Our cousins, Leah and Matt's wedding

My cousin Leah is five years and one week younger than me, and my closest cousin in age.  When she was born, I was thrilled to have a cousin.  I loved thinking that I was taking care of her when she was a toddler and then becoming friends with her as we grew.  She is smart, beautiful, funny, and just a lovely, interesting person, and we were delighted that she found a wonderful match in Matt!  

We were so excited to go to Austin in June for their wedding.  On Saturday afternoon, we met my parents, brother and sister-in-law at our hotel for the night.  We spent so long catching up and taking photos that we left the hotel eleven minutes before the wedding was to start.  But at least the photos with our sweet boy proved to be worth the rush - 

We pulled up exactly at 5:00pm, and Cas dropped us off at the door so we could hustle into the gardens and museum.  Someone in my family heard that the ceremony was taking place inside the museum, so we stepped up our clothes for a museum wedding instead of following the advice on the wedding invitation (which I of course saw after the wedding) to dress casually for a Texas summer wedding.  So we rush in and see my uncle, father of the groom, in a short-sleeve Hawaiian shirt.  Poor Cas in his long sleeve dress shirt and tie shot me some not-so-loving glances!  And after the harried drive to the wedding from our hotel, we then then had plenty of time to say hi to everyone, explore the beautiful setting, yell for Collin and Bryce who had wandered off on a garden hike when everyone else was gathered for the ceremony, and snap one picture of the beautiful and happy bride and groom-to-be minutes before they officially became husband and wife.

In typical Austin fashion, the laid-back, sweet, personal ceremony began once Bryce and Collin returned from being lost in the woods, and thankfully not at 5:00 on the dot.  Our Uncle Larry officiated the wedding, Leah and Matt recited personal vows that had us all tearing up, and after the ceremony we all had the opportunity to toast the new couple.  

After the ceremony, Maya's chipmunk cheeks were still stuffed with goldfish.  She's not great at sitting calm and quietly, and we were feeding her goldfish by the handful to keep her from causing too much of a disruption in Leah and Matt's sweet ceremony.

This dress from Aunt Anisja and Uncle Victor was a hit at the wedding, earning her countless compliments.  She was happy to pose for and with us in her beautiful gown - 

She's such a happy girl!

Maya loved spending time with Uncle Bobby and chalking for the first time.  

I let her finger paint a picture for Father's Day, but of course she tried to eat the finger paint.  So I didn't think she was ready for art yet, but she seemed to really enjoy the chalk, and only had a few telltale signs of trying a nibble near her lips -

Aunt Debbie and Collin with bubble wand in hand.  Chalk, bubbles, a band and garden trails - the kids at the wedding were happily entertained!

Busting a move while Maya sat and bounced to the beat -

We got one forced family shot before dinner, but my kids were spending so much time with family we hardly had both of them with us at the same time the whole evening -

Only a grandma would go on a LONG hike in June in Texas in a nice dress and heels and come back with eight sticks!  

Our family at the wedding -

Brownie made sure Maya was well-fed while the rest of us feasted

Maya giggling at Grammy and playing peek-a-boo while we listened to toasts -

The wedding wrapped up with a surprise flash mob dance to the bride and groom to "We are Family" which we had been practicing in the week leading up to the wedding.  Cas said it was better than the train wreck he expected the dance to be.  Then my wonderful parents took my kids to their hotel suite, while Cas and I got to live like young Austinites.  We joined the wedding party, jumping into the freezing and refreshing Barton Springs, and then headed to grab a drink with the family, spending the night telling funny cousin stories.  We had a great time, and the best part was, Saturday was just the start of a four day vacation we got to spend with my brother, sister-in-law, and parents.