Texas, Here We Come!

Our long awaited vacation to Texas began early Friday, December 27 at 4 am. Everyone, Gavins, big Grices, little Grices, and Gram met at Ry's house before starting on the long drive...

This vacation has been in the works for nearly a year. You can probably imagine the heightened levels of excitement that were coursing through all of us as were began the journey to Texas.

Kels had made all of us breakfast burritos so that we wouldn't have to stop for breakfast, bless her heart. But, as fate would have it, we had to stop as some poor soul had to go to the bathroom not even an hour into our trip. 

Boredom has officially set in...

Yeah! Oklahoma! Wait... Our stopping point is still about four hours away. Let me tell you, during a long trip, four hours can be an eternity.

Some of the gas stations we stopped at were a little scary! 😳

We hit Dallas/Fort Worth during rush hour. It was awful!

We arrived at the hotel in Waco that night around 6:30. Dad ordered pizza for supper, and after eating our fill, we crashed. 😴

We were raring to go the next morning!

 The littles had never seen a palm tree. They were fascinated by them!

We did some sight seeing in Waco before heading out to our vacation rental.

I have the cutest nieces and nephew!

A chocolate espresso cupcake. Yes, it was heavenly!

The causeway over to Mustang Island! By this time, we were about ready to jump out of the car and start running. Our house was only about 6 minutes or so from the causeway. We could hardly wait!

The backside of the house

It was foggy the closer we got to the ocean. We were a little disappointed that we couldn't see very well, but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm too much! The fog made everything very mysterious... Like a sea monster could appear...

As soon as we got there, we tore out of the car, went racing through the house, then after unloading the cars at break neck speed, we went ripping down to the beach.

We waded in the ocean till after dark. Being in the ocean while it's dark is very exhilarating! You don't know what kind of creatures might wrap around your legs or how big the next wave is going to be. You've gotta experience it sometime!

We girls had a room with three sets of bunk beds. This was our bathroom.

The upstairs kitchen area was always bustling with activity.

We were excited for what the rest of our vacation might throw at us...

Texas Vacation- Day 3

Day 3 was a special day... Nate and Gin were coming! They arrived mid afternoon, much to everyone's delight!

The views from the third story balcony were spectacular!

You could look at the ocean while cooking, eating, or just sitting visiting. It was wonderful!

The beach theme decor was perfect.

Alaina, wearing Josh's headlamp

Admiring the view

It was so special to gather every morning for devotions, the best way to begin a new day.

Panoramic

These two just couldn't wait to get in the pool!

Mom and Dad went for groceries that morning. I think they bought the store out.

This wasn't even all of them!

Little Tweet

Of course, after Nate and Gin got settled in, we had to show them the beach!

Everyone was so happy to see the newlyweds again!

Ryan and Nate we very happy to be together again. They were very close so they really miss each other now that they both have lives of their own.

The water was usually pretty chilly, but who cares! We were determined to have fun, chilly or not!

Evenings... the best part of each day.

Ry and Nate were studying our chore list that I made.

December 29 is Gramps' birthday. Dad made a special meal and set an honorary place for Gramps. We sure miss our Gramps! He would've loved this vacation!

They were trying to show the littles how to set dominoes up, but Doughy and 'Laina were more interested in knocking them down. 😋

This little girl adores clothes! She'll wear anything, regardless of if it fits or not. That night, she was dancing in front of the door wearing an old dress of hers. She reminded us of Shirley Temple.