Sunday Fun Day

Sundays are my favorite! It is the only day we usually don't have anywhere we have to be or anything we have to do, so it's always a day of rest and peace and catching up. This morning started with wrestling and giggles and watching our picture slide show. And when we were finally all ready to get out of the house, we headed over to the nursery to buy some plants to make our home more beautiful. Then, we had lunch at Twisted Root Burger Co. before stopping by the library, which is truly one of our favorite places. This afternoon brought naps, movies, laundry, reading, and even some legitimate work. It was a wonderful day, and I'm so thankful I got to spend it with most* of my people!

New roses to start the day

Wrestling with Dad

The nursery is a happy place!

Fun at Twisted Root Burger Co.

This month's breast cancer awareness special at Twisted Root is the Boobie Burger

*Weston is visiting Williamsburg with Nana this week, so he wasn't here with us. We missed him but know he is having a blast!

Mexico

Jeff has always been a wonderful gift giver. And, the most recent gift he gave me only proves how well he knows and loves me. He presented me with the gift of travel--a couple's trip, anywhere I wanted to go, though he and I both knew it would be somewhere beachy. We settled on Mexico and found a house with a 180-degree view of the Gulf of Mexico, right on the beach. It is perfection! My eyes never tire of the view, and I absolutely love being lulled to sleep by the sound of the surf. We arrived late on Thursday night and have been having a blast ever since! We spent Friday exploring nearby Progresso, walking on the beach, and getting caught up in a Harley convention when we went out for dinner. Yesterday, we drove out to Chitzen Itza to explore some Mayan culture. We detoured through Merida for lunch and then headed back to our wonderful house to rest and read, before tracking down some more Mexican food for dinner. I am so thankful for this special gift and for the man who understands what makes me tick!

Our beautiful home on the beach and a view that never gets old

Breakfast in Progresso on Friday

Exploring Progresso

Harley Convention

Chitzen Itza

Lunch at Casa de Frida in Merida

Comida Autentico

Last Day in Koh Samui

Sadly, our time in Koh Samui has come to an end. Our time here has been sweet beyond words and will always be fondly remembered, and, hopefully, we will be able to return someday. In these past two weeks, the sun, surf, and serenity of our surroundings have facilitated a refreshing of our souls, beyond what we even knew we needed. With this renewal of spirit has come a renewal of mind, and both Jeff and I have been able to explore the depths of projects that we are very much excited about working on, as well as have meaningful conversations about the future, which now seems less daunting and more approachable than it did before. So, even though I'm sad to leave Koh Samui, I feel being here has given me the benefit of having new eyes, and I'm so grateful for this time. Now, on to Malaysia!

A whole bunch of not much

After all our sightseeing and subway riding on Sunday, we were pretty pooped, so we did what any true-blue, red-blooded American football lovers would do: We had a very brief rest and then stayed up all night to watch the Super Bowl, because the game started at midnight, and we didn't have the ability to record it for later. Not everyone watched the whole game, but everyone definitely needed a day of recovery. So, we just spent Monday around the house, which was fine, because it turned out to be a cold, wet day. Then, yesterday, which was also cold and wet, Ruth was not feeling well, so we had another slow day, though we did go out to a fun little French cafe at lunchtime and consume enough delicious French food to get us through the rest of the day. After all that down time, we needed a playground day in the worst way, so when we saw the sun peeking out this morning, we made a beeline for the nearest playground and spent several fun hours climbing, running, jumping, picnicking, and soaking up some Vitamin D. Now, it's time to pack up so we can move on down the road tomorrow, to the south of France, where we will be skiing during the next week.

We found these cute bears at a shopping
mall near the cafe where we had lunch.

Loving the French food!
Here you can see a shrimp and guacamole crepe, escargot,
creme brulee, chocolate mousse ball, and, of course, French fries.
Not pictured are some other wonderful French specialties we've tried:
French onion soup, chicken and mushroom quiche, coq au vin,
macarons, and an assortment of delicious breads and pastries. 

Sometimes you just need a day at the park!

Exploring

This morning, Clay took us over to the park he has visited with Mimi and Grandpa while the rest of us have been doing school this week. He also took us over to the fruit market, which seems to be his new favorite place.

In the afternoon, part of our group explored some different parts of the city than we have previously visited, while the rest of the group stayed home to read and rest. We walked almost to the Atlantic Ocean, and through the university campus, and ended up at the botanical garden, before heading back down to the river to meet up with Grandpa and the older two kids for "cafe." Altogether, we walked about six miles, which is a lot for me, but is really a lot for the little legs of Max and Clay. But, they did great, and we all had a good time.

Max was interested in the boats this artisan was making,
so the nice man invited him to come over and try his hand at it.

Little boys with a big cask

Sights of Porto
1.The cave at "Clay's" park
2. A copper still
3. The place where the river meets the ocean
4. Street performers
5. Roasting pigs
6. A port boat under construction
7. A beautiful abandoned building
8.The view from the other end of the river

It was a whole lot of steps to the botanical garden.
When we got there, everyone needed to rest!

Porto Botanical Garden

A violin playing flea and his little mimic

Ireland

In all the hullaballoo of the wreck yesterday, I neglected to give a proper update about our whereabouts. We left Northern Ireland yesterday morning and passed into Ireland (a whole other country), without the least bit of fanfare. No passport control. No border patrol. No drama whatsoever, until the wreck, which occurred three miles from our destination, which happens to be in the loveliest bit of the middle of nowhere you can imagine. The owner of the place we are staying discovered a month or two ago that they had overbooked, so they offered us their larger property, which was available for the dates we requested, at no extra charge. This place is amazing! First of all, it's a huge four bedroom, two bath house, with a full-size kitchen, two eating areas, and a washer and dryer. And, second, IT LOOKS OUT ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN! And not just a sliver of it, but practically the whole ocean. The couch is super-comfy and offers stunning panoramic views, so we immediately declared we wouldn't move from there, except to eat in the all-glass dining area off the kitchen, the whole time we are here. This has been pretty close to true, though we did take a little walk through the "neighborhood" this afternoon. I wish we were staying longer than just the two nights, but I'm so thankful for this gorgeous and restful stop!
(You can click on the collages to enlarge the images.)

We drove through Connemara National Park yesterday on our way here.
(The last picture shows the place where our wreck occurred.)

Our lovely Irish cottage

The panorama view from our eating area and living room

A lovely walk through the neighborhood
(You can just see the roof of our house in the larger photo, in the top right)

It's a blessed life!

Fun in Newtonmore

We had a lazy morning, and then some of us went for a nice little walk down to the lake to feed the ducks. After lunch and naps, we were introduced to a new-to-us sport called shinty. It's kind of like a violent version of field hockey. We only watched until half-time, but it was certainly interesting. Weston said he might like it even better than rugby. Then, we had more laziness, making it a great day.

Feeding the ducks

This boy was so excited to feed the ducks!

Reading with Nana

Shinty Match

Only the stick was the victim this time

The Wildcat Walk
(There are decorated wildcat statues hidden all over town.
The kids have been having fun finding them.)

Port Seton, Scotland

On Friday, we left Wales and made the eight-hour drive to Port Seton, Scotland. We are staying in another caravan park situated on the Firth of Forth, which is just cool to say. We spent Saturday just resting and relaxing, and enjoying many of the fun amenities this holiday park offers. Yesterday and today, we've been working on some school work, and whiling away our evenings in the presence of Harry Potter. We also caught the Aggie game, which was honestly more stress than I need in my life. We had to wait a full 24 hours from game time for the privilege of that heart attack, which meant we kept ourselves off social media to avoid having it spoiled. In hindsight, it might have been better to be warned. But, thankfully, it ended with jumping around and cheering loud enough for all the neighbors to hear, instead of big, fat sad faces.

A beautiful welcome

We love the Seton Sands Holiday Park!

Hanging out on the beach

The Firth of Forth

Little Diggers

Dancing Machine

Kings of the playground

Scooter Boys

An amazing sunset over the firth

South Beach

Several weeks ago, Jeff had a business trip to Phoenix. One of the nights he was gone, he texted to say that he wished I was there. I texted back that I wished I was there, too, and then half-jokingly added that we should plan a weekend getaway for ourselves sometime soon. He immediately texted back, without joking, to say that if I would figure out a weekend and arrange kid sitting, that he would plan us a fun weekend. With an idea that our alone time might be severely challenged in the next couple of years, as we travel around the world, and being in the midst a very stressful time, it seemed like the perfect time to get away. So, everything was arranged, and I knew we were going somewhere, but I didn't have any clue as to where. This weekend finally arrived, and we dropped the kids off with Jeff's brother (and family) in Houston, on Friday evening, and then pointed our vehicle toward the airport. It was only then that I found out our destination was to be Miami, specifically, South Beach. Neither of us had ever been there before, and we had such a lovely time! I miss it already!

The W Hotel (clockwise):
The W from the beach, looking left from our balcony, looking right from our balcony,
Hello Kitty fountain, hidden table in the garden by the pool, light fixture in room,
amazing bouquet of lilies in one of the attached restaurants

Art in Collins Park

Crazy Cars

South Beach

We experienced some fantastic cuisine while in South Beach--
everything from Mediterranean to Cuban to Peruvian, etc.!
The SOBE Wine and Food Festival was also going on,
so all the stars from Food Network and The Cooking Channel
(the only stars we really know anything about) were around,
doing food demos and hosting incredible events on the beach and in the local restaurants.
We caught Giada de Laurentiis hanging out in one of the restaurants in our hotel.

(Clockwise: orange juicer at the Peruvian restaurant, churros at The Dutch--where Giada was seen the following day,
Cuban deliciousness,  lobster roll at the poolside grill, Giada, Peruvian sangria, SOBE WFF tent on the beach)

To the manufacturers of smoke detectors:

First of all, let me say, I very much appreciate your efforts to create a product to protect my home and family in the event of a fire. I really do. It helps me rest a little easier at night. Most nights. But, I am seriously wondering who treated you badly as a child to make you grow up and configure these handy little devices to only malfunction in the middle of the night? There has never been a time in my memory when a battery went dead, with its accompanying repetitive warning signal, during daylight hours. Or, when the interconnected wonders began their blaring, for no apparent reason, in the middle of the afternoon. I used to think it was just a coincidence, but now I'm convinced it's an act of malevolence on your part. The odds are just against it being random.

And, is it really necessary for smoke detectors to be installed on ceilings, so that we are incapable of restoring peace to our sleepy households without having to drag the ladder in from the garage? It just seems like you've added insult to injury there. Having sleep deprived people several feet up in the air doesn't lend much credibility to your supposed purpose of creating these devices for safety's sake. I'm just saying.

I am very tired now, since I was up half the night enduring your vengeance, so I will close this letter. I implore you to find it in your hearts to rethink the middle-of-the-night workings of these otherwise useful contraptions.

Since Monday

We officially put our house on the market. Within 24 hours we had an offer.
It was a ridiculous offer, but getting the house ready to show and
thinking about the repercussions of a quick sale,
as we waited for it to come in, certainly got our blood pumping.
If you know anyone looking for a beautiful custom home in the Texas Hill Country
(or if you'd just like to see photographic evidence that this house has ever been clean),
please tell them to check out MLS #129052 in the Highland Lakes MLS . 

This stud had his first scrimmage on Monday

First Grade is exhausting

Dad made dessert

The boys and I have been reading the delightful Stories of Don Quixote for History,
to go along with our study of Spain. We have decided to add the region of La Mancha
to our list of places to visit in Europe, in hopes of putting ourselves in Don Quixote's very shoes.

Someone gave himself a haircut

 This child has become completely obsessed with using
his magnetic scoop to pick up any and all magnets.
It has given us many hours of unprecedented and much appreciated silence.

Our Aggie contingent, ready for the first game of the season

Max came in and reported that our trampoline was missing.
And, sure enough, it was certainly not where we had left it.
It had been mysteriously relocated at least 100 yards toward the back of our property--
from where it sits in the picture to the furtherest stand of trees.