Texas Days 3, 4, and 5

Day 3 was a jam packed travel day. Before we went, I borrowed a 3 ring binder from a friend who had done a Texas road trip several summers before. I looked at a ton of her things, added some of our own, and mapped it out. Days 1 and 2 would be in Dallas/Ft Worth, Day 3, we would travel through Waco and Austin, but sleep in San Antonio. We would do days 4 and 5 in San Antonio, sleep in Houston for days 6 and 7 in Houston. Then, drive home. It worked out really well with only one little sleeping snag (that I'll get to in our last post). 

So, Day three...travel...and WACO! First Stop: Magnolia Market. I must say, it totally lived up to all its hype. The swings, the bean bags, the games, the shopping, the fun atmosphere...it was a great pitstop on a road day to just chill and sight see. 

The Silos in person!

Table for Megan, please?

See, EK Enjoyed her chill day at Magnolia!

These are my people :)

We ate at IN and OUT...because when you see one, you eat at one! It is just what you do! Ironically, on my facebook memories, I had eaten at In and Out on that very day 5 years before in Cali at a grand opening! What are the odds?

Bye Waco! 

We then had plans to go to this amazing place called Barton Springs. You had to reserve a slot like weeks in advance, and I did that. It was outside of Austin and the perfect halfway point between Waco and San Antonio to rest, swim, and relax for the afternoon.

However, nature had different plans. The springs had built up mineral deposits and were closed to the public for 48 hours. The problem with a road trip is you can't just postpone until the next day. We had to punt, but found another really cool natural swimming/state park area to hang. It wasn't the beautiful sights we were hoping for, but we had fun nonetheless! 

We made our way in to San Antonio for a quick supper and bed in our hotel!

Day 4 was official tour de San Antonio. The nerd in me needs you to know I had been waiting for this day since I made a mock Alamo out of a tide box and textured spray paint in the 2nd grade. If only I were kidding.....
Nonetheless, 20+ years later, I finally made it to the Alamo and it did not disappoint! We took our time touring. It was hot, but not insanely crowded. We did the free tour, and I felt like we were able to experience the entire Alamo in all of its glory. I loved it!

We headed to the Riverwalk and ate a fantastic lunch at Mi Tierra. It was stinking magical. Live music, amazing food. DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I definitely recommend. 

We also went to the market on this day, but I don't have any photos! The girls got sweet little Mexican-inspired dresses :)

I feel like we goofed a little on that day because we then walked back to our car, went to the hotel to chill, rest, swim, etc. and then came back downtown for our Riverboat Tour. In hindsight, we may should've rested after the Alamo, then done all of the Riverwalk things at the same time, but alas.

These two girls loved their day in San Antonio, and it won "favorite city" by most of the crowd.

Day 5 was another travel day. Yet again, we were a tad disappointed because BlueBell was having a bacteria scare, so a stop at their factory to grab a bite was thwarted. We headed to Houston on day 5. Stay tuned for the rest and last of our TX adventure on Friday!

Saville Life 2017 June-December

This post is more for my memory than anything else! I like to look back and think through "those times", so here are some highlights from the 2nd half of 2017!

JUNE:
In June, we road tripped to Texas with our whole crazy family! I recapped that trip here.

JULY:
July was insanely full! We did fireworks with all of our closest friends, we prepped and prepped, I went with our Church to the Dominican Republic, then Eva Kate and I went to kids Camp. It was busy, but it was full of the things we love. We also got to catch up with some friends who were back in town for a little bit...AND we went to an auction to support the Meares adoption fund.

AUGUST:
August was back to school and back to Cross Country. Also, can we note the throwback of this cutie who started her senior year in August! August was also a month of loss that began a tough season for the Roberts crew.

SEPTEMBER:
September was a month with all of the running (as it always is). We also snuck away for a little vacation with the Saville crew. We love any time we can get away with family!

OCTOBER:
In October, the cousin twins braved Homecoming to see Aunt Mack on the Homecoming Court in their custom Mustang Gear! ALSO-EVA KATE TURNED ONE! It was a big month for us :)

NOVEMBER:
November brought Cross Country State and Thanksgiving, as well as Livi's first birthday.

DECEMBER:

December was a month of celebration, but also a month of firsts as we "did" the holidays without the patriarchs of the Roberts crew. We hung out with friends and family and made lots of new memories. 

And that, my friends, was Saville Life (the condensed version) of 2017. 

Texas Days 1 and 2

This past summer, the Roberts family embarked on what may be one of the coolest family vacations to date. I am not really a beach girl, so I am always looking for adventure. Our Maine road trips have always been a major part of life, my history, and my nostalgic heart loves them. However, we were looking for something a little different. 

We knew that summer 2018 was going to be a big vacation, as we had discussed a cruise for Mackenzie's Graduation year. We also knew we hadn't had a family trip in a few years and wanted this one to be memorable. Morgan and I tossed out the idea of a Texas road trip (I was born there, she was just intrigued) and an epic trip was born.

Note: There were my parents, my brother, Chelsea, Mack and Morgan, Moose, myself, and 2 babies (8 and 7 months old. Eva Kate and Livi are champions). 

Because of the baby situation and the 14 hour trip to get to TX, we decided to leave Friday night after Moose got home from work. We loaded up and headed out. 

PJs on, toys and tablet on the ready!

14 hours later, welcome to Texas! We stopped in Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then, as Micah described these last few hours, embarked on the longest two hour drive in the history of drives. LOL! The drive from wherever we entered TX to Fort Worth truly seemed like an eternity.

HOWEVER...the supper we had MORE than made up for it. We ate at Joe T. Garcias. It did NOT disappoint. So, the line was insane for the outdoor garden area, and we were all a tad (a lot) grumpy about it, but dad swore it would move quickly. Literally 5 minutes into standing in the line, a man came by and said "who has more than 6"...um, us! They took us straight to a table that seated 10, past about 200 people waiting in line. That day, it paid to have a big group!

SUCH yummy Tex Mex!

Even the breakfast in TX were Texas shaped! We stayed two nights (ish) each in Comfort Suites rooms. I truly was surprised and pleased with the size of the room, the breakfast, and the ability for us to stay sane while doing hotel life for a week. That is tight quarters!

On day two, our whole task was to make it to downtown Dallas and experience the food trucks. There is this park area right outside the Dallas Museum of Art where all of the food trucks park and we were stoked for this day!

BONUS! We discovered the coolest splash pad. We were truly not prepared, but for some reason had stuck a swim diaper in the diaper bag, so we stripped the girls and let them go at it. They had so much fun! I really think this was one of the best times of the trip and it was a random find. yay for road trips!

Then, we found out that Dallas Museum of Art was having a free family day event. Micah encouraged (read:forced) us to all go in and experience the art. I must admit, though, it was truly a favorite. The exhibits were really cool and varied enough that we found lots to enjoy. It was air conditioned, and we had fun being critics for the day!

Come back Wednesday for days 3 and 4! 

Laundry and other woes

Lately I've been doing a lot of confessing about my laundry situation. Y'all. I'm bad at laundry. Like...I'm really bad at it. If I lived alone, it would probably be a major problem, but luckily I have a husband and a child who require clothing and complain if it is not clean.

I've been leading a Bible Study about not quitting (following one about Looking for Lovely --uh-mazing, by the way, go find it .. by Annie F. Downs...I'll wait.....).
In these two studies it directs us to keep on keeping on, to persevere, and to find the good in even the crummiest of situations.

I have decided to compile a list of the top ten lovely things about my laundry pile (that is legit often from the floor to the edge of my bed. I cannot.).

10. The clothing exists. It exists in extremity, honestly. I can go a week and not wash and rarely does anyone in our house have to dig for clean undies. It is probably an issue of excess. If we purged, I would probably wash clothes more (maybe).

9. I can find all of the matches to all of the socks most days. When you wait until all of the laundry has been done (like 4-5 loads) to fold it, all of the socks are waiting on you. it gives me joy to have few to no mismatched socks left!

8. It is warm, cozy, and smells nice. Eva Kate love to jump into the warm towels. I should probably take advantage of the pleasure she gets in jumping into the warm towels and fold a few, but alas, they often sit in the floor for days.

7. I have a washer and dryer in my house. They are not the same brand, nor do they match, but they work. They wash my clothes. I do not have to do work. I was in the DR last week and even with the "washing machines" they have, it is a lot of manual labor. I'm pretty sure I would have to find a side hustle to pay someone to do my laundry if that were the case.

6. I can afford to do laundry as needed. We don't have to go to a laundrimat, we don't have to conserve water. If Eva Kate potties all over a blanket, no worries, let's wash the blanket.

5. The yummy smell of Dreft. Eva Kate has sensitive skin...like UBER sensitive skin. I had to go to scent free everything. The gentleness of Dreft is still okay and smells just like a baby should, even though she is definitely flying through toddlerhood and straight into "twos"...her laundry smells amazing.

4. Moose is willing to hang all of the hang up clothes. If we're honest, the worst part of laundry is actually putting it away. I can handle washing it (sometimes, it get washed more than once because I forget to switch it, but who's counting), I can handle switching it, I can even (most days) handle folding it...but I HATE putting it away! Thank God for a husband who doesn't mind hanging the enormous pile of hang up clothes.

3. I can fit into and actually like all of the clothes I have. This is a little thing, but I hear so many people who are grumpy of their wardrobe. To take it a step further, I have a lovely collection of little girl clothes that make me smile (even when I am stepping over them in a laundry pile as tall as my waist).

2. I have two sweet people in my family to wash clothes for. Moose and Eva Kate bring me joy. God has given me this precious family. They create dirty laundry. I wash it. It is a catch 22.

1. My body is able. My mind and feelings may not like it, but the fact that I am able to do laundry for those precious people I mentioned in number two is often lost on me when I am complaining about folding underwear and 20 t-shirts.

God has given us such great blessings. It is all in how we perceive them. I know my list about laundry may be silly, but it is my thing that just gets after me. I know you have a thing too. Try to find the lovely in it today!