We had a fantastic time. Especially Wren, and especially at the beach. Man she loved the beach. My kind of girl. I guess I need to get my "I don't like driving across LA" ass in gear and take a couple of beach trips before summer is over. Which of course involves beach gear, and you need to carry that gear in a beach bag and... well we all know where I'm going with this. That's right- to the fabric store. Or at least the thrift store to buy some cheap fabric. I'm thinking terry- then I can just wash it with my beach towels. Which I'll also be buying since I don't really have beach towels, per say... more like towels I don't love as much as my other towels.
Back to Texas- It was the kind of hot that's unbearable if you're not planning on being immersed in water within the hour. Luckily we were usually pretty dampish, if not actually soaking wet, due to our many water-related activities. Swimming at the beach of course, and also at various pools and slides. And we rented a canoe at Zilker Park, and Wren and I braved the cold cold dog pool while Chase stubbed his toes and tried to find someplace to set our clothes that didn't smell like dog pee. A fruitless search, sadly. He should just embrace the cold. Like in a vodka commercial.
We spent almost one whole day at Zilker Park. We got custard from Sandy's. We saw swans and ducks and bundled Wren into a truly ridiculous amount of lifevest. Sadly there are no pictures since I was pretty sure we'd turn over the canoe. We stayed up, mostly because I didn't want to face the grizzled old canoe rental guy with a boat full of water. He'd probably just keep our car keys.
My dad told me a funny story about canoeing at Barton Springs. You should all ask him about it sometime.
We also took the Zypher all around the park and Wren had her first sno-cone. It was topped off by a fantastic Texas thunderstorm on our way home. The day is completely flawlessly awesome in my memory, but I might be glossing over some retarded travelling-too-long freakouts from me and an incredible amount of patience from Lazlo. When I was too angry and pouty in line at Sandy's to order ice cream, and then later when I got mad and cried because I didn't have any ice cream... yeah. Not my greatest moment.
We finished our time in Austin with an anniversary party that gets smaller every year as out friends continue to leave the city. With one notable exception- Bryan and Rachel are back. One day I look for the reunion of Brajach, but that day is far off my friends. Far off, indeed. Anyway- it's bittersweet. Austin is home, but California is where our WONDERFUL friends live, and where Wren was born, and where our church is. We will move back, it's just going to hurt more than we expected.
After the party we put Lazlo on a plane and my mom and grandma came and picked me up. I spent over a week in Beaumont and it was lovely. I have a lot of stories about being in East Texas, and being with my family that I'll try to blog about so I don't forget them. I love Beaumont, but it's such a weird weird place. People in Texas can get some kind of idea, and maybe more people from Louisianna and the rest of the South, but I can't even describe it in California. It's such a crazy place.
Well We're back now- we flew home on a real live ticket! I kept looking around for the 'green screen' but I was already cleared! Wren cried on both flights, blah blah blah, but they weren't long flights. I'm happy to be reunited with my sewing machine- I went fabric shopping in Beaumont and had to check a few extra bags...
My housemates kept my plants alive (woo-hoo) and Ramona is still really pissed off that she has to live outside. Ive been unpacking and watching Project Runway since I got home.
