Bridal trails

Continuing our LA trip adventure on Sunday morning, we had a tasty breakfast at one of our favorite LA breakfast joints. (As with New York last week, I was astounded to arrive at a generally popular and crowded restaurant and have it be virtually empty - then again, we were there by a little past 8 am.) Well, my breakfast was good at least - Meh had some kind of super-rosemary in her eggs that she said tasted like either perfume or window cleaner. Yum. Zachary again dissed eggs, toast, and even most of the fruit bowls that Meh and I had gotten - so it was another breakfast of mostly just grapes and Cheerios for the little man.

After breakfast we headed onward to meet up with friends M and L and their daughter C for brunch/lunch. (Our visits really do seem to center on eating opportunities, no?) Zachary played while C tried to interact with him, and the adults kind of sort of got to catch up in between playing with the kids. But it was again so nice to just spend some quiet mellow time in our friends' home and hang out. Zachary was a big fan of their mini-kitchen toy set, and played with plastic eggs as well as a few of C's other toys (drawing some concern from her at times) and walking around with their little plastic walker. Lately I've noticed that when Zachary finds a toy that he likes, he'll sit on the ground and drag it around himself in full circles. Meh says he's done this with his blocks as well; not sure what exactly this behavior signifies, but it's cute to see him do it with such focus and thoroughness.

Then we headed back to the hotel, the little man taking a cute little nap in the car en route, and waking up smiley like so. We had a little extra time before the evening wedding, and it was another fairly hot LA day, so we attempted to go down to the pool with the little man after our success at C and L's yesterday. He was very happy to be getting in, but quickly started to shiver once he was actually in the pool - looks like it wasn't heated to his liking, so we ended up bailing on that plan, drying off next to the pool and just enjoying the warm weather for a bit.

Meh and I had a wonderful time at the wedding. The venue was the Los Angeles Equestrian Center (several horses crossed the road in front of us as we entered - yes, to get to the other side), and it was beautiful, with a gorgeous shaded alcovey outdoor area with a waterfall for the ceremony, and a great room with band and excellent food for the reception and celebration.

We arrived a bit early so I could rehearse the last of the music with the musicians, and Meh took the opportunity to snap some nice pictures and catch up with some wedding party members. The ceremony was lovely, and I hope that our music added to the experience. It was special for me to be able to play some of Meh and my wedding music again, in addition to some pretty melodies that had special meaning for R and M. When arranging music for a wedding processional/recessional, I generally put in a few potential spots where the music can loop, since you never know how long a procession will take. (Hm, I guess it's like video game music in that way.) This was one of the first times I'd actually needed to use all of the 'loops', with the large wedding party and extended processional path.

Then I got to put the viola away and enjoy the wedding festivities. One fun tradition that you can't get enough at weddings is the concept of entertaining the bride and groom through shtick and props. Of course, the weddings these past two weekends have certainly demonstrated that in spades; friend E had brought a bunch of 99 cent store (though perhaps not for long?) props, including some silly glasses and hats that made their way around the table. My hat was deemed a cute option for Zachary, so we kept it. Pictures in the next post I'm guessing.

A huge huge thank you to R for babysitting him while we went to the wedding; she did an amazing job with what sounded to be a very cranky Zachary while we were gone. We got back to the little man sleeping soundly in his crib (don't worry, he woke up several times later that night), and were so thankful that R took such good care of him and let mommy and daddy celebrate at their friends' wedding!