We decided to split up the 4th of July week into two different get-aways. The first one was back to our favorite spot - Galveston! We talked about renting an RV, but in the end we decided to stay in a rental. I realized that the place my parents always used to take us has listings on VRBO and wanted to go back - I remember it being a fun place to stay!
Plus it is right across the street from a good public beach. Just cross the road at the light, climb down the stairs and there’s the beach! We bought a new wagon to help carry the gear, so we were able to pack more stuff this time. I brought both of the boys beach chairs and they both deemed them to be too small now. But Natalie was excited about them!
But her favorite chair of all is sitting on her dad!
Selfie with my Thomas! He was having such a blast even though it was a pretty overcast day. I also just realized that his shirt is backwards - I can totally see the printed tag through the shirt. He is terrible at putting shirts on the right way if there is no print on the front.. ;)
Henry was busy digging a hole in the sand!
Since the beach was right there, we went for an evening walk on the beach that night as well. Natalie had so much fun running everywhere now that there were no people to avoid. Also, still cheating at peek-a-boo!
We also went over to Seawolf Park to check out the ships. I needed to feed Natalie, so the boys got some play time in the attached playground before we went exploring.
Natalie was alllllll over the place inside the submarine, so I didn’t get any pictures of her as I was trying to avoid her getting hurt. But she did pose for a photo outside of the submarine. Of course, a super aggressive bird dive-bombed us several times, so the outside is apparently not much safer! That thing was out for blood…!
The battleship wasn’t much better. She pretty much got held the entire time because of all the very steep staircases. The last visit to Seawolf Park when she was still on the inside was much easier! ;)
The condo had a Galveston version of Monopoly and the boys had a blast playing it with me. You can tell from this smile who the winner was…!
The condo had two pools - one that was much more kid-friendly than the other. I definitely don’t remember the pool having a beach entry or this cool mushroom fountain when I was a kid! The boys loved being able to get in the water so easily and practicing their new swimming skills.
Natalie was in and out and in and out… you get the picture. I finally got her to chill with me on a chair for a bit by giving her some crackers to eat. And look how long her hair is getting!
Back to the beach! She’s getting braver about walking into the water! Still not very deep, but this girl is definitely a beach babe. :)
Matt convinced the boys to climb into the cart for a ride down the beach. They seemed a little worried once he started walking them into the ocean though. ;)
Such a beautiful morning at the beach! The boys played in the sand forever, but Natalie did not. She was running all over the place. I chased her around forever and then told Matt it was his turn.
“Tag, you’re it!”
I just wanted to spend all of the time at the condo sitting on the patio. When I was a kid, we rarely got a patio that you could see the ocean without leaning out to the side, but this one was a great view and I was loving it! I even gave Natalie a few meal times out there. :)
Best part of the trip might have been the morning snuggles though! We are usually in a rush to get up and do things in the morning and on vacation we can just chillax and hang out in bed for a little while. :)
One last stop for ice cream before heading home! Wouldn’t be a trip to Galveston without it! ;)
After the ridiculous amount of ice cream we had last time, we got smart and got fewer milkshakes and more glasses to split them. No one had a stomachache from trying to eat too much ice cream this time. Learnings! ;)