Do you ever find yourself thinking – Is this it? This is all? Same thing day after day. So we plan a vacation. Do something out of the norm. Have something to look forward to. This is why we vacation!
So tell me, where is your next vacation? 
Month: May 2016
Day 2 of Sisters Weekend in Brenham
Day 2 started off with a rainstorm that woke us up before 7 am. With 9 kids between the 3 of us, we were looking to sleeping in, just a little! Oh well, it left more time for mimosas in the morning before we were off to the spa. Julie made us some sausage and eggs and we paired that with cran-pomosas (my version of a mimosa – champagne & cranberry pomegranate juice). We finished breakfast and then took our cran-pomosas to the hot tub! It was still early enough that the mosquitos weren’t quite out yet. We soaked in the hot tub and talked all things sister. Richelle is moving to El Paso soon (insert crying emoji here), Julie is putting her house up for sale soon and her kiddos are switching schools, and me…. well for now, there are no life changing events happening.
Let’s head back into Brenham! We booked massages at the Thyme Day Spa & Salon. While the massage (and masseuse) was awesome, the staff…. not so much. It seemed like they only had 1 masseuse and 1 hair stylist. It was a really cute place with alot of potential if they had more people working. My advice – skip this and save your money to do some shopping.
Lunch was at the Funky Art Cafe. This was one of the places I scoped out online the week before and it did not disappoint! We ordered a Bucket of Bubbles (more champagne!), Chipotle Corn Dip, Chicken Artichoke Pot Pie and a wrap. DELICIOUS!!!! Check this place out next time you are in Brenham. Food was great and so was the service.
SHOPPING!!! This is the main thing I wanted to do! I love antique shopping! Hermann Furniture was next to the cafe and they were having a warehouse sale. I found a box of huge outdoor Christmas ornaments for $4 each! And Julie found a petite silverware set for her daughter that she knew she would love. There were some great shops but alot of the antique stores were pretty pricey.
After shopping for a couple hours, it was starting to get hot so we headed to Burton, TX, off of Hwy 290 to Saddlehorn Winery. The staff there was really sweet and we had fun doing a wine tasting of 6 different wines. I ended up buying a bottle of Pinot Grigio, even though I’m more of a Chardonnay girl. Saddlehorn usually pizza cooking in the evenings but they had cancelled it earlier that day due to all the rain. We will definitely come back on a Saturday night to enjoy wine and pizza!
When we got back to the cabin, we snacked on a meat, cheese and olive plate and sipped our wine. We took a walk around the property and watched the sunset. It was gorgeous!
And that’s about it for Sisters Weekend 2016! Sunday we didn’t do much but sleep in a little. It was a fun weekend of relaxing, shopping, exploring and connecting. Next year, Richelle will be in El Paso so Sisters Weekend 2017 will be in West Texas or maybe…. New Mexico.
Sisters Weekend in Brenham, TX!
My 2 sisters, Julie and Richelle, are my best friends. We like to take one weekend out of the year and take some time to ourselves. This year we decided to meet halfway between Houston (where they live) and Austin (where I live) in the town of Brenham. Julie found a cabin in the rolling hill country. The cabin was easy to find and was ready for us along with a personalized sign on the door welcoming us.
We brought along our own snack foods, water and of course champagne and juice for mimosas! The owners left breakfast in the fridge for us to prepare in the mornings – muffins, biscuits, sausage and eggs. It was perfect!
After we settled in, we went to check out the closest winery, Pleasant Hill Winery. It’s a pretty small winery. We ordered a tasting to learn a little more about the wines but each time, we were told that the grapes from that particular wine came from Lubbock. So we weren’t too sure if any of the wine we tasted actually came from grapes at this establishment. Would I recommend this winery? Mixed feelings…. The staff was very nice but the establishment was small.
Time for dinner! We ventured into the town of Brenham to check out Volare. These Italian girls had to check out the Italian restaurant! Super cute restaurant with decent Italian food. As we walked back to our car, we noticed the museum was having an event at that time. The Brenham Heritage Museum was having an event to showcase the guns of the Texas Rangers and that included food and drink, typical of the saloons of Brenham and Washington County. Richelle and I let Julie do all the tasting!
We decided to head back to the cabin with a quick stop to RedBox to rent the movie, Sisters. HILARIOUS!!!! We had been waiting until we were were all together to watch it and it did not disappoint! We ended our fun Friday night in Brenham on a good note.
Family Fun Park in The Woodlands Area!
“We had so much fun at this park we found in our neighborhood!”
Sawmill Park is located in The Woodlands area of Houston. The park has tons of great features! Playground, swimming pool, pavilions and a “sprayground” and much more! The park is free but if you want to hit up the sprayground when the pool is open, you have to enter through the pool gates and pay the admission fee to use it. When the pool is closed, the sprayground is free. Check out the pool schedule here.
9 Items You MUST Pack On a Disney Cruise!
When we started planning our Disney Cruise, one of the first questions was “what do we pack???” I’ve compiled a list of the items we brought.
- Clothes – sounds easy enough, right? If you are headed to the Caribbean, you are thinking swimsuits and flip-flops. But you need to remember to bring at least one sweater for inside the ship and probably a pair of jeans or nice pants. Our cruise left out of Galveston in January so we boarded with our winter outfit on and reused pieces when we got chilly. If you are planning on dining at Palo, you will need a nicer outfit.
- Laundry Basket – go with a pop up one you can throw away at the end of the trip. We found an inexpensive one at Dollar Tree. You’ll want to contain all the dirty clothes into one spot and not all over the floor. I would suggest buying 2.
- Toiletries – you won’t need shampoo, conditioner or soap. Your stateroom will have those and can by restocked as needed. Just bring your medicines and any other toiletries. Don’t forget sunscreen!
- Nightlight – it gets pretty dark in the rooms at night and if you have little ones, you may want to plug in a nightlight. We bought an inexpensive one from Target.
- Ziploc Bags – bring sandwich and gallon size. I can’t tell you how many times these came in handy! I grabbed a couple croissants at breakfast and packed them in our day bag when we went on our excursion. Gallon bags are great for keeping clothes dry and to pack wet ones.
- Sunscreen – I know I mentioned it above but don’t forget it! We packed 3 bottles and went through all of it with our family of 5.
- Autograph Book – the kids loved getting autographs from all the characters! All you need is a small notebook for each kid.
- Passport – each cruiser needs their own passport as Disney requires this.
- Wine – yes wine! I know! Disney lets each passenger 21 or older bring 2 bottles of unopened wine or a six-pack of beer on board. You must bring it in your carry-on bag. Wrap up the bottles with bubble-wrap and use the wrap later to protect any souvenirs picked up on your travels.
Items not to pack: alcohol, power strips (surge protectors), or an iron. These items are not allowed on a Disney cruise. If these items are in your suitcase, the crew will confiscate them and return it to you at the end of the trip.
So tell me, am I missing anything from this list? I would love to hear any experienced Disney Cruisers list of packing essentials!