Girls Trip, Throwing Arm, and Teeth!

I returned last night from the 5th Annual Girl's Trip! I was happy to have gone, and really happy to come back to this smile...

Lindsey, Lindsay, Lanie, and I celebrated five years of girls trips with a visit to the wine country! We planned to rent a convertible (more on that later) and then head to Sonoma to sip wine, relax, and enjoy fun conversation. I will share a couple of the funnier, more notable stories...

Upon arrival, we gathered our luggage and carted it all out to the rental facility. I was in charge of the rental car....no worries...I do this all the time for work (in case you don't pick up on it, this is foreshadowing ;-)! We took our 10 suitcases out to the parking lot and the kind fellow pulled our convertible up for us to load and gave us a warning--these cars aren't meant for lots of bags. No worries?!? How many Aggies does it take to load a car? We can do it. Well, National Rental Guy goes to get another National Rental Guy to confer over whether this feat of engineering it would take was anywhere close to possible. The two confer and say, no. Never say no to the four of us! 20 minutes, and 10+ combinations of bags later, we got them in. The small ones are stowed behind the spot for the convertible top, three big ones are sideways, and Lindsay's is opened up and lying on top. Too funny!

So, we proceed to the check out booth.

Me: What? I don't have a car reserved?

National Car Rental Booth Lady: No, there is no reservation for you.

Me: Hmmm.

****Back up car, get out of car, go inside to talk to Patty who is supposed to fix this. Then, I return to the car***

Me: Girls...

Girls: We have no car?

Me: We have no car.

*sigh*

Me: And...they don't have any available.

Lanie: Okay. Let's get on line and see if we can get one anywhere in the Bay Area...

*shred of hope*

Lanie: Guess what? I have a car? I never canceled MY reservation since Sarah never sent a confirmation?!?

*can you beleive the rental car carma this took?!?! *

So, we back up the car, get back in line, and then learn that someone else has rented the convertible (obviously). Moments pass where we think we may have to unload all of our luggage--really? We spent so much time getting it in there? Dissapointment begins to fill the car and then, alas...

National Rental Guy: I'll let the convertible go

Yay!!! We are on our way, top up 'cause it won't go down with all of our luggage in the back...but on our way, in our car, nonetheless! Morale: Don't let me be in charge of the rental car and good packers always win in the end!

Although news of the storm was worrisome and had us glued to the tv at night (2 of us live in Houston), we couldn't help but giggle as Geraldo clung to the palm trees during the high winds. What was he thinking? Both Lanie and Lindsay chose the cheap parking this trip...unfortunately, we still don't know whether their cars are still on the lot?!? For all we know, they are floating down I-45.Four days of fun in the wine country was awesome! My favorite parts were the afternoons we shared a bottle of wine, crackers, cheese, and salami in the shade. We really had fun getting lost on the mountain roads (if we were lost elsewhere, we always looked for the mountains), finding a bottle of wine that all four of us liked, and getting to know four ladies that were on their first girls trip at age 70!
Thanks for the fun, Ladies. Here's to Key West '09.

Now...for an update on Baby O...

Before I left, when O wanted a toy out of his toy box, he would lunge over and topple in...not now! Look at this boy just reaching and grabbing for what he wants without a thought toward falling head-first into his toys! So big now.

O was just starting to rev up the ole arm and chuck his toys across the room last Tuesday. I called down to Daddy Q the first time he did it that day. Boy, did they ever practice this skill while mom was away... Just look at his face. And that arm is moving so fast it is blurry. So funny! btw, his shirt is wet from drinking out of his sippy cup. He gets carried away sometimes!
Here's a shot from behind....
It goes a pretty long way! Once O takes in the results of his maneuver, then he crawls across the room to do it again.
And...the only shot I was able to get of those front, bottom teeth coming in. Can you see them? The one on the right is further along, but you can glimpse the one on the left that isn't far behind!

What you don't see in all of the above photos is the case of hives that little man has/had today. No fun! I talked with the Pediatrician's nurse today and we got the rash under control. Now, we have to figure out what he is allergic to. Poor guy.

Now...I have to go and catch up on the blogs that I follow--its been a week since I last looked--can't wait!!