Girls' Lake Weekend

I have had the best little weekend! Friday night many of the girls from my Sunday School class drove out to Lake LBJ for a weekend at our teachers' lake house. We intentionally made the weekend low-key. It was about good food, late night fellowship, and a scarf exchange.

We all brought a scarf and after drawing a number, opened scarves, traded and stole! It was fun and we all seemed to love the scarf we ended up with! I love that some girls stole to get the one they brought. Nothing like knowing what you love!

We met for dinner at Blue Bonnet Cafe in nearby Marble Falls and brought him a Banana Cream Pie and this Fudge Pie. Both were really good although this pie reminded Carrie and Morgan of a famour yucky pie in the movie The Help. Ewww.

We stayed up really late.... like 4 AM late! We were talking, snacking and ended up playing a game called Mafia. Essentially, one person is secretly the murderer and everyone else tried to figure it out. Here are more detailed directions- it was serious fun!

Saturday morning we had apple fritters from a nearby bakery. They were delicious. To balance the sugar, we also had a yummy high-protein paleo breakfast casserole and fruit.

We all got dressed about 11:30 and headed out on the lake! I have never been on Lake LBJ before, but it was beautiful. This time of year, the grass was still green and the tress were starting to change for Fall.

We saw a wide variety of homes on the lake- some really big and some needing a really big renovation!

This one is an event center- I'd love to have this view every day, even if it was at work!

The girls on the boat! Hooray for these girls that I've just recently gotten to know. I loved spending time with all of them.

We had such a good time, we are thinking of a repeat in the fall so that we can go antique shopping in the area!

Our Little Ol' Life

I haven't blogged much because nothing exciting has happened. We have a pretty full weekly routine which keeps us busy, but isn't great for blog posts of much interest. Here is our last few weeks.

We attend choir on Wednesday nights at our old church. We were early recently and went to visit Jesus in the Garden of Hope. I love that we have gone from praying for a baby here to having a little girl that loves to visit the garden.

Abby used her piggy bank recently to ride a few carnival rides in the mall. She is obsessed with smart cars and always wants to stop and take a picture with one. They really are that tiny!

One Sunday after church we had lunch at a local Mexican food restaurant and they had a balloon artist there. What fun!

Abby has learned to make her own bed and calls it "getting her bed ready for a party".

We are doing much better at gymnastics! We were struggling for a while with not trying and throwing a fit as a result of not being confident she could do it or do it well. Her coach is being firmer with her and we are coaching her a lot about having a good attitude and we've had 2 good weeks in a row!

I love that it is scarf weather and my hair is officially the longest it has been since college or maybe high school. It is weird to see myself in pictures and to learn how to style or not style longer hair.

Abby and I are doing Community Bible Study on Thursday mornings. Once a month we have brunch- check out the cutest cheese tray! She used cookie cutters. Love it!

This is Abby's school lunch every single day. She loves all these foods and eats them at school and then finishes up at home. I think she could eat this 5 days a week.

We are getting ready for Halloween at our house! We made little treat bags for our friends at school with these vampire teeth, bouncy balls, spider rings and a lollipop.

On the rare occasion that we are early to something, Abby loves to sit in my lap and snuggle and take pictures. I seriously should be early more often!

Wednesday night after choir we had dinner outside at the new Phil's Ice House that opened in our area. The playground is awesome and the burgers and grilled cheese were really good!

Finally, this afternoon we decorated pumpkins with our friend Kiersten and Kaylinn. We hadn't seen them since school started so it was fun to catch up and play. Tabriah made them rainbow loom bracelets and had pumpkins for them. A fun afternoon treat!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

I love the pumpkin patch in nearby Marble Falls and haven't missed a chance to take Abby since she was 10 months old. I wonder if I can convince her to sit in the pumpkins at age 16? ha! I am certain my years at the patch are numbered!

This year we went on Friday morning and met our little friends Ainsley and Caitlyn at the patch. We go to church with them and I am good friends with both of their Mommas. Abby was the big girl with these sweet little things.

It was cloudy and cool when we arrived and sunscreen was needed by the time we left!

Abby LOVES her new little boots! I bought them at Old Navy thinking she would love them since they are furry inside and she loves all things soft and comfy. She would live in her pajamas with a blanket wrapped around her if she could! She now asks to wear a dress and her boots everyday.

Ainsley and Caitlyn had on the cutest little Etsy outfits for the fall!

This was our first year to jump on the berry bounce. Ainsley (age 2) went first and after a little hesitation had fun jumping. Then, Caitlyn (2 in January) wanted a turn and started jumping. 

Abby was afraid, but after Caitlyn went inside the gate she said, "the baby is going to bounce?" She told me she was afraid but wanted to try, so we bought a ticket and she loved it. Peer pressure at it's best!

We were not happy when the bouncing was over!

But, it meant it was time to feed the goats and then walk under the street in the cool tunnel and go ride the train. She did love the train!

Our final stop- picking zinnias. For $3 they gave you some scissors and a plastic vase and you could pick everything you could fit in the vase. We picked about 10 flowers. I loved the bright colors and the tall flowering bushes against the blue sky!

And then we were off.... until next year. I may have to pull her out of school for a pumpkin patch adventure!

Disney Cruise Recap: Atlantis Resort at Paradise Island, Bahamas

Our final cruise stop was the one we all looked forward to the most- Nassau Bahamas where we would be spending the day at Atlantis. There were tons of options in Nassau, but I just couldn't be right there by The Atlantis Resort and not spend the day there. Our whole excursion budget went to this day and it was tons of fun!

We got off the ship and immediately knew we were in the Caribbean. It was muggy, the buildings were colorful and the cruise ships were all lined up with happy passengers ready to disembark.

We took the 10 minute shuttle to Atlantis where a guide walked us through the hotel, casino, and mall to the water park area. The hotel was amazing- so much bigger in person than I had expected. The Miami Heat were all in house for training camp!

The area in the middle of these two hotels is called the Michael Jackson suite as he was the first to stay in the suite. It rents for $25,000 per night and there is a 4 night minimum. When it first opened, the suite was booked for 5 straight years. I'd love to know what is inside the hotel room!

We had a few hours in the waterpark and started at the kid's play area. It was cute and Abby loved it. Marcus wasn't allowed on the slides which made us sad....

until we found the adult slides! This one had a 40 foot drop and Marcus did it a couple of times. Abby and I sat at the bottom cheering him on! He didn't do the 100 foot drop. I can't even imagine!

We also found a few little baby slides! They had lots of pool all connected by little slides that we all did to get around inside the water.

Our friends Carrie and Brian loaned us their waterproof camera which made for fun pictures in and above the water! I think I need one for Christmas!

After a little swimming we were hungry and used our vouchers for lunch! We had sliders, fries and drinks at one of the hotel's outdoor venues. It was part of the package we bought and they were yummy!

At this point we decided to hit the lazy river that runs around the water park. It looked fun at the start, but there were signs about it being an intermediate ride which frightened us a little for Abby. I didn't want to scare her from all water for the day. I rode in a single tube and Marcus doubled up with Abby.

We were almost immediately separated and since I couldn't exit my tube and the waves kept pushing me, I couldn't see Marcus and Abby. We entered right at the point where the water pushes out and the biggest waves happen. It was fun, but the whole time I just knew Abby was terrified and Marcus was trying to calm her since an exit wasn't an option.

We finally made it to a calm area and I waited for them outside my tube. She loved it! Hooray for a brave little girl! We did it a couple more times and once, they went around solo with me on the bridge snapping photos!

After all that waterpark, it was time for us to do the Dolphin Interaction at Atlantis. Swimming with dolphins is a bucket list item. It is always something I've thought about and never thought I would get to do. I am so glad we did it!

We watched an informative presentation about dolphins, removed all jewelry and put on the most uncomfortable piece of clothing known to man.... the wetsuit. Ugh! Thank goodness I have a cute blond child covering up my wetsuit! :)

This wasn't a go in the ocean and "swim" holding a dolphin tale, but honestly it was perfect for us! We were in a group of 11 people and had Jonah the dolphin and his two trainers with us.

We all took turns kissing him, petting him, feeding him and smiling for the camera.

We even taught him to jump so that we could high five his fin.

In total we spent about an hour in the water with him. Cameras were not allowed, but they had a professional in the water with us snapping pictures the entire time.

I wish we could have taken our own- their pictures were not cheap. But, we just couldn't not buy a couple! So, I bought them and scanned them!

At the end of our day, we took the last shuttle back to the boat and talked about how much fun we had all night! If I had it to do all over again, I would have done just the dolphins and not the waterpark. We just didn't have enough time. There was so much of Atlantis we didn't see and while the water park was great, we have so many water parks in Texas that are bigger and have more rides. I would have loved to explore the Reef and sharks at Atlantis, seen some of the shops, and visited the property more. There just wasn't enough time!

That covers our Disney Cruise! We had the most fun! Please email me at annajenk@yahoo.com or leave a comment if you want to know more or read all about our trip here.