Back from the Vacay!

Well, we had a most wonderful amazing few days of family time on our little vacation this past weekend! So blessed and so thankful! I worked til 5:30 a.m. on Friday, and we finished packing and cleaning house that morning before heading out on the road. I ended up sleeping only about a half hour, but really enjoyed the time on the ride even though I was sorta sleepy. We drove to San Antonio (well, actually, Boerne) and went to Bass Pro Shop (gotta complete the tour of as many locations as possible!) and then checked into our hotel. Then, we headed up the road about an hour to Mo Ranch, a beautiful camp property where we send our church kids to for conference. I had seen it, but not actually seen it-seen it, as I have only dropped kids off there. My kids had been wanting to see it ever since their daddy went last summer with our youth, so this was a great chance to visit. Let me say: I was super impressed! I knew it would be cool, but had no idea just how cool! Beautiful views, and just an amazing quality of stepping back in time--in a good way, not an outdated sort of way. It is the sort of place I want to and intend to take my family to, hopefully many times between now and when they are grown. I want my boys and my girl to be able to have some memories at this place. So cool! So, then, we went back to our hotel (after dinner with my husband's brother and nephew, more on that in a sec) and Saturday we went to Fiesta Texas...didn't intend to stay all day, but we did! It was GREAT! My kids had a ball, and it was so much fun watching them enjoy every second of what we did! We played at the waterpark and rode tons of rides, saw the laser and fireworks show at the end of the night, the whole bit. I think we made some sweet memories, and I am so thankful! Then, Sunday, we were intending to go to church somewhere locally, but were really tired, and the kids hadn't been able to swim at the hotel pool at all, so we decided to have church on our own that morning and let the kids swim a little while before we left. They really enjoyed it, and we had a devotion time and singalong in the van on the way to my parents house in Burnet. We had the most wonderful evening with my mom and dad.....so nice! And this morning we had to take off and head back home...but we took the scenic route..the very scenic route, as a matter of fact! We went to Inks Lake State Park to check out the campsites, and were very glad that we didn't camp this weekend like we had planned! The Lord had other plans for our weekend, and it turned out far better than we could have ever asked for. We drove around there, then headed back a different way than we usually go, to do some checking out of the Bulverde/Canyon Lake/New Braunfels area, where we hope to move in the next year or two, Lord willing. We also checked out Guadalupe River State Park, which is another on our list of possibilities for camping, and then we ate lunch at the Gristmill in Gruene. What a treat! To look out at the river while we ate yummy food!!! Speaking of which....how did I do on the eating while I was gone, you ask? (well, I guess I ask, since I am my only reader, that I know of!) I wasn't perfect, but I wasn't too bad either! Friday, I had a McDonald's salad for lunch...went with the fried chicken on it, which was a little of a stretch, but could have been much worse! That night, we ate at a place in Kerrville called Culver's, with Craig's brother and nephew (their pick). It was basicallly a burger joint, and I am pretty sure there wasn't much on the menu that was healthy. I did opt for a grilled chicken salad and got a side of sweet potato fries, which I am sure aren't as healthy as what I make, but I could have been WAY worse...then, they had this frozen custard ice creamy stuff and it was BAD tempting, so my husband and I got a kiddie size one and split it...so yea, I was proud of that effort! The next day at the hotel, breakfast options were a little dismal...waffles, breakfast "corndogs", fully sugared up instant oatmeal, muffins, you know, that sort of thing...unless you opted for the hard boiled eggs, which I did not--legal, but yuck! So, I did the best I could with a packet of oatmeal and an English muffin, knowing we had Fiesta Texas ahead of us. We got lunch to take at Subway, and I got a 6-inch Club...had some baked chips with it, which isn't great, but I could have gone for the footlong and regular chips, so relatively speaking, I didn't do too bad...Now, that night I was a little bad...but just a little. We went to Habaneros, which is a Freebird's-esque build-your-burrito-as-you-go type place. I got a burrito with some rice (a no-no) but I did have a wheat tortilla, beans, and steak, which were very yummy and okay! Of course, the chips for the salsa weren't so great, but I didn't have a ton of them. Sunday morning breakfast at the hotel was the same bleh offerings as the day before....but they did have what appeared to be a wheat bagel, so I opted for that. Probably way bigger than I should have had, but it was brown at least! Then at lunch we stopped in Blanco on the way to my parents and got gas and lunch at the Stripes station and store thingy. I was a good girl and opted for the grilled chicken salad they had in their cooler. Then was when I got a little bad later....tacos al carbon (3 on flour tortillas..oh, the shame!), refried beans (they had no charro option) and rice and more chips than I should have even thought about, out to eat Mexican food. Sure was good though! This morning, I didn't do a lot better, with 2 of these out-of-this-world biscuits my mom had, plus a donut hole, plus a little piece of the chocolate pie she made. But, I think had I not had any of that bad stuff, I'd have felt deprived. And I didn't go nutso or anything...just HAVE to get right back...which I sorta did at lunch..well, sorta. We ate at the Gristmill, an amazing place I havne't been to since I was a kid, in Gruene. I got the grilled tomatillo chicken breast with some pinto beans and it was AMAZING!!!! Then though, the bad part was the dessert...although we split it 5 ways, It was an awful lot of brownie, ice cream and deliciousness! But, we are back, and it's back to it..and I am good with that. I feel like my little cheats this weekend were minimal, and that they will help keep me on track. Moderation...Stacy REALLY needs to learn moderation!

Overall, this weekend was just the biggest blessing. I feel like it was a great ending to a great, but way too fast summer. Loved my time with my family, and I feel like we made some great memories and I cherish times like that. God IS good....ALL the time!!!