Alamo Bowl Days 4 & 5

We're winding down with our recap of our time in San Antonio at the Alamo Bowl, and today I'm sharing day 4 and part of day 5. 

Monday morning we woke up and took it easy. I managed to get a workout in, the girls played in the kids suite, and we took our time getting dressed. My parents had driven down to Austin on Sunday, stayed at our house, and then got up to meet us in San Antonio on Monday. 

When they arrived we all set out for a stroll on the riverwalk. 

We walked and walked, and it was so nice because it wasn't insanely crowded. It seemed that after lunch time, the riverwalk was nuts throughout the rest of the day and evening, which made me want to avoid it. While it's pretty, it's also very narrow, with basically single file lines walking down the sides, and outdoor seating for all of the restaurants. Couple that with three girls, and I was a nervous wreck that they'd fall in the river or even get lost. I was glad to have reinforcements in town. 

We eventually walked up to street level, took some pictures and walked back to eat lunch. 

I was craving mexican food, so we found a restaurant on the river not far from our hotel. 

Then, we walked over to the Alamo, which was right across from our hotel, and DJ even managed to meet us over there! Bowl games always vary for us, because we have some bowl weeks where we see each other a lot, and others where we barely see each other because he's busy working. This bowl, we rarely spent time together :( After sneaking over for a bit he headed to the airport to pick up his sister in law and nephew. 

My mom took the girls to get ice cream and my stepdad and I sat at the Alamo and people watched. 

The girls came back while I was showing him some photo settings on my phone and we ended up taking this picture. 

When my sister in law and nephew came in to town, we walked the riverwalk and tried to catch a boat, but the line was insanely long and the girls were tired. So, my parents took them back to the hotel and we did some exploring and had a quick dinner out. I called it a night early (to relieve my parents) and DJ hung out with family. 

This gorgeous tree was in one of the historic hotels downtown. 

And I came back to my room Monday night with another fun surprise! The chocolates were so yummy! 

Tuesday was game day!!! Nana made it in around midnight the night before, so after brunch, we all met up and finally went on a riverboat ride! 

We were excited!!! 

Lots of girls ready to ride the river boat! 

Addy was nonchalantly, or not, holding up her "hook 'em" to all the people walking along, and especially to Utah fans. She is a die hard Texas fan. 

#sorrynotsorry

There's a lock bridge downtown that we discovered on our riverboat ride, and now I want to go back and put a lock on. 

and how cool is this tree growing out of a building?! They're actually doing reconstruction on this building so our river boat driver said the tree may be torn down :( 

After our boat ride, DJ went to get ready for the game, and we went to Joe's Crab Shack- my nephew's crab big read "My Crabs Have Longhorns" and I about died! It was so funny! 

After lunch we got ready for the game....... I'll be sharing that next week! 

Spoiler alert- we won! 

See y'all tomorrow for Friday Favorites! 

Let's Look At......

Happy Wednesday! Yesterday was our first day back at work and school, and even though I wasn't ready to go back (because I really loved being home and sleeping in!) it's so nice to be back in a routine. For now, I'm feeling confident that we can manage #allthethings, but ask me again in a week- ha! 

Today I'm linking up with Erika and Shay for Let's Look At......

and this month, we're sharing our nightstands. 

Side note- I went to college with Erika, but never met her- I did however know her husband, Tab, but never kept up with him after college. I randomly, clicked on her name when I was reading Shay's blog (she's the sister of Sean Lowe- The Bachelor) and realized that Erika was married to Tab- so, it's been fun reading both of their blogs throughout the last several years. Such a small world. 

Alright, here's my nightstand. 

My nightstand usually isn't so crowded, but since I'm working on being more on top of things, I have a few more notebooks on my nightstand right now. 

Above my nightstand is a picture of each of the girls in the bluebonnet field. Before we even lived in Texas, I wanted the girl's pictures made in bluebonnet fields, but I never thought it would happen. So, when we moved here and the bluebonnet's bloomed last Spring, I booked a session with a photographer, and I love these pictures. 

When Megan was in 1st grade, she made me this coaster at school for Mother's day, so it sits right by my bed :) 

For now, I'm keeping my planner on my nightstand. Every night I'm checking it before I go to bed to make sure that I know what events we have coming up and I make a few notes in it. I'm also reading my way through 100 Days to Brave, so I keep it right here so I remember to read it. I'm also writing down three things I'm grateful for each day. 

Oils....

Of course, I have some of my favorite sleepy oils and rollers on my nightstand.

Dream Catcher

White Angelica

Tranquil

Rutavala

My oil roller stand is here.

I also have Bergamot and Peppermint because I've been diffusing it during the day recently..... and a spray bottle of Lavender that came from a local Lavender farm- we received it as a gift from the Alamo Bowl. 

I purchased the wooden bowl from an adoption fundraiser; it was handmade in Africa, and I keep a few tourmaline crystals in the bowl to help with EMF protection.

I keep my favorite diffuser on my nightstand, along with a bottle of water so I can easily fill up my diffuser, and I have a selenite crystal, which is my all time favorite crystal. 

Selenite is powerful for spiritual cleansing but, it also gives you a feeling of protection and security. It's the one crystal that I can hold in my hand, take a few deep breaths and feel instant calmness. 

Everything on my nightstand has a purpose and is used daily; it makes me all a little happy :) 

Thanks for stopping by today....

you can find me everyday on Instagram. 

Alamo Bowl Day 3

Sunday morning the girls and I slept in and pretty much missed breakfast, so we walked down the block to La Panaderia which was featured on one of the food shows and recommended by a friend. We had quite a wait out the door before we even got in! 

 I was tempted to let us all order breakfast, but once we got inside and saw all the pastries, I thought it would be fun to pick out a few and for us to all share them. 

There was a Tres Leche croissant with strawberries that was delicious!  

After our carb-load, we walked back to the hotel via the Riverwalk.

And I wish that I could tell you that it was wonderful and breathtaking, but in case you've never been to San Antonio, the riverwalk is crowded and tiny! There's virtually no room, so I was constantly telling the girls to scoot over, and to walk as far from the river as they could so they didn't accidentally fall in. So, it was pretty much stressful and I was done! 

So, we went back to the hotel and played Twister. 

We eventually made it back to our hotel room, and I opened the bowl gift that was left for us on Friday- a fun wooden serving board, a gorgeous hand blown bowl, and chocolates. We had gifts left for us every day and it was fun to see what kind of surprises we would be walking in to! 

Eventually, I got my cool together and decided we would venture back out, so we headed over to Legoland. 

It was perfect, because the girls could play and run wild. Some friends were there too, so the girls all met up and rode a little ride together, watched the 4-d movie and built to their hearts content. 

They had a fun afternoon. 

We walked back to our hotel, but since we had a late brunch, we skipped lunch, and opted for an ice cream snack. 

That evening, we headed down the riverwalk for the pep rally. The team rode in on riverboats, but our band lined the sidewalk and the bridges. 

I found a great view from a nearby hotel. 

After the pep rally, we went to a Rudy's BBQ dinner, but only snacked, because...... 

we needed to save room for a 3 lb cinnamon roll at Lulu's! One of our friends from college was working the game and we met him for dinner. He travels a lot and always knows the best places, and recommended that we meet for dinner at Lulu's. After our dinner, we split the cinnamon roll, but barely made a dent in it, so I took it to our hospitality suite to share. 

And we had another fun surprise waiting for us when we did make it back to our room.

We also had a yummy cheese board in our room each day. 

Our hotel room had a balcony, with a fun view of the hotel atrium, which was perfect for people watching! 

We made it to bed fairly early on Sunday night, because we were looking forward to family coming in on Monday! 

Alamo Bowl Days 1 & 2

Well, winter break has come and gone and man did we enjoy it! Today I'm back at the work and the girls start back tomorrow, and I'm still not quite sure we are ready for it. 

After we celebrated Christmas, we packed up and headed south to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl, and man, were we spoiled! Each bowl that we've experienced is completely different from the others, and it's always fun to see what the bowl committees have in store. 

We checked in to our hotel room, and had gifts waiting for us, which was a fun surprise!

Adalyn received a monogrammed blanket, and all of the girls received a stuffed shamu, and the big girls received a bug flashlight and a light up frisbee. 

DJ was busy setting up meeting rooms so we walked to Travis Park for ice skating with friends, and it was warm! Ice skating outdoors in Texas was definitely an adventure as the ice was melting, and with every fall, the more soaked you'd get. Adalyn wasn't so sure about ice skating at first, but we went ahead and rented her skates just in case, and she and I watched while the big girls went around with their friends. 

Eventually she decided she wanted to go, and she hugged the wall the entire way around. 

Gretchen eventually got the hang of it and slowly crept further and further from the wall. 

And then she fell down and was soaked! 

Megan was skating over to make fun of Gretchen and of course, as she did, she fell down and came up soaking wet herself! 

After an hour or so of skating, we went back to the hotel for warm baths and dry clothes. We took a quick photo with Bevo.....

and then walked down the Riverwalk for a bit.

We eventually made our way over to a rooftop deck overlooking the Alamo and were treated to dinner and.....

our own pair of Oakley sunglasses. DJ picked out a brown pair, and I picked out a red pair. 

We had gorgeous views of the alamo at night. 

On Saturday, we headed to Sea World. Our first stop was to see a bald eagle. 

We watched a show and then fed sea lions. 

Gretchen was all about the fish. 

Adalyn was not! 

These brave girls rode a roller coaster! 

And after lunch we went to see the shamu show. They were all upset because we wouldn't let them sit any closer- they wanted to get wet! And I assured them that they would because they were still fairly close, and then they didn't get wet at all! Sigh. 

Sea World was all decked out with Rudolph and friends. 

Adalyn found a carousel, and was in heaven. 

And these girls hugged Sesame Street characters. 

After our day at Sea World, this guy and I got dressed up and headed to dinner with the coaching staff from Texas and from Utah at a performing arts center. 

Dinner was yummy and the view was too. 

Our first two days were full of fun and adventure!