Our Beach Trip - Day Four

05.19.12

Today is our last full day to spend in this town called Galveston that we have fallen in love with and we had to start our day with what Brent and I love the most...the beach.  Luckily, we arrived early because Galveston is a totally different place on Saturday.  The good parking spots go fast!  We set up the tent, chairs, little swimming pool and beach toys for fun in the morning sun.  Brent and I were filled with joy watching our sweet angels having so much fun playing on the beach.

How do you go to the beach and not eat seafood?  Yum!!!  We ate dinner at the famous Fisherman's Wharf which ended up being very entertaining for Beck.  Let me explain...Brent and I ordered 1 1/2 pounds of crab legs and Beck discovered how fun it is using a nut cracker on the crab legs.  He had an absolute blast at this restaurant!

Afterwards, we walked around and there just happened to be a festival going on.  Beck thought the band was playing too loud.  Then, we came across what every kid loves...the booth with every kid's dream...toys!!!  Beck found a gun that cost $12 but I only had $8 so as I was trying to think of how I could get more money, Beck is crying big tears because we told him we didn't have enough cash for that toy.  The very nice gentleman let us have it for $8 and told us we owe him $4 which is another reason why we have to go back (smile).  I have to admit, this is the coolest gun I've seen.

We checked out the shrimp boats and Beck used his new gun to shoot the pelicans.

This is our new house!  Check out Bishop's Palace...this house was built from 1886-1892 by a lawyer and can be toured for $10 for each adult. 

Lastly, we ended our evening at the oldest souvenir shop in Galveston...Murdoch's. This place has been around since the late 1800's and has been through six storms/hurricanes.  It was so relaxing sitting in the rocking chairs listening to the ocean.  Of course Beck and Kinsey had to have a sword fight before leaving the store...they are a mess!  BTW, Beck was getting attacked by his little sister...she was going after him with her sword and she got a few licks in on me too!

Every good thing must come to an end and now it's time to pack up for our journey home tomorrow.  Beck told us that he loves our beach house and wants to stay.  I'd love to stay too!  It's so much fun going to the beach and this was without a doubt a place that we will visit again.  Thanks for the memories!!!

Our Beach Trip - Day Three

05.18.12

I was in desperate need of a break from the sun so we spent the day doing touristy things.  We started the day at the Moody Gardens Aquarium and we got there just in time to see the seals put on a little show while getting some food.  It was quite impressive to see the large seal jump up and touch the ball!  Kinsey was a little scared watching the creatures swim around and Beck had seen enough and was dying to see the next exhibit.

Now this was really funny...I told Kinsey to try and touch the stingray and she actually got up close to the glass and the stingray swam right up to her and Kinsey leaned back.  I laughed when I saw that encounter.

The temperature for the penguin exhibit is kept at a cool 35 degrees and we got to see them get some food too.

Beck wasn't into sitting and looking at these amazing animals...he just wanted to look and keep going.  We basically spent $1 per minute for our one-hour visit at the aquarium but it was totally worth it.

We went back to our condo to eat lunch and take a nap then we drove around to check out some beautiful beach houses and a brand new condo that is actually built right on the beach and it has a lazy river.  (You don't have to cross the street to get to the beach from Diamond Beach Condo.)  And, the one thing that I am so bummed about is the Boardwalk is going to open one week after we leave.  Bummer!  But, that means we need to go back!  This place is going to be so much fun once it opens up...it's going to have a log ride, a wooden roller coaster, a train ride for the kids, bumper cars and much more PLUS Bubba Gump restaurant!  Sound fun?  Let's go back Labor Day weekend!

The owner of our condo recommended something fun and free which was riding the ferry boat.  Of course both Beck and Kinsey were very leery at first but Beck ended up loving it!  We spent some time on the top deck and at the back of the boat as we traveled to a little island.  On the way back to Galveston, we stood in the front of the boat and a couple of kids would duck down when the water splashed up.  It was fun to watch them and it was fun to feel the sprinkles of water hit us until the kids said, "this is a big one."  I saw all of this water pop up and turned to the left and Kinsey was on my right hip so most of the water hit her.  Sorry Kinsey.  Brent and Beck were soaking wet too so we decided to go back to our truck until we docked.  We asked Beck what was his favorite thing we've done on this trip and it was the ferry boat ride.  There's a lesson here...you don't have to spend a lot of money to have fun. 

We hit the beach again after dinner and this time we brought a small pool which was a huge hit with Beck and Kinsey.

Daddy buried Beck and Kinsey's feet and they loved it!

My heart is beaming from all of the fun we've had on this trip. Tomorrow is our last full day here then we'll make the dreaded drive home on Sunday. 

Our Beach Trip - Day Two

05.17.12

Today was the first day for Schlitterbahn to open and we were there right when they opened at 10am along with a lot of high school kids.  It was school day at Schlitterbahn so several bus loads of high school kids were there.  The park would have been desolate without the high school kids but it wasn't too crowded.  The lines for the rides weren't long at all.  We started in the kids section and Brent went down two kids slides.  The water was super cold!

Then, we thought it would be fun to get on the lazy river so Brent and Beck got us a couple of tubes.  As you can see from the picture below, the water looks pretty calm and it did for a while until we hit the rapids.  Unfortunately, we did not read the sign which clearly says, "Swift Water and Large Waves".  Luckily, we had a life jacket on Kinsey and Brent was in the water holding on to mine and Beck's tube so that we would not turn over.  Our kids were SO SUPER SCARED!!!  They were pretty much traumatized.

We got off the roaring rapids as soon as we possibly could and found a heated pool which is where we spent the majority of our day.  And, Brent went down the pink slide and loved it!

After we ate lunch, we went back to the kids section.  I sprayed sunscreen on the kids every hour and Kinsey only had a little redness right by her eyes...I guess I missed that spot.  Not bad for a five-hour day in the sun.

For dinner, we thought (the operative word here is thought) it would be fun to eat at the Rainforest Cafe but we were so wrong.  The host tried to seat us at the table right in front of the apes and she told us they would go off every 10 minutes.  I asked if they were loud and she said, "sort of; some kids like them and some kids don't."  Kinsey was already crying just looking at them so she moved us to the other side of the restaurant to a table that was somewhat close to the elephants.  Right after sitting down, the restaurant does this thunderstorm every thirty minutes where the lights dim, you hear thunder and the animals go nuts...well guess what?  My kids went nuts too!  They cried and wanted to leave!  I would have left if it had been up to me.  Brent took Beck to the gift shop until our food arrived then we ate as fast as we could so that we could leave before the next thunderstorm.  Although the food was fantastic, we will not go to this restaurant anytime soon.

This was Beck's favorite part of the Rainforest Cafe...the gator in the water.

We went to the beach to take family pictures and this time we brought swimsuits and beach toys.

This was a wonderful fun-filled day in Galveston!  I'm starting to fall in love with this place!

Our Beach Trip - Day One

05.16.12

We kicked off our vacation early this year since Brent will be swamped at work as soon as school ends.  We arrived at our two-bedroom condo Wednesday afternoon in Galveston.  This condo was recently remodeled and it was perfect for us.

We quickly put on our swimsuits and hit the pool.  The Maravilla actually has the second largest swimming pool in Galveston but we went to the smaller pool today because there are two buildings under construction next to the large pool.

We found many small frogs in the pool and the kids thought it was so funny that Daddy was catching them.  I'm pretty sure Kinsey accidentally squished one by squeezing it too hard.

Beck is laughing so hard in the picture below because Daddy gave Kinsey a wedgie.  Beck kept saying, "I see her booty."  She was very happy when Mommy fixed the bottom of her swimsuit.

After the sun went behind the complex and our pool was completely shaded, we checked out the big pool and hopped in the hot tub.  Actually, we just stuck our feet in it because the water was too warm for the kids.  The balcony of our condo faces the big pool and we can also see the ocean but the view will be obstructed a little bit once the new buildings are completed. 

Then, we got dressed and ate dinner at Papa's Pizza...they are known for having big slices at low prices.

We had to check out the beach and I should have brought an extra set of clothes because the kids got soaking wet!  I had no idea this would happen.  The best part about this beach is that you can walk out into the ocean forever and it never gets deep!

Beck saw Kinsey sit in the water so he decided to do the same thing...he's getting brave!!!

Then, Kinsey decided to go for a swim...

Brent and I had so much fun watching them play in the water!  I have a feeling this is going to be a fun trip!

We had to strip them down to get them to the condo.  As you can see in the picture below, there is a seawall so there's no condo that is directly on the beach.  Luckily, I did have a back-up pair of "big boys" for Beck in the diaper bag.

After we gave the kids a bath, they wanted to play on the bunk beds which would be fine if they were older but I'm so afraid Kinsey is going to fall off of them.  We ended up putting the ladder on the top bunk.

Our first day of vacation has been great!  The drive wasn't bad at all...I think we left Gilmer close to 10am and arrived at our condo a little after 3pm and that's with one bathroom break and stopping for lunch at McDonald's in Livingston (we let the kids play for about 30 minutes).  I'm looking forward to more fun tomorrow!