The Perfect Austin Wedding

The big wedding weekend in Austin was interesting to say the least, but that is Austin for you. The wedding itself was beautiful and fun. It was some of the surrounding events that made for an "interesting" weekend.
On Friday morning we met with Lindsay and Shay to caravan to Austin. We picked up Mom in WF. It rained all day. Thinking that we had lots of time, we stopped in Mineral Wells to view the old Baker Hotel. Shay was very taken with the old building. Our next stop was Stephensville where we had a very nice lunch at a Mexican food restaurant. The stops we made on the trip to Austin should not have caused us to run late, but the rain and the traffic added to things, and we were a bit rushed to get to the hotel and then to the wedding. It turned out fine, and we got to the wedding at the appointed time to take family photos. The wedding took place at the Zilker Park Clubhouse overlooking Austin. The rain let up just in time for the photos and the wedding – perfect timing.

The ceremony itself was a bit different, but very nice. Craig and Catherine wrote and planned the entire ceremony including many Celtic blessings learned during their recent trip to Ireland. They placed their rings in a bowl that was passed around to the crowd for blessings. By the time the bowl came to me, we had been told to hurry it up. I thought of what my blessing should be, but felt rushed. Then I thought of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" where the Greeks spit on the wedding couple as a blessing. I did not spit in to the bowl, but I did get tickled. I was caught of guard by my dad’s OFG jacket placed on the chair as a memorial to him. Catherine placed her father’s USAF flight jacket on a chair as a memorial to her father. C&C also included vows to each other’s grown children and to Catherine’s grandchildren to always be there for them. As Craig was making vows to love and support Catherine’s family, Catherine’s granddaughter, Emma who was in her father’s arms, reached out and went into Craig’s arms – perfect timing again.
My GGs were also very entertaining at the wedding. As the ceremony started I was holding GBN2. In typical toddler fashion, she grabbed the neckline of my shirt and started pulling it down with me fighting her off and pulling my shirt back up. When I told her to stop pulling on my shirt, in her little baby voice she said, "Booboo, I like your milks." Toby leaned over and said, "Me too!" Giggles erupted around us for those close enough to hear the exchange. Then as the ceremony drew to an end, GBN1 announced, "I smell poop!" which caused more giggles. Rather than serving cake, huge luscious cupcakes were served. The GGs as well as all the little children at the wedding loved these. They also loved the dancing. The grown-ups loved the dancing too.

Because of the rain, several people who were flying into Austin got delayed and missed the ceremony. My Uncle Danny, his wife and son, Buck, whom I have not seen in years, showed up late. It made for a nice surprise when they arrived. It was really great to see them. Buck joined his cousins and the family fun as if he had been around us all his life. Here they are down on SoCo doing some shopping and listening to a street band. That is Buck sitting next to Jes.

The rest of the weekend was filled with seeing family and friends. We ate lots of good food and did some serious dancing – all of which was great. The ladies did some shopping while the men played a little golf at the chip and putt.

There were some down moments. Austin was having some sort of car show. It was fun to see all of the different cars up and down the drag. There were all sorts of interesting old cars including some old hotrods – Many of these people were staying at the same hotel where we stayed. They were nice people, but their cars took up all of the parking spaces and were quite loud when started up at all hours of the night. Then there was the yelling and a fight outside of our room at about 3 AM. The hotel itself was not great. The breakfast was skimpy at best, the Internet was down, and the room was stinky. So, we went out to breakfast and had some great migas at Magnolia’s. All in all it was a good weekend, but I am glad to be home.

Dancing photos:Mike and the girlsBo and Jes Jes and GBN1Adam and his friend, Sarah