Family Vacay: Part 2! GALVESTON!

Look! I finally finished my Family Vacay post, complete with pics! Lots of boring pics. Remember how people used to talk about sharing vacation photos via slide shows after a dinner party? It was like they had a captive audience. I am well aware you will all look away when you see what I have in store for you here. Ehhh - who cares. It was a fantastic first big family vacation and we look forward to many more. Which I will share. With you, my captive audience. Here on my blog. Where you can click away any time. ;-)


Our view from our condo at the San Luis. Who knew they had condos? It was really pretty nice to have the hotel atmosphere with the condo amenities (read room service and valet parking). It's too bad Galveston has the whole sea wall thing. Necessary, I'm sure, but it really ruins the "view", don't you think?


At least Megan enjoyed the view. I wonder if Em's paci is still on the balcony below?

Enjoying dinner at "home" before heading across the street for a little beach time. They don't know what's coming next!

Megan's first dip in the Gulf! Too bad it was along the seawall but they won't remember the yucky brown water and trash. :)



Em's first dip in the Gulf.



Umm ... maybe we should have put them in their swim suits?



TOO CUTE!!

Splish Splash!

James finally has his vacation face on.

Looks like everyone is worn out already.

Rainforest Cafe was right next door. We went there for dinner one night and the girls LOVED it. All except for the thunderstorm. I was changing Moo's diaper when the first one hit and apparently Em absolutely lost it. We were prepared for the next one and they did just fine. It's a neat place and I think the girls will enjoy it next time we go.

Our first full day in Galveston was spent at the beach. Well, OK, we spent the morning at the beach. With a 2 year old and a 1 year old, you don't really spend all day anywhere. They both had so much fun digging in the sand with James.

We actually rented two chairs and an umbrella. Kinda $$ for the 3 hours we were there but the girls did most of their digging in the shade so I guess it was a good thing.

Em had so much fun just running around when she wasn't digging. I got my exercise chasing her around, making sure she wasn't picking up trash. Stewart beach was pretty nice though. It was groomed so most of the seaweed and trash were gone, or spread into a nice thin layer, and there were many trashcans. I recommend it for an all day beach trip.

Then there was the snow cone guy pushing his cart down the beach. $4 for a snow cone and he only offered 2 flavors: Coconut and Watermelon.

~Yuck! ~

The little monsters loved it though so I guess it was money well spent.

I probably shouldn't mention that was pretty much their lunch. Snow cone and pringles and juice. Gotta love vacation!

Awwwww ...

DAY 2

We planned in advance that we would go to Moody Gardens on our second day. We thought a day out of the heat and sun would be good for all of us. We packed up and headed out to see some fishies!

I truly thought this would be a hit with Megan. We've been to Aquariums and Zoos and she always loves the fish. Not to mention the fish section at Petsmart!! Instead of fish-fascination she played with Lightening McQueen for most of our time there.

"Yeah Mom, neat fish. Can I go play with my car now?"
Who knew she was 13 already?

Shark Cage!

Can I lock them in and go find a bar?

"Please do not throw your toddlers into the tank."

After the Aquarium we hit the Strand. Time to go to LaKing's Confectionery for some ice cream!

WOOHOO! They even had little kids tables and chairs. I'm sure James and I looked pretty funny at the little table. Em wasn't all that interested in the ice cream but she sure loved those little chairs.

Megan, on the other hand, ate her entire bowl of Cherry Pie Ice Cream.

I have NO idea what's up with Em. Moo has the ice cream. Daddy has his vacation face on. Em just doesn't want to sit still. Is it sad that the only time she really looks like me is when she's doing that?

Daddy's buying CANDY!

That's NOT your Vacation Face, James.

Time out for you!

Above James' head you can see the blue line. That's the water line from Hurricane Ike. I'm standing up on the stairs on the main level of the store.

Another Ike water level pic. This is on The Strand. The diamond shaped plaque states that the building is a 1900 Storm Survivor. The rectangular one above James' head is the Ike water line.

Keep in mind, James is 6'5".

While we're talking Ike ... guess the Flagship isn't being rebuilt. For those who don't know, it's a hotel on pier. James and I stayed there once and it was already run down so if you never had the chance, no worries.

DAY 3

We planned to go back to the beach but it was RAINING! Booo! There's no raining on vacation! We decided to go back to Moody Gardens to check out the Rainforest Pyramid. It was still under construction/reconstruction after being devastated by Ike. The pyramid withstood the storm but the flood waters came in and killed all the fish (saltwater flood +freshwater fish = seafood buffet) and many of the plants. The other animals had all been evacuated prior to the storm. We weren't going to go since it was under construction but we had nothing else to do and it ended up being a hit. We let both girls run free - no stroller - which was nice. They enjoyed the birds.

They're both saying, "Tweet! Tweet!"

The lady has a bat in her heavily gloved hands.

Another shot where Em looks like Mommy.

I think they had the most fun walking on benches in the little program area.

Hey look! Give Em a Zinger and she actually smiles for the camera!

Megan likes the Chocolate Zingers best!

The rain stopped so we ventured down to the Seawall. We figured the girls would enjoy some more beach time and it would be their last chance.

I said the rain stopped. I didn't say it cleared up.

It was a little windy as the next storm rolled in. We got rained on and ran back to the hotel across the street. We decided to give them their baths, even though it was only 3:30, because we were all just gross from our stormy seawall visit.

Instead of Giado's (fancy restaurant) we tried it's little brother, Casey's (family restaurant). It was good. James was happy to get a good meal even if Em was sleeping in his lap for most of it.

Megan sat in my lap (a very bad habit we need to change soon). She didn't eat any fish but she sure did chow on my salad. You never know what she's going to eat. Usually she won't eat anything different but then, about once a month, she goes crazy.

That's all I have for you. That was our last night in town. After Casey's we went back to the Strand. The weather cleared up and we had beautiful sunshine for our walk around town. We had more ice cream, from a different place, and we popped in and out of a few little shops (though shopping with 2 toddlers isn't really all that fun for anyone). We walked down to the pier a street over to see the ships. M & Em had a blast splashing in the puddles on the streets and sidewalks (which is why Crocs are great shoes). It was a good ending to a fabulous week. On the way home we stopped a couple times, once for lunch and once for ice cream and playing at McDonald's about an hour outside of Dallas. The girls did really well in the car on the way home. God Bless the inventor of the car DVD player.