...Jeff...

Today is Jeff's b-day. Just thought I'd remind you of this post and say that I miss Jeff & Erin!

Wednesday, March 11th, Day Three

After a much needed good night's sleep, we all woke up, ready to hit the pool/beach, especially Ashlyn. We decided to make a quick run to Walgreens first to pick up a few things that we hadn't found at the K-mart the night before. Traveling with kids means you need a lot of food, so we loaded up on snacks for the pool! Luckily, there was a Walgreens (and a lot of other eating establishments) within walking distance. Here's 2 of my fave pics we took on our way to the Walgreens. This is us in front of the El San Juan Hotel & Casino!

Like I said, Ashlyn could hardly wait to get to the pool, and since we had gotten up and out pretty early, it was only about 9;30 and we hadn't had breakfast, so my parents ventured on foot to get us all some breakfast, while Kristy, the kids & I headed for the pool and waited for my parents to bring us breakfast at the pool. Did I mention, this is the life!

Oh, just for FYI - Kelly & Brandon had been up and our early that morning with the wedding planner to go get their marriage license, that's why they weren't hanging with us.

After a few hours poolside, Kelly & Brandon showed up and had picked up the last few Puerto Rican additions to the Welcome Bags. So, we all headed upstairs to get cleaned up and finish stuffing the bags. More people would begin arrive that afternoon and we needed to pass the bags off to the hotel to deliver to each couple/family.

At 2pm my mom, Kelly, Kristy & I met with the caterer from the hotel. She & Kelly needed to confirm the locations and food at the Welcome Dinner on Friday night, the wedding, the cocktail hour after the wedding, and the dinner & dancing that followed the wedding. She was super nice and showed us around, explaining the set up for each event. She even made us stop by the bar at the pool and order a drink. My mom, my prego sister (Kristy) and my drink were all virgin, but Kelly tried a real Pina Colada. Trust me, mine was waaay better. Here's a pic of us with our drinks.

When we were done with the caterer, Kristy & I were pretty hungry, so we walked across the street with my mom and her kids and had lunch at Chili's. Yes, I know, not very adventurous or Puerto Rican, but so good and convenient!

My memory is blurry here and I can't quite remember what we did between our late (3:30pm) lunch and then dinner. I can only assume, we hit the beach!

After a few hours at the beach we went upstairs and got cleaned up for dinner. We thought we'd try this little place that was next door to our hotel. When we had seen it the night before it was busy and had some outdoor seating and fun festive lights...all seemed promising for a good dinner - WRONG! I wasn't super hungry since we had had a late lunch, so I just munched on everyone else's plates. It was all okay, but none of it was great...so far, not impressed with Puerto Rican cuisine. I guess we got back pretty late and just headed for bed after our first full day in San Juan! Here's Ash & I at our not so great dinner.

Brandon's mom had arrived so he moved his stuff and stayed with her, so my mom & Kelly moved into the room with my dad (where B had slept the night before), leaving just Kristy and I with her kids in our room. This made for a much more comfortable sleeping arrangement.

next post: shopping in Old San Juan

Super Duper: Baylor is doing well in the NIT tourney!

Super Pooper: still feeling run down, can't decide if it's a cold or allergies...ugh

Tuesday, March 10th, Day Two

As the last post eluded, Tuesday morning came very early. We were all excited, but I was just ready to be there! I don't know why, but I am a bit of a tense flyer. Mainly just checking our luggage, getting our boarding passes, getting through security, being on time. All of those things make me nervous. Once we get to the gate and are waiting to board, I'm good.

Well, this flying experience was no different, and I would like to say that I had every reason to be uneasy. You see, my family doesn't fly very often. I usually fly a few times a year, and mostly know the routine. So you can imagine, that all the details of getting to the airport, what terminal, boarding passes, etc, fell on me. Remember, I was flying with my mom & dad, Kristy, Ashlyn (7) and Cole (20months).

So at 8am we caught the shuttle from the hotel to catch our 10am flight. You would have been embarrassed to see the amount of luggage we were bringing (sorry, :( no picture). We get to the airport, go to check our luggage, only to find out that 2 of the 5 bags we were checking were too heavy. So, we get out of line, go use the helpful extra scale that the airport has set up for people like us, so that we can redistribute our belongings and not have to pay $50 per bag that is over 50 lbs. After much distribution, sweat, feeling like I might throw up because I hate this, and precious time, we manage to get all of our luggage to exactly 50lbs.

So, luggage is checked. Now I'm telling the lady that we have a stroller and a car seat to check. She tells me that you can only check one of those items for free per infant. I told her that's not what it said online. We go back and forth, back and forth, I was frustrated, but finally said whatever, that we would pay $25 for the second item. The unfortunate thing was that I forgot that we were going to take the stroller with us to the gate and just gate check it, so the whole argument was void, I looked stupid, and they refunded us our money.



Next stop: security.

Us on the airport train thing to take us to the right terminal.

Ashlyn thought this was pretty cool.

My dad insisted I take this picture. We saw this on our way to our gate.

Things went smoothly through security, thankfully, since checking in had taken so long. We get to our gate just in time to go to the bathroom, grab some food and magazines and then begin boarding. Once we boarded we had a 30 minute delay for some computer problems on the plane. Thankfully it did only talk 30 minutes, but still seemed long, having to entertain a 20 month old in a confined space.

The flight was pretty uneventful. Cole slept part of it. I entertained Ashlyn. We had lots of extra seats around is so the kids could spread out a little bit.

We were soooo excited to land in San Juan. Got all of our luggage, waited for a shuttle to take us to the rental car place. My dad, being the car salesman that he is, talked the guy into a free upgrade (which was good because there was NO WAY all of our luggage was going to fit in a midsized sedan), and we managed to fit all of our stuff plus us in the minivan.

We got checked into the MAGNIFICENT hotel!!! Could not believe how nice the lobby was. Everyone was so nice, helping us get settled. Yes, we felt like kings and queens (hey, I told you, my family doesn't travel often, and this place was NICE)!

Once we were settled in, it was decided that my mom, dad & I would venture to K-mart. I won't give you the details, but just know, it was far away, the GPS on my phone gave us wack directions, we finally ended up asking a cop and having him escort us there. Mind you, we were all exhausted and had no business worrying with a grocery trip late that night after a long travel day, but this is what we did.

The reason we had wanted to go that night was because we needed some perishable items that we had wanted to put in the welcome bags for all the guests coming to the wedding. When we got back Kelly & Brandon were back from dinner, so we all began stuffing welcome bags and getting things as ready as possible.

I'm not sure what time it was when we got to bed, but it was late. My mom, Kelly, Kristy, Ashlyn, Cole & I were all in one room. My dad & Brandon in another.

All in all, it was a long first day in Puerto Rico! We were ready for some lounging by the pool! You'll have to tune in for Day 3 to see if I got to finally chill with a virgin drink at the beach!

Super Duper: headed to Temple for Bradley's 1st birthday party
Super Pooper: behind in school work :(

Monday, March 9th, Day One

Ok, so I didn't really leave for my Puerto Rican excursion til Tuesday, but I wanted to document the events from start to finish, and things got crazy starting on Monday, March 9th.

I assume you all know that I left last week for Puerto Rico with my entire family to celebrate and participate in the destination wedding of my sister, Kelly. The next series of posts will recall daily events, hope you enjoy, I'll include as many pics as possible.

Monday I normally go to school in the morning. But with so much to do, I decided to skip. I woke up, finished packing and loaded all my luggage in my car. That consisted of a large suitcase, a small suitcase, a hanging bag, a laptop bag and a purse.

I went into work for a few hours, mainly setting things up and finalizing some things so that everything would go smoothly while I was away.

My sister, Kristy, arrived in Houston around 4pm with her 2 kids. She and her kids, my parents & I were all staying in a hotel that night by the airport to help make catching our 10am flight a little easier (with 2 kids mind you). Once she got to Houston, we ran to a tanning salon and each got a spray tan. This was a first for me. I was pleased with the subtle outcome, but it had faded by the wedding, so the main point of getting it was lost...ah well.

Around 5:30 my parents rolled into town and we all went to dinner at Guadalajara. This is Ashlyn & my parents, excited to start our adventure.

That night at The Sleep Inn there was some transferring of things that had been packed, trying on of clothes that we had bought for each other along the way, and finally trying to get to bed. Cole, my 20 month old nephew is used to going asleep in a dark room by himself. So while my mom & sister tried to put him to sleep, my dad, Ashlyn & I hung out in the little breakfast area for about an hour. Good times.

When we finally get back in the room, all settled and everyone in bed it was about 11pm. We woke up at midnight to Cole SCREAMING. I picked him up. He was BURNING up!!! So, at midnight, in N. Houston by the airport, my parents, who barely know Houston, venture out to try and find some children's Tylenol to break his fever. An hour and a half later, they return. Cole takes the Tylenol, by around 2am, we're all back to sleep, in different beds than we had started in for some reason. Then at 3am I wake up to my dad's horrific snoring (foreshadowing of events in PR) and didn't fall back asleep until around 4am. Next think I know, it's 6am, i guess I had finally dozed off. What a crazy night and crazy beginning to a big week.

My favorite part of staying at the Sleep Inn was when Ashlyn asked, will our hotel in Puerto Rico be as nice as the Sleep Inn? I sure hope so! The Sleep Inn had 2 double sized beds and cost $125 a night...our hotel in Puerto Rico...well, you'll have to stay tuned to find out about it!

Next post: Tuesday's travel day!

Super Duper: things have been chill at work since it's Spring Break

Super Pooper: allergies are taking over me!

...this is how I rodeo...

Yes, I love me some rodeo!!! Everything about it! The boots, the hats, the blinged out belts, the livestock, the sweet new born piglets, the fried everything, the concert, the calf scramble, and most of all the laughter of friends throughout the night!

Here's some pics from Thursday night. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures with Claire...Janelle got the good pic of all 4 of us (please share!).

chicken friend bacon...seriously?

sweet little piglets that were born earlier that day!!! notice the runt on the left side!

Janelle & Rebs in the arena

4 years in a row we've hit the Houston Rodeo together!

And that's how we do the Rodeo! I think I could really like being a cowgirl, a blinged out cowgirl that is.

Oh, funny story. Standing in line for the bathroom a lady told me that cowgirl hats aren't supposed to be pink. Black or brown, but not pink. I told her I had bought this hat at the rodeo several years ago, so surely that made it ok. She said she was just giving me a hard time. I wanted to say, "Look at the rest of me, do I look like an authentic cowgirl? I'm pretty sure the pink is more appropriate for this urban cowgirl diva."

Good times. Good times.

I'll try to post one more time before I LEAVE FOR PUERTO RICO ON TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

But no promises!

If I don't, happy Spring Break!

Super Duper: bought another bathing suit yesterday, that I don't really need...

Super Pooper: spending too much of my tax return on silly things

...Am I the only one that liked Molly???

Don't get me wrong, what Jason did was wrong. And I'm having a hard time figuring out if ABC made him dump Melissa on nat'l television, if it was all staged from the beginning...who knows!

What are your thoughts?

Did you ever like Molly? I picked her from Episode 1...but maybe that's why I'm tied to her, because I've never picked one from the start and stuck with her.

Please leave comments!

...Sunday afternoon...

Today I was having lunch with a friend and she asked me what I was going to do this afternoon. I replied saying maybe nap, maybe read for school, but that I wasn't sure why, but it felt like I hadn't had my Sunday afternoon chill time in a long time. And then it dawned on me, duh, last week I had to make an unexpected trip to the airport, and the 5 Sundays before that I was playing volleyball!

Don't get me wrong, I loved playing volleyball, but all of a sudden I felt like I had been given a gift! I was getting to go home at 1:30pm and have a Sunday afternoon to myself I didn't realize how much I had missed this! What a treat!

So, naturally, I came home and conked out...slept for 2 hours! And now I'm contemplating doing some early packing or running a few errands...we'll see if I can convince myself to get off the couch before night church to do either of those things.

So my question for you: What do you do on Sunday afternoons?

I know everyone loves pics, so here's a pic of Rebs & I at a beautiful wedding on Saturday

Super Duper: love my haircut/shape up
Super Pooper: some guy clocked me on the thumb during broomball and now my knuckle is bruised :(