Our Texas Vacation

We just got off a very fun and busy week of VBS at our church. Round Up was the theme this year and we had fun wearing pigtails and cowboy boots with our VBS shirts all week. I got to work in Tatum's room this year and we had a wonderful group of 4-year olds. I loved all of them, and am missing them now that it's over. I love that our church places such a huge emphasis on kids and goes all out for kids events like VBS. We had over 1500 kids come and 285 trusted in Christ for the first time!

The week before VBS was our little Texas vacation... We went to SA for a few days, Corpus Christi for a few days and Austin for a few days. Avery & Tatum also got to have Gramps Camp with my parents in SA for a few days, which is the highlight of their summer. This was Bodie's first road trip and he did so well. Thankfully, he loves to sleep in the car so most of the time we drove, he just napped.

We spent July 4th in SA with my parents and my brother Martin. We all lined up for their neighborhood parade, and it was so fun to see all the dogs and all the people, young and old, all decked out in their red, white and blue. We all just sat around and relaxed that afternoon, then we went to see Cars 2 that night. We also got to spend some time visiting with Paw Paw.

Paw Paw was born March 17, 1922. Bodie was born March 21, 2011.
Only 89 years difference between them!

Nana with Laney & Tatum waiting for the 4th of July parade to start!

Avery was so proud to get to hold Tex's leash during the parade.
Tex truly stole the show.

My brother Martin with Avery & Tex

I don't have too many of these two sisters together, don't know why,
but that makes me love this one even more! You can kinda see why people often ask me if they are twins.

Papa & Tatum are the two speed-walkers in the family. They got way ahead of us and had to wait for the rest of us to catch up.

On our way to Corpus on Tuesday, we stopped by Lane's store to say hi and she had a funny surprise for me! She had ordered me this book about Bodie. So here we are, two Aggies, that just named our son the same name as baby Bevo! Nice! We had no idea that was part of the Longhorn legend. We will just have to work extra hard to raise him up right! :)

Our first night in Corpus, we walked out on the beach and saw a ton of jellyfish. They are such pretty and amazing little creatures.

Tatum & Bodie excited about our day at the beach!

Our hotel overlooked the USS Lexington, which you can see below. It was fun to look out and see that massive aircraft carrier just sitting there with a helicopter and lots of airplanes on the deck.

We spent most of one day in North Padre on Malaquite Beach. When we got there around 9:30 that morning, we were one of the only families there. Slowly, more people came throughout the day, but it never got crowded. The girls made sand castles (with real sand, not the gravel we have in Galveston) and played with the tiny fish in the tide. They loved going out in the waves with their noodles. Brian took them for a long walk down the beach and they caught a blue crab. It amazes me how unafraid of animals the girls are... Avery was picking it up and playing with it, when she lost her grip and it pinched her on the thumb. She screamed and threw it back in the bucket. We set Bodie up under an umbrella in his swing and he did really well. I must've dipped his paci in ice water a hundred times. He loved that. Brian and I took turns playing in the waves with the girls and sitting back at the table with Bodie. It was so enjoyable to sit back and listen to the waves, the seagulls, and the happy squeals.

Bodie's first visit to the beach and he had a great time!

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We finished reading The Little House on the Prairie while we were there.

The girls had plenty of pillow fights and wrestling competitions on the hotel beds.

We went by the USS Lexington that night after we ate dinner at Red Lobster. The next day, we got to visit my friend, Carin, who used to teach with me before she got married. Now she and her husband live in Corpus and have two little girls. It was fun getting to catch up with her and let our girls play together.

The big anchor from the Lexington

One of the torpedos

On Thursday, we drove back up to SA, dropped off Avery & Tatum for Gramps Camp, and Brian, Laney, Bodie and I kept on going up to Austin to spend a couple days with Brent, Jenn & Tara. I have to say, it was a lot of fun having just our two little ones for a couple days. We got to ride the train in Zilker park and play at a fun splash park. One night, Brent & Jenn babysat so Brian & I go out on a date, which was so nice. We mostly just enjoyed relaxing at their house and watching the three little ones interact. Tara was so cute helping us out with Bodie's paci. She loved to put it in his mouth and watch him suck on it then she would take it right back out. It's so fun to see these little cousins beginning to enjoy each other's friendships.

Tara & Laney waiting for our train ride

Riding with Aunt Jenn

Bodie playing at the splash park

Tara was such a sweet little mama to Bo

Matching cousins!

Papa & Bodie

Nana & Bodie

We had a great time driving around, visiting family & friends and spending time together. It was so nice to get out of our regular routine and just relax... no dishes to wash, no cleaning or cooking to do. Our families took great care of us, fed us, entertained us and helped us have a memorable summer vacation!