceeds to hold my face with her hands, tilt her head to the side and stick her tongue out as she leans in to kiss me! Aaahhhh! Well, needless to say, I had to explain to her the difference between "wedding" kisses and our kisses.