Weddings and Go Karts

Alex and I have been on many adventures this past weekend.

On Friday afternoon I cut out of work early to go be a wedding photographer. Sort of. Ryanne and Lucas decided to get married officially here in Northern Colorado, to avoid the hassle and delay of all the paperwork in Illinois this summer. So on Friday they officially tied the knot over at the county courthouse. They were kind enough to invite me to come along and take a few pictures, and Alex and I were honored to get to be the very first people to congratulate them on their joyous day.

Alex and I surprised the lovely couple with a very exclusive reception. We celebrated with clandestine champagne and "wedding cake" cupcakes in the park next to the courthouse immediately following their marriage. After that, we walked over to the Rio for dinner. It was delightful to see them, regardless of the occasion, but even better to be a part of something so special.

For a while, at least, I think Alex will have a very skewed idea of what "weddings" actually entail. As far as he knows, it involves sitting at a table at a government office for 20 minutes drawing pictures of trucks on a voter registration form. Thence, sneaking booze and cake in a city park. But soon enough he'll get a taste of what weddings are really about.

In other news, Dana's final final exam of the semester is today. She spent part of the weekend studying, and the other part being exhausted.

So to help Mommy have time to studying, Alex and I spent Sunday afternoon up at Fort Fun. I decided it was time for Alex to drive the go carts.

We spent 10 exhilarating minutes zooming around the track on a blustery, misty afternoon. We were lucky enough to have a couple of other pairs of dads and toddlers on the track, so it was perhaps a little bit kinder and gentler than it might have otherwise been -- although those other dads were still pretty aggressive on the turns!

If Alex looks a little dubious in this picture, it is probably because we forgot to put on our coats before strapping into the go cart. So we were both pretty cold by the end of the race! Poor Alex was actually shaking when we got out. I felt terrible, but he insisted that he had fun and almost immediately was asking to "drive go carts" again.

I wasn't sure if he was old enough to really appreciate the ride, or not be completely freaked out by it. So every lap I would slow down a bit and hold his arm or knee and ask him if he was OK or if he was having fun, and he would grin or nod or mouth "yes". So combined with his pleas to go again afterward, I think it was a success.

When we were through with the go carts, we went inside to the arcade to warm up.


Alex took a ride on the scooper truck.




I also introduced him to the whack-a-mole game. (or whack-a-shark, in this case)

And he tried his hand at ski-ball. He really enjoyed it, but his arm needs a little work. He wasn't able to roll the ball hard enough to get it to pop up over the bump and into the goals. So I helped him out.

Oh, yesterday was mother's day too. I made Dana some all-natural pork sausage (no nitrates, no MSG, no preservatives) and our family's traditional scrambled pancakes or "iresterits" (no idea how to spell that). We practiced all day, and by the end of the day I had Alex saying "Happy Mother's Day". He said it to Mommy and he said it to Grandma Carla too, who called us from the train she was riding from Portland to Olympia, to visit GREAT grandma Jane.

Finally, I wanted to show off my tool-using higher primate. Last week he rolled one of his matchbox trucks under the dishwasher. He was frustrated for a few minutes and asked me for help to get it out, but I was busy washing dishes and barely noticed what had happened. Before i knew it he had gone to get one of his "sticks" (the corrugated edges of a huge foam play mat we have). I was delighted to see him on hands and knees using his "stick" to fish the truck out from under the dishwasher.

OK, maybe it's not rocket science, but it definitely marks a cognitive milestone in my book.