Watch Out Texas, Here We Come, Part 2 - updated

Well, we started this Texan adventure on Monday, I last posted to the blog on Tuesday and now it's Sunday.  Can you tell it's been a busy week?  I will try and keep this as condensed as possible, but it's been a jam-packed few days and I have over 100 photos to choose from...

Wednesday

We left Dave & Kristen's at 9:30am and had an easy drive down to Austin arriving a short 3 hours later.  Months ago when Abbie got engaged we decided it would be best to rent a house with my parents for the grand event to maximize time with family and for the most comfortable option for the boys.  When we got to the house we were thrilled at this decision and so excited to get the boys outside in the great yard and set up in the spacious house.  Doug ran back out in the car for some lunch for us all while I got the boys settled into their rooms (and the boys entertained themselves for the most part).  After lunch and after Penn went down for his nap, the highly anticipated arrival of Gramma and Grampa occurred.  Tavin was able to say a quick hello before his nap as well and Koen had the fun of spending much of the afternoon with them.

Check out the view of Austin from the amazing place we stayed!

We stayed in the "carriage house."  Originally we were all supposed to stay there, but there was an issue with the heating unit in the downstairs apartment where my parents were to stay, so the owners opened up the main house for my parents.  It was an amazing bonus and blessing to have the extra space!

Later in the afternoon, Abbie, the bride-to-be, showed up.  We were all so thrilled to see her and she was so grateful to have us all here in Austin finally!

Even Penn warmed up to Aunt Abbie pretty quickly (you know how he can be a tough one to cozy up to if I'm around!).

Gramma got some attention too.  Oh how I love to see my boys with my family!

Wednesday night was almost too overwhelming.  We were all at once with family, in an amazing space and a fun, new city and we had warm enough weather to play outside every waking moment.  The boys were so happy just to explore the yard and make up their own games.  Tavin spent most of his evening flying around his fire plane.

Penn learned how to walk this winter, so his little footsteps have never occurred outdoors really.  He has LOVED navigating the interesting terrains in this yard...stones, brick, grass, wood.  He squeals and claps for himself when he accomplishes a feat.  It is so adorable.  

On Wednesday night, Abbie and her fiance, Zac, and a couple who had already flown in for the wedding came over and we had a casual cookout.  Grilling out while it was snowing back home felt good!

The couple that hung out with us that night, Diana & Greg, were super sweet and Diana totally fell in love with the big brown eyes of our Penn Rye.  She got some amazing pictures that I just had to share.  Thanks, Diana!

Thursday

Thursday was full of fun wedding preparations.  At 11:30am Abbie had Mom and I attend her final dress fitting.  I can now show these pictures since the wedding has already happened.  Here's the cute bride-to-be before.

And here is after!!

Doug and Dad were in charge of the boys during this time and took them to the playground for lots of outdoor play on the gorgeous day and a picnic lunch and then they ended their time with a stop at an Austin original, Amy's Ice Cream.  Looks like Penn now likes IC!

Now back to the girls, after the fitting we dropped Abbie's dress off at her apartment and headed to get some launch, just a little Gagnon girl time.  Abbie was so gracious to give us such special moments of her last few days before the wedding.  And she was such a calm, cool and collected bride.  Well, exact for maybe in this picture.  She's a little ticklish when getting a pedicure.

Yeah, Abbie and I had run some errands for the wedding after dropping Mom off at the house and then we had continued on to meet up with another bridesmaid and a friend for manicures for the wedding.  It was luxurious having a little pamper-me time.  It's been awhile!  When I got back home the little guys were up from their naps and Dad and Doug were entertaining them.   Penn even learned to fly airplane with Grampa!  

I had a mixture of responses to my gussied-up nails.  Tavin asked about them, but didn't seem to care much one way or the other.  Penn thought they were buttons and pushed on them and made noise and waited for them to do something.  Douglas thought they looked nice and Koen HATED them.  Yep, he told me that himself, many times.  He was begging to use my camera when I got back and so I told him he could take a picture of my nails since he liked them so much.  He didn't think it was funny, but he still took the picture.

Then he got this hilarious picture of Penn who is just so happy with all this outdoor playtime!

I thought this was a sweet one Koen got of Tavin and I.  

The boys were mighty tired that night.  Koen especially.  He had been waking up way earlier than usual probably due to all the excitement our days held, but oh my goodness did he need rest!!  Thankfully as the days passed he normalized and his body settled and let him sleep longer and harder.  Phew!  After we got the tired bugs to bed, Doug and I headed out on the town to meet Abbie, Zac and my brother, Phil, and his wife, Leah (who had just arrived that evening) for dinner at an Austin favorite, Chuy's.  This was Phil's first opportunity to meet Zac and the first time that all the brothers/brothers-in-law were together.  Pretty special guys!

We were all pretty tired, so we didn't stay out late, but it was great to be all together.  That's one of my favorite part about weddings.  Rarely do you get to be surrounded by so many of your loved ones at once.  

Friday - Rehearsal Day!

Now we are getting to the part of the week where every moment had to be well-planned in order to pull off being in a wedding (me) and officiating a wedding (Doug) while having your 3 young children along for the ride.  I have to say that Doug and I are a great team and pulled it off with strength and grace from the Lord and I'm so thankful we have kids that do really well in these situations.  They were champs all weekend (and there will be plenty of accolades to them as we continue (and lots of pictures too of course)).  On Friday the rehearsal was at 11am.  Abbie & Zac's venue was at the beautiful Wildflower Barn in Driftwood, TX.  I've never been happier about an outdoor wedding.  When you have 3 adventurous boys in tow and both parents are involved in the wedding, there isn't a better solution.  Here they are traipsing through the woods after the rehearsal.  By the way, can you tell it is another gorgeous day.  80 degrees and sunny!

My dapper little men.

After the rehearsal, my sister-in-law, Leah, asked if she could take some family photos.  Yes, ma'am (as they say here!).  Here are the favorites.

And a silly one...of course.

The rehearsal went so smoothly and then we all headed to The Salt Lick, one of the nation's highest rated barbecue joints.  It was delicious, but the food paled in comparison to the special family moments for the Gagnons, Diltzs and everyone in between.  Here are a few photos I caught amidst the festivities, food and toasts.  Look at the gorgeous flowers!

My mom and my Aunt Glennie.  It was Aunt Glennie's 80th birthday, this Valentine's Day which Abbie recognized at the dinner.

The boys on the Salt Lick playground.  They were so patient waiting for the meal.  Can I just underscore again how amazing it was to be able to have these boys outdoors so much?  We were so blessed with amazing weather for these few days in Austin!

This is Koen with a lemon in his mouth.  A little freaky.

"Sisters, sisters, never were there such devoted sisters."

The original Gagnon girls (and their sidekick, Penn Rye Melder).

The new Gagnon girls (and still with cutie pie, Penn Rye).

The Rehearsal Dinner officially ended around 2pm which is past the beginning of both Penn & Tavin's naptimes.  Let's just say they were exhausted, especially Penn.  They were amazing through the whole thing though quietly listening (well, Penn was roaming around doing his adorable baby thing).  We were so proud (and thankful!).  I didn't even bother trying to keep Penn up on the way home, that baby deserved to crash and crash he did.  This is about 2 minutes after we got in the car. 

Thankfully Penn went right back to sleep to complete a nice long afternoon nap when we got back to our rental house.  Tavin laid down too (although unsure if he actually slept) and Koen had some much needed chill time with a movie.  I went on a walk at the park behind our place.  After all that we of course got the boys right back outside until bedtime.  Uncle Phil & Aunt Leah stopped by for awhile (which I forgot to get the camera out for).  We also got some nice time with Grampa then too, here are a few shots of that.

Abbie & Zac were so gracious and hosted a handful of guests in town for the wedding for a casual dinner that evening.  We were happy to have it here in this fabulous location and the big space the yard offers.  What a spot!

What a day in preparation for THE DAY!!  Abbie & Zac were calm, cool and collected at each event and so sweet to see their excitement and anticipation to become husband and wife.  This is all the time I have to blog so far, so I will leave you at this point in our trip and resume with a post about the wedding as soon as I catch a chance!!