See Y'all Later

In December we were hit with the sad news that two of our best friends, not to mention two of our kids best friends were moving back to their "forever home".  The Garretts were a family that we clicked with from the start, and I know that we will continue to be close with them despite the distance.

Isla asks me on an almost daily basis where Asher and Harper are, after all, this was her boyfriend and one of the very few girls that she actually liked!  After ten or so times of explaining that Asher and Harper, and Miss Kristy and Mr. Matt moved to North Carolina, she finally seems to understand, at least so much as they all moved to "Arolina", wherever that is...

Well, Goodbyes are never fun, however, our group of friends were all determined to make this most recent farewell as fun as possible.   My 9:00 Saturday night bedtime seems to indicate that the "We'll see you later " party was a roaring success.

We decided to toast the family kid free at the St. Arnolds Brewery in downtown Houston.  This place is so much fun, and totally kid friendly if you have the patience.  They are open from 11-2pm on Saturdays and like most micro brewery's give away tokens for about 6 beers to sample during this time period.  The greatest thing about St. Arnolds, and what separates them from the rest is the fact that you can bring in whatever you want to eat, and entertain yourselves with while you are there.  Looking around, you will see board games, tailgating parties, playing cards, snack foods, and lawn chairs for the industrious few that realize all the available seating will eventually be taken.  Tours run throughout the 11-2 period although we did not make it on a tour this trip.  We did bring some games, however, we all ended up sitting around and catching up - realizing how weird it was going to be without an integral part of our group.  Although it was sad when you really stopped to think about it, we kept the good times rolling and had a wonderful send off for two of our best friends.

Later on that night the Texans were playing, so two of our friends, Stacie and Craig, graciously offered to host an after party at their house.  It was a good place to say a last (but of course NOT FINAL) goodbye to Matt and Kristy and their sweet babies Asher and Harper.  North Carolina is now a better place with this family in it, and I am looking forward to the day that we can all meet up again.