San Antonio

The second weekend in March, Dan and I had the opportunity to take a (childless!) trip to San Antonio to celebrate our friend John's wedding. John was the best man in our wedding, as well as Hattie's godfather, so it was important to be able to celebrate this special day with him. Oh, and Dan was best man. We HAD to go! 

We knew about the wedding far, far in advance, and debated back and forth about whether or not we were going to bring the girls down with us. There are some great family activities in the area (Sea World, awesome zoo, children's museum, etc) but the thought (and cost!) of flying all 5 of us down there, plus carseats, strollers, luggage, the fact that it was a 7pm wedding (meaning mom would be leaving very early with some tired girls....), and a gramma and papa who were chomping at the bit to babysit for 3 days straight meant that we ultimately left the girls behind. (Side note: the "mom" emotion that goes along with boarding a plane and leaving my 3 small children behind is worthy of a blog post all it's own....) 

After dropping Maggie off at school on Friday morning, we headed up the the airport with plenty of time to check our bags and enjoy a nice cup of coffee. We hesitated to go through security too early, because if anyone is familiar with the local airport, once you pass through security, you are stuck in a long, boring hallway of... not much. I much prefer the Starbucks and ping-pong table side of the airport- thankyouverymuch. 

Anyway.... our boarding time was 10:45, so a few minutes after 10, we headed over to the security. The lines were looooong and I started to get a little anxious. Then, a few minutes later, I heard the announcement. You know, the "final boarding" announcement. For. OUR. Flight. What? I pulled out our tickets. Our DEPARTURE time was 10:45- not boarding time. I started to freak out. Cry. Swear. Whatever. Dan was ever so calm- reassuring me that we could catch a later flight if need be. I was more worried about catching the connecting flight in Dallas now that we missed the first leg of our journey (I'm so NOT a seasoned traveler, can you tell?) Once we got to the security gate, I got through just fine. I was standing at the other end, waiting for my shoes- and Dan starts yelling, "GO! Just GO! I'll bring your shoes. Just GO!" So, I run. Barefoot. Through an airport. Thank God I was in a panic about the flight, or I would have had a breakdown just thinking about the crazy amounts of bacteria and germs infecting me at that point (lesson learned- ALWAYS wear shoes with socks when traveling by plane) As I'm running through the terminal, searching for our gate number, I hear someone yell, "Sal-Mon? Is that you? Are you Sal-Mon?" What? Who the heck knows me in the airport? And I'm late for my flight. And I'm barefoot. And panting. I don't want to deal with anyone right now... but then I realize it's the man at the gate. And he's waiting... for us. They were holding the plane- waiting for Dan and I. I yelled at him that my husband was on the way, and he reminded me that we needed to be on the plane "like, 10 minutes ago." Got it, dude. Thanks. 

We made it. Our second flight was delayed over an hour anyway- so we were super late to the rehearsal. Oops. Doesn't matter. It was a great night. Texans know how to party. Taco bar, beer, and a mariachi band. And that was just the rehearsal dinner.... 

The wedding was lovely. The bride was beautiful. The band was great. But can I let you in on a little secret? The BEST part of the entire day? Dan had to leave for the wedding a few hours early for pictures, etc. I had TWO HOURS and the entire hotel room to MYSELF to get ready. It was heaven. I didn't have to share the mirror with anyone. I took a LOOOONG shower. I didn't have to comb anyone's hair or zip up anyone else's dress. I didn't have to double-check the diaper bag to make sure I had enough diapers packed. I turned up my iPod and enjoyed. Heaven. 

Sunday we had the day to ourselves for sightseeing. The weather was beautiful- sunny and 60s. We had a great time strolling along the Riverwalk and checking out the Mexican marketplace. We tried on cowboy hats and walked through the Alamo. It was nice to be reminded that we are two people who had a history and a story before we had children... it's really easy to lose sight of that sometime. 

Monday we headed home. I was ready. I missed my babies!