It’s been about 2 weeks since my last post because… we’ve been on vacation… yippee!!! We’ve been planning this trip for several months and we were so excited when it finally came to be! We shared a great little beach house in Galveston, TX with two of our best family friends: The Rowe’s and The Krey’s. We were friends with both of them at Baylor and have tried to see each other at least once or twice each year since graduation. We knew that a vacation with 5 small children would be no easy task but it turned out to be a ton of fun. Here are some pictures to document our trip (I’ve tried to break it down by days….but this is still a very long post…)

Thursday, July 2nd:

We left the morning of the 2nd for Allen, TX where we stayed with the Rowe’s for one night. We also made a pit stop to do some shopping in Plano- you HAVE to shop when you’re in Plano, right?

Here is Emma in the car busily working on some art. I had to include this picture because I thought it was so sweet that she chose to bring Nemo on the trip because she thought he might want to “see the ocean!”

Friday, July 3rd

“Emmy” (Emerson) and Emma ready to get in the car and hit the road to Galveston:

Emma and baby Hayden hit it off immediately- Emma was always very aware of where Hayden was and how she was doing:

Here is a picture of our beach house community (no this is not a postcard, this is a real picture that Kathy took… more to come on Kathy, the photographer!):

This was our living room: (The living room was upstairs with a bath and kitchen. 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms were downstairs. Just perfect for our 3 families.)

This was our kitchen (complete with granite countertops- I don’t even have granite countertops at home!):

We all decided that we NEED this awesome kitchen table. It’s very long- long enough to accommodate 8 people with a long bench on one side and chairs on the other:

Here are the dads chillin’ on the back porch while grilling:

Here are all of the kids on the couch watching a very educational (I’m sure) show on T.V.:

(here are the kids in Feb. 2007! The boys are flip-flopped here from the picture above. My how time flies!)

Robin and Conner being goofy (they have been friends since the 4th grade in Tahoka, TX.):

Each night, one family fixed dinner for the rest of us. This night was the Krey’s turn and they fixed VERY yummy, VERY fresh Grilled Salmon Sandwiches with grilled corn and salad. Mmmmm.

Speaking of food… here is a picture of our pantry. We each brought snacks and groceries and had a bit too much food- we could have lived there for months. I won’t even post the picture of the refrigerator:

Saturday, July 4th: THE 4TH OF JULY!!!

This was our first full day in Galveston and we decided to head to the beach! To our surprise, several of the kids were scared of the ocean! The boys thought that the waves were going to eat their mommy and daddy and wouldn’t let them go near the water! Emma was also scared of the waves and preferred to play in the sand and Hayden’s baby pool. :)

Emma LOVED playing in the sand:

Putting mud on mommy’s feet:

Her first trip into the ocean- notice she’s holding her feet up so they don’t touch the water!:

Emma and daddy in the ocean- she’s still kind of scared but safe in daddy’s arms:

Mommy and Emma in the ocean:

Emma, Emmy, and Hayden in the baby pool:

The Rowe family: Scott, Emmy, Jessica, and Hayden

The Krey family: Conner, Elliott, Kathy, and Oliver:

The Curry family: Jill, Emma, and Robin

After the beach, we were all very filthy from the sand and salt water. The kids all took a bath together (we won’t post those pictures here- we’ll save those for wedding slideshows in about 20 years.)

After naps we all got ready for the 4th of July!

Here are Emmy and Emma hanging out before dinner:

This picture really cracks me up: Emmy put her arm around Emma… and Emma was just kind of ok with it:

This was the Rowe’s yummy meal: Bacon-wrapped chicken and veggie kabobs- they were terrific! Don’t they look so good?:

Emma ready for the celebration:

Emmy, Elliott, Conner, and Emma decked out in their 4th of July gear: (Oliver kept calling his 4th of July crown his “cowboy hat!”)

Sparkler time!

We got to sit on our balcony and watch fireworks being set off on the beach:

Here we are watching the fireworks:

Sunday, July 5th:

During our 2nd full day, we decided to check out the resort pool where we were staying… and we’re so glad we did. It was awesome!

Here is Emma all set for the pool:

Bathing beauty:

Hayden and mommy by the pool:

We had the baby pool all to ourselves… and it’s overlooking the ocean!

“This is fun mom and dad!”:

Lunch break:

This was our night to cook… don’t we look like chef’s? We made my mom’s famous lasagna. It turned out pretty yummy, no pic to post though:

Here we are late that night playing a game we played almost every night: “Settlers of Catan.” Very fun, interactive game. Notice ALL of the kids are in bed, except for one. :):

Monday, July 6th:

We decided to head back to the pool on Monday- it was so relaxing! Unfortunately, Oliver wasn’t feeling great so he and his mommy stayed at home. We were very sad that they didn’t make it.

Here are Emma and Elliott on the stairs ready to go. Emma loved putting this stick sunscreen all over her face:

I had her pose for a couple of pictures before getting wet:

Emma and Emmy playing by the edge of the pool:

Here are some pictures I took with my underwater disposable camera (i.e.., not great quality!) Emma loved being thrown in the air and playing with mommy and daddy in the pool!:

After showers and naps (well, no nap for Emma) we got dressed and went OUT to eat for our last night in Galveston. Here are Emma and Oliver ready to go- so glad Oliver was feeling better!:

This is Emma in the car on the way to dinner… remember, she refused to take a nap!

After dinner we quickly headed to the beach for some sunset family pictures. Our good friend Kathy has always taken pictures as a hobby but we keep convincing her to go pro. If she did, it would be awesome for all of you Waco friends. :)

The following pictures were not taken by Kathy, they are just shots I snapped during the photo shot. I’ll save Kathy’s pictures for a post of it’s own coming next.

It was such a beautiful night and the kids weren’t scared of the ocean this time!

The sun is going down, good thing we’re almost done!

Emma and daddy by the ocean and the moon:

We had such a wonderful time on our Vacation… thank you Rowe’s and Krey’s for making it so special. We always laugh so much when we get together and make so many unforgettable memories. Love ya, mean it!