Last weekend we went to Texas for 4 days. We arrived Friday night in Houston. Our flight was diverted down to Corpus to go around some thunderstorms, making us about 1 hour late. Let's just say it was a bit of a rough flight with Austin. He didn't sleep much on the plane and finally fell asleep for the last 30 minutes but then I had to wake him up to get off the plan. I think he was scared to see all of the people waiting to get off the plane and then as we were walking through the airport he cried the whole way. He was definitely out of sorts. My mom and Stacy picked us up and we headed straight home to put Austin to sleep. Once we got him home and in his pajamas, he was just fine. David had designated Friday night as La Hacienda night so he and I met his parents there at 10pm. The next morning, I went for a 7 mile run in the lagoon that is Houston. It had rained 3 or so inches overnight so there were puddles everywhere, the bayou was full, trees were dripping on me, and it was 150% humidity - Lagoon! After Austin's morning nap, we went over to David's parents' house to visit for a little while. Since Ed wasn't coming to Lake LBJ we wanted to see him and get some pictures of him with Austin. Austin loves Big Deal!
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| Happy in Big Deal's lap |
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| Chattin it up |
After that, we went straight to Lakeside to meet Ricki, Stephen, my mom and Stacy for a Mothers' Day lunch by the pool. It was a little warm, but not too bad for Houston in May. Eating outdoors with an infant is much easier because I think they just love being outside. After lunch we went back to my mom's so that Austin could nap. I ordered a life jacket for Austin so that he could ride on the boat at the lake. We tried it on; he was not a huge fan of that big bulky thing. Later, Aunt Carrie came by to visit. We tried to get a good picture of me and Austin in his Mothers' Day shirt. He was not happy about that. I think he somehow knew that David and I were leaving because we were dressed nice for the wedding. Austin had numerous babysitters while David and I went to Caroline Jones' wedding (Doug's little sister). Ricki, Stephen, DiDi, Stacy, Carrie and Robert were all there to help out. The wedding was really nice (at Westminister Methodist Church and the Houstonian). We got to see Doug, Tory, Melissa, and Tim and many other family friends. The food was excellent and the band was great! The flowers were my favorite - huge arrangements of off-white hydrangeas with roses cascading down. So pretty! It was weird to be away from Austin for that long, but I know he was in great hands!
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| Almost nap time in DiDi's lap |
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| It's ok, I guess. But don't leave me in it for too long |
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| Play time with Aunt Carrie |
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| NO! Don't leave me! |
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| I just needed to get those tears out; I'm okay now. Happy Mothers' Day, mama! |
On Sunday morning, me, DiDi, MiMi, David, and Coco (my mom's dog) piled in the car and drove to mom's house at Lake LBJ. (Friends in Houston reading this - sorry I didn't call/email. I knew our time in Houston was so short so it would be hard to see y'all. I will call next time we are there, I promise). We had not been there since Thanksgiving 2010, which doesn't really count because we couldn't ski or boat in November. Prior to that, we went in September 2010. I was excited to ski and wakeboard since it had almost been 2 years! I was also excited for Austin to go on the boat and swim in the pool. We stopped for lunch at Opie's BBQ in Spicewood where Lauren met us. After lunch, we headed to the lake house. Amanda and Stephen were our first visitors. They arrived a little before Austin's afternoon nap. It was Stephen's first time to meet Austin and Amanda had not seen him since October. We had a fun time visiting with them and hearing about their new house. While Austin napped, we took the boat out and Lauren and I skied. It was actually not that hot, only about 82. The water was a little chilly but was fine once we were used to it. We had other visitors too! Carolyn and Tom Spurgeon came by to visit and meet Austin. Also, Matt and Meredith drove all the way to the lake from Dallas (where they had been all weekend) just to see us for 1 hour. So sweet! It was fun to see them for a little bit since we don't see each other very often. On Monday, Austin went swimming for the first time! I thought the water was too cold for him, but he did not mind at all. He loved splashing around and sitting in the float (luckily it had a canopy to block his fair skin from the sun). On Monday afternoon, my grandmother, BB, and my aunt Linda (who lives in Vermont) came to see us. They had been in Houston and were driving back to Austin where BB lives. They came out to the lake for a few hours to see Austin. It was Austin's first time to meet Linda and BB had not seen him since Christmas. It was fun to see them and they enjoyed seeing Austin crawl all over the place. He didn't seem to mind the tile (basically rock) floors that are all over the lakehouse. We went for an evening boat ride through the Applehead canal and BB and Linda said goodbye when Austin was ready for his bed-time routine.
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| Austin loved Stephen and Amanda! |
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| Ready to ride! |
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| Talking to DiDi |
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| Riding with Mimi |
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| Thanks for holding the vest off my itchy neck |
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| Brrr! |
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| It's not cold; this is fun! |
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| My toys can come in the water too? |
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| Mommy braved the cold |
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| Playing with aunt Linda |
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| Whispering with BB |
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| Austin loves his BB! |
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Evening boat cruise (last time to wear the bulky life jacket) |
It started raining on Monday night and rained hard most of Tuesday morning. We cleaned up the house, I squeezed in a short run, Austin played and napped. His eyes started to look red and he had some goop in them. Oh no....it was pink eye again! Luckily I had the eye ointment with us, so I applied it once mid-morning. I was planning to apply it again before we got in the car to head towards the airport, but somehow it disappeared. It is a small tube and can easily get lost. I think it accidentally got thrown away. Austin napped as we drove towards Austin. I called his pediatrician and asked them to call in a refill at a Walgreens in Austin. We picked that up and went to meet Amanda at their new house for a tour. It is a great house in an awesome neighborhood, and I can't wait until the next time we come visit when they are moved in! Maybe we can even stay with them??!?!? After that, Mom and Mary dropped us off at the airport to wait for our flight (which was about 45 min delayed). While we were gate checking the stroller, David asked if we could get a pre-boarding pass so that we could pick seats (on Southwest) near the front since our son was sick and we needed to get off the plane quickly in Denver. At first, the Southwest guy said no and that that is not a reason to pre-board. Then, as he was putting the gate-check tag on the stroller, he saw Austin's poor eyes (I had just applied the ointment), and said, "this deserves a pre-board". He looked pitiful - goopy, red, swollen, shiny eyes. So sad! So we did get to sit on the second row. Austin slept most of the flight, which was nice. We finally made it home and put him to sleep in his crib around 10pm. I ended up keeping him home the next day because he technically was still contagious. It was kinda nice because I could unpack and do laundry while he napped. I took him to the doctor so they could check for a forming ear infection (since he got one last time with pink eye), but he didn't have one. He is better now, thank goodness. Besides the ending, the trip to Texas such a fun time! I miss the relaxing lake already!
