Lake Conroe

One weekend earlier in July, we went with my parents and brother's family to Lake Conroe. 

We swam

 

Watched the ducks

Played and spent time together

Love getting spend time with our family and watching them love on our little girl!


*Remember that the blog will be going private August 1st, just to protect the privacy of little missy.  If you have already told me to add you to the list, you are.  If you have not yet done so and wish to continue following, please either leave a comment or email me : )

Lost in the Pines

This weekend, we took our annual Brown family vaca.  We have been to Galveston multiple times and Lake Travis, but were looking for a different destination this year.  We found the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort near Bastrop.  This resort was wonderful!  There were constantly activities going on, they had an amazing pool, wonderful rooms and the surroundings were beautiful! They have animals at the resort which my niece and nephew LOVED!  Every time we passed through the lobby, they had to go to look for the huge Newfoundlands.   The food was good too, they had several different restaurants and a little shop that had Starbucks coffee and Blubell ice cream (yum!).  The resort reminded us of a cruise.
On Friday when we got there, we ate a quick dinner at the Firewheel Cafe,

Alex looking adorable in his little hat

 

which has a buffet and then regular menu items too before going to the pool and floating the lazy river for a while.  Afterwards we headed over to where they were making smores before watching a movie on the lawn.  Cody and I also got to relax by another of the fire pits that night.

On Saturday, we rented bikes (which were free along with most of the other activities) and rode around the resort,

before heading to the pool.  (There is a lazy river, beach, multiple pools, kiddie pools and a splash pad)

playing in the sand with these precious babies

 

Alex eating a lemon

The guys played golf that afternoon, while the girls swam, biked again, walked by the river, and ate some Bluebell.

That night after eating dinner, we headed back to the lawn for Diary of a Wimpy kid (they let you make smores during the movie and they also have popcorn too).

On Sunday, dad, Brad, Cody and I kayaked down the Colorado River.  It was much calmer than I expected it to be and oh so beautiful.  I didn't bring my camera though thinking it would be rougher, so picture a quiet serene river.  We hit up the pool again that day for a bit before grabbing lunch in Bastrop and heading home.

We had a great weekend getting to spend time with family and finally relax (these weeks sans grad school are an immense blessing)! 

If you visit the Hyatt Lost Pines (which I recommend you do especially if you have kiddos), you might want to know that it does get kind of pricey.  I would recommend that you bring your own breakfast food and snacks.  Figure out what activities you want to do before arriving if they are ones that you need to book to ensure that you get the times that you want.  Make reservations for Stories if you want a fancy dinner before going.  Take advantage of all of the free activities that they offer.  That alone could keep you busy most of the day! 

Vegas Baby!!

This past weekend we flew out EARLY Friday morning to meet up with Warren and Danee for a long weekend in Vegas!  We had time to relax, get some sun, watch some shows, shop, eat some yummy (albeit no where near healthy) food and spend quality time with some of our favorite friends!

Where we stayed:
*We stayed at the Tropicana.  It seemed like the entire hotel had been recently renovated.  Everything seemed so new, which is nice in a hotel.  We enjoyed the pool a few times (it was very nice).  The first day when we got there, we were having trouble finding chairs and happened up on the "day bed" next to the pool which costs a decent amount to rent.  The lady who had been on it was leaving, but since she had rented for the day, gave it to us.  Which was awesome! 

The breakfast buffet in the Beach Cafe came with our stay and it had a great variety of food.  We basically filled up each morning for the day, especially on fruit (it just all looked so good).  It did not have the number of restaurants, shops, etc that hotels like the Bellagio does, but we really enjoyed our stay there. 

Restaurants we visited:
*Diablo's Cantina right outside the Monte Carlo: Great Mexican food restaurant.  They had amazing salsa.
*Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill in the MGM Grand:  Very reasonable priced (especially for Vegas) I loved their Prosciutto,  Oven Dried Tomatoes, Basil Pesto, Goat Cheese pizza.  I officially no longer hate goat cheese.

*Serendipity 3 at Ceasar's Palace: We were there for Saturday brunch.  I got to try both the wing flavored chicken strips and the chicken salad sandwich.  Both were good!  The chicken salad sandwich had potato chips at the top of it which I thought was weird at first, but turned out to add a nice little texture.  We were way too full for dessert though, which seems like a shame with their frozen hot chocolate.


Shows we saw:
*Cirque de Soleil KA at the MGM Grand: We got hooked on Cirque last year after we were given tickets to Ovo.   This Cirque was not quite as impressive with the physical abilities of the performers (although it still was impressive).  The stage was what was so impressive this time! Great show! I wish I had not been so tired though (we went the night we got there).  I would still love to go back sometime to see O and Love. 

*We also went to see Comedy Hypnosis.  It was very entertaining.  Not for all ages though.

A couple of thoughts:
*Everything you see in movies in not necessarily true.  I could have sworn that fights occurred at the Bellagio (because of Oceans 11 of course).  The Bradley-Pacquiao fight was the MGM Grand.
*The fountains at the Bellagio stop at midnight.  They will not turn them back on even if you ask. : )  We had luckily seen them from afar the day before.

*We've carried on suitcases the few times that we have flown and I am doing that unless I absolutely have to check a bag.  It requires a little more fore thought on what you are wearing, but leaves me not having to pick out outfits or put away a lot of extra clothes when I get home.   It also saves time (and money not to mention) whenever you get where you're going because you don't have to wait at the baggage claim.  Win win!
*If you go to Vegas wear comfortable shoes that are cute, not vice versa.  I had been reminded of the amount that you walk while there and was so glad it was suggested to bring wedges rather than heels.  My Toms wedges kept me walking and not hobbling as I'm sure I would have been doing in heels.
*The people along Las Vegas Blvd are crazy.  For example, we ran into "Alan" from the Hangover...or at least a really good impersonator. 

Spring Break: Gruene

After a long day of shopping in San Marcos, we headed onto Gruene and checked at the Gruene Mansion Inn
and put on our cowboy boots.



We ate at the Gristmill


looked in a few shops and headed over to Gruene Hall for a while.

On Tuesday, Beth and I ran around the town, by the river

and ended up at this cute little coffee shop called Gruene Coffee Haus.

I also found my great new coffee mug there. (It says: I like Gruene Beans)

We ate breakfast at the B&B before heading around town to all of the cute little shops and then headed out our separate ways.

What a perfect break from reality! Now on to relaxing at home and getting a few around the house things done that I normally don't have time for : )