Mumford...Take 2

Back in June, I stepped off the tennis court to see that my cell phone had been blowing up. About five missed calls and a ton of texts. All from concerned friends sending me their condolences. They heard the news way before me that the Mumford & Sons concert scheduled for that night that I had (maybe a tad obsessively) been looking forward to had been cancelled at the last minute. (A band member had a blood clot on his brain! So thankful he received quick, good medical care and recovered well.)  But that sadly/understandably meant the Dallas concert had to be postponed until September.  Pretty sure I contributed a few hundred views to the 40 million + of this video as I sulked and waited:

And finally in mid-September, the night arrived...again. Giddy doesn't explain how excited I was. I researched the playlists from the months and months of their tour and created a constant repeat playlist of my own. I was ready. And to make the night even better, we went with some fellow Mumfordites, Scott & Kelli. They picked us up so we could ride together, and we were all pretty proud of the fact that we may have been the only ones arriving at the concert in a minivan. :) Once we found our tiny spot on the lawn, we were at least relieved to see that we weren't the oldest people there. It was a close call...but I think I saw maybe five others who were older than us throughout the sold-out hipster crowd. :)

And the night did not disappoint. We stood for the almost three hours they played. I loved EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE. They did a great job with my favorite, Awake My Soul. And then I may have shed a small tear when the encore was an acoustic version of one of their lesser known/but my 2nd favorite M&S song ever, Where Are You Now.

The music. The lyrics. The band. The friends. The hilarious/creepy/taken from a movie scene spending an hour trying to get out of the parking lot (in the minivan). All of it made for a perfect night!

And then my happy/giddy bubble was burst a few days later when the band announced they were taking a hiatus for "the foreseeable future."  Nooooooooooo! Hoping they're only on a break and will be back in banjo action very soon.  Until then...I Will Wait yet again.  :)

"Reminding me of my little darlings blue eyes"

Those Texas bluebonnets how sweetly they grow.

For all the wide prairies they're scattered like snow.

They make all the meadows as blue as the skies.

Reminding me of my little darlings blue eyes.

~Texas Bluebonnets by Laurie Lewis

The TX rite of passage...pictures in a random field of bluebonnets. By the end, everyone was Done with a capital D. Dirt was thrown, flowers were pulled, races were run, eyes were squinty, and I was thinking I wasn't getting any decent shots. Then I glanced down at the camera and saw the one of Will with his tongue sticking out and knew I could call it a night...I had my shot. The series of out takes from our "family selfie" attempt may be some of my favorites. I sure love these people.

Mimi & Gwakah Visit

While Wade & I were on our anniversary trip, Mimi & Gwakah (Will's way of saying of Grandpa) came and watched the boys. None of us had seen them since they moved from Texas to Oregon the first week of January. Which I realized is probably the longest I've ever gone without seeing my parents...kind of weird.

Needless to say, they have been missed. So much that once we knew they weren't far from our house, Tate decided to wait down the street at the corner to look for them. He came back and forth to the house with reports that "they're not here yet" for about 15 minutes. And then he would go back and stand his post. Until finally they pulled into the neighborhood and I could hear Tate yelling down the street, "They're here! They're here!" They had been missed. :)

Not sure if it was good or bad timing the way our trip worked that most of the days they watched the boys were school days. So they definitely worked hard getting everyone off to school, lunches packed, homework done, etc.

And then the last couple of days after we got back home, we were all able to do a few fun outings like our favorite train in Fort Worth, Tate's baseball game, and they even did the true grandparent sacrifice...Chuck E Cheese.

This one just proves he has some Higlin in his blood. :)

But before we knew it, we were dropping them off at the airport. We appreciated so much all that they did so we could go on our trip. It was a fun few days. In fact when Will woke up the next morning, the very first thing he asked was "Where are Mimi & Gwakah?" :)  We will definitely miss them but can't wait to have them back again in August!

Going Back To Cali

One day in mid September I got a call from my Dad asking if my sister & I wanted to go with him to a CAL football game. It was the next weekend. In California. Hmmmm...I need to think about that. 1.002 seconds later...Yes, Please! :)

It was a super fast weekend but we all had a blast. I can't remember the last time I spent a weekend with just my Dad & sister.

It started off a little crazy with a 5-hour delay, which got us to my aunt's house at 1:00 a.m. CA time. But all of that frustration was quickly washed away with the next three days of GORGEOUS weather in one of my most favorite (if not the favorite) cities on the planet.

After sleeping in, we headed to meet my cousin Becca & Mike for brunch. So fun to get to see her with a baby bump! :)

And then we headed out to CAL. First stop was the alumni water polo game. Dad even ran into some old swimming friends.

CAL + a pool = My Dad's Happy Place

 Lunch at Top Dog

Getting close to Game Time!

A serious pre-game workout!

The siblings/alumni.

This pic during the warm-up should've been the first clue. Wow...that's A LOT of red. I've been to several CAL games and had never seen anything like this before. It was like the Ohio State fans were multiplying somehow.

Wait. I thought this was a CAL home game???!!!

 Tightwad Hill was hoppin.

And just a few rows up from our seats was this view!

The game did not go our way...at all...but we stayed until the bitter end and still enjoyed watching the Bears! My home game record got its first loss,  3-1.  :(

 And what do all CAL fans do after a game?

The next day we headed to the city. Last time I was in California, my cousin Amy had just had her first daughter, Audrey. So it was great timing for us that we were there a few weeks after her second daughter sweet Gemma was born. She had to spend some time in the NICU, but she was able to snag a great window view.  :)

And we enjoyed a delicious lunch with the adorable Audrey as well. (Paul, how do I have no pictures of you???)

From there we started the drive out to my uncle's house. I was able to talk everyone into stopping at the Lookout Point on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Never a disappointment!

From there we took a pit stop in Sausalito. Right on the water was one of the most impressive street artists I've seen. I have no idea how he did it, but the rock stacking was both incredible and stunning.

Charming Sausalito is another one of my favorites!

And then off to Santa Rosa for a fun birthday dinner for my uncle. If we had enough time, we probably could've spent an entire afternoon going through all of the vineyards. So pretty!

Then sadly, it was the last day. We said goodbye and thank you to Aunt Barbara, our lovely hostess. But a trip to northern CA wouldn't be complete without a drive by Dogwood Drive, my dad's childhood home. We tease him about ALL of his stories, but they are always good to hear!

Grandma Ellie's infamous trees that I always thought were dogwoods (hello, it's on Dogwood Drive) until maybe a couple years ago. :)

Luckily we had a late afternoon flight, so we had a few more hours in the city on an absolutely gorgeous day. We explored the new Bay Bridge, Coit Tower, the pier where the 2013 America's Cup was happening, saw a mystery prototype car, and shopped and ate some good food at the Ferry Building.

The weekend was over before we knew it. So thankful to my Dad for making this happen for us and for providing some pretty great memories!