Lazy Ladybug: Kalina Family Christmas Vacation

This weekend my family, minus my sister, came to San Antonio for our old Annual Kalina Family Christmas Vacation. When my siblings and I were younger, my parents would take us for a little mini vacation the weekend before Christmas to finish shopping and spend time together. It started out going to the Galleria in Houston, but we then ventured west to San Antonio to spend the weekend on the Riverwalk. We stayed at many different hotels through the years, but always loved the Hyatt and the Menger the most.

Once we were all in college and in different places, we have slowly stopped this tradition because it was so hard to get us all together. This year, my brother decided to revive it. At first, he was going to come himself, but my parents to decided to join in. They all came to stay with me this weekend. It wasn't a full weekend, but we still had fun!

They got here Saturday afternoon. After they settled in at my house, we headed downtown. We started out at the mall to see if Ryan could find a few things. Then we made our way down to the river for dinner. We have a favorite restaurant that we eat at every time we are at the Riverwalk - RioRio. They have a plate supposedly designed for two people to eat, but all 4 or 5 of us can eat off of it and be full! Of course, the chips and salsa beforehand don't help matters!! :)

After eating, we always go next door to a store called Mr. IceCream to get dessert! They have Blue Bell Ice Cream, so it's nothing fancy, it's just something we always do!

The tree at the Alamo

The tree at the Menger

Trees in the lobby at the Menger

After walking around on the river for a while and hanging out in the lobby of the Menger, we made our way back to the mall to shop a little more. We stopped in at the Marriott to check out their decorations. One year, they had a life-size gingerbread house! This year it was just a tree, but it was gorgeous!