Monday, Sept. 2

We got up around 7 a.m. on this Labor Day, I  showered and dressed, and then we had a breakfast of fresh fruit and zucchini bread. We'd brought two pump pots of coffee with us, so we both had cups of it.

Daughter was very busy after breakfast getting things ready to take to Daughter's wedding (our reason for being there). It soon became apparent that there was nothing I could do to help, so I retired to our bedroom and read my novel on e-reader.

Back upstairs later, Hubbie's ex and I visited for a while, and then decided it was time to dress for the wedding. Daughter was gone at this time doing things for her Granddaughter. Upstairs again around noon, Daughter's husband had laid a spread of sandwich makings, so we all indulged.

Daughter arrived back home just in time to dress for the wedding, so she didn't have time to eat. She drove us all to the wedding area at a state park, about 40 minutes away.

The wedding took place in a picnic pavilion. The decorations, planned by the groom, were less than Daughter would have desired. The groom collects canning jars, and he wanted that to be the theme, so the tables held quart size blue jars with clear marbles and votive candles.

For a wedding cake (and I thought this was clever), cake, icing, and raspberries were layered in half-pint jars and closed with lids and rings. Red raffia tied around the jars held wooden spoons. The jars were placed on two levels of a black metal three-tiered serving tray. On the top tier was a groom's cake...chocolate, iced in red and white.

However, the couple had rigged an entrance by draping white and red plastic tablecloths to one side of the pavilion, securing them with masking tape. Opposite that, white plastic tablecloths, also secured with masking tape, were draped and caught back with more masking tape (one side of which kept coming unattached). A garland of artificial roses adorned the tablecloths. A generous bunch of garland roses were placed on the grill at one end of the pavilion in an attempt to hide it.

I'm guessing the red, white and blue color scheme, as well as the barbecue-potluck supper, were nods to the Labor Day holiday, though I can't be sure. When I asked Daughter about it, she didn't know either.

A potluck of foods (guests were asked to bring dishes) were placed on the pavilion counter on one side, and on the other side was an arrangement of photos of bride and groom, several small canning jars filled with sand, and a large jar to be filled from the small ones by the children of the couple.

The picnic tables were covered in white and red plastic tablecloths.

The bride wore a red sundress and black flip-flops; the groom wore a red shirt, navy blue swim trunks, and flip-flops; the three boys wore red shirts and navy swim trunks and flip-flops; the girl wore a red and white sundress and flip-flops.

The groom's daughter was the flower girl, and the groom's son was the ring bearer. He brought the rings in suspended from a fishing pole.

The wedding was a strain on the family, since the bride married a man who is someone less than dearly loved by her mom and dad, her grandparents, and her sons. I took several shots of the ceremony and the expressions on everyone faces told the tale.

Part of the problem is that invitations went out to only forty people (selected by the groom), and didn't include several of the bride's family members, like her sister, and her aunts. Obviously, there are hurt feelings in the family because of this.

Following the ceremony, the groom grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and we all chowed down.

Funny: while we were eating, we heard a loud bump and hurried to see what caused it. We saw that a guy decided to drive right over a three-foot wide concrete drainage trench. He made it, thanks to front-wheel drive, but we wonder what damage he did to the underside of the car. Later, he found another path out of the park, but not before he told everyone that it was his wife's idea to jump that trench.

Once the party began to wind down, Hubbie, his ex, and I proceeded to disassemble the decorations and gather everything into a central place so it could be taken away. Soon, Granddaughter arrived to ask her mother to take everything to her house. So we packed it all into the back of her van and headed home.

Funny: the drive to and from the park was beautiful, along winding roads among the hills of the state park. But Daughter's vehicle has leather seats, and I had trouble keeping from sliding out of mine. No one else had that problem, so it must have had something to do with the fabric of my white crop pants. Even though I gripped the arm rests, I still zipped toward the door every time Daughter sailed around a left turn bend in the road.

Back home, I was plenty ready to change out of my outfit (the same one I wore to the arts council summer celebration in June) and into my comfy denim crop pants and knit shirt.

This evening, we were all tired, so I excused myself to our room to read my novel. Hubbie stayed upstairs to visit with Daughter for a while.

When he came downstairs, we gathered our belongings into one area so we wouldn't forget to take everything with us in the morning.

It was around 11:30 p.m. by the time we went to bed.