JW Marriott

We took our annual Gurley family vacation a few weeks ago with Brent's entire family and went to the JW Marriott in San Antonio. The timing was kind of yucky because Paige was going through something developmental, and her sleep was a disaster, but big 2 stayed in a room with my mother-in-law, so it was just Brent and me who had to suffer with Paige. Basically, our days consisted of pool time {the big guys golfed 1 time} and relaxation and lots of family fun, and our nights consisted of trying to get Paige to sleep, ha! The resort was so nice and HUGE with so many pools, water slides, a lazy river, kids areas...amazing!

On the way there, I rode with the 3 kids and Brent's parents because Brent worked a full day the day we left {a Thursday}, so he met us there in the late evening. About 20 minutes into the ride I thought my father-in-law was going to kill us because the big 2 were so noisy and Paige was so fussy!

We got checked in and immediately suited up!

Doesn't get much cuter than this!

Since we were there later Thursday we only spent a little bit of time in the water and then did dinner {my mother-in-law brought enough food for an army which was so nice to not have to take 3 kids to a restaurant}, movie time, baths, etc. Brent got there and he, his dad, and his brother spent some time in one of the sports bars since I had our room locked down trying to get Paige to sleep. She was up 42 times, and we were both pretty miserable, ha.

Friday the guys golfed, and the rest of us spent more time in the water, eating, watching movies, Paige took a nap, just lots of relaxation!

Brent's view on the course - 

He shot a 76 and the next closest score was a 99, ha.

Who needs sleep? Or clothes?

 Lazy river time with Nana!

Kiddie area! Drew loved the slides here and surprisingly Trent did too!

 There were some pretty impressive tube rides, and Trent loved them!

There was a 'family friendly' tube ride that I did with Drew a couple of times. We also made S'mores both nights! Friday night involved more bedtime shenanigans from Paige, so, unfortunately, Saturday morning I wasn't too upset that it was time to go home. {grin}

BUT the trip itself was a good one, and I think it'd be a great place to go again when my kids are a little older. {Paige, I'm looking at you!}

August 2017 Reads

It's one of my favorite posts of the month! I love reading and talking about books, and I love trying new authors and getting recommendations. I think books are a great way to get a conversation going, and I hope you enjoy this month's reads!

A very different mix of books for me - only 1 author that I've ever read before. I also watched more TV this month, so I only read 4 books, but I think it's a great set of 4. {grin}

The Dry by Jane Harper - A man returns to his hometown in Australia after his childhood best friend murdered his family and committed suicide. He left his hometown as a teenager after another childhood friend was found dead, and he was implicated in the crime (which has never been solved). He's now a cop, and his friend's parents ask him to look into what happened. I really enjoyed the mystery and learning how both events went down. I wouldn't say that there was great character development - so much so it took me some time to get into the book - but the plot kept me engaged. There were some pieces that were hard to read (a child that gets murdered, another teenager who is molested/abused), but they didn't overpower the book. Solid, good read.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah - This is my 4th Kristin Hannah book, and I've learned not to expect The Nightingale. 2 sisters have never felt loved by their mother, and the only time she seems to engage with them is telling a fairy tale set in her childhood home of Russia. A family tragedy brings the sisters together with their dad asking their mother to finish telling them the fairy tale and promising it will let them know their mother. That isn't a very good description, but it's the best I can do. This was another one that started out slow, but it really picked up and I found myself reading way too late to finish. What The Dry lacked in character development, Kristin had, and after about 25% I was hooked.

I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi - I put this on hold back in April and it was finally available this month, yay! The description really intrigued me, which once I describe it might surprise y'all, so I was excited to finally read it. The story is told from 3 vantage points - the main character who has committed suicide, her daughter, and her husband. They seemed to have had a perfect life so how could she want to leave it? I was REALLY afraid we wouldn't know by the end of the book what happened, but whew we find out. I loved this book. It was a unique plot, seeing the characters grieve and start to recover really tugged at the heart strings, and how it all came together was really good. 

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda - This book is about a girl who comes home to help her brother sell their parents' house. She left home after one of her best friends disappeared after high school. Days after coming home, another girl goes missing. The story is told backwards which was disorienting at times but also kept me on my toes. When you know the whole story, it is actually interesting because the mystery is solved at the end of the book (duh) but at the beginning of the timeline. This one stuck with me for a little while - I flipped back through it to get the timeline together in my head once I knew what happened - very unique perspective, and I dug it!

Lots of suicide and murder this month, huh? Hopefully September is a little less gruesome?!?!