Girls weekend with the Lifers

 Many many months ago, all the guys in our life group went down to Austin for a weekend to just be guys.  So it was only fair that the mom's got to do the same.  Out of all the weekends this summer, this past weekend was the only weekend that worked for most of the girls.  I did feel a little guilty that we JUST got back from Cabo and then a week later got another little mini vacation again.  

Originally we had decided to go to San Antonio but after realizing that with it being the start of summer and that everyone on the planet would be traveling I-35 and we didn't feel like being in the car for 8 hours, we decided to stay closer to home.

Shelly's husband, Mark, got us some awesome deals at the Four Seasons Resort and it definitely was nice being a quick 30 minute drive away.

Patsy and Katie were not with us this day...boo!!! :(

 It was nice just laying by the pool and chatting with the girls, we pretty much solved all the world problems in those two days!

Me and Jen modeling in the bathroom

 Both nights after dinner, we'd sit out on our patio and chit chat till late.  I love those kind of nights!

 Shelly and Jen our first night at Via Real

 The girls are so blessed to have the best husbands, that will stay home with all the kiddos and let the girls have some girl time :)  The first night, all the husbands and kids got together at Bridgham's and I sure would have loved to have been a fly on the wall!  Nick would text me during the weekend and ask, "Does Finley always follow you around and have to be in the middle of everything you do??"  Yes, Nick.....yes she does!!!! 

I was impressed that Nick took them to Market Street all by himself!  I avoid that place, even if it's the only place to get our milk.....but it's the only place that has these little carts and Finley insists on pushing her own and it's a disaster.  A good friend of mine saw Nick and the kids at the store that night and she let me know that Nick had everything under control...ha!

 When I got home Sunday afternoon, Finley wanted nothing to do with me.  She was definitely a daddy's girl that day.  And as you can see by this picture, Nick was exhausted!!!

 Oh yeah...forgot to mention....while I was away, Nick decided to break Finley of the paci.  We had kind of talked about it but honestly, I wasn't quite ready.  She has been the best sleeper (13-14 hrs at night) and she never had the paci except in bed and it's so nice to just throw her in bed and she would put herself to sleep.

Nick informed me that she only cried for about 5 minutes the first night and slept till 8:30am.  Same thing with her nap the next day, just a little fussing.  However, when mom got home, things definitely changed.  This has been a pretty rough week.  Our routine now goes like this now.... read 45 books, then read about 15 more, rock, lay down in bed with me laying next to her.  Then I lie to her and tell her I have to go put Cole to bed and I'll come back.  Well, I don't usually come back and then she cries for about 10-15 minutes.  Yeah, it totally sucks and there is nothing worse than letting your child cry themselves to sleep. 

 As much as I LOVE rocking and snuggling with her, I'm afraid that the easy days of putting her to bed are long gone.  Soon she will be in her toddler bed, then she will have free reign of her room and then she will be letting the little neighbor boys in her window, I just know it.  Oh Finley, what are we going to do with you??  I sure love this girl more than words though!!

Cabo 2013

 As soon as school was out, we headed out for our big trip of the summer.  About a year ago, we started talking about going to Cabo with Pete and Katie.  That is where they got married 4 years ago and they were itching to go back so we asked if we could tag along.  Then a few months ago, Jen and Chris Bridgham joined in and we were all set to go.  We could not wait!!!  Of course I was sad to leave the kids for 5 nights, especially being in a different country and not able to just pick up the phone any time and check in....but being completely disconnected from our phones for the week was such a great feeling.

When we got to the airport in Cabo, this lovely thing was there waiting for us.  Katie sure knows how to spoil us! 

 The boys did not waste any time jumping in the ocean.  I was so pleasantly surprised that the water was as blue as it was.  I always thought that side of Mexico didn't have as nice of beaches but I was very wrong.  It was a little unseasonably cool (high of 92) that week so the water was a little chilly, but the guys didn't care.

 While the guys played in the water, the girls took advantage of happy hour and took pictures on the beach :) 

 Most of the days consisted of laying by the pool, swimming, having pina coladas and catching some sun.  Not a bad view huh??

 The view from our resort....we took many many walks down that beach!

One of the afternoons, we rented some kayaks and paddled our way out to Lovers Beach.  Most people recognize the famous arch when they see pictures of Cabo 

 From the beach, it took us about 20 minutes to paddle out to Lovers Beach.  It was a little scary because there were so many boats and jet skies, and we were definitely not bigger than any of those.  We spent some time out at Lovers Beach and saw the arch, unfortunately we couldn't take our camera out there since we kayaked.

 What was nice about Pete and Katie being familiar with Cabo, is that they knew the good places to eat.  Some places that looked like complete hole-in-the-walls, but had some of the best shrimp/seafood.

This little girl wanted to borrow (and not give back) Nick's sunglasses while we waited for dinner one night.

 One of the nights before we headed out for dinner.  Love these girls!!!

 One of the mornings, the three guys and Jen went fishing.  They tried to get me and Katie to go, but Annie and boats don't mix so well.  I get motion sick swinging at the park!!!  Instead, Katie and I had to endure the Spa....it's a tough job, someone's gotta do it. :)  It was exactly what I needed and so relaxing.

Luckily, Pete did catch our dinner that night.  They have a guy that will prepare whatever is caught and eat it for dinner.  The guys said the fishing was pretty bad because it had been so cool there that there wasn't a lot of fish around.  Luckily, this thing fed all of us.

This is a Rooster fish

 And this is what it looked like after....prepared 7 different ways and was very good.  It was a darker, meatier fish, but very yummy!!!

 That same night, we wanted to get some good pictures of all of us....trying to get this group to be serious and take good pictures...not an easy task!!  I think I had to take about 50 shots of Chris and Jen because they had a hard time being serious...dorks :)  Out of ALL the pictures we took, here are a few that look normal :)

Yep...here we go.  Outtakes!!!

 Hey, at least the guys can act kinda normal...right???

Yeah, that's what I thought.....

It's always interesting traveling with new people, there are definitely friends that you can travel with and ones that you can't.  I wouldn't hesitate for a second to take more trips with these people...seriously one of the best trips we've had!  So blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives who we can share these memories with.

We were all very sad to leave and get back to the real world, but I think all of us were ready to see the kiddos.

It was so nice that we didn't have to worry one bit about the kids.  Gigi and Granddad took great care of them and I know they had a blast.  I mean, does this look like kids that missed their parents??

One night, Gigi and Granddad got together with Katie's parents so James could play with Cole and Finley.  They swam at their pool and ordered pizza. 

Cole and James being silly in his bed

We are so thankful that we have family to care for our kids and know they are being watched over.  As much as we missed the kids, it was definitely good for Nick and I to get away and have some time with friends.  Like we kept saying while we were there.....it was nice to sit down and drink a cup of coffee without having to reheat it 34 times :)

Cheers to Cabo and the best of friends!!!!