Team Shep Blog: Summer Staycation

The kids' school was closed the second week in August, so we all enjoyed a much-needed staycation. I spent the first half of the week with the kids in Austin, and then my sweet parents watched Ava and Rylan for the second half so Josh and I could enjoy a few kid-free days in Dallas. It was the perfect mix of family time, fun, and relaxation. Bottom line: fabulous.

Austin

I drove down with the kids on Sunday and only had to work one day from the Austin office before taking off the rest of the week. While at work on Monday, my Mom sent me this fabulous video of Rylan rocking out to "Cheeseburger in Paradise" while enjoying some P. Terry's.

Will dance for french fries.

On Tuesday, Rylan had his first haircut. It was just a tiny bang trim because I am not ready to cut off those blonde curls just yet, but Luella has now officially cut FIVE generations of my family's hair.

Ry was so good and stayed very still.

Luella has cut my Dad's hair since he was a boy, so this was a very special moment.

That afternoon, we headed over to the Arnold's new house. Rylan loved playing with William, but I don't think I've ever said "gentle" more in my life.

William wasn't so sure about his new BFF.

Selfie with Aunt Lolly.

Meanwhile, Ava and Henry enjoyed some ice cream sundaes after dinner.

I'm so glad Ava has a tall friend to take her to prom someday…she even has the picture pose down :).

On Wednesday, we made a trip to The Thinkery with Bunny. Last year, Rylan spent the entire time sleeping and nursing while Ava explored the museum. But during this visit, Ry was ready to utilize his new-found walking skills to follow his big sister around all the exhibits.

The light room was definitely their favorite.

Ava was so brave and climbed up to the top of this play structure several times.

Dallas

I drove back to Dallas on Wednesday night, and the kids stayed in Austin until I met my Mom in Waco on Sunday morning. So that meant that I had a little more than three days of a staycation.

Josh and I considered actually taking a vacation, but after a crazy/sleepless year with two small children, I just wanted to relax (and not need a vacation from my vacation). Josh had to work, but was able to leave "early" on Thursday and Friday.

I wanted to tackle some projects on Thursday and decided on: 1) finally starting on Ava's baby book using Blurb's blog book option, and 2) fixing/adding to the gallery wall along our staircase.

We had printed and hung some wedding pictures years ago, but I had taken some down a while back to use the frames for a work project. I rehung the old pictures and added some new ones to the mix. The collection is still pretty wedding-heavy, but I am very happy with the result for now.

By a happy coincidence, our staycation fell on DFW Restaurant Week, and we enjoyed two dinners. For the first, we joined some friends for a lovely meal at Nonna on Thursday night.

The wine pairing option was way overpriced, but the food was really good. I ordered the brioche crostini with shrimp, butter, rosemary, and pancetta and a radish salad for my first course...

And the lobster ravioli for my main course...

{Not pictured: the chocolate cake I devoured before realizing I forgot to take a pic.}

While Josh was at work on Friday, I enjoyed a relaxing day at home in my PJs while catching up on some lovely reality TV, drinking coffee before it could get cold, and continuing to work on Ava's baby book (the formatting/editing process takes forever!).

That evening, after switching to wine, we had dinner delivered and finally started House of Cards. Such a great show.

Once you have children, you can get a babysitter to enjoy a dinner date, but you no longer have the luxury of parking yourself on the couch all day whilst enjoying a Netflix marathon. Needless to say, it was blissful.

We slept in Saturday (although I can't sleep in like I used to) before enjoying brunch and shopping at the mall. Then we met up with friends at The Capital Grille, one of my favorite restaurant week spots.