Memorial Day Weekend: Texas Road Trip

I'm over a week behind with blogging,
but summer is upon us and our days, weekends, and months are filling up fast.

We're at that moment where it feels like full-on summer.
I wake up ready for the pool, lake, or some sort of water play daily,
I've got a list of summer reads for our library visits,
and currently we really like popsicles for snack.

So excuse my summer lazy style, but we need to backtrack and talk about our family road trip to San Antonio.

As Texans, the second time around, there is a lot of this large state that has gone unexplored by the McQuinns, so we thought Memorial Day weekend was the perfect opportunity to check San Anton off our list.

We packed up Saturday morning, with a few things in mind and a weather forecast that was bound to cancel most of them. {think rain. lots of rain.}

Upon arriving, we began exploring the River Walk area, taking in the sites, looking for a lunch destination.
After a lot of walking, we settled on Rain Forrest Cafe.

Yes,
we sacrificed our palates for our daughters enjoyment.

We ate lunch among the elephants, gorillas, and a rain storm every 15 minutes.

Her face.
Was. Totally. Worth. It.



She loved every moment of it.



In fact, I might even consider doing it again,
just to see that little shake of excitement everytime that elephant raised his trunk to roar.

After lunch our exploration continued on the streets of San Antonio,
including a stop at the Alamo,
{are we official Texans yet?...
even though we still aren't exactly sure what went on there}
a walk through a few parks & the Market Square area,
until the rain started and forced us to run/walk our way back to the hotel.

After we dried off we ate a lovely dinner {our palates won} and planned our adventures for the next day.

With more rain in the forecast we opted for an African Safari, Texas Style.



Making our way through the Wildlife Ranch, Lauren got acquainted with  all sorts of animals, many that I can't name, but in general a lot of deer, goats, elk, buffalo, and other horned animals.

She thoroughly enjoyed watching them, feeding them, and saying 'Hi-y' in her sweet little voice.

It was the perfect little adventure for her.

Until.

We came to the zebras.

She saw this:


and lost it.

We worked our way through the zebras followed by the ostriches
{which we thought were even more frightening}
and got our dolly girl out of the safari and onto land.

We did some exploring,





chatted with some goats,




and stared in awe at giraffes, hippos, camels, monkeys, and fish.






With the forecast not in our favor for the remainder of the day, we bid farewell to San Antonio {and the zebras}, stopped to do some shopping, and made our way back home.

We rounded out our Memorial Day weekend with a traditional summer BBQ, corn on the cob, and of course some pool time.




Quick little road trips, some Texas history, corn on the cob, tankinis & top knots, and zebras that may bite...
The Perfect Memorial Day Weekend.

lately

It's been quiet here lately.

Quiet is probably not the right word.
Low-key.
A little boring maybe.

But quiet is not the best description when your busy toddler girl is cutting her canines while contracting an icky virus from the childcare center at the gym.

She had to start building her immune system sometime...

that's what I keep telling myself.

This explains why this blog has been quiet.
Or boring.

Here's a peek at some fun that has gone on lately.

Bubbles



Pudding


Tea Parties


Popsicles


Pool time


Summer days are upon us.

may celebrations

The beginning of May is a celebratory time for the McQuinn family.

'Cinco de Mateo', Matt's birthday & Mother's Day kept us busy last week.

We celebrated Matt's birthday with Tex Mex, balloons, and a few gifts.




The cupcakes were eaten by the dogs while we were at dinner.
Never a dull moment in this house.

This weekend we introduced Lauren to the Houston Aquarium.


After oohing & ahhing at all the big & small fish and a white tiger
[what? you don't have a tiger at your aquarium?]
we made our way to the outdoor area and rode the ferris wheel and carousel.

Lauren was a little hesitant about sitting on the carousel,
so dad rode her seahorse instead.


We celebrated Mother's Day with a lovely brunch followed by a trip to the spa for this mama.


Celebrating another exciting and adventurous year for Matt.

Celebrating the beauty and challenges of motherhood.

Celebrating one another and our lovely little family.

sunshine & saltwater

My favorite children's photographer had some spring saltwater mini-sessions available that I was dying to have Lauren be a part of.
After approaching Matt several times, doing my best to convince him that we needed these photos, his responses came in the form of questions
How many times a year are we going to do professional photos?
and contained the dreaded 'b-word'...
budget.

Despite my argument that the last professional session we had Lauren was still toothless, he won, and  convinced me to let it go and take Lauren down to Galveston to try our own little saltwater session.

While my images don't quite stack up to the professional,
we did it & I learned a few things along the way.

And seeing our little princess fall in love with the sea?

Well, that was priceless.

nineteen

At nineteen months, this busy bee of a little girl...

... loves to run fast, climb high, and jump in her own little toddler way. She is busy. And we love it.

... still enjoys her gymnastics class and has just started doing her 'forward rolls' aka summersaults solo. She is eager to try anything new in class and often acts as a volunteer.

... sings the 'Kitty Kitty' song and 'Row Row Row Your Boat' multiple times a day. Both are her favs from Toddler Time at the library and if you spend a day with us, you will be singing them too.

... makes all sorts of animal sounds and loves to point out all animals, in books, puzzles, and especially in person. She is still a big fan of birds. My current favorite sound, the owl.

... can be heard jabbering throughout the day. She answers Yes and No to all questions. The no is usually reserved for things she is quite passionate about. If she says it, she means it.

... is a BIG fan of water. We recently introduced her to the Gulf and the neighborhood splash pad. We had to pull her away and both lead to a really good nights sleep.

... is showing a pickier side to her eating. While the pediatrician assures me its a normal phase, I am missing that good little eater I had last summer. {the one that I took for granted}

... still loves her dolls, her blocks, and her books. She loves taking her dolls for walks in their little stroller. Likes to build towers to knock them down. And each night before bed we read, 'The Monster at the End of this Book', 'Good Night Moon', and 'Princess Baby Night Night'. In each book there is a SHHHH moment and she puts that chubby little index finger to her mouth and makes her own little hush sound.

It's little memories like these, I never want to forget.