My birthday

There were a couple celebrations for my birthday this year.  It was a BIG one, so it deserved a little extra attention, lol.  The first was a night out with our friends.  The second was a little overnight trip to San Antonio.  And the last was our big summer Europe vacation.  I will share pictures from the first two here.  All the Europe photos will come in separate posts soon!

We had planned a night out on June 3rd with friends at Axelrad, which is an outdoor venue.  Of course, the weather forecast got dicey that day and the two hours before we were meeting everyone ended up having tremendous downpours.  I had blowdried my hair and worn nice shoes .... I ended up in flip flops to avoid the mud puddles!  The rain stopped just in time though, and we were able to enjoy a really nice night out with everyone.

On the 15th, we got in the car and drove to San Antonio.  Part way we stopped for gas an snacks at Buccee's.  We've never stopped at one, and they are 'the' Texas road trip stop places, apparently, so we figured it was time!

When we got to San Antonio, we went for lunch at a restaurant we had seen on a local food show we like watching.  It was a great find!

We then walked over to The Pearl.  We've heard about it the last few years and I wanted to check it out.  It was HOT though! I'd love to go back when the weather is cooler.

Then we drove downtown and checked into the hotel.

We then walked over to Market Square, another area we hadn't been to before.  We had fun exploring and had some delicious, fresh churros.

We went back to the hotel for some much needed air conditioning ... and the happy hour!  The bar tender was so excited to make a Shirley Temple for the kids.  They had never heard of them before!

After some drinks and snacks we went for a wander on the Riverwalk.  SO NICE that this time we didn't have little kids or a stroller to worry about!!

Afterwards we went for an evening swim in the rooftop pool.

The next morning we spent some time on the Riverwalk and went to see the (outside of the) Alamo.

Then we drove a different route home to stop in Gruene for lunch.  We had never gone that way before, so it was nice to see the little towns we always hear a lot about.

After lunch at the Gristmill, we went for a wine tasting.

Then it was time to head back to the car.  Nice that Leighton can piggy back Riley so Roy gets a break from time to time!

We made another stop at Buccee's.  The kids got a big treat to enjoy on the rest of the ride home :)