Football, Fall Festival & Fun in the Sun

A couple of weekends ago, Cody and I welcomed my family back to Harlingen for a visit. It was the first time for my sister and dad to see the house, and my grandparent's first visit to deep south Texas... needless to say, we were super excited! Everyone arrived on Friday night, and the weekend was full of lots of bonding time and of course, yummy food. After breakfast on Saturday, we headed out to say hi to Lynn and Tami and show Grandma and Grandad their house, land and citrus orchards. It was a little warmer than what my family was expecting for early October, but we survived nonetheless. I guess that's what happens when you live close to the beach, right? After visiting for a bit, we headed to the Calvary Fall Festival where we girls (and Cody) scoped out all of the awesome silent auction items, sampled some delicious sweet treats (and bought a few, obvi), and got a tour of where Hayes will be going to "school" come April. It was so fun to see the nursery and where he'll be hanging out everyday! We know he'll be in great hands, especially with his Mimi on premise to love on him throughout the day.

After the Fall festival we headed home for a mean game of corn hole and some grilling before the Aggie game. Grandma and Grandad even showed off their skills, but I think Mom and Dad ended up winning the championship, much to our dismay. Kirby and I sure did put up a fight in our boys vs. girls match though, just for the record. We might be slightly competitive in this family, don't ya think?! We cheered the Aggies to victory against Ole Miss, which was a huge relief after the late night, nail biter that the game turned out to be! (Thank goodness for DVR for those of us that can't seem to keep our eyes open past 10:00 these days. Ah, the joys of pregnancy!)

Rio loved all of the attention and games of fetch he got to play over the weekend. After chasing the corn hole bean bags from one end of the yard to another, a dip in his pool was necessary!

On Sunday we took a little afternoon drive down to South Padre to introduce my grandparents to the most legit beach in Texas. They were impressed with the beauty of the Gulf of Mexico, and couldn't believe how warm the water was in comparison to the California beaches that they have been to much more frequently. We were also lucky enough to see all of the awesome sand castles that remained from the Island's sand castle building competition the weekend before, which made the trip even more fun. There is just something about being at the beach that is incredibly therapeutic and relaxing, and I was thankful for the couple of hours to escape the busyness of our lives and just soak up some sun, sand and salt water.

My precious hubby had to take the "obligatory maternity photo" while at the beach. Note the heart shaped hands and the especially uncomfortable look on his face. :)

22 weeks!

 I just loved Grandma's reaction when she felt the Gulf of Mexico wash over her toes!

This one was too funny to not include.

As always, it was a great weekend with lots of quality family time, and we are so thankful to be closer and have the chance to do it a lot more often these days. Thanks to my fam for making the trek down to the Rio Grande Valley. We can't wait for the next visit!