our trip to texas

When we received the invitation to Aaron’s childhood best friend’s wedding in Texas, we were not 100% sure we would be able to make it. But thankfully all the right things came together and we loaded up our family for a 15+ hour (longer with stops) drive to Edinburg, Texas.

We left Wednesday (8.21.19) night at 9:30 pm and Aaron and I alternated driving through the night so we could take advantage of the girls sleeping. We arrived just inside of Texas by the time the girls woke up and were ready for some breakfast.

We got back on the road and tried to make as few stops as possible, but with a 34-week pregnant woman and a potty training toddler, we stopped more often than we would have preferred, totaling a 20-hour trip.

This was Rylie’s treat of choice for going on the big girl potty (adult toilets).

We arrived at our hotel after 5 pm, just enough time to unload our stuff, get settled, eat dinner and get ready to meet our friend at a restaurant nearby.

At the restaurant, we ran into multiple Seattle friends which sparked some great conversation.

We made sure to snag a photo with the groom as well knowing that a wedding day photo was unlikely.

Back at our hotel, we got our beds set up. I decided to lay with the girls for a bit and it produced one of my new favorite pictures! <3

The next morning (8.23.19) we woke up to a continental breakfast and then got ready to take full advantage of the hotel’s pool. Rylie had been talking about it since we arrived the day before and was eager to jump in.

Aaron and I laugh often at Emmaline and her attitude towards large bodies of water. We joke that she’ll grow up and be the girl that chills on the beach / poolside while Rylie is IN the water.

That being said, we somewhat staged these photos of Emmaline to prove our point that she would rather sit poolside with a snack in hand vs. being in the actual water.

To her credit, she did enjoy her time in the pool and even sat on the pool ledge and scooted in for me to catch her, which she loved.

On the other hand, Rylie was swimming solo and jumping in (into Daddy’s arms, but still…)

As we neared lunchtime, Rylie expressed her desire to eat so we packed up and headed back to our hotel room for lunch and some quiet time before the wedding.

The girls must have been exhausted because they did not wake up when they usually do, which meant my alarm (them) didn’t go off when I thought it would and left me waking up to a frantic Aaron saying it was 3:05 pm and we needed to be in the car driving to the wedding in less than 30 minutes. We got ready quickly and made it to the wedding on time – yay!

We were the first to the reception and enjoyed looking at the exquisite set-up and decorations.

We also totally sat in the bride and groom’s seats because they were so majestic and looked just like King & Queen thrones.

Dinner started with plates for the kids, which I thought was so thoughtful. The girls loved the juice and fries too.

Between bites, we visited with Seattle friends, which made our hearts happy.

Just like we expected, the girls got to the point where it was evident they needed to go to bed, so we watched the newlywed’s first dance, said “farewell” to our people and headed out.

We woke up Saturday (8.24.19) morning and ate our continental breakfast, packed up our room and headed out on our long drive back home. Surprisingly, we shaved 3 hours compared to our drive getting there and arrived home in 17 hours, pulling into our driveway at 3:30 am Sunday (8.25.19) morning.

Before I wrap this post up, I wanted to mention that aside from less than a dozen books, I intentionally did not pack toys for the girls. Partially because I figured our downtime where toys would be used was limited (which it was), but also because I wanted to see their creative wheels spin as they found things to play with from their surroundings. The empty water bottles, ice bucket and a tray in the hotel room provided lots of entertainment. I loved seeing them exercise their imaginations.

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” -Albert Einstein

Overall, it was a good trip and worth the time, money and energy it took to be there. We are so glad we got to be a part of our friend’s special day!