We are back from our whirlwind trip to the US. I am always amazed at how fast a month can go by, but this trip was over-the-top busy. In 4.5 weeks, our travel plans included:
- A conference for Brad in Cincinnati
- A trip for me to DC to surprise my sister at her engagement party
- A week in DFW to see cousins, and prep for…
- Kathleen’s, (Brad’s youngest sister), wedding in Dallas
- Brad and I’s trip to Caneel Bay, St. John, USVI to celebrate our 10th anniversary
- A few days of “down time” in Amarillo, and THEN
- Another trip downstate, this time to College Station, for Brad’s cousin Erica’s wedding
- (And a 10.5 hour car ride back to Amarillo…Texas is a giant state.)
For those of you from Texas, you can probably tell that we spent a fair amount of time in the car. Thankfully, Brad’s parents let us borrow their suburban to schlep our crew, and all of their stuff, around the great state. Here is a link to the first album of pictures.
After the brutally cold winter and spring in Ireland, the kids were so excited to wear short sleeves and sandals. Every day they would wake up and ask, “can we wear shorts AGAIN?!” They did a lot of playing in the kiddie pool, and running around outside.
We traveled on Liesl’s birthday, and Isaac’s birthday was 3 days later, so we did a small family party in Amarillo instead of a party in Ireland. Brad and I have turned into typical expat parents, because we got them luggage for their birthdays. I mean, what 3 and 5-year olds don’t just *love* luggage. What? Your’s weren’t appreciative either? The kids got a “pup tent” from my parents, which my dad set up in the backyard. They had a great time running from the kiddie pool to the tent and back again.
The week of Kathleen’s wedding, we stayed in Frisco, with my other sister-in-law, Janell, and her family. Her boys are close in age to our kids, so the cousins had a great time. In a profound lapse in judgement, I took the four oldest to the playground by myself one morning. The kids took it upon themselves to leap off of the playground equipment right as I walked away/wasn’t looking/attending to one of the other kids. I considered myself lucky that no one injured themselves.
Isaac and Liesl, along with their cousins Andrew and Connor, were in Kathleen’s wedding. We had a lovely rehearsal, where the kids acted like they had never been in a church before. (Winning!) I just prayed that they would behave better during the wedding, and they were great!
As Brad says, “Home is where the PBS is”, which was definitely true on the big day. The kids were getting restless in the basement, waiting for the mass to start. Brad started a “Dinosaur Train” on his iPad, and all was well again.
Unfortunately, we do not have many pics from the wedding, or the reception afterwards. Too busy celebrating and toasting the happy couple! Brad did snap this wonderful picture of Liesl and I with his grandparents, HD and Myrtle. They have been married 61 years!
Kathleen & Sebastian are both A&M grads, and their sendoff was everyone waving A&M 12th Man towels. Clearly Patrick was not amused!
I’ll have more pictures in the next post of Brad and I’s trip to Caneel Bay.
I loved reading about your trip and the weddings. I always appreciate getting to see pictures of the family.