I Miss Mayberry: Winter Break '08

Well things are starting to settle back into the routine now. Back to work, back to cooking, back to laundry...all the fun stuff. Our Christmas tree is still up and the ornaments are scattered over the living room. That will have to wait until Saturday I guess.

I am finally caught up on my sleep from our vacation. This was the year for Chris and Elizabeth to spend Christmas with their spouse's families. Chris and Kelly were in Eau Claire, WI and Elizabeth and Rob were in Louisville. We all met up on Dec 28th, in South Padre Island, TX, and spent a week there. We stayed in a condo on the beach. Danny, Steph and I drove there. We took three days to get there and spent an evening in San Antonio. We took a boat tour on the River Walk and ate at the best Mexican restaurant I have ever eaten at. It was oh so good. Chris, Kelly, Elizabeth and Rob flew into South Padre on Sunday.

We had a great time. The weather was less than ideal, but it was warmer than 9 below and it didn't rain or snow so I was just fine with it. SPI, as we like to call it, is about 30 minutes from Mexico, so we spent a day in Matamoras in the market square there. It was very interesting, because it was an authentic market place and not a typical tourist kind of place. On another day we went to a Wildlife refuge and saw alligators, rattle snakes and lots and lots of birds in their natural habitats. That afternoon was then followed up at an outlet mall....what is a vacation without a trip to an outlet mall. Chris and Kelly win the prize for the most purchases!! We also went deep sea fishing. Caught lots of red snapper, but unfortunately, they were out of season and we couldn't keep them. It was fun just being on a boat and seeing dolphins swimming around us. Kelly, in her pregnant state, opted not to ride the waves and enjoyed a nice morning to herself. We ate LOTS and LOTS of seafood. I think we had some kind of seafood every night. It was all very good, but I know I have had my fill of shrimp for a while.

Chris, Kelly and Steph had to leave on Thursday. Chris had a conference in New York on Saturday that he had to prepare for and Steph had to work. Elizabeth and Rob flew out early on Friday morning and Danny and I drove...and drove....and drove for 25 hours back home.

But like I said, back to reality. Now I am counting the days (about 4 months worth) until Little Man Cantwell gets here and things will really pick up then!!

Here some pictures from the Cantwell Winter Break '08
Sorry they are a little scattered around I just figured out how to line them up!