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 1

Early Sunday morning…we finished loading up the minivan….then met up at my mom's so we could at least start the trip together. We weren't sure how the babies would be (mine and my sister's)…so we knew we could end up making more or less stops than the other.

Heading out!

Little Miss was excited about going on vacation…but not excited that we had to take a picture.  But she still just looks so cute to me.

Our family.

My family + My sister's family

Geoff got in a little studying.

We made it 30 minutes into the trip before one of the girls asked, "Are we almost there?"  Ha!

But, honestly, I could not have asked for a smoother car ride.  Nolan ended up taking about a 40 minute nap before we stopped for lunch.  We ate at a McDonald's so the kids could play a little before heading out again….and alas….this particular McDonald's didn't have a play place.  So after we ate…we went to the sonic down the street and let the kids play there for about 30 minutes.

After this….we had about 2.5 hours left.  We made one more stop and Kristin didn't so they ended up making it to the condos about 30 minutes before us.

So we get there and get settled as much as we can.  We sent the guys to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and pick up some pizza for dinner.

And just before sunset….we headed down to the beach. 

Our condo has a beach view….but we are not really in front of a nice beach area.  Aside from the sea wall (that most of Galveston has)….the area right in front of our hotel is very dirty and doesn't have a lot of sand/area to walk.  Boo!  But we have already done a little scoping out, and plan to go to a nicer part of the beach tomorrow morning.

Baby Boy's first time for his toes to hit the sand and waves.

He loved it!

Uncle Phil and Paisley

Parker has been to this beach one other time 5 years ago when she was almost 2 years old (I was about 4 months pregnant with Grace at the time).  And Parker and my niece, Payton, LOVED it.  They were diving into waves and swimming around.

And after being at the beach for about 10 minutes…I realized that Grace has never been to a beach and I should have been taking more pictures of her and her first time!  She was a little timid because she is scared of sharks.

My Sister's Family- Phil, Kristin, Payton, and Paisley.

Us.  (My face is pretty swollen here form this new face wash regimen I used 2 days- last Thursday and Friday nights-….my face got really swollen and chapped/chemically burned.  It's been fairly uncomfortable, but thankfully, getting better slowly, but surely.)

Yes- he ate the sand.

….and didn't like it.  Hahaha!  Brother will learn.

Father & Son

And then the guys found a crab.  And Geoff caught it (and let it go, too).

But Grace needed to go back to use the restroom…so the 2 of us left after only really being there for 15 minutes or so.

Little Turkey.

It was a great first day.  A safe, smooth ride.  And ended with a walk on the beach.