March Sister Visit

Shortly after we moved to Texas,

my baby sis decided to pursue her 

dream of becoming a nurse.

She had already gone to college 

and received a degree in Biology.

Then she started work as a pharmaceutical sales rep.

She did that successfully for a few years,

but it just wasn't fullfilling her.

She had this nagging desire

to be a nurse.

Even when my oldest was born

9 years ago,

she was talking about being a nurse.

So she bit the bullet and did it.

She applied to

and

was accepted into 

an accelerated program

about an hour and a half away 

from home.

So...

she quit her very lucrative job,

sold her downtown townhouse,

sold her car 

packed up

and 

moved.

And when they say accelerated

they mean

break neck speed!

14 months of non-stop,

no time to see family,

no time to sleep,

no time for nothin'

accelerated!

Once she finally finished classes,

she took the little bit of free time

she had 

and hopped a plane 

down to the big state of Texas

to see little ole' me

and my motley crew!

It was a quick trip 

but we shoved as much Auntie time

in as we could.

She arrived on a Monday around lunch

and daddy was taking her to the airport

Wednesday morning to catch a 6:30 flight back.

Here are a couple of pictures from her

whirlwind trip.

We picked her up right around lunch

and decided to head to my favorite

tourist destination...

the Riverwalk

for lunch.

Aunt Melanie decided to see

exactly how many little

people she could carry at once...

We walked up and down the Riverwalk

aimlessly

for somewhere fun to eat.

We finally settled on a place

and 

saw these guys!

We love mariachis!

After lunch,

we took her to another of our 

favorite touristy places,

the Japanese Tea Gardens.

They are beautiful!!!

And the waterfall was actually flowing this time!

And they have gigantic koi fish!!

After that we hit up a couple of stores

and then headed home.

Ms. Priss has a double bed,

with a twin trundle under it.

So her room is the guest room,

and most of the time,

she gets booted out of her "big bed" 

and into either the trundle

or her "tiny bed"

(canopy toddler bed).

So Aunt Melanie slept in 

her room,

with her.

Then they got up and got ready together too...

and put on their make up.

She's ready!

What a Priss!

We had to find something fun to do,

so we hit one of the up and coming areas of
San Antonio.

The Pearl Brewery

It is definitely a neat place to go!

They are redesigning and repurposing the old

buildings.

The stable is now a beautiful banquet hall,

used for weddings and such!

I wasn't sure what it was going to be like for the kids

but we all had a great time!

We had lunch at a HOT little lunch spot.

And Aunt Melanie treated everyone to a cupcake

from their amazing selection!

This one was banana split,

I think.

Then we wandered through the CIA Cafe

(Culinary Institute of Ameria)

There was one of those on the Pearl Campus as well.

We walked around a bit,

then discovered that the river was

about a block away!

So we walked over

and this is way more beautiful than the 

commercialized 

restaurant row

in downtown!

We even saw a few baby ducks!!

All of us loved these!  

The adults as much as the kids!

They almost got close enough to touch...

We ventured down a little further to this interesting thing

jutting into the sky!

It is a sculpture that someone had made

along the river...

it was so neat!!!

And apparently lights up at night.

I bet that is beautiful!

That is definitely being added to our great date night ideas!

The Pearl 

then walking along this part of the river.

After all of that exploring,

we wound up back at the 

CIA Cafe. 

We had purchased some items at our previous visit

(rumor had it they sold out of stuff FAST)

and asked them to hold it for us.

We went back and got our goodies

and sure enough -

80% of their items were GONE!

This baby was their main light fixture!

How creative?!?!

We finally ventured back to the house.

Daddy was due home and we had a bunch of tired babies,

and adults!

The following morning,

Aunt Melanie had to leave bright and early...

She was trying to be quiet,

but Ms. Priss woke up...

She was sad her buddy was leaving her so soon.

I loved this sweet moment...