San Antonio: Day 1

Thursday afternoon and Friday we laid low at Aunt Pauline's house and Lyla got to swim in their pool. It was too freezing cold for this momma, but Lyla loved every second. Sarah came up as well and I was able to get reorganized and repacked for the next part of our trip! Aunt Pauline also gave us a little private jewelry show (she sells Premier) and boy did I hit the jackpot! I am not sure Adam was so excited that I found so much that I loved, but I hardly ever buy jewelry and Texas is the place to buy it. So I stocked up with Pauline as well as at Sam Moon and am now set for awhile! Aunt Pauline took Lyla and I to Sam Moon on Friday morning so that I could also stock up on bows for Lyla (this was not my one and only trip there... haha). Sam Moon is this HUGE wholesale accessories place with just about everything you could want or need, at amazing prices, including bows. That's where I have always gotten all of Lyla's bows. Then we met Uncle Kent and Gran-pap (his dad) for lunch at Market Street. This was a little bittersweet for me because each week they alway have "old people's lunch" and Granddaddy used to always come. It was really sad without him and I am sad that Lyla will really never get to know him.

After lunch we went home and Lyla swam before it rained and then took a nap. Aunt Pauline and Uncle Kent had wedding stuff to get done, so I just relaxed on the couch.

Saturday was FINALLY THE DAY!! Yay!! Saturday was the day Adam flew back to DFW and we could start our family vacation. He flew in early morning and we headed to pick him up. I cannot tell you HOW EXCITED I was to see him. This was the longest we had been apart, ever, in our whole relationship. It was hard. Looking back, the two weeks went by quickly at times and slowly at other times. Those weeks were a growing experience for me and sweet time with Lyla. Adam was not lonely the whole time we were gone. Along with work to keep him busy, his dad came down for five days to help him make Lyla's big girl bunk bed. Which turned out amazing I must say.

After picking up daddy, we grabbed some breakfast and hit the rode. Of course it would not be Dallas/Fort Worth area without getting a little lost (did I mention the awful construction?) and some traffic (have I mentioned the awful traffic in this area?!), but after the few bumps in the rode, we were on our way to San Antonio for our family vacation!!

It was about a five hour drive from the airport to San Antonio. Yes, we put a lot of miles on our car, and yes we drove our Altima instead of our comfy suv in order to save gas! We had decided once Lyla was born, that each year we would take a vacation as just our little family. Not much else tops my list as far as favorite things. I love time with my family. And I love time with just my family, for us to laugh, make memories and just have fun together as we build our own family. I knew Adam would have to work a little bit while we were there, but we were together again and I was excited to get to it! We took our time getting there, since after all, we were on VACATION! We actually stopped and ate lunch and just enjoyed each other's company.

Downtown San Antonio is built around a river. Remember all those storms I told you about? Well, the day we drove down, they had massive storms, and the river flooded. Some streets were still closed when we got there but luckily we missed the bad weather. It was overcast the entire time we were there, but it ended up being perfect, because hello, summertime in Texas, the heat is no joke. Everything we were doing this weekend was outside, so overcast brought those temperatures down and made the weather perfect!

We got to the hotel late afternoon and checked in. I had done a lot of research on where we should go, what we should do and where we should stay. San Antonio looked like the perfect city for our family vacation because there was so much to do! We literally never stopped! We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suite in the Downtown Market area. River center area was SO expensive, and I hate spending money on a place where we are literally just sleeping. Oh my goodness!! I was IMPRESSED by this place. I decided now that we have Lyla, it would be nice to have a separate living area in our room, so that once she went to bed, we could still stay up and enjoy ourselves without waking her up. This was the perfect place! The staff was AWESOME, the breakfast was FREE and so good, their pool was perfect and it was close to everything we wanted to do! I will definitely be booking a stay at this hotel chain again. The bedroom was separated by an actual door, and the bathroom was on the living room side. It was perfect for sleeping and nap time.

After getting checked in and unloading our stuff we were hungry for dinner. We got a recommendation from a co-worker of Adam's to go to Rosario's for dinner. We had to wait a little bit once we got there and I did not think the food was that great, but the atmosphere was fun and we were able to walk around in an outdoor market after we finished.

It was getting late and we knew we had a lot planned for the next day, so we headed back to the hotel and put Lyla to bed. Adam and I picked out a movie (free HBO) and relaxed the rest of the evening.

We got up Sunday morning in time for breakfast and filled our bellies. We went back upstairs and put our bathing suits on to take a quick swim. It looked like rain (even though it never did) but Lyla wanted to have some time in the pool. Again, it was FREEZING, so this momma did not get in....I am not the fun one, haha. Good thing daddy was finally here, cause he is the fun one and got in a spent some time in the pool playing with Lyla. She had SO much fun and literally could have stayed at the pool all day. BUT there was lots to see and do in the city and we needed to get to it!

My little fish.

Pure delight being in the pool.

Loves to jump in.

What a big girl!

Giving daddy some love....I think she missed him a little bit too!

More to come on the rest of our first full day in the fun city of San Antonio!

Visiting Friends!

Being gone for three weeks is a long time. It is especially a long time when you are in a city you do not know very well and you really do not know a whole lot of people. Lyla and I are used to having play dates almost every day. I love having so many great friends in Atlanta who are in the same age and stage as us. So with Sarah working a lot, I thought Lyla and I would be kind of lonely. Instead, I found our time together so amazing and so refreshing, getting to spend time with her without the usual day to day chores. Also, I found out that I know a lot more people in the Texas area than I gave myself credit for. The second full week we were in Texas, Lyla and I ended up with several fun play dates. Of course I did not really take any pictures, so I am going to lump them all together in one post, but each one was so special and filled my heart with so much love. I am so glad we got time with each of these special families and I hope that we do not have to go very long without seeing them!

On Monday May 20th we took Ali Clements out for dinner to thank her for watching Lyla during Sarah's graduation at Railhead, a yummy bbq place. Sarah was able to meet us as well after she got off of work. We went out for ice cream after dinner with Sarah and made a stop at Gap to see what cute things they had. Being able to really catch up with Ali was so fun. It has been several years since I have seen her. The last time we were together was when I was a senior in high school looking at going to TCU. I stayed with her and she gave me the grand tour for a night. Before that, we had not seen each other since we were KIDS! She and her husband had just moved back to Fort Worth from North Carolina and are in the final stages of building their house. Ali went to Duke and became a PT and is now practicing. It was so great to hear about her family and her married life! I am so grateful that it worked out to catch up with her and that she was able to spend some time with Lyla. We cannot wait to come back and visit their new house!

The next day, Lyla and I got up bright and early to get together with another friend. We connected with Suzanne Jones, who used to live in Atlanta (and she actually lived at my parent's house for awhile), and now she and her husband Lee and two kids live in Houston. Her husband got a job offer in Houston and his mom lives there as well. We decided to meet half way, since Houston is about 4 hours away from Fort Worth. I tried to make it work to take Lyla to visit my dad's side of the family in Houston and make a day of it, but my aunt unfortunately was out of town. Since there is not a whole lot in between Fort Worth and Houston, nothing was exactly in the middle, so Lyla and I said we would drive further, since Suzanne has two kids. We ended up driving about 3 hours and met them in College Station (by A&M) at Chick fil a to eat lunch and let the kids play. Driving through Texas is SO easy. It is always a straight shot, and the speed limit gets up to 80 in some places!! Awesome for getting to places quick, haha! We drove through a lot of farm land and REALLY small towns. It was neat to get to see some of the area outside of the city. 

It was great catching up with Suzanne. Her kids, Benjamin and Jocelyn, are so sweet and Lyla loved getting to meet them. Lyla is right in between their ages. It had been a couple of years since I had seen Suzanne, but is was easy conversation and fun to see how they are doing. I think when you are a mom with similar aged kids, it is pretty easy to relate! I think it was nice for Suzanne to get a taste of "home" and it is always nice to have a play date and give Lyla time to play with other kids her age. After we finished up lunch, and ice cream, and the playground (yes, we made sure that the chick fil a we went to had a playground...cannot disappoint!) we got on the rode again because there were big storms rolling in Fort Worth and I wanted to try and get back before they hit. Storms in Texas are NO JOKE. I mean, everything is bigger in Texas, including their storms. So we spent more time in the car driving than we actually did with Suzanne, but it was TOTALLY worth it!

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped as we drove through these one horse towns!

And little missy was out before we even got out of the parking lot. I had turned a movie on for her to watch on the way back, but all that hard playing made a little girl tired! She NEVER falls asleep while watching tv or movies, so I KNEW she was tired! Which was great for me. Nap time is always great!

We were right outside of Fort Worth when we got hit by the storm. Sarah had called to let me know they were really bad. Um, yes it was! I could not see more than a foot or so in front of my car. The sky was pitch black and the rain was so hard, I had to drive like 10 mph on the highway. I thought about pulling over, but figured it was coming the opposite way I was going, so if I could just get through it we would be fine. This ended up being the same week of the horrible tornados in Oklahoma and there were even a couple of tornados near Sarah. Talk about being scared staying on the third floor in a condo building, let alone driving through it!! Luckily we were protected and the storms passed quickly!

On Wednesday night, we moved to my Aunt and Uncle's house for the remainder of our stay. There was a little bit of drama in Sarah's condo and it just reminded me how thankful I am to be passed that stage in my life! Seriously!! And it made me so thankful for family close by that welcomed Lyla and I. Y'all, talk about craziness. I was literally packing and moving and waking Lyla and driving to Colleyville at 11 at night. Crazy. Nothing between Sarah and I....just roommate issues and it made sense for us to leave. And it made me aware of how not to raise my child! Anyways, we got settled and it ended up making sense because our next play date was the next day, right around the corner from their house!

Our next play date was with Susan Ogden. Susan and Adam had worked together at Limetree here in Atlanta and we had met through him. Susan and Ryan are some of the sweetest people I know and I literally LOVED that it worked out for us to get together! Susan and Ryan have two little girls, Ellie Cate and Eden. Lyla fits right in the middle age-wise. They live in Southlake now. They moved from Atlanta about a year ago (Susan is a true Texan at heart and we knew they would always be going back some day). Both their parents live in Texas, so we knew it was a matter of time. Ryan's company opened an office and they jumped at the opportunity. They live only about 15-20 minutes away from my aunt and uncle which is awesome cause that means each time we visit them, we can also visit the Ogden's as well!

Lyla and I went to their house to play and man did the girls have fun. Lyla was in heaven. She LOVED those girls. It made my heart a little sad that we are not closer, cause I know that they would be some super close friends. After playing for awhile and getting a tour of their house, we went and picked up some Chick Fil A and took it to Gateway Church (their church as well as my aunt and uncle's...small world) to eat. They have an indoor play place that we let the girls play in for awhile while we talked and caught up. Lyla was so sad to leave the girls. She had such a great time and so did I. It was so wonderful being with Susan and her family and getting to catch up. They are the sweetest people. My heart was so full after leaving this play date.

Luckily we got to see the Ogden family again before leaving Texas. We met them for dinner after we got back from our family trip to San Antonio on Wednesday May 29th, so that way we could include the husbands as well. We went to a family style restaurant called Babes. It was YUMMY. I am not going to lie, I have craved that place a couple of times since being back! Lyla was beyond excited to see the girls again. She still asks about Ms Susan and the girls. I am so glad we got more time with this sweet family and we hope to see them soon!!

Train Ride

Sarah had the day off on Saturday. It ended up being a lazy day. She worked on Sunday and again just another lazy day for Lyla and I. She ended up taking a long afternoon nap, so we missed church that evening.

These two love each other so much! I love seeing them together, especially when they are so silly!

After Sarah got off work on Sunday, we ran over to DSW so Sarah could look at some shoes. Lyla, classic girly girl, found some things she liked as well ;)

A random selfie from Lyla.

On Monday May 20th, our second week in Texas, we FINALLY got to ride the train!!

I L.O.V.E the pure JOY captured here.

To say that Lyla was excited would be a huge understatement!! She had talked about this train everyday since she found out about it, so she was ecstatic to get to finally ride it!

Waiting for the train!! 

The train did not cost much to ride, I think it was around $8-$9 for both Lyla and I to ride. It started running at 10am, and ran every 45 min- 1 hr, so I wanted to make sure we got there in time to catch the first train so we would not have to wait. We got there a few minutes before 10 and there were already some people waiting.

She picked out were she wanted to sit on the train. And she could not wait for it to start going. She kept saying "all 'board!!!" and "choo-choo!!".

My sweet, happy girl. I love that she is so easily happy with the little things....which really are the big things!

It is such a cute train!

A couple of selfies while we waited for the train ride to start.

                                             

I was so impressed with the train ride. It was not a short ride, nor did the train go in just a little circle. It was a legit train ride and so GREAT! The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful.

We rode along the river and we were able to spot some turtles. 

The city of Fort Worth is gorgeous, I think. We crossed the river and headed in to Trinity Park.

There are walking trails and bike paths throughout the park. It seems like tons of people use it too!

It is so gorgeous here!

Tons of trees make it nice and shady. Here is a picture of the playground we played on the first day we were in Fort Worth.

We went under another train track. I assume it is a working train track, because we always heard train whistles during our visit.

Here is a little video I took while on the train. I love how she thinks I am taking her picture at first!

Checking things out.

Love this girl!

She thought I needed some pictures taken of me as well, so here are the pictures Lyla took.

So much fun with my sweet girl!

We went all the way through the park, which is huge. I had no idea it went as far back as it did. We came back around to the front of the park and stopped at the train station by the playground. If you want to get off and play for awhile and eat lunch, you can and then pick up the train when it comes back. Pretty neat, I thought!

I had to get a picture of us in front of the train.

For some reason she did not want to smile, but she had so much fun....I promise! Maybe she was upset we had to get off. The entire train ride took about 30-45 minutes, which really impressed me. Totally worth it and Lyla loved it! Definitely a highlight of the trip for her.

I have had the worst time uploading videos to the blog, hence why I have continued to fall so far behind in my blogging. I am ready to be done with writing about our Texas trip and move on to the rest of the summer and fall....considering it is now the end of OCTOBER. So get ready, I am about to knock these out!