Vickie's Wedding in Austin

The last weekend in August (yes I'm super behind with posts) we traveled to Austin, Texas for the wedding of one of my college roommates. Eric and I went to Austin a few years ago and had a ton of fun hanging out with Vickie and Kelly and exploring the city they love and it was great to be back for their wedding. This was Dexter's first flight and he did great. We lucked out and the plane wasn't full so we asked for a row just for us to have a little extra room and not have to bother with gate checking the car seat. I was able to nurse him on take-off and Eric wore him in the ergo and he slept most of the flight.

Upon arrival we didn't need to rent a car since we knew everything was either within walking distance or there would be transportation provided. We took a bus from the airport to downtown that had a stop just a couple blocks from the hotel. The Austin Hilton was very nice and so accommodating... they upgraded us to a suite for free! Maybe they saw we were tired new parents and took pity on us! They had a pack n play delivered to the room and luckily just recently we had transitioned from the rock n play to the crib for sleep... that was a tough transition! We were starving so we walked a couple blocks to this gourmet grocery store type place and got lunch and some snacks for our room.

Later that afternoon Vickie drove all the bridesmaids (and Eric and Dexter... they pretty much went everywhere I did since I needed to feed him every few hours) to the rehearsal at the Barr Mansion.  And we received fun bridesmaid bags filled with goodies. The ceremony would be outside so Dexter got his first real experience with the Texas heat and he was not a fan so I missed most of the instructions while feeding him inside but luckily Eric listened to them for me and took over baby duty as soon as I was done.

That night we ate delicious tex mex at the rehearsal dinner at the Iron Cactus, in walking distance of the hotel. Poor Dexter did not want to sleep with all that fun going on so Eric had to take him back to the hotel after he ate. It was nice catching up with my Clemson roomies and the families/close friends of the bride and groom.

Saturday morning we hung around until the other bridesmaids and bride were up and we practiced the dance (more on that later), went to get lunch at the Easy Tiger in our matching bridesmaid attire. Dexter loved having play time with Brooke and Celeste.

That afternoon we all got ready and headed to the Barr Mansion. Bridal party and mother of the bride and mother of the groom.

Such a pretty dress!

 Dexter had a very cute wedding outfit that my mom made even though he wouldn't be attending the wedding due to his bedtime being around the time it would start with the time difference. Too bad babies don't understand time difference and time change ;)

The ceremony was beautiful and ended up not being too hot. Vickie was just beaming the entire time and they looked so happy! (I don't have any photos from the actual ceremony since I was in it and Eric was with Dexter)

The reception was inside in a building close to the mansion and the rustic decor on wooden tables looked lovely. And the lights outside on the pathway were so pretty.

Unfortunately Dexter could not stay asleep with the loud band inside the reception so Eric spent most of the reception outside with him so that I could do bridesmaid things and whatnot. He is a super dad!

There was a surprise for the groom, a coordinated dance in sort of flash mob style choreographed and planned by the bride that started with her and the bridesmaids and then other guests joined in part way through the song. It was set to "She's Country" by Jason Aldean. From someone with a dance background, it was really fun to learn and do... it's been awhile since I've done a choreographed dance and it was a great success! The groom loved it! I will say I'm glad we practiced it in our cowboy boots because it is harder to maneuver in those than other shoes or bare feet. You can see the video someone took here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB0poHC5ub4

There was also a photo booth which is always lots of fun! You didn't see a preview of what the photo would look like as the timer was counting down like most booths so I think that made for some interesting pictures... there are a few I saw from Vic's family that were pretty hilarious. I liked that you had the option to email the photos to yourself to have a digital copy. Who knew Clemson would be #1 in the country... Brooke predicted it!

The next morning we left for the airport using the bus again and had a good flight home. We had to gate check our car seat this time but Dexter did pretty much the same as the flight there and slept a good bit other than when being fed. I definitely think flying with a newborn or young infant was easier than I thought. It would be more difficult to fly with him now that he likes to move around a lot and isn't sleeping as much during the day.


All in all a great weekend seeing our friends tie the knot! We wish them many years of happiness!

Blacksburg trip

Every year we try to get together with the Miller family. Tyler is a close childhood friend of Eric and his brother. It is a little harder now that there are 4 kiddos in the mix but we all decided to meet up this at the end of July in Blacksburg. It was around the halfway point for everyone and I was excited because I love seeing college towns and had never been to Blacksburg before. We rented a cabin on VRBO for us all to stay in that was probably a 10 minute drive from the VT campus.

This was Dexter's first road trip and he did great! He slept the whole way there. Of course he wasn't quite 3 months old yet so sleeping most times he was in the car was his jam back then.

We arrived on a Thursday late morning and all hung around the cabin. We sent the guys for groceries and let the babies play some. It is so nice to rent a place with a kitchen so you can make your own meals.. this worked out perfectly with everyone being on different feeding and napping schedules and whatnot. Plus it was more relaxing to not try to go out to dinner.

Friday we drove into the VA Tech campus and after a quick stop at the visitor center for a parking pass, we went to the duck pond. It was a nice park area with ducks and a gazebo.

We had lunch at Souvlaki's at the suggestion of my friend Lauren who went to VT. It was delicious and casual so they didn't seem to mind that we had 3 infants and a 2 year old in tow. We walked around a little bit after lunch.

And we just hung out at the cabin and played games and took photos the rest of the day.

The next morning everyone headed for home after a photo of the guys and the kids.

We stopped by a blueberry farm nearby hoping to get some fresh blueberries but it was only a you-pick place and they didn't have any for sale already picked. We knew with a newborn that we definitely didn't have time for that especially in the heat so we just headed for home.

The trip home took forever with a few accidents on the interstate and needing to stop to feed Dexter. FYI there are no good places to grab lunch after leaving the Blacksburg area until you get to Statesville. We held out for Chick-fil-a in Statesville but man we were starving by then! Dexter did pretty well and slept most of the way home.

We had a great weekend in Blacksburg! It was a cool downtown and next time it would be neat to explore the downtown and campus a little more.

Phoenix Girls Trip Weekend

At the suggestion of one of my Clemson roomies, we planned a girls getaway for President's Day weekend in between when 3 of us were celebrating turning 30 in January and February (Vic's b'day isn't until July but she was happy to take a 30th birthday trip early with us). We had a fabulous time! This was my first time to Phoenix and to Arizona (other than an airport layover previously which I don't think counts) and I'd definitely recommend it as a fun place to visit.

This is me with my awesome carry on bag for hands free travel ready to head to the airport.

We all arrived in Phoenix Friday afternoon where Vickie had gotten our rental car (upgraded to an SUV for no extra charge... score!) and acted as the chauffeur to the hotel, Hilton Squaw Peak Resort. Brooke, Vickie and I made a quick trip to a nearby grocery store to get breakfast foods and snacks for the mini fridge in the resort room before Celeste arrived. This was the fountain and pool area outside our room. The room (or I suppose it was called a suite) was split into a living room area with the tv, a couch, a chair and small fridge and then a bathroom area with sinks outside of the door to the shower and toilet. And then a room with two queen beds. It was so nice having the couch and chair to sit on and relax instead of only having the bed and a desk chair like many hotel rooms.

We started off vacation with pedicures in the resort spa. It was just the 4 of us in the nail area of the spa (plus the ladies doing our pedicures) so that was nice.

After that we walked a couple blocks to a local Mexican restaurant called Aunt Chilada's. We were all starving by that point and it was delicious. I was not partaking in the drinks but the others said the drinks were great too.

We then went back to the resort and settled in as we were all pretty tired from traveling and the time change and whatnot. But one more fun thing happened... Vickie asked us to be her bridesmaids at her wedding in August! So exciting!

Saturday we took our time getting up and ready and then we went to the Botanical Gardens. I'm sure you are thinking how fun can botanical gardens be in the desert but they had a free guided tour and we learned a lot about different cacti and the desert. The cacti and other plants are more concentrated in the gardens than they might be out in nature but that way you get to see everything and it seems more like true gardens.

Fun fact - the saguaro cactus (pronounced sah-wah-ro) does not grow it's first arm until it is about 70 years old. Subsequent arms can take more or less time than that but if you see one with an arm you know it's at least past retirement age. When I had ever thought of a cactus this is the kind of cactus I pictured and also the ones they use a lot in movies and such.

Then we went back to the room for some snacks and headed to the biggest of the resort pools. The pools at the resort were heated which was one of the reasons we picked this hotel... although they weren't super warm (maybe upper 70's F) but luckily it was sunny out. This one had the lazy river so that is where we spent all our time. The girls got some mai tais (and lemonade for me) and we floated around the lovely lazy river. This lazy river was much better than the one I'm used to at Carowinds because it was longer and didn't rush you along too fast.

That evening since it was Valentines and we knew restaurants would be packed we stayed in and ordered pizza and salad and watched Bridesmaids. It was the perfect girly evening. Oh and all the girls got to feel munchkin kicking. He must like pizza :)

On Sunday, we went hiking in a nearby park area, Papago Park, that had some various trails and neat lookout points and was right by the botanical gardens from the day before. It was quite warm which was a nice break from the cold weather we were having in NC. We actually had awesome weather the whole trip which isn't too surprising since Phoenix doesn't get much rain and had great temps most of the year.

It was actually quite the climb to get up to the cave like lookout part of the giant rock. Clemson girls... best in the world!

After hiking we went to a local brewery/bar for food and drinks.

Then we drove a short distance to Scottsdale to a wine bar, Su Vino, for a wine tasting and cheese/fruit plate. They have a cool option for pairing wines with chocolates and the girls shared the chocolates with me and they were delicious. They all really enjoyed the wine too.

That night we got dressed up and went out to dinner at Beckett's Table which I found after searching various lists/reviews for top restaurants and it did not disappoint.

These are the short ribs I had... amazing!

And we got a complimentary dessert to celebrate our birthdays!

Monday morning we all headed back to the airport for our flights back home. I ended up arriving in Charlotte just prior to the ice storm hitting that had schools and most things closed the next day and on a couple hour delay the day after that. The flight coming into Charlotte that left after mine was cancelled so I lucked out! Although being stuck another day in sunny Phoenix might not have been so bad.

This was the first time the 4 of us had done a trip together with just us since usually we see each other every year in Clemson for a reunion along with significant others and other friends too so it was really special to spend time just the 4 of us like we used to all the time in college. I can't wait to see them again in August to celebrate Vickie's wedding! I love these girls and loved celebrating turning 30 with them!