Pre-Summer Vacation

The last week of May, Aaron got a little surprise in his email inbox--free tickets for four to an Astros game as a thank you for some petition he'd signed two years ago. We try and go to a game at least once a season (some years we make it, others we don't), and since we're trying to beef up our emergency fund this year, this was going to be one of those don't make it years. He came home all excited about the possibility, and then we realized the game was on Carson's birthday. I mean, how fun would that be to go to an Astros game on his birthday? So we found a good deal on a hotel, and decided that we'd pull the kids out of school early on the 29th and head for Houston for a little pre-summer mini-vacation.

 Icees may or may not have been the best decision, but hey, they had fun, right?

We walked to the game from our downtown hotel and got there early so that we could watch batting practice. I used that time to take a lot of pictures an annoy everybody.

Since it was his birthday, as we were sitting there, I decided it would be fun to recreate this picture that we took on/near Carson's 4th birthday now that it was his 8th birthday.

We were sitting in the sun and it was crazy hot, but once the sun went down and I got a Diet Coke, I had a great time! It turned into a beautiful night and was so much fun.

This was also the first Astros game we'd been to where are kids were old enough to get into it and know what was going on. The Astros played a great game and both kids--Carson, especially--really got into it!

I feel like this is one of those pictures that will be a treasure years from now. The baseball, the holding hands... it's a little blurry, but I love it.

 On the walk back to the hotel, we came across a chicken and waffle. Why not take a picture, right?!

It was after 10:30 when we got back, and when the kids asked if we could go swimming, I said what the heck... let's go! It was a gorgeous night on the roof of our hotel and the kids (obviously) had fun.

The next morning, we woke up and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, then we got on the road and headed to Galveston. I'd been just dying to go to the beach for months and months now, so I insisted (though to be honest, I didn't really meet any resistance--at all) that we go.

 I mean, I know that compared to Florida, Texas beaches are not really that great, but there's just something about the sand and the waves that's so relaxing! That and the kids love playing in the water, and it totally wears them out. We all had so much fun building sandcastles, swimming, and chasing a huge school of fish that came right up near us. (It was a hoot watching Aaron and Carson jumping after them!)

If I'm being totally honest though, as much as I love Galveston because of the water and the waves, this is my real reason for going there--Shrimp & Stuff. This place is for real. I am not a fan of seafood, but this place rocks my socks. I would eat there every day. Two words--stuffed shrimp. I've been craving it since we went there last--that's four years, people. It's worth the drive from wherever you may happen to live--in my humble, not really seafood loving opinion.

After lunch, we went back to the beach for an hour or so before a big storm blew in and we (and the coast guard/beach security people) thought it best for us to head home, and the kids were asleep before we even left the island.

It was a quick trip, but totally worth the day and a half out of school (by this point all they were really doing was watching movies and doing crafts all day every day). Yay for baseball and beaches and seafood!