In no particular order:
Mommy
- The Right Dress--oh, the dress. My wedding albatross. Let's just say, despite (or maybe because of) two seamstresses, the dress I was supposed to wear was deemed, with little more than 24 hours before the wedding, unacceptable. And so, in 30 minutes at David's Bridal on Friday afternoon, I bought a new dress--right color, similar material, appropriate cut--and had it sent off for alterations. I liked it and felt comfortable (and, okay, Mom, pretty). As so many guests said to me--because apparently everyone had heard the story before I walked down the aisle--it was meant to be.
- Breakfast--for the first several days of our trip, we ate breakfast in the hotel cafe. What a treat to have a full hot breakfast ready for me every morning--roasted fingerling potatoes, eggs, biscuits, even a yogurt smoothie, which was Sis's favorite.
- Bats--The fabulous view out of our hotel suite included the Congress Street bridge where the renowned bats of Austin live. Every night, millions of bats ascend from the arches and fly out in the night sky to eat tons of insects. And so, our first night in Austin, we sat and watched the stream of bats leave. It's more a dark stream of bats than a cloud and the departure takes quite awhile. Pretty cool. And the kids called every bird after that a bat.
- Refried Beans--Yes, I know, refried beans contain animal fats. But I always said I wasn't an extremely strict vegetarian. And so, this is what I ate in Austin. And San Antonio. Repeatedly. From sit down restaurants (Guero's) to take-out joints (Taco Cabana), even at the rehearsal dinner (Serrano's). I ate so many beans, Mama is going to start calling me "pinto." But I love them. I did, though, eat at one of Austin's veg-friendly restaurants, the Kerbey Lane Cafe. Yummy pesto portabello panini. But I'm realizing that other restaurants just don't have acceptable veg options. I mean, what can I get at the Cracker Barrel (don't start on me for eating there! It's kid-friendly.)
- The Wedding--specifically, I liked the ceremony. Yes, yes, I know I was the naysayer of doom beforehand, convinced that the kids would either a). not stay awake for it or b). ruin it somehow. And I was totally and absolutely wrong. Yay! They got dressed (no small feat considering the fit they threw about the clothes at the seamstress's, much to our surprise and chagrin), even posed for pictures (mercy, did Sis pose! What a little diva.). Bud walked down the aisle with me, bouncing his "ringer" pillow (though, later he realized he didn't ever see the rings and was a little disappointed that he hadn't done his job). Mama and Sis, the "flowerer," followed behind, with Sis in arms until the fish pond (did I mention this was outside?) where she asked to be let down, looked at the fish, and kept going. The actual ceremony was beautiful--I really liked their vows, both the words and the way they said them with such conviction. Lots of love. Then, after some more pictures, the party began. There was food, friends, dancing (Bud and Sis eventually changed clothes and danced in the moonlight with me), marching (cousins led the tres-bohemian Grand March, a sorta group line polka), cake, and the ever present gummi bear bribes. Sis even took to carrying hers in her shoebox (1 of 6 pairs purchased for her for to try on for the wedding!) and giving them out to special people. I gave my toast, which wasn't as grand as originally conceived but I had hastily used the ending at the rehearsal dinner and couldn't come up with something else both touching and light-hearted. That, and I missed the middle section about stories I could tell about Aunt Banana (I opened with references to stories I couldn't tell). I think I'm the only one who noticed it wasn't perfectly internally coherent. Banana, Soccer, I'll write you up the whole thing and send it along, because I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, how much I am so glad you two have found in each other such love.
- The Alamo--Mama had never been to San Antonio and so, after Sea World, we gave the kiddos to Gommie and Pop and went exploring. We visited my college (and got lots of gear, having not had a new t-shirt in almost 20 years), saw where my aunt and uncle used to live, got bean and cheeses from my college hot spot, and went downtown to see the Alamo. It had closed right before we got there, no surprise, and so we only saw it from outside. It is always a). smaller than you expect and b). closer to the road and all the other buildings than you realize. But we had a tamarind snow cone, saw the historic Menger Hotel, and walked "my" RiverCenter Mall.
- BBQ--vegetarianism went out the window with the very first meal. But then, the food is one of Mama's favorite things about Texas.
- GPS--bought for me, ostensibly, Mama used this gadget to get us all around Austin and the hill country (she drove to Marble Falls twice and New Braunfels once for naps) with almost no trouble. The kids love that our own "map" talks. The only problem: Austin has some new roads that GPS (and even Google) don't know about yet!
- DVD--I thought the two DVD players she bought were frivolous, especially since the plane had tv, but they were worth their weight, especially to distract the kiddos before and during the wedding. Yep, between tv and candy, all of our bad parenting techniques were on full display.
- Bookstores--wherever Mama goes, she always looks for lesbian/feminist/independent bookstores. She's been to them all over the world (well, the US and London, not sure she was looking in Bangkok). We hit 3 in Austin: Lobo (which was a gay boy toy sex store with a few books, oddly, one about African-American lovers in 19th-century Hartford, CT!!); Bookwoman (a much smaller version of Women and Children First, but wonderful in comparison to Lobo--it had books!); and Bookpeople (which is more independent than just plain LGBT, but had lots of nice kids stuff, some lesbian/feminist also wiccan stuff)--we always try to buy a little something at these stores and came away with some new t-shirts and books. Oh, wait, I forgot one: Half-Price Books, a local used bookstore chain where we went with Gommie and the kiddos and found more great things. So, 4 bookstores in one trip. It's almost like doing churches in Rome!
Sis
- Fishing--Having visited the outdoor sports haven Cabela's the day before where we picked up a fishing pole and real worms, we went fishing the morning of the wedding! Sis caught 7 little brim (I think) and enjoyed pulling them in and watching as Pop released them back into the cold water.
- Cake--We had huge birthday cupcakes from the trailer-bakery Hey Cupcake, complete with whipped cream shooters. Sis loved her chocolate chocolate one. And Uncle Soccer made short work of his red velvet one. And then, of course, was THE cake. The wedding cake we'd be talking about for months. And she managed to stay awake through the reception for it (which is good because we forgot to buy replacement cupcakes). She eagerly sat upfront as the cake was cut and the bride and groom kindly invited her up to share some of the first piece. Yummy!
- Swimming--starting with her wade in the water at Zilker Park, Sis loved getting wet this trip. We all went swimming at Aunt Banana and Uncle Soccer's community pool. She washed her orca, rode Shamu (aka Pop), and fed us fish like dolphins.
- Orcas--this could be a favorite thing for both kiddos. They loved Sea World, our reward after several days of wedding. It was hot as hell--105F by the time we left--with little shade or AC. But the Shamu show made the entire excursion well worth it. Sis stared wide-eyed (stuffing popcorn into her mouth all the while), and Buddy sucked down a lemonade as they watched the orcas jump and dive and splash everyone. They're still talking about it, making the trainer handsigns and also mimicking the orcas' dives with their own stuffies. Seeing the belugas, feeding the dolphins (though Sis loved seeing some dolphins swim backwards), watching the sharks, viewing the clydesdales were worth it, but Shamu rocks.
- Gommie and Pop--confused by exactly what a wedding really was, Sis kept insisting that she wanted to marry Gommie. Sorry, Pop.
Buddy
- Trains--riding the Zephyr at Zilker Park, seeing all the freight trains circle through town, and following the model train at the Austin Children's Museum
- Ice Cream--mmmmm, Amy's Ice Creams. Strawberry with gummies (Sis liked chocolate with M&Ms, while I preferred Mexican Vanilla, which was served at the rehearsal dinner. Mama liked the pistachio. We had it for breakfast on our last day in Austin proper!).
- Pom Pon Parade--what Buddy called the walk down the aisle, or the whole wedding itself. He envied the flowers Sis and I got to carry and liked to play with the practice ones (you know, the bows from the showers made into bouquets). He pranced around the room for two days practicing and then took flowers from our real bouquets so he could have one too.
- Baseball--and football and soccer, anything that anyone would kick or throw to him. Luckily, we found some extra balls at the airport as we left (not wanting to bring our good set with us). He played catch with both Pop and Uncle Soccer.
- Escalators--the hotel had them and Bud loved riding them, every morning, instead of breakfast.
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