Mama vacation 1 day 2

I’m all about a free breakfast and I’m an early riser, so Saturday morning, I got up, took a shower and was down in the lobby at 6:15 for my first breakfast (on the left). Then I went back to the room to finish my coffee, then I went back later with Leslie for second breakfast (on the right). So my morning was off to a great start.

But no one else in the area is an early riser or early opener, so we started out at the Chappell Hill Lavender Farm. I thought there was a festival that day, but it was this next weekend, but we browsed the gift shop and walked the grounds. The woman there said it would be a good place to come in the spring to take bluebonnet pictures. And there is a gazebo.

From there we went to the Antique Rose Emporium. I’d been there before and it’s a beautiful place where you can spend a lot of money on plants. Good, high quality, healthy plants, but they are a bit pricey. You can’t find them anywhere else, though, which is really cool.

There are cool children’s areas, beautiful flowers and some ponds. We didn’t buy anything, just walked around awhile. From there we went to Windy Winery to do the grape stomp. I didn’t see much in the way of wines there, but @ $25 a pop, they were seeing more money from that than from any wine-making process.

We were given a bucket and a knife, then took a hayride to the field. The feller showed us where the grapes were hiding and let us go. We did that for awhile then took them back to the buckets to stomp them. They didn’t make wine from these grapes, and it seemed from the 3 wineries we went to that much wine was made from grapes brought in from elsewhere and it was better if they were all from Texas, but that wasn’t possible really.

We stomped them then stepped on a shirt. For the memories.

And that’s just half of the day.

Mama Vacation 1 Day 1

After many hours delay, I met Leslie at our motel and planned our first adventure. Not really an adventure, since we’re not adventurous types, but our first outing.

We went to Mesina Hof, a world-famous, award-winning winery here in Bryan/College Station. I went with my mother and nana when I was in college, like 10 years ago, but I haven’t been since. It was nice. The story and production haven’t changed but the wines are still good. We did the tour with wine tasting at the end. Then we had dinner at the winery restaurant. I had the shrimp creole and a Gervertz wine that was suggested. The food was ok. The wine was excellent. I’ve had good cajun cuisine. This wasn’t it. The food was hot in a pepper way, not a spicy way, which is a difference if you’ve had good cajun cooking. It was a lovely dinner, then we walked around until it got dark. Then we went and dangled our feet in the pool for awhile. Now we’re getting ready for our next adventure tomorrow. Though, really, I’m looking forward to the breakfast in the morning.

Of course we learned more about the wine-making process. I took a wine-making class in college but I don’t remember most of it. The grapes on the vine there are used to make port when they are on the vine that long. Port is good, sweet dessert wine. They have grapes growing all over Texas and other places, I think. They have a festival over several weekends where the public pays for the pleasure of harvesting and stomping the grapes. Puny public, though Leslie and I will be doing the same at some other winery on Saturday. It’s the experience, I guess. There was a couple in the gift shop who bought 3 bottles of wine for $128. That’s a lot of passion right there. And disposable income, but passion! Leslie bought a reasonable Angel Riesling, but I just stuck to my tastings and the one I had with dinner. Messina Hof is at the grocery store, but there are special wines they don’t stock a lot of. I know I like Riesling and Gervertz, Moscato and Port.

Do we dare ask. . .

What else can go wrong? The work car is overheating, which will cost money to fix. The water heater went out, which I know will cost a lot of money to fix. We’re trying to keep positive and count our blessings, but it’s getting harder. School starts for me in 2 weeks and I’ve planned some weekend trips to finish off summer. I should cancel them, but I’m not. My sister said that I’d still be broke at the end of the month, so what’s a little broker. I’m going anyway. Tomorrow I’m meeting my college friend Leslie in College Station and we’re going to tour a few wineries there and spend the night at a budget hotel that I’m paying for. Saturday we’re going to Brenham to tour some other wineries and such and stay in a much nicer B&B that she is paying for – but I love her and I’m really looking forward to spending time with her. I’m hoping to go to Austin the following weekend and spend the weekend with another friend there. And just let the financial chips fall where they may. Scott is trying to get a job. Hopefully something comes up soon.

I spent 2 days this week delivering phone books for a paltry sum. I’m embarrassed to even tell, considering how much work it was and how HOT HOT HOT it was. I’m looking forward to school starting. I’m going to miss my baby, though. She likes having me home, but I wouldn’t be good at staying home all the time. Grace and I went with my sister and her son and a friend to a water park today. It was nice to get away, but I did miss Millie a lot. She was fine with MawMaw, but I missed her. She’s going to be with Grace and Scott at Scott’s parents while I’m wino-ing.

Brady-Colt Party

My nephews turned 3 and 1 within a week of each other, so my sister had a joint party. Lots of family made the trip to Jasper for it. It was nice to see everyone. The food was great and the company was fun. The kids got to play in some pools outside and a big blow up slide. I didn't get a picture of Colt, but here's me and Brady about to blow out his candles. 

Brady and Auntie LuLu

Grace, Evan and Kitty

Millie liked Colt's toy

My smiling baby.

More from May - Hillary's wedding

After all of the weddings and showers she's thrown for us over the years, it was finally Hillary's turn to be the star. She got married at the Brown Center in Orange, where my sister also got married. It was a lovely evening and everything was beautiful.

Millie and Mawmaw

My sister the maid of honor

Beautiful hair do

More from May - Millie's 1st Birthday

Oh, my very last baby is 1. She's such a delight. We had her party the Sunday after recital, because, you know, we had to make that weekend as busy as possible. Really I did it so that if Scott's sisters were able to come in for the recital they could be here for the party too. I can't remember if either of them were there. Not many people showed up. I was disappointed that more family didn't come, but I'm grateful the ones who came made the trip. It was a nice day, though the venue was crowded. We ended up way back from where I wanted to be, but it was shady and the kids were able to go to the park and play. 

Her birthday breakfast

Birthday invitation

So what is Millie doing now that she's one? Well, she isn't walking. We think she can, but she gets around better on her hands and knees. She can knee-walk, which is super cute. She isn't talking really, though, again, I think she can but just won't. She's been saying "Dada" for months. She has said "Mama," but she doesn't really. Anytime I prompt her to, she says "Dada." She's stubborn and determined. She only sleeps in her crib, for naps and bed. She won't fall asleep anywhere else, which is one reason my parents don't keep her much and she doesn't do well away from home. She makes her rounds in the kitchen, dumping out the chalk bin, taking tupperwares out of the cabinet, unpacking her bottle box and taking down water bottles that I had stacked up. She likes to watch cartoons. She likes to climb in chairs. She likes to play in her sister's room. She loves her blue fish and round owl. 

Trying to use chalk as lipstick.

Playing with birthday toys

Guarding Sissy's fort

She loves dishwashers.

More of May - Soccer/Recital

May was a busy month for us. There was dance recital and soccer and a birthday party and a wedding and the end of school . . . 

Team picture. We're really going to miss Graciela and Jose. 

Grace really enjoys playing soccer and has played for a few years. It's amazing how far she has come playing-wise. She likes being on the field, though she isn't very aggressive. She follows the ball around and tries to get it. She's been in the same team (pretty much) with the same wonderful coaches the whole time, which has been wonderful for us. We feel totally comfortable with her in their hands, etc. This next season, they are mixing up the teams because some of the players have been with the same teams for so long, they feel it isn't fair to new teams or players. They are also separating the men from the boys, so to speak. There are 2 divisions - a competitive one where everyone learns the same skills and a recreational one, where there are still teams and coaches. We chose the recreational one. Well, Grace chose it. It was cheaper, which is good to me, but she wants to be a cheerleader in high school, not play soccer. I'm not sure how popular the other thing is or how that's going to play out. I'm not really sure how many of her teammates signed up for which one. I guess we'll find out in the fall. 

This season she had a few new girls, who were a lot of fun and some great new moms. I'm not the social type, but they were really nice and very generous and giving to all the girls. 

Grace has started to pose for every picture.

I can't get Blogger to arrange these how I want!?! Ugh!  There has to be a better way!

 Recital was in May as well. We had a family wedding on recital night, so I did dress rehearsal with my mom and left recital night to Scott and his parents. It seemed to go well. Grace was in 3 numbers. She hadn't said much about the dances or shown us much throughout the year, but she was really good and enthusiastic onstage. I'm grateful that my mom feels it's something Grace "needs" and is willing to pay for because she really enjoys it.