Happy summer everyone!  It’s incredible that it’s already basically August and that football will be kicking off again in just a few short weeks!  I haven’t posted much this summer so I thought I’d fill you in on our latest adventures (minus the swimming hole).

The summer began with the purchase of a giant swing set for the kids, and because we are cheap and didn’t want to pay the $600 assembly fee, we took on the incredible task of erecting it ourselves via the 117 page manual that it came with!  HUGE shoutout to my in-laws who helped tremendously to build it and wrangle our kiddos during said process in the insane Texas summer heat! It would have taken months without them!  Fast forward to now and the kids (minus Ty Baby – he’s not quite there yet) are enjoying the heck out of it! It has a sandbox component with it that is also a huge hit. I’ve given up trying to keep the sand in the box though, ha!

Before the swing set adventure even began however, Scott was able to go on a dream fishing trip with a high school buddy and groomsman in our wedding to the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana. He caught a lot of fish and had a great time. While he was gone, I took Landri to Schlitterbahn and OMG. That girl is a water dare devil. At 3 years old, she rode every single ride in the park allowed for her height. Shockingly, this includes several 4-5 story spiral tube slides (i.e. pitch black inside) and other insanely high water slides that she rode all by herself (because they do not allow you to ride together). Who knew! I guess water confidence from ISR also can translate to water parks!  Here is one example of a slide I’m talking about!

Next, I was able to take a girls trip to San Francisco for my cousin’s bachelorette party to the Sonoma area to a town called Glen Ellen. We rented a giant mansion with a pool out there and had an absolute blast celebrating Cortney! Cort and I are a lot alike in the sense that her group of friends is very eclectic from all different parts of her life. And so it was neat to all come together in one place as a big group.  Her friends are all so amazing and I loved getting to know them.  The best part was that the wedding was only 2 weeks later, so we were all able to reunite and meet spouses and significant others as well!

But before the wedding, Scott and I took the kids to Rockport (Texas coast) for a night. Ty had just gotten tubes put in his ears and couldn’t get wet or sandy so I panicked quite a bit especially when Rex dumped sand on top of Ty’s head! We had a lot of fun though and the big kids LOVED it. We stayed in a questionable beach hotel (you know the kind – “with rates as low as $65”).  The first room was so sketch that Scott upgraded us to a “better” room, which if you know how big of a cheap skate he is, this should tell you something! But of course the kids thought it was incredible so totally worth all of the roaches and indoor mosquitos, haha!  And they spent the entire next morning swimming in the hotel pool.

Next up was the 4th which we celebrated with our neighbors and best friends, swimming, hanging out, playing on the new swing set, and watching fireworks. Everyone wore patriotic tattoos and Rex’s mustache was my favorite one. It was so much fun. Landri woke up the next day begging to do it all over again! Amen sister!

And then the next day, after shipping off the kids to grandparents (HUGE SHOUTOUTS to Giggie, Papa and Mimi!!), Scott and I left for a kid-free vacay to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for my cousin’s wedding at the beautiful Sanderling Resort! Words cannot even begin to describe how much fun we had. It was a series of days of wedding festivities!! It was so wonderful to see long distance family and reunite with the bachelorette party girls and meet their significant others. The wedding itself was incredible – made so many memories and just had the best time.  We were also able to enjoy the beach and meet our two newest littlest cousins who are adorable. Here are a couple pics, but keep scrolling because there’s more below!

So we came home for a week and Scott was already back to work when I took a random 36 hour trip to Phoenix to visit my college roommate Tara! You may remember her, she wrote the first ever guest post on my blog! I was also able to see an SA friend and her son who moved to Phx a year ago which was extra special. Anyhow, I was quite interested to see how hot 112 degrees felt and I think the guy sitting next to me in the SA terminal said it best, “it’s like having a hair dryer blow in your face,” haha! We did girlie stuff, hung out at the pool and enjoyed some great food and drinks. Such a fun trip – I love Phoenix!

Next up was the Chupacabra night trail 10k run with my pledge sister. It was my third time to do the run, second time with her and my first time to not wipe out so I’d definitely say that any blood-free run is considered a success! It’s always good to see Kristin and run together.

And then as summer was winding down, I decided that Scott and I needed a quick and fun Staycation to top off the season. Even though he was annoyed with me for wanting to stay somewhere just down the road, once he got there he quickly changed his sentiment once he saw how cool the place was. The photos just do not do it justice for how beautiful it is in person! Side Note: I’m still not sure how he hasn’t learned to trust me. Most all of our adventures that I plan turn out fabulous and he later admits that I did a good job.  Anyhow, it was a little stone cabin set on a large ranch in the Bergheim/Boerne area and it was adorable. The best part was the infinity hot tub perched on a cliff overlooking the majestic Guadalupe River. We started off the day by going paddle boarding together for the second time this summer on Boerne Lake and then eating lunch at the Dodging Duck in downtown Boerne (which we love). We hung out at the house enjoying the view and hot tub and then went to a local beer garden that I’ve been wanting to try for years, The Roundup. It was a blast! We played two games of Corn Hole against each other, and despite being annoyed with me for suggesting it and making him play, later Scott agreed that it was really fun (again, this is such a common theme lol). This might have been because he killed me both games though haha! Good to see those college pitching skills come out!

And lastly, after the annual Football Kick-off party that we throw for Scott’s coaching staff and administration, we stayed at Gruene Mansion Inn, a B&B type hotel down the road from Tavern in the Gruene where the party was. We’ve only stayed there once before (Valentine’s when I was pregnant with Landri I think) but it was neat since each room is different and we had a really cool one this time! It was very nice and we had a great time! We got there early and hung out on the Guadalupe River for a while, just the two of us and then toured Gruene for a little bit and enjoyed some pineapple cider (I highly recommend it by the way). Then back to get ready for the party and hang out with our Steele peeps! It was great to see everyone – such a fun tradition to all get together. I cannot believe it, but we didn’t take a single photo this entire excursion!! We had too much fun that we forgot I guess, lol!

Anyhow, I hope that y’all are all having great summer’s as well! Stay tuned for my next swimming hole adventure (read part 1 here) next week!