The Hero Bride

We had a fantabulous time in Austin this weekend. My friend Shannon got married and her family threw the best wedding weekend ever. We left saying, "Same time, same place next weekend?" It was so good hanging out with old friends we hadn't seen in ages and meeting some new ones too.


But first I'll tell you why Shannon is my hero. She did an outdoor wedding. In Texas. Where the all the rumors of the weather changing quickly are very true. It was gorgeous though, both the setting and the weather...just amazing. Here is a glimpse of our view, although the venue's website does it better.

I love outdoor weddings. I just wasn't brave enough to try to pull one off. Of course we would have had to choose a different month or a different state, because July and Texas aren't a good combo for an outdoor event that would have involved me in full makeup wearing yards and yards of hot material.

She's also my hero for not only making a grand entrance, but also a grand exit, on the stairs you see behind her here. In strappy heels. Without falling. That's pretty heroic in my book.

We decided to make it a weekend getaway minus the children. It was a very kid friendly event actually, but it is rare that we spend time as a couple without the kids. Usually it is so we can get a house project done or we keep one of them with us because they are ill and send the other one on to healthy land.

We did miss Lily right off the bat. Mainly because she would have represented us well on the dance floor. That lasted about 2.5 seconds though until the kiddie dancing turned into kiddie dragging races and their stained dress clothes would have given even Tide a challenge. That is when we sat back and sipped our beverages and were thankful we didn't have anyone to corral off the dance floor.

It was a morning wedding followed by a delicious brunch. So while I'm sure many couples took in some Austin sights that afternoon, the fact that we had been up since 5 AM coupled by some very tasty mimosas, made us head back to the hotel for a nap. A two hour nap. I'm not ashamed to admit that it produced drool on my pillow. To me, that is just a symbol of some much needed good deep sleep.

We did wake up in time to head to the evening wedding gathering at North By Northwest. What a fun place...live music, excellent food and some great handcrafted brews on tap. One last hug for the bride and groom and well wishes for their honeymoon not to be effected by the latest hurricane.

Barnes and Noble was our next stop, where I got far enough into Same Kind of Different As Me that I wish I had bought it to read on the way home. But my senses told me I could get it for half price on Amazon.com, and they were right.

Then Changeling kept us out past a typical babysitter's curfew. It was excellent. A thumb's up from both of us, which is rare. Even rarer is staying up late paired with getting to sleep in late, plus breakfast awaiting us downstairs. Glorious.

The only downside to the weekend was that we didn't get to meet up with our good friends who recently moved to the area. They had an Aggie game to go to though and since I set the Texas weather rumor straight, I met as well set the football one straight too. It doesn't matter if it is high school, college, or NFL football...it's all serious in these parts.

Thanks to my sweet in-laws for entertaining the girls all weekend. Oh the kisses and hugs and squeals of delight that were shared when we saw Lily and Jade again. Precious moments.

I got a nice e-mail yesterday from my mother-in-law saying that although they had gone to bed at the same time as the girls each night (sheer exhaustion I'm sure), they were sad to now be going to bed without all of the hugs and kisses from our girls. She then went on to tell me how angelic, precious, and perfect they were all weekend.

Do you think I should reply now telling her of our plans for a long 10th anniversary trip next summer?