Pals

We had another lovely Austin visit this past weekend. It was our annual trip to attend the Texas Review of Law and Politics banquet, where P and I dress up and rub shoulders with a room full of lawyers and law students, judges and politicians. That may not sound too exciting to many of you, but I can honestly say - after five years in attendance now - it isn't all that bad. One develops an interesting sort of "friendship" with the people that one spends exactly one evening a year with - especially when those people are other lawyers' wives who are similarly fish out of water in such a crowd! Also, I just can't resist the coffee-and-dessert portion of such banquets. Something about those bizarre strawberry-glazed cheesecake pyramids coupled with a small cup of coffee (which may or may not have the usual cream and sugar, depending on the ability of one's tablemates to pass condiments in response to nonverbal suggestions)...

But I digress. I started this post so that I could share this:

Luke made a friend for life this weekend. My Aunt Marquita was also a fabulous companion, entertainer, and substitute grandma for him this weekend - but "G-Dad," as Uncle Gary is known to his own crew of grands, was the real superstar - and an amazingly tireless one at that. From the moment we arrived for our two-night stay with them, G-Dad provided adventure and entertainment for our little Energizer Boy - as together they climbed the treehouse, took after-dark walks, passed a ball or played with a makeshift baseball tee, explored the toy box, and (my favorite) memorized every animal in a huge picturebook that G-Dad produced from his Collection of Wonders. They were a perfect pair, and it was a pleasure for us to watch them together.

We also had a great time exploring Camp Mabry with Uncle JC and the Copeland family, seeing cousin Isaac pitch at his baseball game, eating hamburgers at Phil's Icehouse, and worshipping with our dear family at Brentwood.

Most years, we struggle with our visits to Austin; we have so many friends and family that we want to see, and never enough time. But this year, it was an unexpected blessing to have reasons to make two separate trips within just a few weeks; I at least waved at many of those loved ones whom I miss so dearly - even if a genuine visit wasn't quite possible. And the time we had with family was, of course, priceless.

Forgive me for not reporting on the previous trip, which was also wonderful - we (with the rest of the Vickers-Gregersen clan) celebrated our nephew Jacob's first birthday. (I wish I had a photo to share of that kiddo because he's a cutie - and so gifted! And I'm not just saying that because I'm his aunt...) There was cake, sunshine, teeball, grandparents... needless to say, Luke had a spectacular time.