Girl Of An Age

We were in Asheville, NC last weekend to attend Mark's cousin's wedding.

It was amazingly beautiful!

The trees were brilliant and the weather was mild enough for us Floridians to enjoy the cool breezes without shivering to death.

The ceremony was in a field by a river.

There were fairies scattered here and there among the guests.

The fairies carried baskets filled with wings, wands, 

and glow sticks for the children.

Rio was in heaven.

Despite a rocky start where she kept yelling, 

"Nook! A horsey! A big, big horsey!"

as the bride arrived in a horse-drawn carriage.

And then she met Harrison.

He came over and asked if Rio would play with him

and then proceeded to make himself at home with our family.

He was terribly cute

and I wouldn't mind if Rio wanted to marry him

in a similar outdoor setting

when she turns 30.

Longtime

We don't have many date nights.

And we certainly don't have many getaways.

None, in fact.

We keep Rio close.

Just in case.

We can't stand to be too far away.

And 10 minutes is really far in an emergency.

So when we were invited to a company banquet

on the other coast -

a 3 hour drive across the state -

we didn't know what to do.

Luckily, my mother is an angel

and always up for an adventure.

She traveled with us and explored the beaches and scenery

with Rio

while we had a night out.

The banquet was lovely 

the company casino was fun

(they gave us each $1000 in play money.)

I told Mark,

"You're here and you're mine

I haven't seen you in a long time."

--EMF

Date night

and keeping our baby girl close by =

sweet perfection.