Let’s go back a few months to Cinco de Mayo of this year, Saturday May 5, 2012: Chris and I went to Arkansas Bend Park (on Lake Travis) and spent the afternoon playing in the water and soaking in the sun as we waited for our friends. Later that evening, Jaidev, Stephanie, Carol, and Josh joined us. We set up camp on the edge of the lake (actually a sandbar that was exposed by the long drought we’d been having) and enjoyed the perfectly warm and breezy weather. We sat around a fire, had dinner, and played with Josh & Carol’s daughter, Suria, who was just learning to walk. As we took turns passing her around, it dawned on me that I wouldn’t necessarily have to give up camping after having kids – being outside is one of my favorite things in life and it was really comforting to realize that Chris and I would still be able to do this when it was our time to start a family.
As the night progressed, we gazed at the sky and admired the “supermoon” – the closest the moon had been to the Earth since the previous year. Eventually the full moon wasn’t the only thing to look at. Clouds began forming in the horizon and before we knew it, we were in the middle of a spectacular lighting show. The weather was still quite serene where we were so we sat contentedly like kids at a fireworks display. But as the wind started shifting, we realized that this storm would probably close in on us at some point in the night. With the gusts picking up, and being camped right on the lakeshore, we made a quick decision to pack up and head home. In a mad dash we threw everything in the car just as big drops of rain started pelting the ground. As we drove back to our house, the storm was in full force and I couldn’t shake the feeling that nature was telling us to go home. We made it back safely and Jaidev and Steph joined us soon enough since they had been staying at our house that week. The camping trip was supposed to be a mini-vacation for them since they had been renovating their own house nonstop, but they left first thing Sunday morning to work some more and Chris and I had our place to ourselves for the day.
The next weekend we threw an engagement party for Michelle and Josh at our house – it was a potluck style brunch that was super successful. Everyone brought some really great dishes and it was one of the best brunches I’d had in awhile. It was also our last weekend in Austin, at least for a little while.
On Wednesday May 16, Chris and I flew to Paris. We took an amazing road trip through France and Spain to celebrate our 4-year wedding anniversary. I’ll tell you more about that trip later. But in short, towards the end of the vacation, I wasn’t doing too well. After feeling extremely fatigued from a short little hike in the foothills of the French Alps, I decided it was time to pick up a multi-vitamin. I was convinced I was getting anemic since I don’t eat red meat and the leafy greens that are so prominent in my diet back home aren’t nearly as common in French cuisine. But upon arriving at the pharmacy, Chris suggested we purchase a pregnancy test as well. I didn’t realize how late I was because I was so caught up with being on vacation, but we went ahead and bought it in conjunction with some prenatal iron + folic acid supplements. We conducted this exchange completely in French too as the pharmacist spoke no English – but she was super nice and extremely helpful, insisting that I take the prenatal pills since the other iron supplement I was about to buy could potentially hurt anyone enceinte (pregnant).
Later that day as we were driving through some gorgeous mountains overlooking a lake in Aix-les-Bains, I needed to make a rest stop. Chris’s eagerness to know the test results overrode the need for facilities so we pulled over at a scenic overlook and I hopped over the ledge and found myself a nice little shrub. Pretty much instantaneously, the test turned positive. Two lines = enceinte, glad I learned that word in French class!
We were definitely surprised and after a mild panic attack regarding the need to grow up, we decided to enjoy the rest of the vacation and save the worrying for when we got home.
So how does this all tie back to the rained out camping trip? Well let’s just say that it was the next morning at home when the magic happened.
I'm fairly certain that I am remembering this right: When Chris and I were playing with Suria, at the lake, he looked you right in the eye and said "I want one of these". Boy, do you deliver? ;P
ReplyDeleteI had completely forgotten! You're right, I spoil him too much.
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