The Phillips : May 2008

May 18, 2008

Texas!!!

Nathan and I went to Texas for a few weeks at the beginning of May. We did SO many things and visited with so many friends while we were there. For the first few days in Uvalde we went to Nathan's favorite mexican restaurant, and visited with several friends and family. Then, Nathan and I went to Mexico for a few days while Elizabeth stayed in Uvalde. When we got back, we headed to College Station, TX for Caleb's graduation!! That was a fun trip for Nathan and I because we had not been there in a few years and it was interesting to see how much everything had changed. So much has changed, but the Chicken was still there and of course we got to enjoy a few beers and old country music at Northgate like old times. We went to dinner at one of the Phillips' favorite Mexican restaurants in Bryan the night before graduation. The next day we went to graduation in the morning and were able to hang out with everyone most of the afternoon. The next day Nathan and I headed to my parents lake house on Lake Buchanan. We had great weather and the lake was awesome. We were able to be with the whole family while we were there, and Elizabeth loved playing with her cousins!! We did so many things during the 2 weeks, and were not ready to go back. It is always nice to go home or the "home is where the air force sends you", but we really hope to be HOME in Texas someday soon!

We ate at Mi Cocina's for Caleb's graduation dinner!!

Nathan, Aunt Ann, Ken, and Mammaw outside Mi Cocina's in Bryan, TX

Caleb's graduation

Nathan, Cara, Caleb and Aaron at graduation

Cara and Kathy with our chopsticks from our Kyoto Sunrise

Caleb and Kathy

Nathan and Kathy at Northgate in College Station

Kathy, Cara and Jill

Kaitlyn, Kylie and Elizabeth at the lake house

Chad and Jill coming in on the other seadoos.

Elizabeth had a lot of fun at the lake!

Bryan on the other seadoo

Nathan on the seadoo

Grandpa and Grammie playing with Elizabeth at the lake.

Elizabeth eating a snack with Grandpa

Kylie, Kaitlyn and Keri

Riley, Elizabeth, Kaitlyn and Kylie

Kaitlyn, Elizabeth and Kylie playing in the sand at the lake.

Mexico Vacation

Nathan and I were able to take a wonderful vacation to Mexico the beginning of May. We took a few weeks and went to Texas, and while we were there we took a vacation to Mexico while Elizabeth stayed in Uvalde. We stayed on an island called Isla Mujeres in Mexico. It is about a 20 minute ferry ride from Cancun, and a lot less populated!! The island is only about 5 miles long, and most of the transportation on the island were taxis, golf carts, and mopeds. We stayed at the Isla Mujeres Palace. We took a boat ride on the first day to see the island from the water, then just stayed at the hotel and relaxed for the first few days. Some good friends of ours were also taking a vacation on the island and arrived a few days after we did, so we met up with them for the remainder of our trip. We did dinner one night on the beach at a neat little restaurant that served fresh fish and we sat on plastic chairs in the sand...it was so authentic and nice to take your shoes off and put your feet in the cold sand while you ate dinner!! Then the next day Nathan and I went snorkeling and swimming with dolphins before we met up with our friends. The snorkeling was great and we saw SO many different and beautiful fish...I even got to touch them :) Then we went to the Dolphin Discovery and swam with the dolphins for a while. Some of the things that we got to do with the dolphins were: kissing the dolphin, the dolphin kissed us, the dolphin would swim up and lay in our arms for a hug, we shook it's fins, we got to pet him a lot, and the best ones were when we swam out in the water and rode in hanging onto it's fins and then we swam out in the water and he would come around behind us and push us up in the air out of the water. It was so neat!! Then that evening we met our friends for dinner at Villa Rolandis...the food was so awesome!! I LOVE mexican food and I ate A LOT of it while we were there on vacation, but this restaurant was Italian and had the best pizza and ceasar salad!! The next day we all rode around the island on two golf carts...the guys were in the slow one and the girls were in the fast one :) !! The island is so small so we made several stops to enjoy the view of the water, play in the sand and water, and went snorkeling. We even went to see the giant sea turtles that live on the island. We again finished off the evening in downtown Isla Mujeres with dinner and drinks! We were very sad to leave the island, but hope to go back someday. We loved the quaint town and the hospitality of the island!! We would definitely recommend Isla Mujeres.