Taking the Plunge: Our First Family Road Trip

Travel with young kiddos is tricky. Very tricky. Especially if you're structured (like me), and have sleep trained and scheduled and prioritized baby rhythms and cycles above the planning of anything, road trip or otherwise. It's also tricky because the general public is not very forgiving when it comes to travel-weary toddlers, and no one wants to be "that family."

This week, after deliberation and discussion, we decided to break the seal and take our little three-unit family on a short 36-hour trial road trip down to the San Antonio area. Mama and baby packed up and tagged along with Daddy, who was headed down south for a one night stay on business.

Looking back, we both agree: the trip wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and it wasn't as easy as Daddy thought it would be. A good middle ground, I guess. It wasn't totally smooth sailing, but the fusses and protestations were fewer than what I had anticipated. Overall, the excitement of the new surroundings and the fun of stepping outside of routine and familiarity far outweighed the harder stuff, and it was a good first road trip.

Headed down the old dusty trail

Audrey's favorite distraction

A patch of fog

Getting in to Hill Country

We arrived at Kyle's job site after right at 4 hours on the road. Audrey fell asleep- no exaggeration- ten minutes before we arrived, but she awoke from her cat nap in a happy mood, and we set out to explore Daddy's current project...

We took a look around the job trailer, then played on the "stairs table" that Audrey found outside while Daddy tended to pre-lunch business.

Beginnings of Church

After lunch, we left Daddy at the job site and headed down into San Antonio to check in to our hotel. We unloaded the gobs of gear that goes with traveling with a toddler, took a short nap, then checked out the indoor pool once Daddy was back for the evening. They say it was heated, but I totally disagree. Audrey was the only one who seemed interested in putting more than her toes in the water...

The pool room was heated, anyway

Warning: 5 1/2 months preggo belly in mom bathing suit alert

Cautiously slipping in

It didn't take long for Audrey to get chilly and blue in the lips, so we ended up heading up to the room after only a short visit to the pool, where we showered off and dressed for an adventure on the Riverwalk!

Three weary travelers leave their mark

The Riverwalk

View from our table at dinner

Waiting for dinner bites

Hard working Daddy

We wandered up and down the Riverwalk, had a nice dinner, some old-fashioned ice cream, and a bag of popcorn for the road, and then called it a night and headed back to the hotel. Our ultra-modern room didn't have a bathtub, so Audrey got to take a shower like a big girl. By bed time, she was a tired little lady, and we read a couple of bedtime books and tucked her in to her pack-n-play.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star book

Audrey's sleepin' nook the next morning

Waiting on Mama and Daddy to get ready for breakfast

Our sleepin' nook

We had a light breakfast, courtesy of our hotel, then packed the car and headed back to the job site for the extent of a meeting. We enjoyed the perfect weather and multiple deer sightings as we waited on Daddy...

The church playground

Counting rocks

Audrey's first see-saw experience

Investigating moss and playing in "leaps" aka leaves

Well-loved swings

Audrey goes Goldilocks on the swings, and tries them all until she finds that the blue one is juuuust riight

Playing on the job site, waiting on Daddy

Gathering treasures

We packed up and headed home around 10:30am, stopped at the famous Bluebonnet Cafe for lunch, and had a peaceful drive the rest of the way, pulling in to our driveway just before 4pm. We were tired and road-weary, but happy to see familiar things and to stretch our legs. Overall, the trip was a success, and because of it we won't be quite as intimidated to do it again sometime in the near distant future.

A Wedding and A Special Guest

This weekend was the wedding of one of Kyle's old friends, Elizabeth Alexander, who went to high school with him. We had been busy all day Saturday doing this and that, and ended up getting ready for the wedding and rushing out the door when Mimmy and Pappy arrived to keep Audrey, feeling late. Little did we know we'd have pretty darn good timing...

As we journeyed down the highway, we noticed the traffic had gotten weird and congested right around I-35. As we bobbed and wove, we saw in the near distance a grouping of police lights and vehicles, and believed we were about to be stuck in the backup of a wreck. However, traffic never stopped, and neither did the lights... and it wasn't long before Kyle put two and two together: Wasn't Elizabeth Alexander the Vice President's press secretary? And hadn't there been suggestions and rumors that he might come all the way down to her little old home town to attend her wedding? Oh yeah... right... and then we realized... we were following his motorcade to the wedding. Guess we weren't that late after all!

We ended up making pretty good time behind VP Joe Biden's motorcade, and the only other hangup we encountered before reaching our destination manifested in the security around the church. We actually were redirected in and out of the neighborhood, turned around, and finally funneled into a single parking lot outlet to the church, where the secret service was swarming. We were directed to a parking space (in a surprisingly not-so-crowded parking lot), told to leave our truck unlocked so the bomb squad, dogs, and servicemen could inspect it while we were in the church, then pointed to the one open entrance to the church.

Now, this is the church that Kyle's family has attended since he can remember, and it is also the church that we were married in, but when we stepped inside, it looked nothing like what we remembered... aside from the new floors in the breezeway that had nothing to do with the wedding (which looked great!), there were 12-15 secret service milling about, an arched metal detector in the entryway, 3 security men with detector wands after the doorway metal detector, and even an official-looking German Shepard, casually checking out the crowd at the door. Then, there were the photographers. Talk about a foreign experience for a small town!

We eventually were seated (about 5 rows behind the Vice President, or so I'm told... I couldn't see him), and witnessed Kyle's old friend exchange vows with her groom... the ceremony was simple, beautiful, and normal. 

After the ceremony, we loaded up and headed to the reception, which was at a rustic ranch a few miles from the church. We were directed out of a specific parking lot outlet, and were waved through security as we drove away past 13 motorcycle cops, several black-and-whites, and a local police car at every intersection between the church and the reception. (I'm sure the locals were wondering what was up with all the speed traps that day!)

A lone secret serviceman keeping an eye on... a field

The driveway out of the church parking lot

We arrived at the reception without incident, and mingled during the cocktail hour with many of Kyle's old friends. The atmosphere was peaceful and elegant, and there were appetizers and drinks all around! 

The guys: Josh Berthume, David Willerton, and Kyle

A shot of the cocktail hour at dusk

The only distraction while mingling: the Vice President. Surprisingly, it wasn't as chaotic as one would assume to have the VP in attendance; we had to go through another elaborate rigmarole of security checkpoints, but after that, he was just another guest (who everyone wanted a photo with, yours truly being no exception).

The sitting Vice President

Dr. Biden

The Vice President greeting the parents of the bride

An ice breaker: seating cards

Now, when we went to meet the Vice President, we found him to be especially warm and chatty... the perfect politician. He shook everyone's hands, chatted about small towns, asked about the local football rivalry, and even hugged me... twice... then he told Kyle he'd married up... then he said someone needed to get a picture quick because "This girl is just too good lookin'..." then he teased the group about being the intellectuals of their high school class, including putting his forehead to mine after I spoke up that I could have been an intellectual with an "I bet!" It was... unexpected. But flattering. But unexpected.

Anyway, he left without much fuss (in fact I didn't even notice when he slipped away), and then they literally rang the dinner bell, and opened the reception to the crowd.

Opening up the beautifully decorated barn

Inside the barn

The stage for the live band, view from our table

Family-style chicken, shrimp, and roasted veggies

The acoustic guitarist that played during the ceremony and more than half the reception

The toasts to the happy couple

The old high school gang back together

It was a beautiful night: the live band was excellent, the lighting was perfect, the atmosphere was romantic, and the bride was absolutely beautiful. Alas, when you have wee ones at home, you can't stay out all night, and we eventually had to say our good-byes and hit the dusty trail... which was OK by me, because despite all the beauty and perfection, I was freezing the entire time due to the open-air nature of the barn, and was ready to be in a heated vehicle! 

We were blessed and happy to be a part of this old friend's special day, and will always treasure the memories the event brought! We wish them all the happiness in the world in beginning their new life together!

Halloween 2010

Hope everyone's Halloween weekend was safe, fun-filled, and full of tasty treats! We had a blast with our little one, whose eyes are just now opening to the fun that is celebrating with friends and family. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so enjoy!

Ready for "Hall-whooo-ween"

Ducky Audrey and Gramps

Fluffy ducky butt

 

 The Halloween Lab Band

Bill on guitar

Robert as lead singer

Their biggest fan

The whole gang

Audrey's favorite part of Halloween: the "Punkin Bucket"

The telltale signs of a sugar high: chocolate on the face