and baby makes 6!

Away

There comes a time in life when the parents must get away.

We did that this past weekend. We loaded up into Bill’s truck and took off with nary a kid in sight. They were in good hands, which made it a bit easier for me to leave Mia with someone other than Billy for the night, let alone 2 nights!! Whoo hoo!

Destination: Galveston

Goal: Fun, one-on-one time, attend Billy’s best friends baby shower, and sleep.

Accomplished: All of the goals.

Friday we got to G-town around 5pm and checked into our hotel (a whole story in and of itself….but later), then went to the strand for some I-talian beers and some people watching.

The Strand did not disappoint. It presented all manner of oddities, including a dude who sat down on a bench, lifted the leg of his baggies and proceeded to pick crabs out of his crotch and leg hairs and throw them to the ground. You can see this dude in the background of the above photo….crashed on the bench.

Yeah, we left after I spent some time calculating how fast a crab louse could crawl across cobbled sidewalk to my chair 15 feet away. Pizza at Marios’ was calling for us across the island, so it was time to head out anyhow.

Mario’s had Peroni’s as well…and the best damn pizza you have ever had…..be sure to go there if you are ever in G-town.

Strolling back to the truck, a candid shot of the dude

Saturday a.m. we awoke to this……

A beautiful, yet flat, ocean. The surfboards would not see any use this trip. Seems flat water has been following us everywhere these days.

The main reason for our trip to G-town was to attend a couples baby shower for our good friends. They are expecting their first baby in June, and we would not have missed this for the world. Like us, they started their family a bit later than most, and it will be fun to see how their lives change when this little one makes her grand entrance.

The shower was not your typical baby shower. In the words of the father to be, “this is an excuse for these guys to get together and have a party” and that sums it up right there. Those in attendance were people that Billy has known most of his life, and I am telling you it was an amazing mix of personalities. Many of the people I had heard about over and over, but had never met. All of them are surfers….and I mean real surfers, not posers. These guys travel the world looking for surf, and in fact, had just returned from a surfing trip to Bali. They have been to Tahiti, all over Mexico, Baja, Central America, Hawaii etc. etc..

All of the people were wonderful, kind, hilarious and friendly beyond belief and the bonds of friendship were just amazing. I cannot put into words the personalities and mannerisms. I guess “authentic” would sum them up.

Here are the mom and dad to be……this man is pretty much Billy’s best friend evah.

Sunday we had breakfast with my MIL, then went to see how our friends decorated the babies room and spend some time visiting before heading home. The room is adorable….little surf baby decor….and gave me baby lust for all of 30 seconds.

Then we hit the road to return to our own babies.

We really, really needed this break. This was our first time to spend the night away from Mia…ever. It was so nice to SLEEP. To talk without being interrupted. To hug each other without having someone wedge themselves in between us. To be with old friends.

But it was time to come home. I needed to hold my daughter and kiss my sons. I missed them, yet I didn’t. KWIM? On the way home, Billy and I talked about how good the kids do when we are away from them. Even Mia. It is a relief for us to know that they feel secure enough for us to leave them in the care of someone else. They are happy and independent. I think this speaks well of our parenting and makes me happy.

Now, on to a week that in its wake, we will be a tense, stressed out mess. We must replace our air conditioner on Wednesday, which is one hell of an expense that we had not budgeted for. It is also the kids final week of school, and the boat is being surveyed on Friday.

Back to reality.