San Antonio

**Once upon a time (about 6 years ago), in a land far, far away (Provo, UT) a young married couple (Mark & Erin) were trying to decide where to search for a job. "We'll go anywhere," they insisted, "except Texas." That young couple has since grown older and wiser and now they WISH they could live in Texas (well, at least Erin does).**
San Antonio is at the top of the "places I want to live" list, despite the fact that, prior to last month, I'd never visited. :) In February we had a fantastic excuse to visit - attending my cousin Paul's wedding. We arrived on Wednesday and the wedding wasn't until Saturday, so we had a little time to spend with extended family and play tourist, while still participating in the wedding festivities. My cousin, Heather, and her little family live just outside of San Antonio and she played hostess to vast numbers of people in town for the wedding. Though we stayed in a hotel, we spent a lot of time at Heather's which was wonderful because, in addition to the excellent food she provided, she also has two daughters around the same age as Aubree. Heather's oldest daughter, Bailey, and Aubree immediately hit it off and spent most of the week playing together. After a short time, Aubree began referring to Bailey and Morgan as "cousin-friends" (as in, neither "cousin" or "friend" alone was an adequate description for their relationship).

On Friday we headed to downtown San Antonio to see the Alamo and the much-heralded Riverwalk. The Alamo was smaller than I anticipated, but rich in history. I tried to imagine the events that occurred there, but had a difficult time reconciling the manicured and bustling scene before me with the stories of desolation and destruction. From what I gathered (Bryce kept me plenty distracted, so I don't claim total accuracy), only women and children and one black man survived the attack. Aubree's favorite part of the Alamo were the huge goldfish in the little stream (apparently, everything is bigger in Texas!)
The Riverwalk definitely lived up to all the hype; it's amazing! Per the recommendation of many, we decided to take a boat tour and learned loads of interesting things about the area (and I bet my mom even remembers most of the random facts!). Although San Antonio is an extremely large city and was packed with conference-attendees, it still somehow felt quaint, relaxed, and welcoming.
After getting our fill of tourist-related activities, we turned our full attention to celebrating with Paul and Carly. Leading up to the wedding, it seemed that everything that could go wrong, did. They had problems with the flowers, the wedding dress, the bridesmaids dresses, Paul's ring, the catering...the list goes on and on. By the morning of the wedding, we hoped that everything would go smoothly, but our hope was short-lived. The sealing was scheduled for 11 am at the San Antonio temple. We arrived at 10:15 to make sure we had plenty of time, only to discover that Paul and Carly had locked their keys in their car and were waiting for a locksmith and then had an additional 30 minute drive to the temple! Needless to say, they didn't make it to their own (scheduled) wedding! I think if that had been the only hiccup along the way, it would have been devastating. But since it was just the next in a long string of mishaps, it was surprisingly funny. They ultimately did make it to the temple and were re-scheduled for around 12:30. I wouldn't have missed Paul's wedding for anything! Carly is gorgeous and amazing and we're thrilled to have her in the family! It's neat to see Paul so in love and it's obvious he's excited to share his life with her. When Carly and Paul came out of the temple, the little girls immediately ran up and threw their arms around Carly. After we returned home from Texas I asked Aubree what her favorite part of our whole trip was, and she responded, "seeing Carly in her beautiful white wedding dress!"
That night was the reception and it was a very enjoyable evening. I love being around family and thankfully we've had lots of weddings in the last few years to provide ample opportunities for gathering! Aubree, Bailey, and Morgan danced the night away. When she wasn't dancing, Aubree parked herself right next to Paul's best friend, Brian. Brian arrived the same day as us and traveled to and from a lot of wedding events with us. I think it took about 5 minutes for Aubree to be totally smitten. I heard endless comments like, "where's Brian?," "I want Brian to sit by me!," "No, don't sit there, that's Brian's seat!" Brian didn't seem to mind the attention and was a great sport. It makes me nervous that Aubree's only three and already so interested in "boys." I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since I remember having my first crush when I was only four.

Overall, our trip to San Antonio was superb! In fact, the only downside was the havoc going on vacation (to anywhere) inevitably plays on my kids' sleep schedules. Sleepy kids = fussy and cranky kids. Usually, Aubree and Bryce are asleep by 7 pm, but on vacation that's rarely feasible, especially when there are wedding events. Most of the dinners, receptions, and activities began around 6 or 7 pm, which is totally reasonable and normal, it just was hard on Aubree and Bryce (the one hour time difference made it a bit worse). All things considered, they handled it fairly well. Aubree was having so much fun with her cousin-friends that she would've stayed up all night, every night given the chance. I just kept reminding myself "it's only a few days" and the experiences and memories are worth the temporary disruption. I just hope friends and family will forgive the extra meltdowns, tantrums, and whining.

PS This is part one of a two part Texas series. Part two - "Stephenville" - coming soon.