Trip to Galveston

I posted the video, so obviously if you watched it, you know we recently went to Galveston. 
 

Several people have asked me, "are you back from your vacation to Galveston?" 



Well, the truth is that we spent less than 24 hrs in Galveston, then about that long in Houston, and then dropped Daniel off at the airport so he could take a business trip to Mexico while the kids and I trekked over to Beaumont to spend a few nights with some friends there.  We drove back to Houston to pick Daniel up from the airport on Friday, and we booked it back home that evening--since I worked the following two days.  In short, it wasn't exactly a vacation. 
 

Actually, "vacation" is probably a misnomer if it describes any trip of any length with tiny people who can't potty alone (or respect your desire to) and get crabby when they skip a nap.






However--that's not to say there weren't some genuinely fun parts.  We packed good snacks, ate out of the cooler at a nice rest stop (bravo, Texas--your renovated rest stops are amazing), and reserved the DVD player for the very end of the car trip. 




We drove straight to the beach. 



The beach experience, I must say, is an assault on your senses. 




Between the sunscreen and salt water that get in your eyes, the gritty sand that gets everywhere, the brilliant sun that causes you to squint, and the scorching hot dry sand under your feet... it's just pretty intense (and I mean that in a very euphemistic way). 



The kids were ready to go after an hour or so (except Elliot, who badly wanted to stay). 




The pool at the hotel, on the other hand, was amazing. 
 

Saline, shaded, warm, with a swim-up bar--I could have stayed there for the duration of our short trip. 
 

The kids were a huge hit, showing off their floating skills and enjoying swimming back and forth between the steps and us.  It sparked a lively conversation about infant survival swim classes, and the kids (especially Lucy) seemed to be enjoying the attention until an ill-timed #2 incident necessitated that our crew quickly vacate the pool. 







We ate our favorite--Olympia Grill--for dinner on the floor in our hotel room and then got all the kids to bed. 
 


The next morning started early, with cheerios in plastic cups (another hotel room "picnic"), swimsuits again, and another little venture to the beach. 
 



Let me tell you -- the beach is pretty empty at 8am.  The big kids ventured out with me far enough to see the "jumping fish" and diving gulls. 



Daniel told me later there was a dolphin just behind us, but the kids and I missed that. 

I probably took too many pictures during this trip, but we live in the digital age--and these years won't last. 


 So I'll post pictures from the rest of our trip in the next few days.