In honor of living in Texas for ten years this year, we decided to do lots of things in Texas this summer. Most of the activities were around Dallas, but we were able to take a fun trip down to Corpus Christi over the Fourth of July weekend. We knew this trip was a necessity when we realized that only Scott had been to an ocean--and that was when he was about 15 months old. Yikes! I lived in beach cities in Southern California until I was 13. We went all the time. ALL the time. We needed to fix this. This was perfect timing for us, too--right between Ben's old an new jobs.
The drive wasn't terrible. I think we can leave it at that. As soon as we unloaded at the hotel, we headed for the nearest water--along downtown Corpus Christi. Mustang and Padre Islands are barrier islands here, so there are not really big waves in the water between the islands and the city beach, but we weren't there to swim yet. We found a park and a pier and soaked in that salty air.
Happy (tired) Ben and Holly!
Happy (partial) family!
After sufficient wandering, we headed for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, which was right at the end of a pier. We sat on the second floor by the bay of windows, so our view of the ocean was amazing. The food was really good, too!
Nothing like a big old pot of seafood (and a few hamburgers and a pizza) to get you ready for the beach!
This is the "before" shot. There is no picture of the after, because it involved a big shove, a chair tipped, a sister on the floor, and some serious disciplining. Fun times! (A funny note--Caytie kept raving about how her applesauce tasted so good. I did not reveal that it was sweetened, because I always buy it "natural." She still talks about how good it was!)
The next morning, before getting a few beach supplies, we stopped at the docks, and saw some fishing boat come in. They were full of interesting crabs, shrimp, and fish, and they started selling them as soon as they docked.
They threw their extra bait and anything that was too small back into the water, and it was entertaining to watch the seagulls and pelicans eat all they could.
Enough of that...now to the beach! We drove out to Padre Island, found a beach, and set up our little camp for the day. (The hotel lady gave us great recommendations!) I felt like I was at home. I didn't realize I missed being at a real beach so much until I was there. The size of the waves and texture of the sand and temperature of the water were perfect for my beach novices.
We had several sand castles projects throughout the day.
I brought this pop up tent that was perfect for some shade. I also wore this terrible hat (it squishes my ears!) because I am scared of skin cancer. It mostly helped.
Everyone got along so nicely all day.
We brought a few boogie boards, and Caytie was a natural. She spent probably 50% of the day with one. Scott and Emma got the hang of it after practicing a lot, and Gracie took a bad spill right after her first try, and the "salt water up your nose" was a new and unpleasant experience for her, so she took a while to decide to try it again. We had a scare in the afternoon when we lost Emma. She was boogie boarding with Ben, and they drifted in the current quite a way away, and she decided to walk back. She didn't walk far enough, and decided to boogie board again, and drifted even further. I realized that I hadn't talked with my kids about currents or tides or what to do if you get lost at a beach... It was pretty scary for a while. But a mini miracle happened, and we were guided back together. (I wrote more about it in my
other blog here.)
And..that's all the pictures I have of the day! You may or may not be aware that the beach is very sandy--and the sand finds its way into crevices of cameras and makes them stop working--so that's all I dared to take. It makes it seem as if we didn't spend much time there, but we did. It was really an amazing day. We wore ourselves out. We had such a great time. We also all (except Benson) got sunburned pretty badly. I had applied and reapplied sunscreen to everyone, but I guess the spray kind doesn't work as well when you apply it at a windy beach, or when your kids can't wait for it to soak in before running back to the water. Lesson learned.
The next morning (the Fourth of July!) began with a dip in the hotel pool. I was amazed Emma and Scott could stand the hot water in the spa with their sunburns.
The other pool was cool enough, but we realized (as we generally do) that we can swim at home, so we packed up and checked out, and then headed out for more adventures.
We drove back to Padre Island, and went further south to the National Park. The beach there was pretty crowded, as it was a holiday, but we went into the science center, and a fun old park ranger told us all sorts of interesting things about the island. We learned we had missed the sea turtle hatchling release earlier that morning (though honestly we wouldn't have made it there that early anyway after our beach day). Maybe next time...
Then they announced that they were having a free art class, so we went over to check it out. The girl ranger taught us some watercolor techniques for sky, sand, and water, and encouraged everyone to paint something from nature. Our kids really enjoyed this. Here's Benson's painting. He liked doing it, but didn't want a picture of it...
Here's Gracie's sky:
Caytie's beach sunset:
Benson got bored waiting for the others to finish, and requested his picture here:
(Those hands crack me up!)
Scott's sea turtle hatchlings:
Emma's day at the beach:
And last but not least, Tessa's ocean scene:
Emma also wanted her picture here. I think it's the last one of her pretty smile before we had to get some of her teeth pulled.
We headed back to Corpus Christi and got some lunch, and then went on a ferry boat ride, after a short wait at the Selena Memorial. The kids had been anticipating this ride all weekend, but I think most were a bit disappointed. It was choppy water and hot on the boat... There was an aircraft carrier and an art museum at the other side, but we were running out of time, so we opted to just head back--but the ferry was too full. They said a trolley would take us back for free, so we waited for that. It, too, was a bit disappointing--it was just a painted city bus with wooden benches. We sat (very closely) by some colorful locals. We did get to go over a cool bridge, and wound around downtown Corpus Christi, and then we got off a bit early because we were told if we walked a couple blocks, it would be faster than taking the windy bus route. We stopped the complaining of the small ones with a stop at a shaved ice stand.
By now it was time to head home. We drove, stopped to eat, and drove some more. About 9 pm, we were just outside of Austin, and we were able to see their city firework show from the road. We saw several smaller shows for the next hour or so as we drove. Not exactly a typical way to spend the Fourth of July, but we enjoyed it. We enjoyed the whole trip. (We enjoyed finally making it home and falling into our own beds!) I think another trip like that will be in our family's future.
