Tag: vacation

Sister Weekend Staycation | Austin

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A weekend away from the kiddos and quality sister time made for a great stay-cation weekend in Austin.

Cheese and candy spread for a Friday girl’s night in from Central Market. But this was after a stop at Cow Tipping Creamery.

 Breakfast and coffee at Manana started our Saturday. It had been on my list for a long time now as well as exploring this new area around the South Congress Hotel. I loved courtyard and how it was tucked back away from the busy street. Such a pretty oasis.

Pampering and pedicures at TenOverTen. I highly recommend this spot for a wonderful pedicure or manicure. They specialize in non-toxic nail care.

Finally getting to visit Frond Plant Shop and picking up a new friend for my bathroom.

Lunch at Fricano’s Deli. So good! Jessica was craving a sandwich so this was her suggestion.

And after some shopping at Style Encore we had an afternoon snack at Brentwood Social House. It was fun to try a couple desserts like Victoria Sponge and Lemon Tea Cake. We did our best Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry impressions.

Our final stop of the day was Target to make baby registries for Adriana and Jessica. I got to use the gun too! I was the only one hungry after that so it was off to Torchy’s.

Sunday was our final day and we were in no hurry home so we hit up a second Style Encore after having a full English breakfast at Full English Cafe. If you haven’t been to this little South Austin gem, don’t miss out and don’t let the location put you off. The food is so good!

I am so blessed to be able to call my sisters my best friends too. Little getaways like this are always refreshing and we should totally do them more often!

Looking Back | Fourth Annual Beach Vacation

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Port Aransas trip number 4! This time with two babies and two toddlers and seven adults. The kids may out number us one of these years!

We didn’t stay as long this year and I was a little glad of that. I can’t say I was feeling all that great or getting enough sleep. Some of it was pregnancy related and the rest was just sleeping in a new place. I was also on “mom alert” through the night listening for William who slept across the landing from us in his own room. I shouldn’t have worried, he slept great and in a twin bed! 

We took a different route this time that was through smaller towns. It was a nice change of scenery. This was William’s reaction to riding the ferry.

We were there Sunday through Wednesday (the rest of the crew stayed a day longer) so that gave us two full days of beach time. Monday we went out in the morning until nap time and then on Tuesday we went out after nap time for an evening on the beach. I have to say evenings on the beach are by far my favorite thing.

This was Monday right before nap time….can you tell?

William was still in love with the beach. Being dirty, wet and free. He would just run into the water, no fear at all.

Love this shot of the two kids sitting next to each other.

Nathan and Jessica made some amazing tacos for dinner on Monday night. I wish I could have eaten more….

Girl’s trip to the candy store!

Video games, family and bags of candy.

William found a microphone that went to the Rock Band set so he would come down to the landing and put on shows or we’d hear him upstairs singing his heart out. Best thing ever.

Trying out the community pool and practicing some of what he learned at swim school.

On Tuesday the three of us walked down to the beach a little earlier than the others and had some family time that was nice. It was a little too windy for our umbrella but a little too hot still not to use it so James and I took turns holding it up. Have to keep the boy(s) from burning!

Ahh, beautiful evening on the beach.

Adriana and I bought William and Maria a new shovel and bucket the night before. Big hits! Maria barely put hers down.

Hot dogs for dinner on the beach can’t be beat.

James and William had so much fun playing in the waves. No wonder William slept so well at night.

Jessica took a few photos for us….next year we’ll be a family of 4!!

There was a lot of napping on the beach too.

And some crying. Love this shot.

And a group photo before we headed home on Wednesday.

Ah! Doll baby in the outfit I got for her.

We stayed in a different house this year than the previous two years. It was only one street over and a great rental. I would say it worked pretty well for us but we may need to come up with a different plan for future years until the kids are older and can actually sleep altogether in a room with bunkbeds. With a new baby I am not sure how we’ll all fit next year. It’ll be interesting!

Cousins!!

What a fun trip! It’s great our kids can grow up with these memories. I hope we can continue the tradition for years to come.

Check out my Instagram feed or #chapsbeach2014 for some iPhone highlights as well.

You can take a trip back to the third annual trip here.

Oma and Opa Visit

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William got to spend some time with his Oma and Opa back in June. Last time they saw him he was only 7 months old and didn’t move much at all. This time he was pretty much non-stop. A completely different boy. I think they all had fun.

We stayed close to home since it was too hot to spend much time outside. There were the important trips though for Mexican food and BBQ. You can also check out our daytrip to Blanco here.

I also scheduled a family shoot with a friend of mine, Natalie Seeboth. It was a gift for Mark and Amy and the chance to get some photos that I didn’t have to take and try to be in at the same time. Natalie was great! I can’t wait to get some of the new photos on the walls.

It was a fun week and hopefully we’ll get to see Oma and Opa again soon!

Getting to Know Aunt Jenna

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In early August, James’ sister, Jenna came for a long weekend. She had a couple days of a yoga conference to attend and then a couple days of fun with us! William didn’t see much of her the first few days so he was a bit shy but by that weekend, they were best buddies.

We took Aunt Jenna to a splash pad then had lunch at Whole Foods.

On Sunday morning we went to the Mueller Farmer’s Market. We bought some veggies for dinner, met some cute baby pigs then played in the gravel. It was a scorcher so we headed home pretty quick.

 Ending the weekend with some couch time and books. I think William was quite impressed with Aunt Jenna’s take on Moo, Baa, La La La!

Third Annual Family Beach Vacation | Port Aransas

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I had to really think about what number trip to Port A this was. Only three? Feels like we’ve been doing it a lot longer than that but in a good way. I went back to look at the last two year photos and have to post a couple of those first…so much has happened! Adriana and I were pregnant the first year, the second year we had two babies and this year Adriana is pregnant again. Good times. Next year will be a whole different form of chaos.

Our first year in Port A – two preggos! 

Photo on the left is also the first year – 2011. On the right is 2012 with William!

I tried to get him to sit in the same spot for the second photo but he never sits still (unless there is food involved).

Family shot this year.

And now some more beach photos. There’s just a few…

William is a great roadtripper. He slept a good chunk of the way there and back and entertained himself really well the rest of the time. 

We usually eat out the first night we get into town since we haven’t made a grocery store trip yet. The last two years we ate at Shells which is really good. This year we decided on something different – Beaches Cafe. Their brisket is amazing! Like melt in your mouth amazing. It was also a bit more kid friendly than Shells. 

I had no idea how William would react to the water. He loves digging so I knew the sand would be a big hit but I wasn’t sure if the waves would scare him. Our first day out, he gets out of the wagon and books it to the water. He loves it all. We were both so happy and just loved watching him play. Nathan, of course, was great with the kiddos and would entertain them with digging holes, trying to build castles and just being silly.

One of our tasty dinners…slow cooked, pulled pork tacos with Nathan’s salsa.

Our trip coincided with Jessica’s birthday. After a failed attempt to buy cupcakes from a local place, mom whipped some up for a little after dinner celebration.

Collecting shells and sand.

 
I still am not sure how much sand this boy ate. He constantly had a ring of sand around his mouth.

Cider and sausage wraps.

More play time with Uncle Nathan. William is showing off his piece of chalk and bed head.

Maria ooohing over the candy. Maybe I’ll be brave and take William next year.

First candy necklace. I think she approved.

We saved our beach trip until dinner time and instead set up William’s pool on one of the decks before nap time. It was our ‘rest’ day. I think evenings on the beach are one of my favorite things. The light is just perfect. 

I think I’ll be making a print of this photo for one of our walls.

Evening walk back to the house for bedtime. During our morning excursions to the beach, I’d take William back to the house around 2pm for his nap. Well, there were a couple times where he started to fall asleep in the wagon on the way home. He’d start to sway and bob. It was too funny.

Our beach house!

Back on the beach to build a fire.

Fire and wind. Not a good combo but they were persistent.

Our last day on the beach.

All the family at the house. Such good memories!

What a great week. They always go by too quickly. I love that we are able to do this and I hope it makes for some amazing memories for our kids. 

Memorial Day Weekend and Mini Peach Cobblers

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We had a great three day weekend. It really was what we needed. Time together, no plans and a lot of relaxing. Saturday, William and I escaped the house for a little bit of shopping so James could have some quiet time. On Sunday, it was my turn. William and James did some tool shopping while I chilled for a bit then they picked me up for dinner at the park. Monday we went to one of James’ coworker’s home for a BBQ and some time in the pool.

William did really well hanging out on the step and then in his float.


The dessert I took to the BBQ is the one pictured here alongside the apple pie and cookies….Mini Peach Cobblers. Oh my word. So good and so easy to make and transport and eat! They were a big hit with the other party goers. I didn’t make any of the mini sized one as mentioned in the recipe, just regular muffin tin size. They were were perfect. Loosening them as they cool is recommended. I didn’t have time to let them cool completely but they still came out ok. I served them upside down because the peaches looked so pretty. I could have eaten a dozen. 

After his pool time, it was time for some Goldfish and Toasted O’s and a little poolside lounging. He also borrowed the baby doll from another little girl at the pool and held onto her until we left. The only time he let it go was when I offered him a bit of Snickerdoodle cookie.

Cookie crumbs…

I hope you all had great weekends as well. Hopefully surrounded by family, friends and good times.

Mini Vacation in Castroville

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Last week James went to Omaha for work so William and I went to Castroville to play. My sister and her family recently moved there and I am so glad it only takes a little over an hour for us to get there. Makes them feel not so far away.

It was a mini vacation of sorts. I guess getting away from the house and all the things I think I need to do helps. William and Maria stayed pretty occupied too, either with each other or whatever they found. It was all new to William so he was pretty content. We won’t talk about nighttime though. That kid likes his room and his bed…just like his mama. If we had stayed 3 nights he probably would have slept great but the two nights, oh my goodness. Fussy britches.

Other than the lack of sleep it was a great little trip. There was lots of playing with toys.

 
 
“Helping” with the laundry.
 
Maria learning a new trick – balancing on the stair rail. 
 
 
Investigating the Spanish moss. He touched it and it startled him. He wasn’t too sure of it after that so he just watched it for a little bit.
 

 
 
Enjoying the sunshine and moving leaves around. 
Going for a walk and checking out the historical homes and pretty gardens. 

 
Castroville is known as the Little Alsace of Texas and was founded in 1844. You can still see a lot of the Alsatian influence in the older parts of town. It’s really quaint. 

 
Exploring the yard and steps. 

Maria and Adriana being cute.

 
The weather was chilly but lovely and Matt made some amazing fires in the evening. Since I wasn’t sleeping in the room with William, I got to sleep on the couch and enjoy the fire as I fell asleep. That is as far as I’ll take camping these days. 
It makes me happy that I can be close to my family and that William can grow up around his cousin. Watching them interact and kind of play together is fun. Their personalities are so different and you can tell they are still trying to figure each other out. I hope they are always best buds.
Thanks Adriana, Matt and Maria for a fun trip. We’ll be back soon!