A Visit to the Past? Why, Yes, It Is

I'll freely admit this is a repost of last year's Spring Break. Only because I have not gotten to our insanely wonderful Spring Break trip this year. Enjoy! And if you're anywhere near Pismo Beach in California, you won't regret visiting Sycamore Springs.

For a rundown of the whole trip and links to other activities from our vacation, go here.

Our first day in Pismo Beach we hit up the natural mineral springs hot tubs in Avila Beach at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort. Brando had the brilliant idea of splurging on massages beforehand. Generally they have you use the hot tubs beforehand, but because we were headed to dinner afterwards and Brando wanted to make sure we could rinse the massage off, he insisted we use them afterwards. Fortunately, Ashley (oh I hope that's her name!) at Sycamore Mineral Springs was kind enough to make sure we would have one afterwards as she knew they were not booked at all for the Friday afternoon.

We arrived for our massages and entered the cute little gift shop area,

and then through a walkway to our massage area. We were met in the lobby by Ashley and sent back to change in the lush bathrooms.

Once changed into our robes we headed to our beautiful private couples massage room.

I love the details adorning the door handles.

The entire grounds surrounding the massage room were stunning.

Inside the rooms you could hear the birds tweeting outside.The ceilings were open at one time when the rooms were private jacuzzi rooms and now have gorgeous wood covering them giving them an open airy feeling. The black curtain appears to be used to separate the two massage tables.After our fantastic massages (wish I could remember the names of the masseuses),

we headed straight up to our private outdoor natural mineral springs jacuzzi. The walk itself was lush green, and gorgeous. When we got to our stairs that had the sign directing us to our hot tub,

I absolutely LOVEd that we had a private little walkway to our very own hot tub.

The views of the other hot tubs through the trees was beautiful.

Once we got to our own little place (as you can see, I couldn't be bothered to stop walking to take the picture, thus the blur of action)

we were relieved to see no one could be looking down on us from above.

Brando hopped in right away.

An hour or so of soaking,

taking fun photos,

and taking in the beauty surrounding us, we leisurely headed back to the main shop area to walk around.

We had seen a purple tree orchard and a sign for a labyrinth on the way in, so now was the perfect time to check it out before the sun set.

The labyrinth was mesmerizing.

Yes, I attempted to walk it, but gave up after the first 5 minutes as were on our way to dinner to see my childhood best friend. The purple tree orchard was my priority any way, with it's gorgeous blossoms and volcanic mountains in the background.

Stunning. I love how relaxed my smile looked and felt after the massages and soak.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Looking for things to do in Austin, whether you live here, are visiting, or maybe even looking for things to do in Austin while at SXSW aka South by Southwest? Check out this treasure cove of things to do in Austin from GSD&M's Pinterest. My Valentine gift to you! Don't miss my own collection of favorite things to do in Austin, as well.

Image created with Red Stamp

The photos above are perfect for this post as the first two are in Austin, and the third, TSR, is a short twenty minute drive south to New Braunfels. From top to bottom: hiking at Commons Ford Ranch, symphony at Zilker Hillside Theatre, and wake boarding at Texas Ski Ranch. TSR also offers wake boarding, helicopter rides, sphere rides an indoor trampoline park, and ATV riding!

What a Weekend

Brando likes to surprise me with new places to hike as he knows how much I love hiking *and* new places. It's the perfect thing to make my weekend a wonderful weekend and he knows it.

But you will have to wait to hear and see the rest of it, because today I am over here at sweet Lisa's at Momma's Me Time as a guest poster talking about Brando's and my love of travels and how very, very fabulous it has been for our marriage. My very first guest post! Eek! A little nervous, but super excited. Try not to get distracted by Lisa's gorgeous long hair and adorable little boy. Oh, who am I kidding, get distracted and spend a few hours getting lost in her site like I did.

Oasis Photo Shoot and Morning Date

Brando and I went on a date morning this morning instead of a date night last night, as we went out with family and the kids last night. I love that Brando knew I was a little upset about not having a date night so before we even left for dinner last night, he scheduled on the calendar a date morning and emailed me a reminder that said, "Date morning - Be happy". He knows me so well.

We have a shopping and restaurant mecca near us called the Oasis. It's a mecca for our area, any way. The Oasis has been there for over five years, but the other restaurants and stores were built in the last year. It's situated right on Lake Travis with the most stunning view around. The sun sets just over the lake and makes for the perfect romantic evening eating at any of their now many restuarants: Oasis, Soleil, Austin Java of which this location has coffee only, Austin Chill which has self-serve yogurt, and another seafood restaurant that I don't remember the name and can't find anywhere - perhaps they are not open yet. Brando knows I LOVE going there to watch the sunsets or just see the gorgeous lake and explore especially since it's only a mile from our home, so that's where we headed to.

Our date started off with coffee at Austin Java and then we walked around and had fun exploring the decks before the crowds of people came. We had a huge storm last night so all the patio chairs were wet, which made it even more intriguing.

Besides the view, the architecture, design, and pure color of the place is SO MUCH fun it's the perfect place to have a little fun with the camera. Brando and I took turns, like usual, with the fun colors, architecture, and angles. He did quite a bit more than I, though, as I was mostly obsessed with the busy, colorful backgrounds and he did more inventive things with less of a main focus backgrounds.

There's so many photos, actually, that this is just a small portion and I'm saving the rest for later when I get to it. As you can see in the above photo, I've gotten a little bored of standing still for photos, so the majority of the rest of the photos I have are goofy and fun as can be. Which was perfect, because it made for a perfect, silly date morning.

My handsome hottie of a hubby. He shaved his hot as hell scruff, so now he looks like a baby, but still hot as hell.

These windows reminded me of doors. Gorgeous, either way, and I had Brando snag a photo for me because it would take too long for me to figure out how to change the settings for the perfect picture in a second.

Earrings and Bracelet ~ Bunny's Too, Plaid Shirt ~ Rip Curl, 
Lace Shirt ~ Macy's, Belt and Jeans ~ Forever 21,
 Boots ~ Seychelles from Bunny's Shoes

Love Brando's eye with photography and am trying to accept how different his style is than mine, thanks to the encouragement of GFF. He creates gorgeous images, magazine, high-quality, sharp as a tack images versus my love of vintage or blown out images. He blows me away with his knowledge of all the ins and outs of the camera and how they work together. I swear, he should teach photography classes, as he's taught me all I know and I know more about cameras than some photographers I have met. Now if only I could utilize that knowledge with my camera as well as those photographers utilize their knowledge with their cameras.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Love

You didn't think I walked away from the Monterey Bay Aquarium without getting an overload of overly cutesy couple shots, did you? Of course I wouldn't walk away without those. Fortunately, it's a benefit to have a second photographer aka Justinbustin in our family for just those exact moments. Trying to get Brando to be serious is a whole other story...

 Seen these jeans much lately? It's not about to get any better. Seeing as how I only packed two pairs of jeans this trip to California, and pretty much wore jeans the whole time, these jeans and I are on a much more than need to know basis.

 Brando trying to eat me. Like usual. He only got a little bite this time.

Ooh la la

 Finally, a normal kissing picture. But, I have to admit, I secretly like the other ones better. Shhh, just don't tell Brando.

And a normal smiling one - we actually had to go back and take this one because there wasn't a single photo from the first time where Brando wasn't goofy. Love that man, and I mean that as I type it with a huge grin on my face.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

When we visit California, going by the Monterey Bay Aquarium is always a must for the boys, especially Shawners. Once upon a time we took him scuba diving in the pretty little enclosed bay they have outside the aquarium. Next goal is to go on a private tour! This time came close as we were able to go into the basement of the aquarium, something nobody ever gets to do - not even boy scout troops. I'm always fascinated with the inner workings of places and attractions, so it was a blast for me to see. The kids were pretty fascinated, too.

The walls of the MBA are peppered with quotes about the sea. This one in particular resounds with me.

Ha! I totally put the wrong quote in there the first time. Yes, thank you, Anne Stevenson, maybe "the sea is as close as we come to another world" as the quote goes that I had mistakenly posted prior, but, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, your quote is actually the one that resounds with me, "...the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever." That quote leaves me breathless with the thought of how perfectly it captures the wondernment that the sea creatures below elicit.

And in accordance with that,

there's not many words to describe that thing we call the sea.

My thoughts and prayers go to all those experiencing Hurricane Irene right now

My oldest on the left, and my sister's oldest on the right in quiet fascination of the sea's many wonders. The boys are two and a half months apart.

Sea turtles - hands down my favorite wildlife of the sea.

Cousins - moments like these make me smile. Mine are second from the left and fourth from the left.

The sea turtles are where my quiet fascination comes in.

Southern Africa Penguins

 Our private basement tour

Leafy Sea Dragon

 In that rocky enclosed bay is where Shawners scuba dived in a dry suit last year

 Do you see the sea lion?

Just next door to the aquarium - a private little boardwalk area with the entry stuck in between two buildings.