Galveston 2012! Vacation Day 3

On our third and final day on the island we slept in, ate breakfast and then checked out of the hotel. We drove around a bit and then stopped at a different stretch of beach that we hadn't explored before so that we could get out, take pictures and say "Bye Bye" to the ocean.

Listening to the ocean and how the sound changes when he plugs his ears.

 

My camera fogged up from the change in temperature from our air-conditioned car to the hot humid air outside. Most of the photos were too foggy to use since the camera couldn't focus well through the foggy lens but some of the last photos I took were salvageable due to the fog starting to clear. I had to do a lot of editing to help it though!

 Ahh....the power of shooting in RAW format + the magic of Photoshop. I love it. The point-and-shoot is great for worry free time while swimming on the beach but I love the power of an SLR.

Ethan loves the ocean and was so excited to see it again. He enjoyed pointing out the water, birds, and airplanes.

His enjoyment faded once he realized that we were just saying "bye" to the ocean and not swimming. Poor kid!

It was so muggy that once we got back to the car we were hot and tired and decided to stop by Rita's again for one last shaved ice before we left the island for College Station.

Morgan got a signature custard and ice

I got a blend of two ice flavors. Swedish Fish and Coconut. The coconut was amazing!

Ethan opted for chocolate teddy grahams instead of sharing with Mama.

 Astrid enjoying her ice.

Goodbye Galveston! In the words of Ethan, "Bye bye, miss you, see soon!"

Galveston 2012! Vacation Day 2

It was projected to rain our entire vacation but we lucked out and it rained during the night and early morning. We had a leisurely breakfast in the lobby and Ethan spent time watching the giant fish tank. One of the hotel workers spotted him and came over to feed their largest fish a grape so that he could watch. He enjoyed pointing out the colors of the fish and calling the little fish "babies". By the time we were ready for the beach at 11:30 am we had blue skies!

Knocking down the castle. He knocked them down faster than we could build them! At one point he had so many smashed castles around his feet that he was buried up to his knees. Morgan asked him where his feet were and he looked up puzzled and and said "I don't know!".

"Bye Bye Airplane!" There was a small plane carrying a banner that flew back and forth along the beach advertising. Ethan got excited and stopped to wave each time it went past. He loves airplanes!

Ethan doing his happy run back and forth into the ocean.



After three hours at the beach we stopped by our favorite shaved ice place, Rita's, before heading back to the hotel for a swim. Ethan and his Aunt Morgan got some bonding time in while swimming together. We tried to keep Ethan up so that we could all head over to the Strand for some shopping but this little boy was so worn out from no nap + a day at the beach and the pool that he climbed into his bed and fell asleep. After Morgan and Mom returned from the Strand we woke Ethan up and we all headed out to Mario's our favorite pizza place on the island. I wish I had brought my camera along to document- they have the best homemade pizzas!

Later that night this kid was bouncing off the walls from his nap. Here he is playing with his "yowie babboon". It lasted three days and provided a lot of entertainment!

Once kiddo went down for the night the rest of us sat out on our balcony and played a game of dominoes while eating our cannolis/cheesecake that we bought "to-go" from Mario's. I don't know which is better- their pizza or their cannolis!

Galveston 2012! Vacation Day 1

It's June again and while the boys were unable to make it to their annual D-Day paintball game we girls (plus toddler) still went on our annual beach vacation! On day 1 of our vacation we drove in from College Station arriving in Galveston around late afternoon. After checking into our hotel we headed straight to the beach where we spent the next three hours playing and swimming until evening.

Ethan loved it. He was happily entertained by the sand toys for far longer than a toy will normally occupy him.



We couldn't keep the sand off his face. Just as soon as we cleaned it off he'd wipe his sandy hands back over his eyes. It didn't seem to bother him thankfully.



Of course sand toys will only keep a kid away from water for so long! He had no fear of the ocean this year. He happily ran down to the water with us chasing him. Thankfully he enjoyed holding our hands when we stood in the waves because the sand sifting under his feet threw his balance off.

A few waves were big enough to hit him at chest height but it never bothered him. He was having too much fun squealing and yelling "Watch Out!" as each wave rolled in.

Proudly showing off his muddy face. We said he looked silly and that Mommy wanted to take a picture.

As always we enjoyed our first day at the beach getting re-acquainted with the ocean! My mom and I took turns playing with Ethan and swimming. I did forget that I'd taken our "oops bag" out of the car when we were in College Station to make more room so I had forgotten to pack an extra diaper + change of clothes just assuming I'd use the pair I kept in the car. Whoops! No big deal though. We wrapped him up in a beach sarong and he looked a little bit like Mowgli the boy from the Jungle Book. He didn't seem phased! We went back to the hotel to swim and after discovering our air-conditioning was out and changing rooms, taking showers, and getting cleaned up we had a late dinner of Subway in the hotel. Little boy was worn out but so were we! Morgan ended up falling asleep in her clothes and the rest of us went to bed early as well.

{Pictures taken with my 8 year old point n' shoot Sony Cybershot and edited in lightroom and photoshop. Thought it was dead this year but we finally got it working! Chews through batteries in about an hour though so pictures were limited)

Vacation! Galvestion Day 4

On day four we packed up and stopped by Rita's for some fantastic italian ice before leaving the island and heading to Kemah to walk around the boardwalk.

While we were there, we played a boat racing game and walked around the boardwalk. It was pretty hot outside so we didn't stay too long. None of us had put sunscreen on that morning since we were leaving the island and we all got a little bit of sun from the hour we spent on the boardwalk.

Next stop, home! It always goes by quick and we were sad to leave the island but we enjoyed our vacation and had a blast! Can't wait to do it again next year!

Vacation! Galvestion Day 3

On day 3 we drove around the island to explore and look at all the beach houses. We always enjoy looking at the bright colored houses and pointing out the ones that are architecturally interesting. At one point we got out to walk around and look at all the seaweed that had washed ashore. (At this point I switched back to using the DSLR)




Taking a picture of Morgan taking a picture of Astrid. :-) Astrid is so good natured to put up with Morgan and I whipping out our cameras and asking her to pose for us. Seriously, 'Strid, thanks for putting up with us!



Watch those funny faces sister, I have a fast shutter. ;-)

Astrid says I like flying rodents. (In response to my favorite birds being Seagulls and Grackles)

And for fun, a little creative processing:

Afterwards we went to Moody Gardens to see the aquarium.

I don't have any pictures of fish, but I do have a few pictures of an active little boy. Ethan was facinated with the lighting.

Dancing in the "shark cage".

Later that evening we stopped off at the tip of the island so that we could look for shells and watch the ships go by.

This shell was inhabited and as soon as the crab poked his head out to see what was going on he ducked back into the shell and started to blow bubbles.

My Mom and sisters picked up 26 different neat shells that appeared not to be inhabited.

I say "appeared" because when we got back to the hotel we heard a scratching noise from the bucket of shells in the bathroom. We found a crab and set him aside to return to the ocean. A little later we heard another one, and another....until as the evening went on we realized that we had 26 hermit crabs. That's right, every single shell had a crab in it!

So we loaded back up in the car at 10 PM and went on operation "Free Hermie" to return the hermit crabs to the ocean.