katie's 30th

Has your Google Reader gone into shock yet with all the posts that Shannonogans has produced in the last 2 weeks? I always have 13-15 drafts waiting for me in my post section, and I am determined to try and get up-to-date so that I don't have this foreboding everytime I think about the blog. Just want to stay current - can you blame me?

A few weekends ago I went to New Braunfels to float the river for Katie's 30th birthday. I had only just done this 2 years prior, and before that I couldn't remember the last time. And just like two years ago, the river was low due to the lack of rain. But we still had a blast.

As with all weekends with mommies, a few had to bail last minute with conflicting issues. But the smaller group worked out great. After carpooling down there on Friday, we went to a new eatery, right next to the infamous Gristmill, whose food had never been that impressive. We tried the Gruene River Grill and were all very pleased.

Carley, Kim, Shannon, Katie, Shelley, Alyssa, & Megan

It was about 9:30 by the time we got our food, which is usually my bedtime. But we were all smiles because we were child-free.

A toast to the birthday girl, whose birthday was in May, but thanks to the 3rd child added to the family, we waited until later in the summer to celebrate.

We received a favor for showing up - here is my M that has found a place in my guestroom.

But let me back up a little to share with you the play-by-play of our first encounter with our rental place. We drove up following a GPS that told us to basically drive right on top of the railroad tracks and then you are there. We viewed the neighborhood, and the shady neighbors that we appeared to have. We giggled nervously as we pulled into our place, which for the record looked fab on the website.

We were about 50 yards from this intersection, which is where the train literally drove by.

But the house was so great. Such a cute, redone home with fun decor and lots of space to sleep all of us.

I great big porch, new furniture, and you know what the best part was? We were 100 yards from the drop off into the Comal River. I kid you not, the very same place we got in two years prior with another group, and here I am at a rental home that we just walked to get our intertube rentals. It made this house a jewel.

These next set of pictures are to show you what happens when moms of little girls get together. Apparently they make bows.

Katie's buddy Shelly showed us how she makes her bows. Not having a girl makes this seem strange, but I can only imagine the cost of matching hair bows to every outfit.

Why not just start making bows for ourselves? Katie looks so great in one that maybe we moms should wear them as well.
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But why wear a bow when you can wear a smashed straw hat instead? I bought this hat at the beginning of the summer, and through getting wet and drying to its own liking (not to mention the not so great pack job on the way down), I decided I would not wear this hat to float the river. Good choice?

The crew right before walking a few yards to our destination.

We all were sporting some great shoes for the river. I love pulling out my old Lands End water shoes that I wear for fun times such as this.

After a surprisingly fun 4 hours on the river and finishing a complete bag of organic chips from Costco, we came back and fixed an early dinner since lunch never seemed to happen that day. Then we played Whoonu for the rest of the evening. This game is such a crowd pleaser and doesn't require that much thinking. It's a must for your next crowd activity.

Let's just say that the most competitive of the bunch got the lowest scores of the night. not mentioning any names here.

The next morning we loaded up to visit the San Marcos outlets. Pottery Barn Outlet didn't know what was coming that morning. I don't think I fixed my hair all weekend, as if you couldn't tell in this photo.

A fantastic ending to a great weekend!