Austin

Isn't it such fun to see a new city?  I had never been to Texas before, although anyone who has met Ben knows, as he proudly professes, that he was born in Texas.  He lived there for two years and then never went back, but still, the pride is there.  But Ben was not born in Austin.  Oh no, he was born in College Station, home of Texas A&M, major rival of UT, which is in Austin.  It gets ugly.  But don't worry, Austin, we didn't hold it against you.

In the end, our visit was quick, so we only had a few chances to explore the city.  But it is quite clear that Austin is a young, fun city.  There are tons of tattoo parlors, juice bars, and vintage clothing shops (note to my children from my curmudgeon self: please do not get a tattoo.  Try to find another form of self expression).  Oh, and young people.  Tons of them.  It's a very bohemian city with a lot of wonderful music and good food and interesting coffee shops.  It was warm (95 degrees at the end of September!  Whew!), and there were bicycles everywhere, which of course we loved.  It sort of felt a little like the more artsy parts of Atlanta: relaxed and alternative, and also a little edgy.

It was fun to hop around from brunch to lounging around in a coffee shop as if we had nothing else to do (because in fact, we did have nothing else to do).  Back when Zosia was born, our lives consisted of just exactly that type of thing.  We loved chatting with friends and meeting a cute new baby and hearing about new jobs and condos and that sort of thing.  Many of our friends from Boston were at the wedding, and it was good to spend time with them.  We really love them.

Lily seemed to enjoy the excitement and attention of a trip to herself, and we delight in her.  She is such a joy and brings smiles wherever she goes.  It was fun to pretend that she was the only child for the weekend.  But in the end, she was quite bored with just the two of us.  She adores her siblings, and spent most of the trip trying to find special things to take home to them, or wishing she were playing with them.

Zosia and Hugo, meanwhile, were having a really fun time back home with my parents, who came to spend the weekend with them.  I am never good at leaving my people behind (and had never left Hugo overnight before), but it went as smoothly as could possibly be imagined.  My parents are pros, and everyone was happy and entertained and eating a lot of good food.  It felt great to know the kids were in such good hands.

It was a fun weekend and it is so good to be home again, all at once.  Hugo walked around Sunday night after we got home saying "Miss you too, Mama!  Miss you too!"  So sweet.  I love this little family of ours.

Speaking of my parents, if you think of it, will you say a prayer for my dad this morning (pictured below with my Aunt, Mom, and Sister, from left to right, when I was less pregnant, and my sister was decidedly more pregnant)?  He is having knee replacement surgery, and we are all looking forward to chasing him up mountains in the near future.