Wordless weekend, part II

Wordless weekend

Happy anniversary eve!

Holy jeez, where have the last two years gone??  And yes, it's only anniversary EVE, not actual anniversary, but I needed something to write about tonight and was feeling a little mushy.  To celebrate two whooooole years of marriage, we took off to Seattle for a few days to celebrate (which I'll tell you all about in this month o' blogging), a little before our actual anniversary to make time for important things like University of Washington football games.  Last year at this time we were having red rocks adventures and relaxing in Sedona, celebrating one whooooole year of marriage...

...and then two years ago I'm certain I was having trouble trying to wind down and go to sleep because I was just a little excited about the whole "I'm getting married tomorrow!!" thing.  But it was all worth it for this.

Happy almost anniversary, husband!  And just when Craig is FINALLY HOME from the Great Houston Adventure, he's out of town again this week for work training in Orlando.  But I have some really wonderful friends who are going to celebrate birthaversary with me tomorrow (birthday dinner on the anniversary, of course), so I think I'll be ok.  Two down and many, many more to go.

How did I never tell you about Spain?

I never told you about Spain.  And it's not that I just didn't tell you about Spain, it's that I didn't write down and capture all my wonderful Spain memories so I could go back and read them a thousand times over, because I'm pretty certain that I read this blog far more often than anyone else.  Public diary/journal/notebook of sorts, you know?

So I might throw in some bits and pieces of Spain here and there as I flip through pictures and remember the moments.  Which is why I took 3,067 pictures (yup, that's me) over the course of twelve days or so - because I've found that sometimes it's helpful to click and snap away to capture little moments to trigger bigger memories.  Even if I'm now going to throw those written-down memories into the 2013 section of the blog when it happened in 2010 (holy...whaaaaat now?!? that's why I'm so much skinnier in these pictures...I like to call the additions my love pounds).  But it's also reminded me to pick up that camera more and just capture the days.

Excited to try and fall asleep faces...

...to really excited to be walking the streets of Barcelona faces.  Kinda awesome what a plane ride can do.

Let's stay at the beach. Forever.

** Public service announcement...please pretend this post happened EXACTLY EIGHT MONTHS AGO as originally intended.  Thinking about where the gals and I should journey this summer, so I went back to read about last year's trip, and I thought my posts felt very unfinished...and I'd forgotten I had this one almost ready to go before life happened and I just forgot about it.  So let's just pretend, ok?  Thanks so much, and let's go back to Edisto... **

You know what's wonderful?  Easy beach lunches, all courtesy of King's Market, an adorable roadside establishment filled with loads of fresh flowers...

...and beautiful heirloom maters...

...and all kinds of crazy birdhouses...

...and Cheerwine, which has absolutely nothing to do with wine but is very much like Cherry Coke and is just darn tasty on a toasty afternoon...

...and a plethora of salads and dips and delightful homemade casseroles (granted, mayo was a key ingredient in many of these, but we weren't really complaining - that's what vacation is for!), and we made lunches out of fresh melons and crab dip and pimento cheese and chicken salad and it was just so good.  Best eaten on a porch overlooking the ocean.  Really, you can't beat it.

There's a lot to be said for relaxing beach afternoons.  We had quality time on our floats out in the ocean AND explored the reach of the beach in both directions AND enjoyed a delicious cooler full of sangria (and water - we hydrate!) AND just sat. And listened to the waves and were just there.  So wonderful. For two afternoons in a row. For hours. More, please.

We come prepared.

Sweet, blessed provider of shade for pale, pale me.

One night for dinner we headed to Dockside, where the service was a little questionable, the food was darn good, and we had a great view of the sunset over the water.

And where did I spend just a whole lot of time?  Oh, hello, fantastic rocking chair on wonderful screened-in deck. Come home with me. I love you.

Our other post-beach dinner was at The Old Post Office, which was just awesome - I mean, this is about as fancy as you can get down in Edisto.

Dessert Triumvirate #2 - so much deliciousness...and it's even by candlelight, awwww.

Oh, hi, Edisto sunset, you're pretty

We did some exploring and found crazy old churches...

...and dolphins!!!  Ok, so the sleeper in me kinda missed the early morning dolphin activity while Kami and Carolyn actually woke up and did things that are good for you, but on our last morning we made an Erin trip to see the dolphins...and it started to rain.  And we only kinda saw the dolphins.  But I know they're there.

Back to Charleston we go, with one more walk along the water, and then time to fly away home.  Why can't vacations just last forever?

To Edisto we go!

To the beach we go!  First fascination of mine along the way - boat parking.  Boat after boat after boat, all stacked up.  And they take them down with forklifts.  That's just fascinating to the West Texas gal in me.

Second fascination - you really can find everything in Wal-Mart, provided you can actually find the Wal-Mart that's hiding behind all these trees.  We scored floppy hats and awesome floats and beach chairs and all the supplies we could need that we figured would have a pretty steep uptick in price at our few Edisto shopping options.  Score one for Wally World!

We wound our way along the edge of South Carolina, keeping our eyes peeled for creepy Spanish moss and really old churches and maybe even a roadside gator or two (didn't actually come across those, thank goodness) as we made our way to Edisto.  After a quick call to Craig to figure out where the beach house actually is (I had the wrong address written down, oopsie), we hauled in all of our goodies and immediately headed for the water, just to splash our toes and know that, yes, we are really at the beach.

Sandy feet are happy feet

Piggly Wiggly (I have an irrational love for this store - I don't know why.  I bought a Piggly Wiggly coffee mug) adventures to stock up on supplies, dinner at The Waterfront (pimento cheese every day!) and we were ready for an early night.  Hit it, ocean waves.

In my mind I'm going to Carolina...

...well, not really in my mind, because we actually went, but, you know, always good to get a little James Taylor in there AND the song came on the radio (thank you, Sirius!) our last day there.  YES.  At the end of June the gals (Carolyn and Kami!) and I took to the skies and roads for our annual summer getaway - this marks year six for us!  And our first kinda-repeat trip - two years ago we went to Charleston and Savannah, and this year's journey took us through Charleston again since it's the nearest airport to the wonderful place known as THE BEACH HOUSE.  Perks of marriage, y'all.  Craig's aunt and uncle have had a beach house on Edisto Island for years and years, and they were kind enough to let us stay for a few days so we could just relax and enjoy the sound of those ocean waves.  Isn't that wonderful?  As wonderful as fried green tomatoes!

fried deliciousness...

We knew we wanted to spend a little time in Charleston, so we set those alarms (and I actually woke up!!) and took an early flight in so we'd be there in time for lunch...obviously wanting to fit in as many delicious Southern meals as possible.  And we really did just hop in the car and head straight to Jestine's Kitchen for lunch.  Seriously.  We parked the car and were not distracted by anything in our quest for Jestine's.  Fried green tomatoes and iced tea and fried chicken and meatloaf and dessert triumvirate number one.  Holy freakin' yum.

Coca-Cola cake AND coconut cream pie AND banana pudding - don't mind if I do.  I'm glad my friends share. =)

We needed a little walking after lunch to attempt to burn off 1/1,168,739th of what we ate, so it was off to Charleston City Market with its beautiful wrought iron and general cuteness (also general lack of things we'd actually want to buy amid the general abundance of overpriced ridiculous things - no sir, we do NOT want to pay $38 for a floppy hat that will likely fall apart tomorrow, thank you very much)...

...and also down Rainbow Row for a look at the pretty houses...

...and over to the waterfront to catch those ocean breezes (not NEARLY as hot this time around, thank goodness - a couple years ago we were constantly dripping with sweat glowing)...

...and my favorite, swing time!  I just LOVE these swings that are part of Charleston Waterfront Park - it is so relaxing to just sit and gaze out at the ocean and catch up with friends.  

Swing feet!  And sepia takes some of the white out of my legs...

Already looking relaxed and happy, especially since our new little friend didn't steal my camera.  That's always a good start.

A little city time... 

...and now off to the beach!

Fredericksburging finale

Taking in the wildflowers at LBJ Ranch

Last full day Fredericksburging, boo.  Can't we have just a few more?  Oh well.  After eating peach pie with ice cream (hellooooo, we're on VACATION!!) for breakfast (that was just me, actually - far more reasonable people had breakfast that actually resembled normal breakfast) and lounging around Avery Haus for a bit, we divided up into three groups.  (1) A group of travelers to Luckenbach for a little beer and a little music and the purchasing of t-shirts, (2) families to a wildflower farm for really adorable pictures, and (3) the boys + Diana + me to LBJ Ranch for some learning and wildflowers of our own and other historical/nature adventures.  

Can't get enough of the pretty flowers and beautiful day!

Our time at the ranch was pretty awesome!  You pick up a CD that you play in your car as it guides you through the whooooole ranch (completely free, too, which is a nice perk), and you can get out at different stops along the way and do things like listen to historical reenactors explain how to make cheese (eeekk!) and admire fancy old hats...

 ...and entertain yourself 1860s style...

...and watch out for feisty barnyard animals...

...and explore cool old barns...

...and meet some really large animals and learn about things you didn't know existed like the ability to brand HORNS...

...and make new friends with the guy attached to those horns...

...and see cool old airplanes affectionately known as Air Force One-Half...

...and pretend to be the President...

...and just generally enjoy the beautiful, wide-open spaces. 

beautiful day at the ranch 

We also took a guided tour of the Texas White House (no pictures allowed inside, boo) with a pretty enthusiastic park ranger, and it was really interesting to learn about the history of the house and check out LBJ's office. After making our way through the house, we took a little swing break down by the Pedernales River...

...and then went to meet up with Groups #1 & 2 for some winery time!  First stop was Grape Creek, where they most fortunately had some awesome ladies serving BBQ (we were STARVING - historical adventures are hard work).  We set up shop outside in the shade, listened to some live music, and worked our way through brisket sandwiches and several bottles of wine.  So right.

beverages of choice for the afternoon

the gang under a dang big tree

Number Three

cheers, parenting style

ummmm, excuse me!  mom needs some more juice!

Then we headed up the road to Becker for some more wine, some more quality lounging time in the shade, some more wine, a couple of bug adventures, and some more wine.

Diana, Dan, & Jeremy outside Becker

It really was just a beautiful afternoon!

Back into town for dinner on the giant patio at Silver Creek, then we all headed back to the great backyard at Amoroso Cottage for a rousing game of horseshoes and a grand finale in the form of s'mores.

Isn't this such an awesome backyard??  I want to steal that stone fireplace.  And the Adirondack chairs.  And some of those people and just keep them here with us at home because they're so awesome.

S'mores.  Dan's doing it right.

Our house ended the night shouting curses, and then it was time to crash and hit the road the next morning in the hopes of avoiding epic traffic nightmares (although cars sure did seem to have a hard time not running into each other as we came up I-35 - fortunately we were spared).  Full photo spread from the long weekend here, and it was just a GREAT weekend.  Yay for awesome friends and awesome times!