Home Sweet Home!

We got home from our mini vacation on Tuesday night and are getting back into the swing of things at the House o’ Glamour.

*Check out Mommy and Emily's matching glamorous Nexcare bandages!

We had a great time! We went to our adoption agency’s annual reunion on Saturday. There was a downpour (which was a recurring theme for the weekend) before we arrived, so everything at the park was soggy. The event itself was lackluster, but seeing friends from our travel groups was a lot of fun. Most importantly, the girls had a blast digging in the sand on the “beach” at the lake! I forgot my camera on Saturday, so you will have to wait until Robyn and Erin return to see photos of Emily’s “lovely home for the ants” that she built on the beach.

We headed over to visit with Chuck’s brother Mark and his family on Saturday night. We haven’t seen them since New Year’s Day and of course, we had a great time visiting. Right before we arrived, Mark came home with Pat’s new scooter that she is going to ride for her 4 mile commute to work each day. With the price of gas continuing to rise, this is the way to go!


This trip was the first time that Mia slept in her air mattress/sleeping bag. She was so excited about it that she couldn’t settle down on Friday night. She eventually crashed and slept through the night! Our baby is growing up too fast!


On Sunday morning, we packed up the van and headed out to Fredricksburg where we visited two wineries. We also stopped to buy peaches and tomatoes…yummy! We didn't try the Goat Cheese Pops though...

Just as the girls were ready to have a complete meltdown, we rolled into Schlitterbahn. We checked in and made our way to our apartment. The place was really nice. It was formerly a doctor’s office that was recently converted into four apartments. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small sitting area and kitchenette. After unpacking and a quick change, we headed over to the water park where we had dinner and splashed around in the kiddie play area. The main purpose being the release of pent up energy from three little girls who had been sitting in car seats for too long!

Glamour Girls...

The next day involved more splashing and swimming in between rain storms. This has been the strangest weather for Texas. Who would have thought that we would be dealing with soggy weather instead of raging heat near the end of June?!

In spite of the weather, we had a great time!

Our travel buddies, Robyn and Erin continued on down to San Antonio when we headed home on Tuesday. More photos will follow after their return! They seem to be the House o’ Glamour’s official photographers!!

Updated to add...we now have 1,014 Nexcare bandages left!

What Vacation?

I have been home from our mini vacation without children in California for three days and I really am asking myself, “What vacation?” I have to say that the vacation experience is probably one of the biggest changes that we’ve experienced from life before children to life after children. Whether you vacation with the children or leave them at home to be royally spoiled by their grandparents, vacation life changes. If you travel with them, you are doing all the same things that you do at home except you’re in a hotel room without all the conveniences and comforts of home. As noted in my post about our trip to San Antonio with the girls, we had a great time, but it was exhausting. Gone are the vacations of sleeping late, lounging by the pool, lingering over a cocktail and going where (and when) our spirits move us. Now you might think that our long weekend in Northern California would have more relaxing and reminiscent of the vacations that we took before adding our darling daughters to our family…and it was! However, the tough part comes when you get home from this type of vacation. I was away from my girls for five days. They both did well with Grandma and Grandpa, which I expected. However, as soon as I became visible in their world again, they wanted my undivided attention and they wanted it now. This was the first time that I’ve ever left Mia with anyone overnight and only the second time that I’ve left Emily (and the first time I left her, I came home from China with another baby!). So, I am trying to give them as much attention as I can physically muster while I also try to get us back on our routine, complete six loads of laundry (finished that up this morning), catch up on my favorite blogs, and update my blog for the three or four people who actually read it. I really don’t want to be a whiner and I’m certainly not complaining, but vacationing sure can tucker out a mommy! We really did have a wonderful family vacation in Sea World and my hubby and I had a great time on our first “just the two of us” vacation since 2002! Indulge me as I post a few photos from our vacation in Northern California…

Chuck and me at our favorite winery in Sonoma...Viansa! We just finished our private tasting that we were able to arrange for ourselves and the couple who we were traveling with. This is the only winery where we purchased wine...I didn't say that this was the only winery where we tasted wine though!













Up to my neck in vines!













No comment needed...













Chuck with the Pacific Ocean in the background.













We spent Sunday in San Francisco. Chuck and I love this city and we probably have several hundred photos of the Golden Gate Bridge...here's one from last Sunday. It was an absolutely beautiful day in SFO!













We also spent a few hours in Saulsalito doing a little shopping as well as a bit more eating and drinking.














To summarize: We ate and drank our way through Northern California...from Sonoma to Napa to Cotati to San Francisco to Saulsalito! It was wonderful! Ah...I'm feeling relaxed and rejuvinated again after looking through the 297 (NOT an exaggeration, but the true number of) photos that Chuck took over our five days together in Northern California.

Sea World Highlights & Photos...Finally!

I finally have the laundry done and everything put away from our trip to San Antonio. Here are the highlights and lowlights from our trip...

The Highlights...

For the first time Emily asked, "Are we there yet?" about 30 minutes after we left home. We just had to laugh and then quickly pop in a DVD.















Mia's first Whataburger!















I finally got to see the Alamo. We only took a quick stroll around outside, but some day I will torture my children with the tour and a stroll through the museum. I did a lot of research on the Alamo for the History of Texas class that I had to take to get my teaching certificate, so I am intrigued with the place! I know...I'm such a dork!













And, I finally got to stroll along the River Walk in San Antonio!













And, have a margarita...okay two margaritas!

Taking a boat ride. Emily was mostly interested in swimming with the ducks (Eeew!) and Mia wanted to get off of me to sit on the floor of the boat (Yuck!). But, it was a fun tour of the River Walk!













Spending two days playing at Sea World with Erin, Bob and Mollianne...as well as Shamu and all his friends!


























Mia shreaking "Oooooh!" and clapping her hands the first time she saw Shamu jump out of the water...and doing it again and again all day including when the waiter at Papasido's brought a basket of chips. Erin and I squealed with delight when he delivered our margaritas!

Watching Emily and Chuck along with Bob and Mollianne play at Shamu's Happy Harbor













The Anheuser-Busch Hospitality House. Chuck and Bob going to Beer School, which sounded more like an hour of drinking a flight of six beers and having snacks! I guess the deserved it after chasing the girls in the happy harbor.













Napping on the go...Mia is not looking at something on the ground, she is sound asleep!














Emily's first rollercoaster ride...she loved it!















Emily petting one of the anheuser-Bush Clydesdales - his head was bigger than Emily! We thought that he was going to give her a big sloppy kiss in this photo.














Seeing Natalie, the donkey who dreamed of being a Clydesdale and who now lives and trains with the famous Clydesdales. We were reminded that dreams do come true!

Feeding the dolphins, which was so cool! Thanks for spending $4 on 4 smelly sardines, Daddy!

Best friends taking a break!
Shamu cups...

Lots of water...

Seeking out shade...

Great friends...

Big laughs...

Good night's sleep...

Cooling off at the Lost Lagoon with at least two thousand of our closest friends, but the girls loved it! No need for photos from Lost Lagoon...

The Lowlights...

The rock that hit my windshield taking out a big chunk and starting a crack that is now conveniently moving right across my line of vision. Bummer!

Hearing Emily say, "I don't want to go home yet."

Mollianne being too small to ride the rollercoaster...next year little peanut!

You'll notice that the highlights far outnumber the lowlights...it was an awesome trip! We were dragging ass tired when we got home on Sunday night, but it was well worth it. While there were a few meltdowns, they were minor. All the girlies (including me and Erin) were generally quite well behaved and most importantly...they had a blast!