Flower Girlzilla

The weekend as Flower Girl for Ashley Teague's wedding was everything Lily hoped it was going to be and more.  This was her third time honored with the responsibility of scattering flowers down the aisle for the bride, and she handled it like a pro.  It has been quite some time since Kasey, Lily and I were on a road trip just the three of us, and it made me realize how easy it was to only take care of one kid compared to the chaos we typically endure with the four of them.  Mama was nice enough to take on the task of making sure Abby, Chloe and Lawson did not tear down the house in our absence.  Thank you mama.

The last time it was just the 3 of us would have been about 4 years ago, and back then we would have still been dealing with 2 year old issues like changing pull ups or tantrums.  Now we are dealing with a smart little 6 year old who thinks she knows more than us, and entertained us with her humor, singing and dancing all weekend.  We stayed at a wonderful lake resort and upon arrival, Lily was admiring the water park on site.  It was explained that due to the fact that we are in November, the water park would be closed.  The wheels started turning in Lily's head and she had an idea, "we should sneak in the water park tonight Daddy."  That got us to laughing and Kasey responded, "Lily, you think just like your Daddy."  Without hesitation Lily exclaims, "we should sneak in naked."  Hmmmmmmmmmm.  That comment was funny and disturbing all at the same time.  Funny, because that really convinced Kasey that she thinks like her Daddy.  Disturbing, because it is not quite clear why she would say something like that.  There is usually a rationale explanation to Lily's thought process, and after some digging it became clear.  She was aware of the fact that we did not bring our bathing suits, and she was also aware that we should not get our clothes wet.  The only plausible way to sneak into a water park without a suit and not get your clothes wet is to go naked. 

Lily's special day was full of pampering and drama.  Lily had  her hair done at the hotel salon, and chatted with the stylist the whole time.  Her hair was to be curled for the wedding and Lily got a kick out of watching her hair transform.  Her hair was only half way complete when she told the stylist, "it looks so ugly".  It had to be explained to her that this was a process and the curls would loosen up to the way it was supposed to look.  Clearly my explanation was not enough to convince her.  Lily can be self conscious at times and she worried people would laugh at her.  An argument ensued between her and her mother that I can only imagine will be the first of many to come throughout the years as it relates to what she is wearing and how she looks.  All turned out well and Lily looked absolutely gorgeous as you can see in her picture above.

Lily took her role as part of the wedding party quite serious.  In her mind she was not to be separated from the rest of the bridesmaids the whole wedding.  When she realized she would not be sitting at the head table, and had to sit next to us, well that just did not sit well with her.  "Daddy, I feel like a baby having to sit next to you."  After more explanation and some hot chocolate, we got passed that hurdle.  The rest of the evening consisted of speeches, cotton candy and finally some dancing.  Lily had been looking forward to dancing the whole evening.  Daddy was looking forward to dancing with the beautiful flower girl, and then she went and ripped my heart out.  She was a flower girl and she wanted to dance with the bridesmaids.  She did not want to have  anything to do with her Daddy because all of the sudden, I am now embarrassing.  And so it begins. 

It has to be mentioned that the bridesmaids were so sweet to Lily including her, letting her hang out with them, and making her feel very special.  Thank you Ms. Lauren, Brandie, Mycall, Kathryn, Kelly, and Jessica who gets special mention for raving about the blog.

In the end, all the excitement and dancing got the better of Lily and she started to fall asleep at the table.  Even though she would dance with her old man, I took the opportunity to scoop her up and cuddle her while she fell asleep in my arms.  She will always be my baby girl.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, Abby and Chloe completed their last soccer game.  The other team didn't show giving them their one and only victory of the season.  They scrimmaged each other and because they were short a player, Lawson Boy got to play with them.  Apparently he is pretty good dribbling the ball up and down the field, he just cannot grasp the concept of direction yet.  The girls recieved their trophies for the soccer season, and Lawson recieved one for attending every game.  He was so excited to tell us when we arrived home, "I gotta twophy".

Now the weekend is over, the chaos, bickering and constant noice is back...........and we couldn't be happier.

Ashey, you looked beautiful!

Jeff, Kasey, Flower Girlzilla, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson Boy