::Visiting the Valley~Summer Road-trips:: #WeekendSnapshots

::This is a link-up post with Ari and Jessica on this week's #WeekendSnapshots::

Some of the best memories from when I was a kid, were when my parents would load us into the car to make a 7-hour drive to Reynosa, Tamaulipas & South Texas. With homemade tortas, bags of chips, and canned sodas. These days we want to recreate these moments and memories of family time to visit family with our kids. We may not cross into Mexico anymore but we have visited South Texas, the last 4 years, it's become a bit of a yearly trip now. {You can see our trip from last year ::HERE::}

We have gone not only to visit family but to celebrate life, with the birth of one of my nieces. It's been the best "excuse" to make the 6-7 hour long trip to McAllen every year which then turns into a mini-vacation destination for us. Last year we visited the best little museum in Edinburg and then we headed off to South Padre Island for a few days. This year we decided to make our trip a little shorter but still managed to visit some awesome local sites. 

First place was Quinta Mazatlan and then there was the McAllen Nature Park, which was right next to a local eatery called La Lomita which has some great gorditas! We also visited a local comic book shop, where my cousin drew one of the superheroes! Pretty neat, I know.

Quinta Mazatlan is just that a beautiful Quinta set right in the heart of McAllen near the border with Mexico. It is known that the original owner of the Quinta was a writer and adventurer. The Quinta is perfectly set for both, a serene and quaint place to explore and get away from it all. The Quinta has so many wonderful areas to explore and learn about nature and the local habitat. If you have never been it's worth the time and heat to get to know the area.

According to the Quinta History:

"Composer, writer, and adventurer, Jason Chilton Matthews (1887-1964) traveled the globe collecting artifacts and stories while serving in 11 countries during World War I and even fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia. When he finally settled in 1935 with his affluent Pennsylvania wife, Marcia Jamieson (1891-1963), they built Quinta Mazatlan at what Matthews called the “Crossroads of the Western Hemisphere.”"

We had a wonderful time and the kids enjoyed exploring. The day we went it was hot, humid and rainy but it didn't stop us from wanting to learn more about this great Valley treasure! In all my years living in the Mission, I never knew about it. Goes to show how fast life can speed by you without you realizing the beauty that you grew up with. I sure am glad that now as an adult I am taking the time to seek out these places for my kids to enjoy. Also, that my Husband is uber talented at googling local attractions. Ha.

One of my favorite rooms in the house was a pink room filled with Calaveras, Mexican paper dolls and a ceiling covered with amuletos. I want to live in that room. Ha. The kids loved all the trails and finding live creatures as well as very life-like steel recreations of local animals.

::Weekend Snapshots:: #HoustonFlood Edition

 {This is a weekly link-up with Jessica and Ariana for their #WeekendSnapshots series.  You can see more here: http://www.reinventingjess.com/ &  http://www.3twentysix.com/}

I think that the first two days of rain in Houston last week, we were all in a bit of shock. While our home thankfully didn't have any water damage others were not so lucky. I am grateful for that because as you will see, the damage and reality of flooding is not pretty. After the first two days of school cancellations and not being able to leave our neighborhood without being stuck in massive traffic and horrible downpours, I realized that I wasn't going anywhere. I think it was Wednesday when I decided to go to work but soon gave up. I decided that we should just make the most of our "flood-cation", one that now I am thankful for. 

The kids and I did a lot of lounging and resting, something we don't get to do often. Then we started getting creative with our activities. I cooked and cleaned all week. We baked cookies and made green cake batter from vanilla funfetti Pillsbury cake mix. The kids decorated cupcakes and we even colored and made puppets. Santiago entertained himself with piles of legos. Which is always fun, for him, because I have to sit and build it all. And, it wasn't until Friday that the skies finally cleared and we were able to leave the house. I found a route to work and felt a little relief to be able to leave my area. 

By Saturday, we had a full day of sun and heat. We went to the kids baseball games and practice. The day was good. Then we drove around a neighborhood about 5-8 minutes from us, on Little York and Addicks Satsuma , where the flooding was evident.  Homes that were basically being gutted to start over. The site was shocking, but for what it was people were out working hard and in good spirits. Not something I think I would recover from easily but I guess when you have no other option, recovery is the only way to move forward. If you are looking to help in the affected area I recommend helping, anywhere you can! I know that people would appreciate the extra hands to haul trash, sweep out mud or pull wet walls out. The true faces of the flood live in neighborhoods like this. This is only a couple of streets but the entire neighborhood was affected.