Galveston 2013

Back in May we decided to take the girls to the beach.  Yes, Galveston isn't the best of beaches... but Emma and Maggie don't know that.  And it is the closest to us.  We had heard from friends of this area west of Galveston called Pointe West.  It's a small (almost neighborhood-like) with houses and condos about 20 minutes outside of Galveston.  It actually is so close to the end of the island that we could see both the Gulf and the Bay from windows in our house.  Despite the little extra drive time, it was totally worth it.

Group Shot

The girls did great!  It was such a fun trip and much easier than I was expecting (and that's probably thanks to our family that came along)!  I knew it was going to be good when the first hour in the car the girls were just laughing at each other.  It was so cute.  They knew something special was in store for them.  Emma had been talking how she wanted to see Nemo's and Dori's when she got to the beach.  Sadly, she didn't get to see these kind of fish, but I don't think she missed out.  We arrived about 4pm on our first day there and Billy ran her out to the beach after we got everything into the house.  She loved it!  Loved the sand in her toes, the waves, the wind... I stayed back to get more unpacked and settled and Billy caught this video:

Emma was the perfect age for this experience and it showed on her sweet face!  And thankfully, she loves to wear her hat and keep that sweet face covered!

Awesome kids pool

Sunset photos

Grandy & Emma

Sweet Maggie probably missed out a little on this trip as she still naps in the morning.  But she had a great time in our blowup pool that we brought along and she loved the pool we visited on the last day.  She was a little timid around the beach at first... we think it was the noise.  But on our last night, Grandy and Happy got her running into the waves without fear!  (Well running as much as a baby who is learning to walk while holding your hands can run). 

Billy and his 'Mini-Me'

Much happier in the pool.  Emma washing Daddy's hair in the background.
This was a great spot to get the sand off after our beach outings.

Billy and I even got a date night!  We decided to go 'in town' to a local favorite, Gaido's. Anytime my family went to Galveston, we always ate at Gaido's.  Next time maybe we'll take the girls.  It was still super yummy and a nice atmosphere, like I remember it. 

So easy to relax on this deck overlooking the ocean!

A huge shout out to Billy's parents.  It was so nice to have them there with us and not be rushed through conversations like we normally are at home.  It was also nice to have another few sets of eyes on the girls in a two story house.  This Momma would've been way more worried with all the stairs and decks if it had only been Billy and I. 

One of the greatest memories I'll keep close to my heart is hearing Emma say "this is so amazing!" on our first full day at the beach.  She doesn't use the word 'amazing' often so it really helped me realize the fun experience we were sharing.  Also, in all my times at the beach I've never seen hermit crabs.  My adventurous husband and father-in-law found several!  It must be due to the fact I run from hard things when I step on them in the water.  The one time I did find something, it ended up being a poisonous animal that makes the shell.  Lovely.  But hermit crabs went perfectly with one of Emma's favorite books, Platypus.  And Emma, the greatest Jellyfish lover of all time, got to see a handful of her beloved sea creature.  They were much smaller than I remembered, but those tentacles were 4x the length of their body.  So jellyfish, kites, hermit crabs and sea shells... what could make this trip any better?  Grandy kept us stocked with ice cream and we let Emma loose since it was vacation! 

Emma was done with photos!

Sister Nap!  Love that look between them even if it is fuzzy.

Emma enjoying the birds with Happy

Last picture before we head home... can you tell the girls don't want to leave?

We had a great time and plan to do something similar next year.  Pointe West was very peaceful and quiet.  It was nice to be somewhere with other groups of people but no crazy loud partying going on.  The beaches were groomed and it was so safe that people left their things on the beach overnight! And the weather was cooler than North Texas!  I love the cold and most summers I tend to spend indoors with AC.  But even I fell asleep on one of the couches outside one afternoon.  So glad we did this trip and just feel extremely blessed that we are able to go on adventures like this!  What wonderful memories we will cherish from this trip.