Isaac went to his first wedding this past weekend and we had a great time.  The bride, Katie Blanchette, now Napolitano, looked beautiful and John seemed ecstatically happy.  The day of the wedding was spent hanging out in New Hampshire with the cousins.  Isaac, myself, Dom, Erica, Colby, Myles, GG and Aunt Helen all went to the Budweiser plant in Merrimack (the same place we went on Guys Day III) to see the massive horses.  Everyone had fun as we watched the horses get a bath (one of the trainers was literally on a ladder to wash the ears and mane of one of the beasts).  GG and Helen both slipped into that ten year old girl liking horses phase that seems to afflict every female that sees these magnificent animals, while the boys all waited with baited breath hoping to see some giant horses make giant poop.  Alas no one cooperated. 

We returned to the hotel to find it infested with Napolitanos.  Leading up to the big event, we cleaned the boys up and crammed them into nice outfits.  Their appearances held for about ten minutes before everyone went haywire.  Here is the power shot (note Little Anthony's power pose, as if he is taking the author's photo for the back of a dust jacket):

The ceremony was a very difficult thing for Isaac.  He had to be quiet.  He had to sit still.  He had to be away from his mommy.  And it was dinner time.  Given all that he did quite well.  Here he is being a little imp outside the church:

After the ceremony he and his mommy were reunited and it was a good moment for everyone.  Isaac had missed Bianca while she was getting ready and she had missed him.  Bianca looks so happy and beautiful and there is nothing better than seeing those two together for me.

The entire wedding night was just wonderful.  We saw people we had not seen in a very long time Bijohn and the Chicago Kenahan's, and we hung out with all of the familial faces. We even snuck in some pool time because, hey, you can't stay at hotel with a pool and kids and not use the pool.

Congratulations Uncle John and Aunt Katie

It was a beautiful fall day.  The sky was a blue usually only seen in glaciers (that link is definitely worth a click).  The temperature was supposed to be around 70.  We had just finished big boy swim lessons when we drove past a park in downtown Fitchburg.  I knew there was a little fair going on and that it was the 10th Annual Blacksmith Festival.  I was not sure, however, if Isaac would like it.  Feeling adventurous, we decided to pull in.

There were about 25 blacksmiths all working feverishly.  The festival is actually a contest with three classes of competitors, newbies, amateurs, and pros.  Their set ups were pretty awesome as all of them had some kind of portable forge.  Isaac and I had watched a video on YouTube on Friday night in case we made it, so he knew what was going on.  He loved watching the sparks fly off the metal as the blacksmiths hammered it into shape.  He squealed when they dipped them into water tubs sending up a cloud of steam.  And he really got excited when the fires were burning.

We toured around for about an hour listening to the music of hammers pinging off of anvils and smelling the odors of pure, unadulterated heat rolling out of the ovens.  The coolest ones were cranking out 1700 degrees of heat and the high end ones hit around 2000 degrees.

Here are the tools of Hephaestus:

And here is our boy enjoying the sights and sounds and a sucker:

And yes, that is his devilish look.  There is a river with rocks exactly where he is looking and he is fantasizing about some serious rock chucking. Unfortunately we couldn't get down there as there are signs warning against going on the rocks.

Overall, it was a great way to spend an hour.  Isaac even has his own blacksmithing video that I will post soon.

Last weekend we went to the outlet mall to buy Isaac what will certainly be a one shot outfit--his little sports jacket for Uncle John's wedding.  He likes malls as much as I do, which is to say not at all, so we had to do a little bribing.  We promised him a motorcycle shirt because, well, he is obsessed with motorcycles. 

Malls are annoying primarily because there is so few things that are actually worth buying there.  You go and you have to wade through people and products that you have no interest in to find that one thing that you want.  I am not a shopper, I buy things.  I don't go to browse.  I know what I want and I go and buy it.  Isaac is the same way.  He wanted a motorcycle shirt and nothing else.  Literally nothing else.

Alas, we wade through heaps of stuff at Carters and Gap with no luck.  Just as I was about to give up, I spotted a package of jammies with a motorcycle theme.  Isaac was distracted by a mannequin wearing Spiderman clothes, so I stealthily went over to the jammies, took them out of the package, and pulled out the shirt.  I was careful and Isaac did not see me, though the parents around me recognized my desperation. 

I then announced that I had found a motorcycle shirt and showed it to Isaac.  He took a two second look and then told me: "Jammies.  I don't want jammies.  I want a shirt."  I tried to bargain with him, but he knew.  The jig was up.  Dejected I started balling up the shirt to stuff back into its package when one of the Dads around leaned over and said to me: "BUSTED."  Yep, I was caught. 

We found a motorcycle shirt in Gymboree, thank god, but it was touch and go for a while.  Isaac was fine, I was panicking.  Why, I am not sure.