Spring has Sprung ! Part 1

Last week I hosted all of my nieces & nephews for Spring Break. The annual tradition continues. This year for some reason they did not have the same break as the Texas kids, so Mr. Mixologist had to really step up to help me out because all my girlfriend's kids were in school so we were on our own for the week.

He is such a big kid  !

They are totally in love with their new "uncle-to-be" and he is quite ate up with them as well. This makes me so happy to see.







My mom made sure the kids had plenty of snacks & drinks for the road trip. After several movies, singing contests, bathroom breaks and of course the mandatory McDonald's stop, we finally made it to Texas.

Ready to ride !

The kids are ages 5 through 11. Three are my sister's children and the other  three are my first cousin's kids who also come every year.








Monday we slept in, had a big Brunch and then went shopping for our outfits for the professional pictures we take every year. We ended up at Boudreaux's their favorite  Cajun restaurant for dinner. I think coming from a landlocked state, they just can't get enough of all the Gulf Coast seafood we have here.

See how clean those plates are ! LOL 

Mr. Mixologist has got them all hooked on his creamy grits for breakfast. Even my mother has to have them whenever we come for a visit. It must be all those summers he spent in Charleston, because he makes them perfect every time.






I decided for this years picture, I wanted the girls to get their hair done at the Salon right along with me. This kept me from having to wrangle with four heads, plus mine AND get kids dressed for pictures.

Sleepy heads

Tuesday we had to get up very early to get to the Salon so that we could be sure to be on time for our photo appointment early afternoon. The girls were sleepy but once they woke up they were excited about getting their hair washed and styled. We brought our clothes to change for the pictures after we were finished.

My stylist is a sweetheart. When she told me what I owed her, I did a double take because I know it should have been way more, but I guess she appreciated the business & gave me a very nice discount.

Picture ready !

If you are ever in Houston and in need of a stylist give her a call. Check out her FB page right here.  The photos really came out great. This was Mr. Mixologist's third Spring Break with the kids & since it's official now, they wanted him to be in the pictures this year too. He & the boys met us there.I will post them on the blog next week.





After taking our pictures we headed over to Itz to have some food and fun. The best part was there was no Spring Break crowd so getting there in the early afternoon allowed us to have our run of the place. No waiting on the rides or the games or anything. We got the best seats in the movie theater for our meals. The manager noticed our colored shirts when we arrived & inquired about our group. She was nice enough to give us a group discount we DID NOT technically qualify for because we didn't have the correct number of people. We were definitely #winning!

Riding High ! 

The Disco

                            

Shoot em up !

Things that go bump

Trying to focus for the win

We rode bumper cars, played games, rode the rides & ate until our heart's content. We spent so many hours there we had lunch AND dinner ! LMAO Mr. Mixologist foolishly let my nieces talk him in to getting on the indoor roller-coaster  with them LOL ! I have actually ridden it with them before & didn't fall for it this time. He admitted that he didn't think it would be that bad because they are 9 & 11.... boy was he unprepared. After he recuperated from the wild ride, I managed to spank him in some basketball. We played best of 3 games & he did NOT get to redeem himself.  We wore those kids out that day & we definitely got way more than our money's worth.


On Wednesday, we planned a day trip to San Antonio. First stop, was Natural Bridge Caverns a place I hadn't been to before. It was a pretty cool tour. The kids really enjoyed it & thought it was really cool to be inside real caves.

Waiting for our tour to start

It turned out the be quite the workout (which I really need right now LOL) you are walking 185 ft down and back. I took lots of  photos but my camera just didn't capture the beauty of it at all.

Inside the Cavern

After the tour we headed downtown to the Riverwalk. I will wrap up the rest of the weeks activities in Part Two.


How was your Spring Break ?  Do you do anything fun ?

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?


Beautifully Complex