Wedding Extravaganza, Part Deux

Uncle Kirty and Auntie Julie tied the knot last Friday. Once again, Mommy and Macey played the parts of bridesmaid and ring bearer, respectively.

Thursday night marked the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner -- and also the only time the WHOLE family was together. Dr. Auntie Meg's residency graduation coincided with Kirt and Julie's big day, so we took time to take a family picture (the Bean is even prominently visible!)



Friday was wedding day. After a relaxing morning of family time -- we took Mason to see Up! at the movie theater Mommy frequented as a teenager (weird!) -- followed by a nap, it was time to head to the church.

Mason was utterly mesmerized when he saw his Auntie Julie before the wedding. As Grammy said, he looked like one of those cartoon characters with stars in their eyes and just said "She's so beautiful." And who could argue!!?!?!



After refueling with some chocolate milk behind the scenes, it was time for the big game ... er, moment.



Mason showed off his professional ring-bearing skills, by practically dragging his counterpart, Evan, down the aisle. He was pretty anxious to get to Uncle Kirty, who had a surprise waiting at the alter -- a new car, which he then used to drive over Mommy's tummy as Julie came marching down the aisle.



After the I-Dos were said and the licensed was signed, it was time to party and party Mason did ...



With his uncles...



With Aunt Patty, who he drug onto the dance floor...



And of course, with his Auntie Julie...




And Uncle Kirty...



Congrats to them both! All of our pictures are here, and here's the photographer's official pics.

Wedding Extravaganza, Pt. I

Macey and Mommy have been in Colorado for a full week now, and between the wedding-weekend madness, the jet lag, getting adjusted to life in the 'burbs and the remote home office, Mommy hasn't a lot of time to post!

Uncle Clint and Auntie Meg got hitched last Saturday and are off enjoying their Mexican honeymoon now.

The wedding weekend began with a trip to see the Rockies play the Astros at Coors Field. Despite Mason's best efforts -- and rally cap -- the home team did not pick up the win. We did, however, have lots of fun and Mommy got some cool sun burn lines in the four inches between the bottom of her shorts and the top of her knees.

Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner before the big day rolled around Saturday. Mason looked pretty dapper in his tux upon arriving at the church, which was in downtown Denver. There was only one slight problem, though: He arrived with one shoe missing! Papa trekked back toward the car and found it lying in the middle of the street. It was rescued and the show went on without a hitch, as Mason escorted one of Clint and Meg's nieces, Caroline, down the aisle.

Once Clint and Meg sealed the deal with a kiss, we all got ready to party. In my humble, and totally unbiased opinion, Mason stole the show (as much as he could with a beautiful, happy couple taking center stage!). Check out his dance moves:



Sweet Caroline was in honor of, well, sweet Caroline, who was pretty sure Clint was really her boyfriend and not Meg's! All the nieces and nephews had a great time dancing. We could barely get Mason off the dance floor. He didn't want dinner. He didn't want cake. Finally, it was a Capri Sun that did the trick, but then he was back out there again.



As the night wore on, he got a little tuckered out.



Then, he finally crashed on an antique sofa in the room just over from where the party was a roarin'.



As a finale, here are the official Mercier family portraits from the evening, the before and after, if you will...



For anyone interested in the entirety of the weekend's action, check out our Snapfish Album.

Party Time

We caught up with Mason's buddy Matthias last weekend for his third birthday party. Mattias and his family are friends of ours from Nursery North. It was great to see him and his parents, meet his new baby sister, Olympe, and catch up with all of our old friends.

Mason sported a cream cheese moustache:



Thanks in part to his multi-tasking -- Thomas toys in one hand, breakfast in the other:



The birthday boy:



Making like a clown, while playing with the spit balls ... seriously:



Cute little Peony poses for the camera:

Harlem Day and More

Saturday marked the highlight of Harlem Week (which is really actually a month, but who's counting?) -- at least for our family as Mason and Mommy took a stroll down to 135th Street for the Harlem Children's Festival.

There we found a pony to ride, an obstacle course to conquer and plenty of free food, gadgets, fliers, coupons and other street fair staples. Not to mention, we were able to spend some quality time with our pals Kya, Fiona and their Mommy, Sandra!



After the street fair, and a futile attempt at getting Mason to nap in his stroller, we met up with Dad-O to head to the Bronx for our friend Dionna's birthday party.

There, we met this clown:



Who later morphed into Dora:



Aside from his decidedly interesting taste in costumes, the clown could do it all. Paint faces; a pirate-boy, matey!



Mold balloon creations ...



Not to mention an array of *magic tricks.*

Jersey Day

We took a jaunt across the river last weekend to attend our friend Nick's birthday party at the Little Gym in Jersey City (Mom and Dad-O's old stomping grounds!)

Boy, did we have fun.

As you can see, Mason LOVED the gym. All that wide-open space was almost too much to handle. Unfortunately, most of Mommy's pictures turned out like this (we call him the streak!)





So, you'll have to settle for the video highlights instead:


After the party, we headed back to the Crawford-Peterson residence for some more pizza and cake, as well as present opening and perhaps most important, a dip in their swimming pool.

Here are Nick and Mason showing off their matching swimming costumes (as Nick would say!) Aimee's got good taste...she bought them both. We love our hand-me-downs.

The two boys got along famously. It was soooooo cool watching Mason follow Nick around and learn all the wise 4-year-old tricks he had to teach!

Birthdays, Birthdays Everywhere!

So, three weeks ago, we had our friend CC's party. Followed by Kellyn's pony-ride inspired party a week ago as well as her daycare party the following day, where all the kiddos got to wear these colorful headbands, which did their best to tame the Mason-man's hair.



The latest addition to the birthday club was 2-year-old Roger, who welcomed us to his family's East Village store for a little celebration on Sunday.

The original plan called for an outdoor party at Roger's favorite playground, but rain put a damper on the celebration. The boys didn't seem to mind as they put on their party hats and danced on the sidewalk.



After posing for a picture with Roger's mom, Jojo...



The boys headed inside to share some snacks and a delicious chocolate-raspberry cake.



By then, the rain had let up enough that we made our way to the park for a bit of fun.





We're looking forward to a repeat visit somewhere down the line!

Pony Ride Videos

As promised ...



And one more ...

A Really Big Day

Sunday marked Mother's Day, Auntie Jenn's birthday and the day before our best friend Kellyn's birthday, which could only mean that we headed out to Brooklyn for a party in her honor.

First on the agenda: pony rides!

Birthday girl Kellyn got first dibs...



... but it wasn't long before Mason got his turn upon Chip, the little black pony. A video post will come later (trust me, Mommy was a little paparazzi-esque in capturing his first ride.)




As you can see, the helmet kept falling down over Mason's eyes. It didn't seem to bother him, as he was smiling from ear to ear for his whole ride.

Sisters Kaya and Fiona got a chance, too...



As did Hope -- aboard S'mores, who Mason comically was chiding to "cover your mouth" when the horse started coughing.



After lunch, we headed over to nearby Prospect Park and spread out a blanket for a picnic...




Followed by some playtime...





And some cake. The kids took some swipes at it, and turns frosting each other's noses. It was pretty funny!

After that, it was time to make the long trek back into Manhattan.