Stars and Stripes

It was fun to read about everyone’s Fourth of July weekend festivities.  My Fourth of July weekend turned out to be a very busy, jam-packed weekend. 

We kicked off the weekend on Saturday at our house.  My family came down from Texarkana Dad’s new truck.  For those that do not know, my family was in a car accident over Easter weekend in Tyler.  Someone rear-ended my dad which caused him to hit the car in front of him.  The truck was deemed totaled from the front and back.  My parents were in the front, and my sister and brother were in the back.  Needless to say, my family was OK as they came out with only a few bumps and bruises.  Mark and I had to go pick them up from Palestine.   My dad has been driving around a rental car up until last week.  After “oohing and awing” over Dad’s new truck (he got a sweet deal), we headed out to the pool.  Jessica brought her new dog so we were able to get to know him a little (he is a Chihuahua Terrier mix…name is tbd).   

Later that evening, we cleaned up then headed to my favorite restaurant, Campisi’s, to celebrate my birthday and Father’s Day (I'll do another post on my birthday festivities soon).  Campisi’s has been in the family for a long time.  My dad grew up going there with his brothers, cousins, and uncles (when living in Palestine, once a year, they would hire a limo to take them from Palestine to Dallas while getting tanked, then they would eat at Campisi’s and go to a Cowboys game).  My parents continued the tradition by taking us kids to Campisi’s every time we would come to Dallas for a weekend trip.  Now that I live here, I like to say that I continue the Campisi’s tradition as we have celebrated many events there from birthdays to girl’s night to family get-togethers.  I was extremely bummed when I found out I couldn’t have my rehearsal dinner there, but I am still fortunate we were able to get Campisi’s to cater my bachelorette party.  My favorite (and only) pizza I order from there is Italian Salami and Mushrooms.  Many places try to duplicate the pizza, but they never have that one topping that sets Campisi’s apart – Italian Salami.  Anyway, enough about Campisi’s and on to the pictures!

After dinner, we headed back to my house to open a few family gifts.  My dad is hard to buy clothes for as he wears a 2X or 3X (big and tall).  I ran across two sweater vests in the clearance section at Old Navy that happened to be returned from someone that bought them special order online.  They were a 2X big and tall.  SCORE!!  My parents got Mark and I a joint birthday gift of a large picture of The Last Supper to put in our dining room (we get to pick it out).  To tie us over until we pick it out, I also got a few pieces of my Arthur Court Grape kitchenware (salt and pepper shakers and a frame). 

Sunday, my parents went to Palestine and Mark and I headed out to Lake Ray Hubbard with our friends, Alex and Andrew.  We were invited out by Scott and Dana Buckner as they have a boat that we frequent on the weekends.  Scott’s brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Natalie, also have a boat.  The beauty of their boat is that Gary rigged up a grill on the boat so we the guys are able to prepare food while we are hanging out in the lake.  The evening was supposed to end in fireworks, but for some reason, we either missed the show or weren’t able to see it or maybe it just didn’t happen!  Nonetheless, it was a nice day out on the lake with friends.

Monday, Mark had to work half of the day while I stayed home and did a few things around the house.  That afternoon, Mark was able to get my family and I tickets to the Rangers Game in the Napoleon Suite along with his boss and his family.  It just so happened that my aunt Gina from Chicago was also in town so her and my other aunt, Meems, joined us.  It was definitely a family affair.  We were spoiled of course by all of the food in the suite, and we were very fortunate to get our fireworks fix at the end of the game (and the Rangers won 13 to 4 to top things off).

That was my 4th of July weekend in a nut shell.  

Don't Drink the Water (Part 2)

As a continuation to my last post, I am outlining my recent trip to Playa del Carmen. We are on the second half of the trip.

Day three started out with a similar routine. We got up, had breakfast, and headed to the beach in the morning, then to the pool in the afternoon. While at the beach, the boys played horseshoes and sand volleyball while me and Jen laid out. Here are my favorite pictures during the day.







The evening turned out to be one of lots of surprises with mixed emotions. Once Jennifer and Jamie returned to their room to get ready for dinner, they realized Jamie’s iPhone was stolen. He left it on the charger during the day in the room so housekeeping must have stolen it while we were gone on the beach and at the pool. He reported it to the front desk and security, but as you can assume in Mexico, they were not much help. This definitely put a damper on things. Not to mention, around the same time, Jamie got sick. He stayed in the room the majority of the night while the rest of us did other things.

Jennifer stayed with Jamie in the room for a bit while Mark and I walked around, had a snack at the snack bar, and then participated in a dancing class before dinner. I really enjoyed the class (and it was definitely entertaining to watch Mark dance with the guys).









After the dancing class, Mark and I had dinner reservations at the Italian restaurant.



Just after we ordered, Jennifer, Mucio, and Carlos dropped in to join us. We moved to a bigger table and had a great dinner. This was probably my favorite meal. Since it was Carlos’s birthday, the wait staff prepared a mini celebration for him.











After dinner, Jen went back to the room to convince Jamie to come down to hang with us for a bit. In the meantime, we lounged around and the guys had a cigar. After Jamie and Jen came back down, Jen and I went to the sports bar for shots.







After the shots, of course came dancing at the discotheque. At this point, Mark started feeling bad. The boys sure were troopers for sitting around while Jen and I drunkenly danced our butts off!



Day 4, our last full day, turned about to be a little drab. The boys were still feeling ill, and it was cloudy and rainy all day long. The snack bar on the beach was closed as well as some of the swim up bars. That was a bummer, but we got over it and tried to make the best out of our last day.

We started off having our usual breakfast at the buffet then headed out to the beach for some relaxation.







The boys finally broke down and took some Peptol Bismol at lunch. This made Mark feel better. Jamie was still queasy.



We returned to the beach the rest of the afternoon, then headed up to the rooms early to get ready for the night.











We decided to eat at the general buffet so we could get an early start on the shows they had in store for us in the courtyard. The theme at the buffet was Mexico!!







The first show at the courtyard was a skit detailing the culture of the locals there at Playa del Carmen. The second show was a musical and dance performance by the entertainment team with acts including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Cher, and The Village People.











After the shows, we went to bed early since we had to be at the front of the hotel at 7AM for our departure.

We were sad, but ready to leave Mexico on Monday. On the way out, we stopped to have a “regular,  Americanized” meal at the Margaritaville in the airport.





The flight was smooth, and when returning to DFW, Mark’s sister, Kim, came to pick us up.



Overall, in despite of some of the obstacles we had to overcome (our luggage almost getting lost, the cloudy and rainy weather the second half of the trip, the boys getting sick, and the stolen iPhone) the trip was loads of fun and it felt so good to get away for a few days in a land that at least tries to make you feel like there are no worries. We love travelling with the Stewart's and look forward to our next destination (we are thinking a cruise next time).