Arizona Awesomeness & Brushwood Bash 2015 Friday & Saturday

This past weekend, Ray, Auby, and I made a 2100 mile trip to Tucson, Arizona to visit our sweet Brushwood friends and their two adorable kiddos. This trip was filled with a lot of laughs, a lot of love, a lot of miles, and a lot of fun. Join me for a long and crazy ride.

Our trip began at 4PM Friday afternoon as I turned my classroom light off and gathered my materials for the day. Thursday was an unexpected snow day which allowed for our little family to enjoy a day at home and some early packing and organizing of materials. With bags packed, travel snacks ready, and babe picked up from school, we were ready to go and officially welcome our Spring Break family vacation to Tucson. Our planned stop would be El Paso, TX which would be10 hours of driving. So with the ipad switched to Mickey, toys and books by her side, and plenty of squeeze pouches, we were on our way. I have to be honest, I was beyond worried of how Auby would travel this trip. Our girl while so sweet can be a difficult travel buddy and knowing that 15 hours stood between us and our final destination, I have to say I was definitely uneasy. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Auby was an absolute champ and our drive, while very long, was excellent. So here we go! Enjoy the details of our trip!

Friday

We left at 4PM and stopped for dinner at 6 in the small town of Ranger, TX. The DQ was all we could find but Auby didn't seem to mind play driving in the front seat to stretch her legs.

 {My travel buddy}

 

Friday night was a bit of a blur. I loved watching the land go from flat to hilly. I loved the great conversation Ray and I had as baby girl napped in the back. I am very thankful for my husband as he made the drive until 2AM (1AM mountain time) when we arrived in El Paso. The lights from the border were pretty amazing and the town was hopping.

Our hotel was actually pretty great. It had a great bar and grill as well as a night club. But all we could do was catch some Zzzzzs. We knew we had another long trip and a few more states to drive through in the morning. Another great bonus was that it stood right next to a Starbucks. Yep, perfection! 

Saturday

Saturday morning arrived. We were tired but excited. Auby let us sleep in until about 7:30AM. After getting dressed the alarm went off in the hotel. This was not the way I had envisioned our wake up; however, after a few minutes we were back in the room and ready to go. We should have picked up on the fact that no one from the hotel was outside so this must have just been a simple test. Oh well. With bags packed, we were up, and ready to go. We did make a few extra stops on our way to Arizona. Here's one and I can't get enough of this face.

 

As a native Houstonian, I have to say, I get pretty giddy about nature and God's amazing beauty. The land was gorgeous. Please forgive my phone photos from the car window. You'll soon come to figure out my camera actually broke this trip and the majority of my pictures are all iphone creations. I guess it's better than nothing. Here are a few of my favorites along the way.

 

 

And then, we were there.Our next stop would be to Hops and Vines winery in the Sonoita region of Arizona where we would meet our Brushwood friends for some wine and a picnic lunch. 

 

 {Family Photo}

Aubrey loved playing in the rocks. It is definitely a different experience for her and she absolutely loved it.  It was also so fun to see her amongst the mountainous terrain and winery vines. After a few minutes of exploration, we met up with our Brushwood friends for a picnic lunch at Hops and Vines.

I absolutely adore Kaylan, my new mama friend. She is fabulous and I honestly can't say enough about her. It was such a special trip. A trip to celebrate new adventures for their family of four, to welcome the new babe, visit with their older, as well as catch up with some amazing best friends that live a little more than a hop, skip, and a jump away. So this time was precious and so truly memorable.

 

I mean seriously can you get a better view than this? (please excuse the random smudges on my camera lens... again you'll learn that my camera broke this trip- my heart is still getting over this fact)

With a delicious lunch eaten, we played with some of the wineries ducks. Quack Quacks! Auby was so excited.

 

From delicious eats, games, and many fun photo opts, it was time to go in and sample some wine. Hops and Vines winery was such a great place. Perfect for picnics and family fun. I loved their pairing with potato chips. Pretty genius in my opinion.

 {Our Brushwoods and Zellners sampling the wine & chips}

They also had this perfect door that I thought would make for Auby's month-iversary series. Happy 17 months big girl. What a perfect place to celebrate.

After our first winery, we decided to go to another. When in Rome right? Same thing. When in the Sonoita wine region... you get the picture.

After our time at the winery, we made our way to Tucson. We enjoyed a pizza dinner and much needed catch up time with our dear friends. I would say it was a perfect ending to an absolutely perfect day! Thank you to our Brushwood bunch for hosting our visit. We truly are thankful for your family and our friendship.

Daycation in the Country, Lunch at Logan's, and Family Blessings!

Today, the husband and I packed the car, enjoyed a chick-fil-a breakfast, and made the four hour trip to San Marcos, TX to have a special family visit. For a few weeks my mom and I had been planning a day trip to visit my great-aunt Alice in Wimberly but recently several health issues had sent her to the hospital. What a blessing it was to hear the day before we left that she would be getting out of the hospital and arriving home!

Upon our arrival to San Marcos, we met up with my mom and dad at their hotel. From there we traveled to Logan's Roadhouse and enjoyed a very tasty lunch, a fabulous time of catch up, family fun, and photo opts. It was definitely such a special time with my family.

It had sadly been too long since I had been to visit Wimberly. It was interesting to see all the different changes that had been made to the town. It was also amazing to be reminded how beautiful living in the county truly is.

When we arrived to my great-aunt's home in Wimberly, look what we found in her backyard...

...deer waiting for their afternoon meal. Yes my family feeds a family of 15 deer by hand each day. Seeing and spending time with my great-aunt and family was such a blessing and absolutely worth the trip!

Aggie Maroon, Family Visit, Messina Hof Tour, and Mr. Wine Maker Himself!

This past Saturday, Ray and I traveled south to meet up with our Zellner family for a fun day trip in sweet home College Station.

We met his family at The Chicken Oil Company for lunch in Bryan, TX.

This beautiful girl is Becky, Ray's youngest sister.

I so love this girl and am so thankful she drove all the way out to see us:)

It actually opened right upon our arrival.
The sweet tea was delicious!

Lunch with my fabulous in-laws!

After lunch, we left for a campus tour. We found ourselves back on Northside again. We passed our old dorms, eateries, ponds, some lucky feet, and one pretty amazing tree. Here are a few pictures of our visit.

Welcome to Northside

Fishpond has been relocated across from Sbisa dining hall

The Century Tree

Mary Jean and Owen under the Century Tree

Sull Ross and a few lucky pennies

After visiting Northside, the family continued our journey to check on the status of the MSC or Memorial Student Center. It is said to be finished in 2012. A lot of work has been completed. It was amazing to see all the changes being made.

We then made our way to G. Rollie White to where the book store had been moved. There we found great A&M gear and of course had to have a family photo session.

Gig 'Em Aggies... Love the Zellners

I loved all the sweet aggie tot clothing... too cute:)

and yes my MIL found me some Aggie inspired Chapstick

At 2:30 we took a tasting and tour of Messina Hof Winery. Both Ray and I have been a few times, but each time has been different and more fabulous. We thought this would be a wonderful experience for the family. Here are some pictures of our tour.

Welcome to Messina Hof

Inside the Bed and Breakfast

Exploring the Vinyard

Let the Wine Tasting Begin!

Becky's new wine glass that will hold an entire bottle of wine!

We thought a family picture by the wine maker's
cut out was pretty amazing until....

After our tasting and tour we actually met Mr. Paul Bonarrigo... the wine maker himself. (It was an absolute chance and surprise meeting!) He wears this red signature beret.... a family tradition. He was such a sweet man who gave us several personalized signatures and photos.

Upon leaving College Station as it was time to return home, the husband and I traveled to one of our favorite College Station eateries... Fazoli's. This has become our tradition each time we go now. We ordered some of the most amazing breadsticks to go. They were absolutely delicious!!!!

It was definitely the best ending to an absolutely great daycation in College Station with family! Here is to making great memories with amazing people. Cheers to our next visit....:)