When one goes to Corpus, one must go to San Antonio. Home to my dad's family and Los Spurs, we go up to hang out, eat velveeta queso and ghost-peppered pickles, shop, explore, and ring in the New Year.

This year, our mission was to find ballet folklorico costumes for my mom, so we ventured into "South San," where we found exquisite street art, a santeria shop, a huge mural of Selena, a low road-scrapin' dog (reference to our favorite children's book...worth the listen, y'all), and then Wyatt made his best attempt to blend in with an army of piñatas. We finally ended up at La Gloria, an eclectic Mexican Street Food cafe with prickly pear margaritas and tacos al pastor to satiate our hungry bellies. Wyatt later passed out with Grandpa Charlie's hairless cat on his face.

The next day, we ventured out to Luckenbach and Fredricksburg to go be tourists. Luckenbach, Texas, made famous by Waylon Jennings ("...Willie + the boys"), is a small used-to-be town that is all about beer and good music. We went real early in the morning, so we didn't get to hear any guitar pickin' but we did get to meet Virgil the Storeguy. You guessed it, he runs the general store, which is housed in the old post-office. Virgil is quite the joker and has the most unique and full-hearted and contagious laugh I've ever heard. He said he plans on riding out to N.C. on his Harley to visit his son and daughter-in-law at the coast. If you ever get out this way, Virgil, I suggest a good Eastern Carolina BBQ, hush puppies, and a solid craft beer. For those of you traveling to or through Texas, get out to Luckenbach, make sure you get an ice-cold Shiner, appreciate all the musical memorabilia, listen to a good round of guitar pickin', stay far far away from the evil roosters, and give Virgil a big ol' handshake and a reason to joke around!

New Year's Eve can be summed up in three topics: Head's Up, champagne, crappy fireworks. Either way, it's always a good time. Grandpa Charlie acted out a t-rex, Komodo dragon, a sloth, and an elephant while playing Head's Up. Wyatt went and bought a bag of fireworks, that ultimately failed to be as awesome as usual but were still a lot of fun. We rang in the New Year with champagne and kisses and many hopes for a great 2015.

New Year's Day: Rudy's BBQ + Blue Bell Ice Cream. No need to elaborate on that greatness.

And finally, today, we said adios (or a see you later) to Wyatt as he embarks on his journey to ABQ. He is going to live with our Tías, start fresh, and make awesome music. Godspeed to you and all your adventures out west (I also hope you finally befriend Chispa)! I expect killer snapchats, sweet instagrams, and all your greatness to beam out of you! Miss + love you, fool!

'Merica! What's better to celebrate America than with family, fire, and food? Nothing. Nothing is better than family, fire, and food, and if you can't celebrate with family, fire, and food on the fourth, celebrate with family, fire, and food on the fifth! Jerry and I drove to Goldsboro after oohing and aahing at Chapel Hill's fireworks, apparently a top 10 in the nation firework show according to Travel & Leisure Magazine, to have a small little celebration with family and friends. Of course, none of this would be complete without mini American flags, American Flag themed desserts, tasty cheese trays + fruit salsa, and of course, fire on a stick. This was Warner's first time with sparklers and poppers. The wonderment a child, and even adults, have with sparkly fire is just mesmerizing. However, a note to the wise: if you hand a three-year-old a sparkler, you better know how to run fast!

I hope you had a fabulous Fourth of July celebration full of family, food, and fire, too!