Here's a little background information:
I thought long and hard about how I wanted to spend my 32nd birthday. With the way the calendar sits this year, it would be tough to coordinate everyone's schedule near the actual day. Lucky for me, I celebrate the entire month, so the first weekend would be a sufficient way to get the party started. Plans were to go to Austin, float the river, hang around on 6th street, and come back.
I must also say how SURPRISED and grateful I was to see so many, many people come out to celebrate. New friends, old friends, and family...well, we are all family in the end, but wow, it was a wonderful time.
Ok, so the weekend begins on Thursday night. Don and I had to run by the Sprint store so they could take a look at the camera on my phone. It was in a constant loop, but they fixed it. YAAAY! On our way home, we stopped my one of my besties' new home. They'd just closed on it a couple of days before and we were honored to be there to share in their joy. We sipped on champagne while our two little ones ran all around the house exploring to and fro. It was good stuff.
By the time we made it home, Don and I went into SUPER packing mode! Throwing (and fitting) all of our clothes in one suitcase (including Mari's)! We took out the ice chest and all other sorts of sundries that we'd need for the trip. We cleaned out Lucky and loaded up everything but the valuable items. We went to bed a bit after midnight and had to get up early since I was taking the train in to work. It didn't make sense for me to drive in, when Don could swing by on his way out to get me.
We got up and made it to the train station on time. I rode in and was absurdly tired. I downed two cups of highly caffeinated green tea and before I knew it, I was on fire! Don was supposed to pick me up at noon, but things were such that we didn't get on the road until 2. Mari had a smooth trip down there and I was pleasantly surprised by the traffic, thinking it would be significantly worse! Austin proudly welcomed us with warm (no it was hot outside!) arms. The sun kissed us and the city let us know that it missed us. I missed it too.
***HORRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OMITTED HERE**
We walked to the Capitol to show MIL the sights. I was surprised that Don hadn't ever visited the inside. I got some lovely shots that I'll add later. I even showed them the not-so-secret secret spot in the middle under the dome. To stand on the star, look up, and whisper anything. It's an acoustic treat! Mari was extra curious, running all around the steps, the insides, and even the bird baths on the lawn. It was a wonderful start to the weekend.
Walking back, we passed Little City where My Michael and I celebrated one of his birthdays. Good times. I quickly remembered how fondly I thought of Austin and how many wonderful, wonderful memories I'd had there. Yes, there's lots of times where it was a little too much fun, but I'm glad that this relaxing tarriance exists a short drive from home. Every street downtown is familiar and even feels a little like home. We headed back to the room since everyone was meeting up again.
***HORRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OMITTED HERE**
Then, after a bit, we went to HEB to pick up some last minute essentials for our stay. This HEB was very disorganized and in such a horrible disarray, it took longer than expected to get everything we needed. Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted at the end of it, but our night wasn't over. After we dropped off the supplies, Don and I headed South to meet up with my cousin so my Mom could stay with us. We sipped on our Mexican Cokes and laughed off any irritability that we'd had steaming. How blessed were we that we had so very many people insisting on sharing this weekend? *bliss*
We met up with Mom who'd brought us some delicious pan dulce from Mi Tierra restaurant in San Antonio. YUMMY! This was the perfect complement to our Mexican Cokes. We pulled into the hotel at 1:30AM and there were all sorts of shenanigans running amok, but it's downtown Austin, so it should be expected. Plus, I didn't see any hotel staff doing or saying anything about it.
Mari awoke at her typical 6:30AM time, insisting on guzzling a full bottle. Afterwards, she immediately passed right out and we were able to sleep another hour before getting up to go for a 2 mile run. Me, Don, Mikey, and my sister ran alongside the Colorado river near downtown
(I think it is formally known as Lady Bird Lake). Nothing like an early morning run to start the day and wake the body. Despite the lack of sleep, I was ready for the long haul! The fact that I had both Sister and Brother with me and Mom too...well, it was unbelievable! Everyone was ready when we returned and we started to prep for our trip.
***HORRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OMITTED HERE**
We arrived to River Sports Tubes in what seemed like no time at all. We checked in and let me tell you...those guys are SUPER friendly and accommodating. We had a party of 30 and got us in and on the river in no time. We were all grouped together and the Guadalupe's cool water felt refreshing on my hot body. They predicted 100 degree weather and I'm certain it threatened to break that, actually. Anyway, the river was awesome! Yes, we had a beer shortage, several of us were pretty scraped up from the rapids, but all in all it was good. Our only casualties included: a pair of shorts, about 25 jello shots, and 1 busted tube. Not too bad. Those sorts of things are to be expected, and we're glad it wasn't worse. Brother originally thought he lost his camera, but he discovered it. Ada also thought she lost her shorts, but Bedore was able to recover them. I was able to save about 12 of the shots while I chased them down the river, fishing them out quickly like I was involved in a mobile egg hunt. The river was low, but not so low that we had to pull ourselves along. If we wanted the trip to last 6 hours, we could've glided along down, but some of us got out and would tow the group. Jason happily provided us with plenty of singing. There was even a Metallica rendition while we floated down. Hilarious! Oh, and then everyone busted out the Happy Birthday song for me and I felt the love. It was a very, very, very good day!
The Jello shots were first rate. We even traded a few for a couple of beers since we'd totally forgotten 2-24 packs at the hotel! The cherry bombs sufficed (a bottle of drained maraschino cherries, saturated in a coconut rum bath all night to infuse the rum into the sweet goodness of the cherries!) as well as our trashcan punch. Which, by the way Don, way to go! It was like having a fruity cocktail in Mexico! We nibbled on sandwiches, celery & carrot sticks, chips, jerky, and apples. And we easily went through nearly two cases of water, too. I can't wait to see the pics.
At the end, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the evening. We didn't do much resting and after we were cleaned up, went to eat at Thai Palace in downtown, which made a mean Tom Kha Gai soup. Deliciousness!
***HORRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OMITTED HERE**
***HORRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OMITTED HERE**
***HORRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OMITTED HERE**
***HORRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OMITTED HERE**
And then we were on 6th Street. Walking up and down, when we went up to Maggie Mays. We were there two years ago on the roof and I figured, this would be a great place to relax. The live music was good and then I discovered the little air conditioned room tucked to the side. There was a DJ spinning beats, plenty of space, lots of air conditioning, and a large television screen showing baseball! This is where I parked myself for the next few hours. Dancing, drinking, dancing, dancing, dancing, and laughing, enjoying the night like I hadn't in quite some time. It was like a wonderful technicolor dream with plenty of feel-goods similar to how I feel after eating a red lolli! Everyone who floated the river was out, plus some of my other friends that live there joined in too. CK showed up too, making the trip to just come out for the party!
We went in search of the legendary tacos off of 6th. We made our way to where it was normally located, but it was a different stand. The tacos were ok, but not like they've been before. Regardless, we happily chowed down when the liquid hit me and I realized that I probably wouldn't make it back to my hotel room. Danika and I wandered the streets in search of a bathroom, and all of the places turned us away. This one shady bar back told us he knew of a place, but we had to keep quiet. He was leading us to a rather dark and undesirable place. Danika and I immediately turned and I told her that I was certain I was going to wet my pants, but I didn't care because I was NOT going down that dark staircase. Lucky for us, we ran into another small group of three people who had the same issue. They constructed a makeshift private space for us to relieve the discomfort. I happily thanked them, wishing I could extend some sort of kindness for sharing the spot and keeping watch. We all exchanged high fives and sang an impromptu song together about the experience. Funny.
We made our way back to the hotel. Right when I was going to sleep, I glanced over my shoulder and it said 3:03AM. YIKES! I was dangerously close to being awake for nearly 24 hours. A couple of hours later, Mari was up wanting a bottle. Don gave it to her and after eating, she passed out again, in my arms. At 8:30, I rolled over and got up. The sunburn on my upper thigh and shoulders was starting to sting a bit making sleeping a little uncomfortable. It was at this time, that I got dressed, got Mari prepped, and we all headed downstairs for breakfast.
We spent the morning talking about every event, including the horrible hotel experience. That's the best part of going out like that...rehashing the events and laughing hysterically about it! We loaded up and drove on out to Waco to stop for a bite to eat. We all chowed down at Taco Cabana, sipping on our Sonic drinks. We then hit the asphalt for the rest of the trip home.
When we made it home, we unloaded everything and sat for just a little bit. Don and I ran out to get some cakes: a cheesecake for Steve-o and a cherry Boston Creme for me! We sang happy birthday, blew out candles, ate some cake, then headed on over to the fountains near the Eisemann Center in Richardson. We had some water fun, before returning home in time to go see The Hangover.
MOVIE REVIEW - THE HANGOVER
OMG...this movie was hysterical. No really, I nearly choked several times, I was bent over gasping for air I was laughing so hard. I cried and cried from laughing. My abs were sore the next day from laughing. I think I pulled a muscle near my neck from all of the strain of laughing. I loved it!
That movie was the cherry on top to a wonderful weekend! Then, when we returned home, everyone stayed up to play flip cup, while I crawled into bed, completely BEAT from the entire weekend. But I slept so soundly and so happily. Getting up on Monday was a struggle, but nothing that a little artificial go-juice couldn't cure.
Thanks everyone who came out to celebrate!
1 comment:
It was so nice to see you that evening! I'm happy that you had a fun birthday weekend. We went and saw Terminator last night. Much regrets. I wish I had seen your movie review about The Hangover sooner.
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