Family Vacation: Galveston 2014- Day 4

On our last full day in Galveston…we spent the morning at the beach. 

Followed by lunch and naps.  

Then a trip to the Moody Gardens Aquarium.

We picked up Whataburger for dinner and ate at the condo.

Then enjoyed one last game night.

Grace wasn't really into the beach.  Mostly because I think she is afraid of sharks.  So after some time in the water with Parker…Geoff took her seashell searching.

Nolan eventually needed a nap…so Geoff walked him along the beach in the stroller.  He ended up sleeping about an hour which was good.

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During game night….Grace climbed up into Geoff's lap and helped him play.  I just love all of these faces she's making here.  And I love how great Geoff is with our children.

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Our last morning…these girls were tired. 

 One last family picture.

We had a great time.  It was a lot of work with the babies and all, but so worth it. 

Vacations are good that way.  :)

Family Vacation: Galveston 2014- Day 3

On this morning….the guys (Geoff, my brother-in-law and brother) got up and headed out early to go bay fishing.  My sister, the kids, and I stayed inside for the morning.  It was nice to have a slow morning and just eat breakfast and be able to put Nolan down for his normal morning nap.

Meanwhile….Geoff sent me a few pictures of their bay fishing adventures.

dolphins...

Phil (my brother-in-law) and Brian (my brother)

My brother caught a shark…and this one was his.

And Geoff also caught a shark!  My brother used his camera and I think it fogged up when he pulled it out to take this, so this is the best quality we have.  Boo!

And here's a shot of all the fish caught by the whole boat.

Between my brother and Geoff's sharks…we ended up with about 6 lbs of shark meat!  Brian grilled a couple of filets and they said it tasted good, and I'll just take their word for it.  And then he froze the rest.

**Interesting trivia…..frozen fish sticks are made primarily out of shark.

Around lunch time, Kristin's sister-in-law, (and my friend, too!) Kelly, came up from Houston to visit with us and spend some time at the pool. 

The pool wasn't the best (and even looked a little greenish)….but it had a good portion of the pool where Payton and Parker could touch so this was helpful.  And they really enjoyed it, too!

Getting all 6 kids dressed and sun-screened and down the stairs and up the stairs was a feat!

 *Paisley, Payton, Nolan, Parker, Landry, Grace

The guys got back about 20 minutes or so after we made it to the pool which was perfect timing for them to take some pictures and then take the babies back up to the condo for a nap.

The babies were worn out and so after about an hour and a half or so…we headed back up to the room for rest time.  All kids took a nap this day!

After naps, we got dressed and headed to dinner at this Mexican food place and it was so good (I don't remember the name!).  I had the waiter take this picture right when we got our food which I should't have done because we all had food in our mouths!  But memories….ha!

Since we had been out late the first 2 nights…we wanted to get the babies in bed at a normal time.  So after dinner, we headed back to the condo, got settled in, and then put the babies to bed.

And then it was game night!  Fun times.  We need to do these more often, for sure!

to see day 1 go here

to see day 2 go here

Family Vacation: Galveston 2014- Day 2

On Monday morning, we woke up…

all 3 kids were in such a good mood….the girls were because they were excited to be on vacation…and Nolan was just happy to be with us.  Looking at them all sitting and playing and giggling on the pull-out couch just made my heart full.

Geoff fixed us all a breakfast of pancakes and bacon….then we all got dressed and ready and headed to Moody Garden's Palm Beach.  We had a pretty good time.  There was a wave pool that Parker and Payton loved….and a lazy river….and couple of big slides…and a spray ground.  Nolan missed his morning nap so I eventually pushed him around until he fell asleep.  We got there around 10am and I think left between 2 and 3pm, I think.

Parker

Grace was a little more timid and needed someone to go down with her at first.

Pure joy!

Parker and Payton going down together...

Payton

Me & Grace

After Grace and I went down the slide one time together…she suddenly got brave and wanted to go down by herself.

And on her very first time by herself…..this happened….

And dumped right on her just as she was at the bottom.  She was NOT happy!

My sister and Payton

My niece, Paisley taking her nap, too.

Parker and Payton decided to stand under that water tower.  And these pictures make me laugh.

Once Nolan woke up…we headed back to our little picnic table and ate lunch.  We eventually made it over to the spray grounds.  And Nolan seemed to enjoy this.

My sister and Paisley

After we left…we came home and settled the kids in for a little afternoon nap.  

We got cleaned up and dressed and headed out to Pleasure Pier for dinner and let the girls ride  few rides.  

We ended up eating dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co and were a little disappointed with the food.  We should have known better!  But they had us seated quickly and the service was pretty good so we didn't have to way too long for anything.

The girls flattened a penny each.

After dinner….we headed into Pleasure Pier to let the girls ride a few rides.

Sweet Boy was so excited to ride!

This is the first double decker carousel I've seen, I think.

 This ride was the girls' favorite.  And since there were hardly any kids in the line…I think they rode this maybe 4 or 5 times.

And the tea cup ride.  And this guy working the ride hopped right in for the picture.

All of us.  My brother, Brian (on the left) joined our Family Vacation earlier in the afternoon.