san antonio • final pool day

Our final day was all about relaxing and soaking up the sun. Gwyneth liked the slides, while Annabelle prefered the larger pool. They both loved the lazy river. I joined them for a while and then finished up a book and watched them float by. I’m not sure I could have asked for a more relaxing vacation with this crew of mine. 
Love that these little ladies pick out matching swim suits. 
testing the waters…
A little chilly when you first hop in! Ha!
the view from our room
Not as thrilled about getting ready for dinner. 
Just kidding, she was just annoyed that I was taking pictures. 
And then it was time to say goodbye. We had to pack up and head home and leave behind all that beautiful sunshine. This trip, we have all decided will go down in the books as one of our favorites!

san antonio • river walk

Our plan for the trip was mostly just relaxing at the pool but we did decide to leave the resort and check out a few local attractions. 
You can’t to San Antonio and not visit the Alamo. 
Annabelle did her research on the car ride over and filled Gwyneth in on the significance of the Alamo. She was so cute about taking pictures and sharing them with her school friends. 
We walked along the Riverwalk which is just beautiful and brought back lots of fun memories of a trip B and I took with friends many, many years ago. 
Again, our timing for spring break was perfect (not that we can take credit for it, but we are sure are grateful). The Riverwalk was busy but not overflowing. We were able to find seats on a patio and enjoy some fajitas and sunshine. 
No one ended up in the river but there sure was a lot of talk about pushing people in…you know, because that’s what our family does. 
After lunch the girls decided they had enough sight seeing and were ready to get back in that pool. We high-tailed it back to the resort, got back in swim suits and spent the rest of the day enjoying the water and sunshine. 

san antonio • pool day

We received an email that our flight time was changed for our trip to San Antonio. The flight was originally scheduled at 3 pm and was moved to 5:30 AM. Oh boy! That was early!! We all tried our best to get to bed early the night before, but Annabelle and I are night owls. We did get a little sleep though and were all up and and ready for the adventure at 3 am! 
We arrived in San Antonio by 8:45 am! We grabbed some Starbucks and bagels and waited for the pool to open. 
We stayed at the JW Marriott Resort and were all so pleased when we arrived. The hotel is beautiful with several restaurants and the most amazing pool. There were also activities planned through out the day for kids and families including slime making. The girls were all over that one. 
We grabbed a quick lunch at the hotel restaurant, Cibolo Moon. The food was amazing and it became our go to food stop for the rest of our trip. 
The skies were a bit overcast, but the temperature was perfect. High 70’s with heated pools. The girls’ spring break proved to fall at a perfect time. Everyone was else was still in school! They had the pool to themselves for most of the morning. A few other families (maybe 5 total!) joined us in the afternoon/evening. The girls took full advantage and explored all the pools, lazy rivers, and slides. 
The pool side bartenders told us the hotel was booked with 900 additional guests the following week. Wow! We sure got lucky with our timing. 
This just makes my heart incredibly happy. 
After our early morning start we opted for an early dinner at the hotel sports bar, High Velocity. It was great for watching the Avalanche game, but not so great for food. Typical bar and grill choices, not bad but not our favorite. 
We spent a quiet night enjoying the beautiful weather, watching some games and relaxing. It was a pretty perfect start to the trip. 

2018 summer bucket list

We are back at it again this summer! This is our 5th summer with our silly little bucket list. I still love it. I love putting the list together and checking off each adventure over the summer. Like most things I do, it’s over the top and I get a bit obsessive. 
The list has evolved from a list of fun things to do to almost a photography challenge. The girls know the clip doesn’t come off the board until I get a photo I like…which may be even more challenging than doing 100 fun things over the summer. 
At the end of the summer I make a chatbook and we have great memento of all our fun little adventures. The summer buckets lists from years past are here.  
Here we go….
Last Day of School
 LEGOrado @ Colorado History Museum
Rockies vs Reds @ Coors Field
Boondocks
Welcome to Palm Springs
Pizza Night in Palm Springs
Tie Dye
Build a Buddy
Archery
Ice Cream Sundae Bar
Palm Springs Pool Party
Warner Brothers Studio Tour
 Hollywood
Redondo Beach Pier
Redondo Beach
Long Beach
Long Beach Aquarium
 Queen Mary
 Downtown Disney
Disney Character Dining
California Adventures
 Disneyland
School of Rock
Morton’s
 Mount Evans
Afternoon Tea at the Brown Palace
Vacation Bible School
Dance Rehearsal
Swim Team Pancake Breakfast
The Greatest Showman Camp
The Little Mermaid at Boulder Dinner Theater
Dance Recital
Greek Festival
 Father’s Day
Incredibles 2
Glenwood Springs
Strawberry Festival
Glenwood Hot Springs
Painting with Bubbles
Cupcake Wars at BMK
Swim Meet #1/ My Birthday
Annabelle is 11!
Celestial Seasonings Tea Tour
Grease at the IMAX
Jurassic World
Kitchen Day with Dad
Painting with Tape
Newsies at Candlelight
Cousins Lunch @ 5280 Burger Bar
Staycation @ DIA
Rigazzi’s in St. Louis
Swimming in St. Louis
The Arch
Botanic Gardens in St. Louis
Pabst Museum (Milwaukee)
Discovery World (Milwaukee)
Mader’s Restaurant (Milwaukee)
Cousins! (Milwaukee)
Brewers Game (Milwaukee)
Amtrak Train Ride (Milwaukee to Chicago) 
Dinner at Ditka’s (Chicago)
Chicago Art Museum
Giordano’s Chicago Style Pizza
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
98th floor of the Hancock Tower (Chicago)
Carson’s Ribs (Chicago)
The Bean (Chicago)
Navy Pier (Chicago)
Botanic Gardens (Chicago)
Sweets Ice Cream
Painting with sponges
Rockies vs Diamondbacks
BMK Jumangi Camp
Swim Meet #2
Sunflower Art Camp (Boulder)
Hotel Transylvania 3
Swim Meet #3
 Alligator Spirit Night
 Ant Man and Wasp Girl
 Swim Banquet
 Sushi for Gwyneth’s 10th birthday!
 American Girl Doll Store
 Digital Photography Class
 Cake Boss
 Painting with Crystals
 Bowling
 Sewing Class
The Samples Concert
 Art Camp at the Arvada Center
 Elitch’s
 Mid Air Adventures
BMK Fairy Tale Treats Camp
 Great Wolf Lodge
 Water Park
 Water Slides
 Broncos vs Bears
And just like that, it’s the first day of 5th and 6th grade!