Vacation is finally blogged! You can read all about our travels out west, then south and back central. Texas forever, y'all. ---- Summer. I really do miss you. This is why I have a blog, so I can reminisce a bit longer and take y'all with me. If you're new to the blog, I kinda/maybe love my state. And, we really want our kids to know and love it, too. State pride in Texas, y'all, it's a thing. Three summers ago, we drove 2,600 miles and saw lots of Texas. Yes, all those miles were clocked driving around the Lone Star state. This year, we decided to go west, then south and hit more of the coast, and then come back central. What providence that God allowed us to love on … [Read more...]
The 10 Commandments of Family Roadtrips
We've been taking car trips with our kids since birth. Mostly, that makes people question our sanity. Trust me, when we were in hour 36 of last summer's vacation from Texas to California and back, I thought the same thing. Sometimes we have banner days and sometimes we swear off ever doing another road trip again. All those hours on the highway have taught us a few life lessons, though. Our pain. Your gain. Here's your road warrior 10 commandments, y'all. 1. Lower your expectations. I'm serious. When you travel with kids, it's a trip. When you travel as a couple, it's a vacation. You have to know that traveling as a family is a teeny bit more like National Lampoons than some … [Read more...]
Traveling to Italy? Your 411
Call us addicts, but we've been to Italy five times in the last 16 years and I can attest this is a true statement: Italy, a lifetime is not long enough. Some of those trips were two-week stints as chaperones with our high school youth group. Some were work related and some were pure pleasure, just the Mister and I. Each has given us a unique perspective and an undying love for all things Italian. We get asked quite a bit about our best traveling tips, the "must-do" things and all the good places to eat, so I figured why not dish on the blog? Honestly, I can't believe I haven't shared it before now. The Pope Probably our most asked question is, "When and how can I see the … [Read more...]
Texans in Europe for 20: Rome, Italy
Our 20th anniversary trip to Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Sevilla, Spain; Fatima, Santarém and Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome, Italy, was flat out amazing. To read all about it, just click on those links. When you have to end your tour Europe, we say do it with a bang. That's pretty much how the entire day went. Hope you have your Fitbit on because y'all are about to do some walk-ing. We arrived in Rome late in the evening the night before and were picked up at the airport by our lifetime friends, Paolo and Patrizia. We have known them for 16 years, when we met during our Jubilee 2000 pilgrimage with our high school youth group. Back then, neither of us had kids. Now we have 9 between us! … [Read more...]
Texans in Europe for 20: Lisbon, Portugal
Our 20th anniversary trip to Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Sevilla, Spain; Fatima, Santarém and Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome, Italy, was flat out amazing. To read all about it, just click on those links. I've got one more post after today and then I promise to get back to blogging about organizing projects, birthday parties, motherhood, faith and Texas Aggies. Y'all are so kind to let a gal reminisce. LISBON. WAS. AMAZING. We started off our morning with a 7:45am photo shoot. It sounds crazy now, but the light was amazing and it gave us a jump start on a truly gorgeous day in the city. We only had until after lunch to soak it all in, so bask we did. Up first, Belém Tower. It's one of … [Read more...]
