Galveston

The kids wanted to go to the beach, so last Sunday (July 15th), the family and I headed down to the rainy coast of Texas for 2 days of sun and fun...or so we hoped! When we reached Houston, it was raining steadily and the radar on the iPad didn't show signs of it clearing. After a yummy lunch at Five Guys Burgers & Fries (my new FaVoRiTe burger place), we arrived in Galveston to cloudy skies and rain. We had no specific plans, so we drove down the beach so that Andy could tell me once again how much the seawall area had changed. (He grew up going to Galveston Island; I grew up going to the white beaches and emerald water of Panama City Beach.) The rain was still coming down when we reached the end of the beach so we decided to go ahead and ride the ferry boat. I think every other tourist in Galveston chose to ride it at the exact same time. The lines to and fro were unbelievably long but we enjoyed eachother's company as the sun came out! 

Riding the Boliver Ferry is a Kilgore Family Tradition!

 

After all that family fun in the car for 8 hours, we checked into the Hilton. The thought of lugging all of the beach chairs, toys and umbrella to the beach made us even more tired so we opted to spend a few hours at the pool instead. DO YOU BLAME US?! Check out that pool area! A swim up bar? Yes, please! I sampled the special called Galveston Sunset. YUMM-O! 

 For dinner, the kids had 'fried mozzarella cheese sticks' on the brain so we started walking down the street looking at menus. Landry's Seafood? Nope. Rainforest Cafe? Yep! Andy and I split an appetizer and the kids shared an order of cheese sticks and a kids pizza. After dinner, we headed down to the beach to put our feet in the water. Somehow (wink, wink), the kids managed to put their whole leg (hip to foot) in the ocean. We had a really good time there and the kids had a blast. I know that we made some lifelong memories on our first day.

 

I absolutely LoVe the beach.

Any beach.

The wind, the waves, the smells, the sounds...ahh...my happy place. 

We set up camp on the beach at a whopping 8am. My kids don't sleep in on a normal day so you KNOW they are up at the crack of dawn on vacation. At "Grandma's beach" (what Madeline calls PCB), Grandma would take them walking with her down the beach first thing in the morning. Of course, my parent's condo is right on the beach. At "Daddy's beach" (what Andy named Galveston), you have to contend with a four lane road to get to the beach so they had to wait for momma and daddy to get up and going before the fun began.

The beach life...

 

 There was a 30% chance of storms that day but we saw nothing but beautiful sunshine the whole day. The kids rode the boogie board and played in the sand. 

 Mommy and daddy played in the sand a little bit too! Luckily, there were 2 boys right around Gus' age and a little girl who was 2 (and not shy ONE BIT!) for them to play with. Andy and I got the chance to sit back and enjoy ourselves while the kids played.

 That evening, we walked about a half mile down the beach to Salsa's Mexican Restaurant. Andy and I had eaten there on our last trip to Galveston at least 9-10 years earlier and we remembered it being good. Honestly, I can eat anything with salsa on it and love it! 

Gus knew that I brought my favorite childhood board game 'Sorry!' in case of rain so he was determined to learn how to play it. It was looking like I was going to win and Gus has tears of defeat in his eyes until, SORRY!, he was able to make a move that changed the game in his favor and he won. (Side note, I re-matched him when we got home and I was redeemed! *evil laugh*)

 

The next morning, we took our time going home. Did we sleep in? Of course NOT! We were back on the beach at 8am, in the pool at 9am and back in the room showering and packing at 10am. It was a very short trip but we packed it full of family time. 

The kids wanted to go to the beach and we delivered.