Cinnamon Sticks Boutique

A sweet friend of mine introduced me to Cinnamon Sticks recently and I have quickly fallen in love. Canela's Etsy shop is now not just one of my favorite, but MY favorite. With so many beautiful hand stamped fine silver piece it's tough to pick a favorite, but I think I've fallen madly in love with the Rustic Mom necklace. With a birthday coming up I may have to convince my giving, romantic husband to splurge for one of her awesome pieces. I highly recommend that everyone stop by her shop and fall in love as well. And if you do, your in luck because she has a giveaway going on until Aug 1. Happy Shopping Friends.

Briarooni the Sand Princess.

This morning it actually was cool enough to play outside and Briarooni loved it!

Briar immediately crawled to the sandbox and propped herself up like a pro.

Within minutes she was standing up ready to dig in.

Dig in she did, now if only I could keep her from eating the sand.


FYI--Daddy's socks are great knee-pads for the rough cement, thanks Cheryl for the idea!

The Joy's of Having Girls

"Mommy, I'm Brieto Princess"

...a true quote from our Brie

I'm not quite sure what's more ridiculous her outfit or the fact she refers to herself as Brieto.

Our Staycation: Day Six

Day Six: A Day of Recreation

We started our day at the bowling alley, the girls were really looking forward to knocking down a few pins.

We were thankful the alley had bumper and ramps.

Briar did a great job keeping score. Although I think she may have fudged the number since Brie beat her mommy, I couldn't have really lost to a two year old, could I?

After a lunch at Bennihanna and a "nap", Rob wanted us to go hit some golf balls. So we headed back to Brackenridge Park where we could visit a "family friendly" driving range.

The gallery however was not that interested in Daddy's skills.

So mommy decided to see if she could spark some interest in the girls.

I'm thinking the designer shoes were the reason for my meager drives and not my ability.

Brie finally decided she wanted a turn. After a quick lesson from dad...

She was ready to "do myself".

Golf was fun, but I'm thinking Volleyball might bring in a bigger college scholarship.

Our Staycation: Day Five

Day Five: Ringling Bro. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

$48 for tickets, $10 to park, $22 for light up wand, $7 for popcorn, $15 for Briarsitter;

Brie's smiles at the circus, priceless.

On Wednesday we took Brieto to the circus alone, we asked our neighbor Edie to come over and watch Briar. She was thrilled, she has been dying to get her hands on our baby for months.

The anticipation of the circus was too much for Brie and she fell asleep on the car ride to the Alamo Dome.

It's a good thing Brie had a cat nap, she needed the energy to climb the mountain of stairs.

Once we got inside the Dome Brie's excitement turned to nervousness.

Then it was desire, "Momma let's get that". There was stuff EVERYWHERE.

Rob decided we could just take a picture with the "stuff".

Once we found our seats, we got "hungry"so the girls headed to the concession stand.

We came back with this; a very pink, very expensive glowing, spinning magic wand.

oh yeah and some popcorn too.

Once the show started the smiles grew larger and larger (at least for the girls, Rob was still stomaching the cost of our trip to the concession stand).

At intermission Brie decided she too could "jump, like the peoples".

Let's hope she doesn't get so good she runs away and joins the circus.

Ten minutes later it was back to our seats for another awesome act.

Brie really wanted an encore.

But her eyes quickly got sleepy.

So sleepy she was out before we made it out of the parking lot.

Too bad Briar was still awake on Edie's lap.

My oh my, was that night expensive, but truly awesome.

Two more days of vacation to report; tomorrow a day of recreation.

Our Staycation: Day Four

Day Four: Brackenridge Park

Brackenridge is my favorite park in the city, it host a variety of activities. On Tuesday we choose to take advantage of some it's perks. Our first stop The Brackenridge Express, the parks choo-choo.

Briar loved it.

While Brie had to warm up to the idea of riding a train.

After a fifteen minute train ride around the park we headed over to the Witte Museum. Every Tuesday from 4 to close the museum is free and we all know how I love a bargain. The Witte is quite pleasant, especially for kids, however, Tuesday nights in the summer are CROWDED. It was tough for little Brie to get a chance to "play".

We saw a log cabin.

Studied the San Antonio River water.

Watched Brie put on a puppet show.

And even got to touch some dinosaur fossils.

With all our brain stimulation the whole family was hungry, Robert was ready to find the perfect grill to BBQ on.

I think he found it.

While daddy grilled, the girls played.

They both seemed to have a great time outside with their Cinderella ball.

Tuesday was just another fun-filled family day on vacation. Stay tuned tomorrow for Wednesday, my favorite day of the week.

Our Staycation: Day Three

Day Three: San Antonio Botanical Garden.

Our third day on vacation was just as hot as our second, actually it was hotter, we chose the hottest June 29th on record to visit the gardens. Even though it was hot we had a great time, correction, Robert had a great time.

Brie did enjoy looking at the flowers but...

She was much happier when her dad showed her how to create her own shade.

We even found a shaded area that over looked a "lake".

Briar decided she needed a break from the heat with a cup of water.

Then Brie decided her sister needed some company.

I'm a big fan of botanical gardens, however I definitely think it is not a summer activity. The only thing that got me through the morning was a promise of lunch & cheesecake at the New York Cheesecake Factory. My dessert was worth the trip, but our next visit will have to wait for the fall.

Our Staycation: Day Two

Day Two: The Riverwalk Expansion

On Sunday night we started at the Pearl Brewery on Grayson street and walked the new Riverwalk expansion. I would highly recommend the expansion it was a nice walk filled with art and culture, minus all the tourist taps.

Brie loved when she was out of her stroller and able to...

...run.

Rob loved posing on the new bridge.

Brie and I enjoyed posing at the new grotto.

Actually the whole family enjoyed posing at the grotto.

We were having such a great time we decided to walk all the way to the Alamo (about 2.5 hours). It was hot that night, so as soon as we reached the Alamo we bought the girls a snow cone.

Shortly after they ate their snow cones they were out.

Which made for a quiet, romantic stroll back to the car.


Stay Tune for Day Three!