mini texas vacation

We're in Texas.  We got here yesterday afternoon.
We leave for our "real" vacation in seven hours.

It's the most surreal feeling being back here.
Did we leave?  Have we been here the whole time?
Did we live here at all? Have we been in Utah forever?

Most of all though, what I'm feeling is,
why am I here without my kids?

But oh how great it's been to see our friends again!
We spent the day driving across the city, back and forth, from house to house to just visit our friends, meet new babies, and see new houses.

 I have to say,
now that we don't live here anymore (We were happy here...it's just too hot and too far away from family),
I really like this place. Maybe even love it.

(and it doesn't hurt that it's way more green here this year than it was the year we left)

We got a super incredible thunderstorm last night.  I loved every minute of it.  Downpour, thunder, lightning strikes, the whole deal.

This morning we woke up and headed straight for The Guenther House,
our favorite breakfast place.

The last time we were at the Guenther House,
Ellie was five days old.  I nursed her on the bench outside the restaurant
while Nicholas ran wild and hid our car keys in the bushes.

Like I said, it just felt weird to be back here without our kids.

Last night we got together with our friends for Bluebell ice cream

(The carmel cheesecake turtle flavor? Oh my.  Why oh why can't we get this in Utah??)

we stayed up late just talking and laughing,

and it felt like we'd never left.  

I loved it.

I love knowing that these friends,

we can still be friends.  No matter how far away we are.

 Sorry, Jensens--we should have taken a picture at the restaurant!

Well,
we're off in the morning. Early early early morning.
And it has been all that I hoped it would be to have a mini texas vacation.
Great friends, good food, southern hospitality, wildflowers, rainstorms, rolling hills, ice cream, and leftover "fiesta" decorations.

Goodbye for now, Texas.