This past weekend was the last weekend of visiting the lake as a summer trip. Soon school workshops, getting classrooms ready and the rush and go of the year will start. The weekend round up being just my parents, Travis, Emma and myself. It was a very nice and relaxing weekend. We went out in the boat and cruised around Saturday morning. After visiting the island and swimming for a bit, I decided to try to ski again. I haven’t really done it much since Emma has been born. I was really hoping I’d still be able to get up and last more than 20 seconds. I did really well. I pulled up the first time and was able to cruise in and out of the wake. I did eat it one time, but didn’t give up.

Emma also became pretty brave on the boat by Sunday morning. She was leaning over the side, wanting to walk around while the boat was going, sticking her hand out to feel the water and even wanting to help put the boat up in the boat house. I’m so glad she has gotten comfortable with the boat. Hopefully, one day she will feel the same about the water. She is terrified of the water, but I think it is the fear of the unknown. I can’t wait for more trips to the lake for more boat time!

On Tuesday, we headed to Emma’s first Houston Astos Game with Nana, Poppy, Uncle Bruce or PePaw, Aunt Vicki, Randy, Travis, Emma and myself. I was so excited to take Emma to her first game. She has had a Berkman Astros shirt since her first birthday and wears it often. While we were walking to the game, Emma’s excitment started. On the side of the road, she saw a fire hydrant. She had to stop and take a picture with it. I’m not sure about her obsession with fire hydrants lately, but it is so funny and cute. After the hydrant, we saw a row of bells by on old building. She enjoyed ringing each bell.

Once into the game, the excitment built even more. She loved riding the escalators, seeing the train, and watching the players warm up. Her eyes were huge with taking in everything she saw. A couple of innings into the game, Poppy, Randy and Emma went and played at the Squeeze Play. She had a wonderful time. Right when they returned, the Astros hit a GRAND SLAM followed by a homerun. Emma was happy because the train with choo choo and go.

Emma made it all the way to the 8th inning of the game and then was ready to go. The Astros won 11-6!!! WOO HOO GO STROS!

Travis was able to take a couple of days off for vacation. We were going to head out to San Antonio for a trip to Sea World, but decided to explore some more things around Houston that we normally don’t get to do. It was fun to spend several days in a row as a family and not having to worry about the pressure and stress of the working world. It was also great to be together and help each other out during the tought times of the day.

The first day of vacation(Thursday) we headed to the zoo. We hadn’t been in a while, so we were excited. We saw all the normal animals. Emma’s favorite part of the zoo was walking through some green chains in the children’s part of the zoo. Travis’ favorite part was watching the Grizzly Bear laying down in the water/pond. The bear kept resting his nose on this hands, but had to lift his head up for a breath of air. It was pretty funny. My favorite part was watching the elephant playing with a tire that was attached to a chain. The elephant would swing it up on his back then pull it down. It was neat to watch him play.

On Saturday, we headed to the Woodland’s Market Street to hang out for a little while. It was fun to just walk around and hang as a family. That afternoon we had a birthday party for one of Emma’s former classmates at school, Caleb. It was great to see Caleb again and have a fun party at Kids in Action. They had fun playing, catching bubbles, parachute work, collecting treasures, and having cupcakes and juice. It was a great party. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!

On Monday, the last day of our vacation we decided to surprise Emma with a trip to the Children’s Museum. Travis had also never been, so he was excited too. We loaded up and never told her where we were going. Her reaction was great. She was so excited to go back to the new part; the grocery store, vet, obstical course, etc. We also had to get her a new horse. It’s made from a die cut machine and was very upset that we didn’t bring her last one home. I think Emma and Travis both enjoyed themselves. Travis was surprised with how much stuff there was there. It was fun and a great way to end our “vacation”.

Last week 6 teachers from my school got together to go wine tasting in Fredricksburg. Brooke scheduled the events and housing. It was a great idea. The trip was much needed by all of us. We headed up Sunday morning. After the 4 hour drive we reached Johnson City. The location of our first winery, Texas Hills Vineyard. We stopped by and left with a box of wine. I think everyone bought at least 1 if not 3 bottles. After the first winery, we headed to eat, then to our cute little cottage. It was nothing of what we expected. It was so nice. 3 bedrooms, full kitches, 2 bathrooms and a huge yard. It was so nice. We decided that night we would snack and of course, drink wine for dinner since we had a late lunch.

Monday morning, we got up and headed out for a day of winery visiting. We stopped at Grape Creek Vineyard, Torre Di Pietra, Fredericksburg Winery, Chisholm Trail Winery, D’Vine Wine, Water 2 Wine, Woodrose Winery, Becker Vineyard, and Perdernales Cellars. It was so much fun to taste so much wine. After the full day of wine tasting, we needed to get some food. Where else to you go after wine tasting all day????? A brewery. Luckily, they also served wine. After dinner we headed back to lounge, talk and sleep.

Tuesday morning, we were going to hit a few more wineries, but we all decided to we were wined out, so we headed back to Houston. We all agreed that we would be making this a yearly trip. I’m so glad I work with such WONDERFUL people that I can go on vacations with them. Until next year!