Galveston Vacation - July 2011

I said I was going to post more about our recent vacation, so I guess it's about time. Let me start by reminding you that this vacation was planned last minute because we tried to be spontaneous. After we finally booked it all, things started happening that led me to start believing we weren't supposed to go at all.

We planned to leave Sunday after church, but the Friday before, Ryan started running a fever. 103-degree fever. Bud took him to the doctor on Saturday while JD and I ran errands to get ready for our trip. The doctor said he must have a virus because he didn't have any kind of infection, which meant it just had to run its course. Great.

Then, we found out rain was expected for 3 days out of the 5 we were going to be there. Of course, it was too late to cancel, so we headed to Galveston anyway, praying that we'd see enough sun to still enjoy it.

On our way there, we stopped in Katy to get gas and discovered we had a flat tire. Perfect! We saw a Discount Tire just down the street, so Bud aired up, put in some Fix-it-Flat and we headed over. It's 5pm on Sunday and they're closed (as they should be). So, Bud found a shade tree, parked under it, and changed a tire. He decided it was a good time to give me a lesson in tire-changing since I don't know how. Then I watched him struggle to get the lug nuts loose. He's a very strong guy - if it's tough for him, how would I be able to do that? Mental note to self: flat tire = call USAA.

Back in the car, spare in tact, need to air it up. We pull up to an air machine....OUT OF ORDER. Of course it is. Why not? So we head to another gas station to find an air machine. Found one, aired up, and on our way again.

From there on out, we were fine. Other than Ryan's fever. He ran 103.5 fever for 7 days straight, including the first 4 days of our vacation!!! I even called the doctor on Day 3 to see if we should be concerned. Nope. He said he could run a fever for a week or more. He had no other symptoms, and as long as we gave him Motrin, he was fine. But that was a chore too. He absolutely HATES taking medicine.

Other than those initial obstacles, we had an awesome time in Galveston. We spent a lot of time at the pool....we rented one of those tandem bicycles and rode up and down the Seawall for about an hour....

...we went to the beach for a little while....spent a day at the NASA Space Center (that place is amazing - and I will have to post something completely separate for that day)....went to Schlitterbahn....and went to Moody Gardens to see the Dino Alive dinosaur exhibit and movie.

In the end, the spare tire held up, Ryan's fever finally went away our last day, and it only rained one day (the day we went to NASA). While we had a great time this year, hopefully next year, we can do something bigger, like a cruise, or Disney, and I'm dying to take them on their first plane trip. Now that the kids are getting older, it's easier to travel with them. No more diapers, bottles, play pens, strollers, etc. So Summer 2012....we can't wait til you're here!

I'm in the Band

So much has changed in our lives since I stopped posting back in early 2010. One of those things is our love for God. Of course, we've always been a Christian family, but God was not a part of our everyday lives. We'd call on Him when we needed him, but didn't realize we needed him everyday. We didn't realize how important it was for God to be involved in everything we do, every single day....until we started attending First Baptist of Castroville.

We tried out FBC in April 2010 and went occasionally, but wouldn't get involved. We just went to the church service and went home. It wasn't until that August, right before we joined as a family, that we truly fell in love. (I could write a short novel on the events that have taken place in our lives since our joining, but I'll keep this post short.)

Long story short....Bud and I both go to a weekly Mens & Women's Bible Study, the boys are involved in AWANA (All Workers Are Not Ashamed), we go to Sunday School, and most recently, Bud plays the drums in the Church Worship Band. And he absolutely loves it.

They started the Worship Band in May 2011 when we went from one service to two. The first service has traditional hymns and the second service has more contemporary music. Here's a picture of Bud with his group at their first church performance. Oh, and PS....they are awesome!!!

The other guys in the band (and pictured here) are John, Tyler and Ryan. Rene Maciel leads the worship group, and the 3 singers are Cheryl, Jackie and Carmen. I know it's not a great picture but it's all I have for now.

We'll Call Her "Lacey"

I don't know who's more excited...the boys or Bud. Bud found out he was getting a new puppy for the boys about 2 weeks ago and he's been dying to tell them. He finally told them about 2 days ago that they had a surprise coming, and today was the day.

We have a morning routine. The boys are up at 6:15, then they come in and watch something on TV (right now, it's "Indiana Jones"), and they have to finish all their responsibilities (eat, brush teeth, put on shoes, put away tray, grab whatever toys they want, turn off the lights) before 7am, and if they do, they can go outside and see the puppies. Well, this morning, I had it planned that we'd go outside together...me with my movie camera so I could capture the moment. And when they walked up to their cages in the backyard, they'd see their new puppy. Instead, when we opened the back door, there she was on the deck, wandering around. It's like she knew that her new owners were waiting inside.

JD couldn't believe it when I told him that the new puppy was for him and Ryan, and that Daddy would NOT be using her to hunt. She could come out of her cage and run and play with them. He said he had no idea the surprise was a puppy - he thought it was going to be a new toy. He was thrilled and immediately fell in love with her, and she did with him as well, licking his hands and letting him scratch her back. Ryan laid on her a couple of times, but he was more interested in climbing the railing of the deck.

They decided to call her Lacey, since she's a Blue Lacey. Much better than JD's first suggestion - "New Dog I Love." Seriously? Quite a name for a puppy!

To Be or Not To Be......Spontaneous

What's on my mind most right now is our recent summer vacation to Galveston. We hadn't planned on Galveston. Actually, we hadn't planned anything AT ALL. We were inspired by Kelli and Jason, the King and Queen of spontaneity, to NOT plan our trip in advance this year. They always wait 'til the last minute (literally, decide the night before that they're going to take a 10-day road trip throughout the Midwest) and get really great deals. Case in point -- their last trip to S. Padre. They paid 1/2 of what the "planner-type" guests paid in the same condo. Kelli booked a couple days before and the others booked months ahead.

I was inspired!

So....here's Miss "Plan Ahead, Make A Checklist for Everyting" Katie, trying to be spontaneous. The week before our scheduled time off work, we still didn't have anything planned so we started looking, thinking that we'd definitely get some great steals. We started with Port Aransas but there were no decent-priced condos available, so we tried South Padre. Again, nothing bargain-priced like Kelli got. We called a couple of cruise companies....booked! I tried to convince Bud to go to Florida, but airfare 5 days out is insanely expensive. So I tried to convince Bud that we could drive to Destin, FL --- it's only like 13 hours. Kelli and Jason do it all the time. Bud's response? "NO!!! Driving 13 hours does not sound like vacation to me!"

So there I was...about to give up, preparing my mind for the possibility of settling on a Staycation and going to Sea World. We do have passes after all, and have only gone once this "over-100-degree-everyday" Summer. Then Bud suggested Galveston. My first thought? Yuck! The beaches are gross and what is there to do in Galveston? But we found a really nice hotel - the San Luis Resort & Spa - and I was sold, so off to Galveston we went.

I know you're wondering if we got a great deal on the hotel since we booked it 4 days in advance. The answer is a resounding NO! Paid full price, of course.

In the end, we had a fantastic time in Galveston. We spent a lot of time at the beautiful pool (it had a water slide that we couldn't keep the boys off of), went to the NASA Space Center, Schlitterbahn and the Dino Alive exhibit at Moody Gardens. I will be posting pictures and stories over the next few days.

So in the end, I learned two very important things:
1 - Galveston is a great place to vacation with lots to do, and
2 - You cannot PLAN for spontaneity.
Lesson Learned! Next time, I'm planning ahead.

Ryan makes his own breakfast

Ryan woke up this morning and after Bud dressed him, he went straight to the pantry and "made" his own breakfast. I'm not sure what made him want graham crackers, but that's what he grabbed. And he didn't want just one....he wanted the whole package.

I'm baaaaaaack!

Gosh, I didn't realize it's been almost 18 months since my last entry. Life just got really busy and other things took priority, but lately, my blog has been back on my mind. So much has happened since my last entry in February 2010, and I'm a little sad that I haven't blogged any of it. It's such a great way to record what's happening in our family, and so much fun to go back and read through old entries. So.....I'm returning. Hopefully I can find some time to make 3 or 4 new entries per week. Lord knows there's enough going on our lives. We'll see how it goes.

For now, here's an up-to-date photo of mi familia from our recent vacation in Galveston! More to come on that later...