Well, we finally took a family vacation in early July, just after the July 4th holiday. And we took it to where you ask? That's right Galveston. For quite some time now, all Bella has been talking about is going to the beach. Every picture shedraws is of the beach. We picked her up from Sunday school the other day, and her teacher said, "Bella even drew a picture." And I said, let me guess, it is of the beach.Yep. I'm mean these are pretty great pictures for a gal who has never been. There are blue waves, yellow sand, a yellow sun and muli-color fish. So, I finally decide, ok let's take this girl to the beach. Only problem is the nearest nice, beach is at least 11 hrs away. Uh, say what? 11 hrs in the car with my kids. "That's mine." "Mommy can you get that." "I'm hungry" and the dreaded "Are we there yet?" No thanks. I said, she's three; Galveston will either meet her expectations or not. Either way it's a win for us.
Well, we got there late on a Thu afternoon, so after we checked into our room, we went to the beach. What fun! We had sand castles and chased the waves. The sand was still brown and the water still murky, but it didn't stink, there were no tar balls and there were no massive amounts of (fill in the blank) washed up on shore. So the next day we set off for Moody Gardens. That is after we did battle with the millions of mosquitoes that were waiting for us in the parking lot. Oh yeah, and after we got a jump for our battery. Yes, our battery decided to die while we were on vacation and while we were sweating to death in the safety of our car. I'mserious. The mosquitoes were vicious. It got to the point where we would put OFF on just to get to the car, and they would attach the one place bug spray missed - behind your ear, your armpit, your ankles. I digress.
We then got to tour the Rain forest pyramid and the aquarium pyramid. We took in an IMAX 3-D show. Then we did more beach fun that evening. The next day it was back to the Moody Garden splash park which was just perfect fun for the girls. They had two large pool areas, lots of WHITE sand, and a little splash pad that Becca loved!
We also watched Happy Feet in 4-D, and then headed home early. As we were debating on whether to lea
ve in the evening or stay the night, Bella asked if vacation was over. I told it was. And she started to cry. It made me so
sad I wanted to cry. She really had fun. I'm glad! I had fun, too!!
I think Forth of July will always remind me of when Becca was born. I can remember lying in bed in that foggy, sleep-deprived place that comes with having a newborn and just wishing that all the fireworks would stop going off so I could get some sleep. But this year was much different. The first night we just watched the fireworks at the mall from within our neighborhood. They were nice, but nothing special. So the following night we decided we'd try the fireworks show at Breckinridge Park. It started with a bus ride over to the park. And boy that would have been enough excitement for Bella. She was so excited to be riding on a bus. But then we had several hours to wait on the lawn. Bella quickly made friends with the two little girls that were next to us. And once the music started, then had fun marching and dancing to the music. AND then the fireworks started. The show was fantastic! The only complaint was that the show didn't get started until after 10:00 and by then the girls were wiped out. But we thought it was great.
Well, Becca turned two last month. She started the day with her sister bringing in a bouquet of balloons to her. Then, they began to fight over them, so Becca decided that to secure her balloons, she needed to put her balloons in her mouth while she pushed her shopping cart around. Then Bella poured lemonade on her hair, so we were late for school.
For Father's Day we went to church and then met my mom and dad at a local pizza place for lunch. Here is Bella being silly. Todd got to take a humungo nap and didn't change a diaper on Sunday. He also got a new golf outfit so he doesn't look like a slob should he ever get to go golfing.
