The Beach!

We were planning a last minute mini vacation to Gaylord before going back to school. But then my friend Kristy invited us to go on their last minute mini vacation to Galveston. Hmmmm...indoor water park or beach? Of course we decided to go to the beach! It was the boys' first time to go to the beach and they loved it. We only stayed Tuesday-Thursday, then I had to work Thursday night! I was just a wee bit tired. There are tons of pictures so I'll let them tell the story.

This was Ethan's face when he saw the beach for the first time.

We met the Joyce's at a Mexican restaurant in the parking lot of our hotel while our room was being cleaned. The kids were a bit hyper after being stuck in the car for 5 hours. Good thing we weren't there during peak eating time.

The boys were so excited to stay in a hotel. They request to go to a hotel probably once a week. They're not spoiled or anything.

Our hotel was across the street from the beach. It was awesome to be able to walk right over and not fill the car with sand. The wind was crazy so the waves were big which was lot of fun to play in!

My three loves.

Those nets were for "crabbing" but we used them to catch shells! We scraped them across the bottom of the water and pulled up treasures. It was lots of fun!

Caleb and Maddie spent most of their time on the beach which was fine with me. The daddies helped built water trenches and sandcastles.

All cleaned up for dinner!

I don't remember the name of the place but it wasn't that great. We wanted some seafood at a local place but this wasn't the place to go. I think it was called Casey's? Of course the kids had macaroni and chicken nuggets.

The big boys spent most of their time jumping in the waves.

On the second day we drove down to a different part of the beach. These are condos right on the beach. Maybe we'll do that next time...

Beach bums.

They kept trying to dig a big hole in the sand and then the water would rush up and fill it up. But they just kept digging!

My sand art. :-)

Kristy taught me a neat trick. If you throw food at the birds they will flock to you! We threw peanut butter crackers in the air and they went nuts! It was so cool!

Tyler and Ethan were digging in the sand and found this crab! He ran out and we caught him with our net. He was running sideways and pinching at us. The kids loved it.

Chasing the poor crab. We did end up putting him back in his hole.

I thought these birds perched on the poles were cute.

More digging in the sand.

A fish swam up on the beach and Jeffrey was able to catch it with a net! The kids were super excited.

And of course we had to take a picture with it!

By day 2 my sunburn was getting a little out of control. I could feel my skin burning. The only solution was to be covered in wet sand. It felt great and kept the kids entertained for a long time!

Jeffrey and Mondo got in the spirit and posed for me.

He is showing his new shark tooth necklace...and sunburned cheeks.

The motley crew.

Last night there.

And what trip would be complete without me getting a sunburn! Spray sunscreen just doesn't work for me.

We stopped at a gas station called Buc-ees on the way home and it was awesome! We could have spent a lot of time in there but we were ready to get home, it was crowded, and the kids were in their pj's.