I'm Back!!

Sorry I have left all 11 of you hanging for so long! It has been a crazy few weeks!!

Now to work on catching up...

We packed up and drove home to Texas a couple weeks ago for a fun trip home visiting family. This trip was extra special though, because it was planned around our good friend, Madison Bowden Ussrey's, wedding! Even though we have lived out of state for all our friends' weddings we have managed to make it to all except 2 I think. This is so important to me :) We had a great time!

When we first found out the details of Madison's wedding we planned to make it a dual purpose trip and celebrate our 5 YEAR anniversary a little early! Hooray! We booked a bed and breakfast in Fredericksburg, Texas for the weekend. It was great! We had never left the girls for an overnight stay, much less a whole weekend but it was a welcomed milestone ;)  They stayed with their Grammy for the weekend and it was reported that a great time was had by all.

While in Fredericksburg, I was amazed by how much there is to do and see! I have been before but have never done anything other than shop and pick peaches, hehe.  When Gordon and I pulled into town we went straight to dinner because we were starving! lol  We picked a little German restaurant, appropriately, named Der Lindenbaum. It was super yummy! 

Gordon's beer from Der Lindenbaum... very important to capture the memories.

After dinner we walked the streets and window shopped (literally- everything closes at 6! haha). We eventually made it back to the B&B and enjoyed the hot tub in the back yard. I like hot tubs but would never buy- I only enjoy it for the first 10 minutes...

The next morning we ate at Mahaley's Cafe. AMAZING breakfast. We each got a breakfast taco and shared a DIVINE cinnamon roll. Seriously the best either of us had ever had. Very reasonable prices. I think all that food plus a coffee and bottle of water cost just over $12. You must eat there if you visit Fredericksburg!

After breakfast we killed some time people watching, waiting for the shops to open. This town is serious about their time off, haha! The shops were fun but we bought almost nothing. Just not much that shouted to me that I HAD to have it ;) Gordon thoroughly enjoyed the ability to stop in to little shops and diners and purchase a beer to enjoy while walking and shopping with me. For lunch we went to The Brewery. Super yummy food and yummy beer for G. The beer is made in house so it adds a little extra interest. 

My chicken fried steak from the Brewery. It was absurdly large. Look at it in comparison to the Dr Pepper can!

Just realizing we were not doing a very good job of taking pics ;)

Next on the agenda was a visit to Wildseed Farms. This was a really neat little place. They have wine tastings and concessions in the little shop and then you can roam around on your own admiring all the different varieties of wild flowers that they grow and sell (seeds and matured plants).  

After this we were off to Lady Bird Johnson Park to walk the nature trails. There was some really pretty scenery and it was fun to do something different. Funny how much more conversation you can enjoy when spending time in God's creation (and without the girls no matter how adorable they are). I hadn't ever done any hiking before but I really enjoyed it... even if I did do it in flip flops, hehe.

For dinner, we met Missy and Sumer at Rathskeller, another little German restaurant. We were not impressed with their dinner menu. It was very short with higher prices for the same food that we'd had at Der Lindenbaum and seen elsewhere around town. When Missy and Sumer got there, they agreed so we up and left! haha...  We stood around debating where we should eat and decided to go back to The Brewery :) This is when Gordon bought his Growler. He loves it. Yummy food and great company!

 Us and Sumer :)

Gordon and his beloved growler!

After they left, Gordon and I went out to The Hangar Hotel where we had originally planned on staying. They have an extensive martini list at their little bar with views of the runway so you can watch planes come and go. The hotel is designed after the WWII era and is very classy. We will definitely be staying there next time!

In the morning we tried to eat at Rather Sweet, only to realize that they are closed on Sundays. We walked back down to Mahaley's but they're also closed on Sundays! We were sad but I think part of the charm of this little town is found in the fact that they have not completely converted themselves into a tourist trap. We ended up at Rathskeller and their breakfast menu was yummy! We were both stuffed by the time we left for the Nimitz Museum. We thoroughly enjoyed the museum but had sadly greatly underestimated the amount of time we should commit to it. We should have gotten our passes the first night (good for 48 hours) and spent a little time each day. We were on information overload only a couple hours in and there was so much more to see. Next time!

 There are hundreds of plaques donated to individual soldiers, ships, companies, etc

 Japanese Garden of Peace donated by the people of Japan

Did you know that the 8 consecutive Presidents before Clinton all served in WWII? We think military service should be a requirement for Presidential candidates.

For lunch, we headed back out to the Hangar, this time to their diner. It was super yummy food and there were many planes coming and going so we had quite the show.

Alas, our trip was almost over and we headed to Missy's house to chill and my parents and Ted and Gail met us there. So fun to hang out and laugh a while!

Again, we were off to Madison's wedding :) The wedding was beautiful and it was fun to see some old friends. We had to head out a little early to ensure we would be able to stay awake for the drive home but it left me wishing we would have had a little more time for conversation... o well. Can't believe I didn't take any pictures either, oops.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend!!! 

A big thanks to Tammy for keeping the girls :)