Pulling Up!

Again in true diva fashion, Hannah Joy does not like to be on her knees. She does not like the feel of the carpet on her poor little diva knees, and heaven forbid she accidentally get on the tile (talk about a true diva meltdown!).  Hannah Joy has even changed up her crawl as to limit the time her diva knees contact the ground.  I tried to capture a little bit of her "new crawl" (hard to say new since she has only been crawling for a few weeks now).

Since Hannah Joy dislikes having her knees on the carpet, today she decided to start pulling up.

Our 1st Family Vacation Last Day

On the last morning of our wonderful family vacation adventure the Diva decided 4 am was an appropriate time to be awake and playing.  I finally got the little nut back to sleep around 5:30.  I decided to again have my coffee and breakfast out on the balcony to watch the sun rise and get light enough so I could head out for a run on the sea wall.  Another really cool thing about this condo is it is about 1/4 of a mile off of the sea wall.  So just a little walk on the beach and your on the sea wall and ready for a run.  I have been wanting to go for a run all week on the sea wall but I have been sidelined with in injury.  I felt pretty good this morning so I decided to go for it.  So as soon as the sun came up and it got light enough I was off.

This is the start of my run.  You can see the Sea Wall on the very far left side of the picture.

I loved every minute of my run that morning.  As much as I have enjoyed spending so much togetherness with my kiddos it was so nice to get out by myself for a run.  All to soon my run came to an end and I had to get back to the condo to get everything packed up so we could check out.  Thomas was feeling better this morning but still not great.  But we had promised Eli a "boat" trip today.  By boat trip I mean a Duck Tour.  So I had to get everything packed up and loaded up so we could check out at 9 and get to the Duck tour before they headed out at 9:30.

The amphibious vehicle that we rode on (we are not in this picture)

The duck tour takes you all over Galveston Island, on land and in the water.  It's a very informative tour about the history of the island of other interesting facts.  If you are looking for a fun Galveston tour I highly recommend this tour.  

Eli enjoying the water portion of the tour.

     

                     

Hannah Joy also enjoyed the tour.  She enjoyed it so much she fell asleep. After the tour we headed to one of mine and Thomas' favorite restaurants on the island, Fishtails.  Not sure why we like this one so much but usually we like to sit out side on the patio but we decided that we were to hot after the Duck Tour so we ate inside this time.  

Hannah Joy thought she would learn to drive while we waited for Fishtales to open.

After lunch we head back to Spring.  Hannah Joy, Eli and I all fell asleep on the drive back.  We had a wonderful time on our first family vacation.  I am already looking forward to our next vacation!

Our 1st Family Vacation Day 3

Day 3 of our adventure turned into a real adventure because Thomas woke up at 4:30 with a stomach bug!  Because of said bug I vacated the bedroom pretty early that morning.  But at least I got to watch a beautiful sun rise!  I sat out on the balcony enjoying the view with a multiple cups of coffee (coffee much better this morning)

                     

I think we wore the kids out yesterday, Eli didn't get up until almost 8 a

nd Hannah Joy did'y wake until well after 8.  After a breakfast of waffles and strawberries we headed yet again to Krogers to pick up some sicky supplies for Thomas. 

Luckily we had arranged for my parents to come play with us at the beach.  But they would not be there until lunch time.  So while we decided what we were going to do that  morning the kiddos got some condo play time in.

  

Hannah Joy likes her beef!

We decided to head out to the strand for some souvenir shopping.

Gotta love my helper!  He did a great job pushing his sister around the strand. (gotta love his hair!)

Eli decided he wanted to ride some of the local wildlife.  (I really need to do something about that hair, what kind of mother lets their children go out looking like that?)

Eli picked out a bow and arrow set but also like looking at the shell necklaces.  (yes I do own a hair brush and I occasionally use it on E's hair)

Finally it was lunch time and Nanny, PopPop and Grandmama got to the condo.  After a quick lunch we headed down to the beach.

Pop Pop took Eli out in the water while I fed the baby.

Hannah Joy got some much needed Nanny time.  I am so glad the Diva likes her hat (even if it is that she just likes to chew on it, she keeps it on)

The beach (and no morning nap) seemed to much for the Diva so she decided to take a nap on nanny while listening to the waves.  (I can't think of a better place to nap then on the beach!)

While Hannah Joy napped E and I got busy building a sand castle.  Well I built it while Eli supervised.  Should have taken a picture of the finished product, it turned out pretty cool is I do say so myself.

Once the Diva woke from her nap she got some surf time in as well.  Apparently Divas aren't to good to eat sand.

My muddy beach baby beauty!

After spending several hours down at the beach we headed back up to the condo to check on the sicky have a snack.

While shopping on the strand that morning we picked up a caramel, mm covered apple.  After our snack and some play time in the condo we head out with the grandparents for an early dinner at the Golden Coral.  Hannah Joy got to enjoy an ice cream cone with her Pop Pop (wish I had taken a picture of that).  After dinner the grandparents had to head back to Waller.  So glad my parents could come down and spend some time playing on the beach with us, and more so since I was single parenting it that day.  If they could come down I don't think I would have attempted the beach.

After some play time in the condo with the kiddos, it was time for the Diva to go to bed.  Once she was sleeping, E and I headed down for one last walk on the beach (check out in the morning).  I also had to get some pictures of my little surfer dude.

Just going to say his hair is surfer hair

He is the Godzilla of sand castles.  

When E is around no sand castle is safe!

Just in case you forgot surfer dudes name.

All that fun in the sun made for some really tired kids, Eli was was down for the count pretty early.  Which meant I got to spend a lot of time out on the balcony enjoying the sunset and the sound of the waves crashing.

Since Thomas was sick in the master bedroom I decided to bunk with Eli on the bunk beds.  Eli on the top bunk mommy on the bottom.  Even though Thomas was sick on our vacation, I still had the best time with my kiddos.  Stinks that daddy had to get sick =-(  but we made the best of it!

Our 1st Family Vacation Day 2

Day 2 of our adventurer started out awesome!  Our biggest worry about our vacation was how well the Diva was going to sleep, well she did awesome.  I think she slept better in the condo then she did at home (might have something to do with not getting an afternoon nap, though).  I got to start my morning with coffee on the balcony to an amazing view.  Then the kids got up and we had a fun breakfast of mini pancakes and turkey sausage.  After breakfast we all headed down to the beach for a walk and to look for sea shells.  Eli wasn't to interested in looking for sea shells, he was more interested in destroying sand castles that were left from the day before.

There was no breeze that morning so the mosquitoes were fierce!  I had no clue they would be down on the beach too.  So those lovely little bugs cut our beach walk short and we headed to Krogers for some bug spray!  We had to go to Krogers because they have a Starbucks and our coffee at the coffee left much to be desired!  We got our coffee, bug spray and ice cream for latter.

I had arranged for Thomas' sister, husband and kids to come join us at the beach today.  Eli was so excited to have his cousin Caleb come play with him at the beach.  Once the Lutz family made it to the condo everyone headed down to the beach to play (with a fresh coat of bug spray!).  Hannah Joy and I stayed up at the condo for a nice nap.

Got to love a condo where I can watch everyone play!

After playing on the beach for a while (Eli did not care much for the sea weed the tide was bringing in) everyone headed up to the condo for lunch and a little play out of the sun.

Loved watching these 4 play together!

Eli and Caleb had a blast playing in the bunk beds and the back bedroom.  After lunch and cleaning up we headed down to the Condo's pool (to escape the sea weed).  It was a really nice pool.

Hannah Joy loved the pool.  Isn't that hat just the cutest thing!

The babies had a great time "swimming" together.

All that swimming wore Aaron out and he had to take a nap, what a better way to nap then by the pool snuggled up with your mommy!  Hannah Joy also attempted to take a nap pool side but by the time she decided to fall asleep the pool started getting busy and she kept getting woken up.

The big boys had a blast swiming all over the pool in their puddle jumpers.  I think the puddle jumpers are one of the best things, it gives Eli so much freedom and I don't have to try to hold 2 kids in the pool.

To cute cousins!

After many hours in the pool we were pruney and hungry!  We headed up to the condo to rest and ice cream Sundays!

I think they are watching Toy Story while enjoying some yummy ice cream.

Hannah Joy also got into the action with some whipped cream.

(mommy, I want some more, please!)

Don't worry Aaron also got some ice cream too from his mommy's bowl.  After ice cream the big boys went to go play in the back room and left us adults (and babies) watching Toy Story, which we quickly changed to Tangled.  All to soon it was time for the cousins to leave, Uncle Jonathan had to get back to work, he had a huge project due but he took the day off to come play with us (thank you Uncle Jonathan for coming!).  Plus the kiddos were worn out from all the swimming.

The boys passed out while watching a movie, while Hannah Joy and I went out for a walk on the beach.  Once the boys woke up it was dinner time.  The plan was for us to make hamburgers for dinner but after all the fun in the water I was pretty work out and we decided to go out for pizza.  We hit up a Galveston local pizza joint, Papa Pizza.

Of course the Diva had to sit in the center of the table.

Eli was still pretty worn out and extra cuddly.

Pizza with a view, I can't think of a better way for us to wind down a wonderful day at the beach.  That evening we were all exhausted and everyone went to bed early.

Our 1st Family Vacation Day 1

Today our family embarked on a great adventure, our 1st vacation with kids!  But 1st I thought we need to start with healthy yummy breakfast.  I made nutella french toast, caramelized bananas and bacon.

We decided not to tell Eli that we were going to the beach until this morning and I am so glad we waited.  Next time I think we wont tell him were we are going until we are there in the car.  As soon as we told him he started asking when we were leaving. 

Since Eli kept asking when we were leaving we left a little earlier then planed for Galveston.  When we got there we parked at the Rainforest Cafe (where we planed to go for lunch) and crossed the street to the seawall so Eli cold get a small taste of the beach.  Since we could not check into our condo until after 3 we decided to hit up the railroad museum.

Pushing the buttons was Eli's favorite part

A couple of the trains Eli got to check out.

Hannah Joy came on vacation too.  She also wanted to get up and explore the trains.

Eli had a blast checking out all the trains in the museum and ran all over the trains.

After the museum we headed over to King's Candy to try and kill some time.  Eli never turns down an opportunity for candy!  We let Eli pick out what ever candy he wanted and he picked out candy corn.  I think he picked that out because he knew his mom wouldn't touch it (candy corn, yuck!)

Even after the museum and candy we still were to early to check into the condo!  Poor Eli all he wanted to do was play at the beach!  Finally after some patient waiting we got all settled into the condo and E got to hit the beach!  Hannah Joy and I only got to go down for a few minutes since it was so close to the diva's bed time and she was tired!  But while we were down there we saw several dolphins.

The boys playing in the surf, took the picture from our balcony while I hung out in the condo with the girl.

After playing in the surf for a while Eli decided to wind down and watch a movie before bed time.

Thomas got to watch a small wedding ceremony from our balcony.

Thomas chilling.

Day one of the Mullinnix family vacation to Galveston was a success!