Abilene

I loaded up the kids last Thursday morning and headed to Abilene for my cousin Nathan's wedding. The wedding was Friday night, so I decided to go a day early since I didn't think it very nice to make the kids sit in the car all day and then expect them to sit through a wedding.

Robert did pretty well on the drive. He got a good nap in and he was interested in the movies that were playing, so that definitely helped the trip go more smoothly. We stopped at a rest stop and Clara showed him how to blow dandelions. He thought that was pretty neato.

We got to Abilene around 6:00 and got checked in to our hotel. I went to pay for gas when I realized my check card wasn't in my purse. It wasn't in my pocket either. I frantically looked everywhere for it and then decided to use a credit card. We went to Denny's for some dinner and I dug through my purse again and then decided to go ahead and cancel it. I was sure I had used it for lunch earlier in the day.

It took some time, but I finally found the phone number and cancelled it. Thankfully, no charges had been made. (The next day I figured out why no charges had been made; I remembered it was in the back pocket of the shorts I had worn the night before.)

My parents and Linsey weren't getting to town until right before the wedding, so I decided to take the kids to the zoo on Friday morning. Abilene got some much needed rain for a few hours that morning and then the skies cleared and it was nice and cool when we got to the zoo around 10:00. We got in free with our Houston Zoo membership.

Clara is pretending to be a flamingo in this picture.

This peacock strutted around with his feathers up the entire time we were there. Robert was fascinated by him, but Clara found him to be a bit intimidating and wouldn't let me take a picture of her near him.

The wedding was beautiful (what I saw of it anyway). Robert was just about as wiggly as he could possibly be. I saw the procession and Katie walk down the aisle and then I quickly escorted Robert out. Linsey got there a few minutes later, so the boys played outside while the wedding took place. Clara got to stay and watch with Bia and Pawpaw.

The reception took place at the new performing arts center at ACU and everything was beautifully done. My dad has 6 siblings and they were all there along with several of my cousins, so it was fun catching up with everyone. The only problem was my darlings were acting crazy! I was sweaty from wrestling with Robert the entire time. Clara spilled her drink, it was late, I couldn't let Robert down without him bolting, so we left before it was over. Surprisingly, once in the car, they completely mellowed out. And they fell asleep fairly quickly after a full day. I took zero pictures that night because my hands were full.

Linsey wanted to go to the zoo too, so we all went back on Saturday morning. I was able to get all of us in free with my membership. The great thing about going back was that now I could get some pictures with me in them. He wasn't strutting his stuff on Saturday so Clara reluctantly consented to a picture with the peacock since I was right there with her and he wasn't 6 feet wide and 4 feet tall.

The giraffes were out on Saturday and we went across the bridge to see them up close and personal.

It took Brody awhile to warm up to the animals. This was his first visit to the zoo and he was freaking out at all of them for about the first half hour. Linsey let him out of the stroller and he finally loosened up and enjoyed looking at all of the animals.

After the zoo, we went over to Uncle Howard and Aunt Jacki's house with all of the family. We had lunch and dinner there, the kids played in the backyard and everyone enjoyed holding babies and watching the little ones play. They were so sweet to have such a large, loud crowd hanging around all day. I think there were twelve second cousins there, Clara being the oldest. So there were a few fits and fights that afternoon.

Lindsey holding Ashton.

Here's my dad playing guitar and three of his siblings.

A few of the cousins stood still long enough to snap this next picture. Clara, Clara, Laney and Benton.

Gracie and Clara swinging with Aunt Sally.

My parents stayed in our hotel room Friday night and they spent Saturday night at Howard and Jacki's house, so Linsey stayed in the hotel with us that night. It was fun trying to get all four kids to sleep and Brody coughed a lot the first part of the night but we eventually all got a good night's sleep and woke ready to make the long drive home.

Linsey and I left our luggage at the front desk and told them we were going to put the kids in their carseats and then pull around to load our luggage. (We both wondered how on earth single parents of young children handle hotel stays. What a pain!) We said our goodbyes in the parking lot, Linsey turned her car on with the remote, got the kids buckled in, and shut the door. The second the door shut she realized she had locked the keys in. Oops!

Thankfully the a/c was on and she has Onstar. Only problem was her phone was dead and the phone number was on a sticker on the windshield that she just had replaced. I stayed outside with the kids while she took my phone and went back inside to find the phone number. She talked with them for a couple of minutes and then Voila! The doors magically unlocked. I have to admit, that was pretty darn cool.

Other than that, it was a fun trip and I love getting to see family, meet new family members and introduce my kids to their Great Aunts and Uncles. Can't wait for the next get-together!