On Fridays I like to post recent snapshots that make me happy. Last week we were invited to spend a few days at my parent's timeshare in Galveston Island with my mom. My dad had to go home early to work.
We all love the beach and really enjoy going when it isn't so hot. One of the perks of homeschooling is you can take your Spring Break before the school kids get out. I love kids, but I don't like to share my vacation time with a zillion of them. I am like a grumpy old man: " Get off my grass and out of my vacation!"
The first day was gloomy, so we decided to go visit the Bishop's Palace. We had just finished reading "Isaac's Storm" which was about the disastrous hurricane that hit Galveston Island in 1900 and killed thousands of people. Seeing one of the buildings that survived the hurricane was very exciting.
I felt like I was visiting Downton Abby. I know that show was a period soap-opera, but I will miss it.
Everything from the stained glass windows to the woodwork was stunning. I want a house (palace) like this...
After we finished our historic tour we visited the Strand and had a shrimp lunch. After lunch we walked around and saw many of the flooding marks on the buildings from Hurricane Ike (2008).
When Ike hit Imp was just a baby and we lived on the farm. I remember Paul moving giant round hay bales against our windows to protect us from the winds.
Ike caused massive flooding in our area, and many people lost power for several weeks. We only went a few days without any electricity or running water, but imagine how fun it is having a baby in diapers without those modern conveniences... I am such a wimp and probably would never have made it as a pioneer woman.
By late afternoon the weather had cleared up and we hit the beach. It was pretty chilly by Texan beach standards. In other words, is was under 85 degrees.
My kids don't usually feel the cold and they had their bathing suits on, ready to hit the water.
They headed out toward the cold surf and then I heard them yell for me to come and look at something.
"What is this?" they asked, pointing at a lovely blue bubble creature on the sand.
My kids have never seen a Portuguese man o' war. And lucky them, they were scattered all over the beach. A quick google told us they travel in huge packs (or whatever they call groups of these creatures), so if you see a few they are actually all over.
Will someone please tell this man o' war that he is mistakenly in Texas and not in Portugal?
Duke, ever hopeful, said "Maybe these washed up earlier and they aren't in the water anymore."
Nope. The cute little sea creatures were having a party in the surf.
So my poor boys had to resort to other beach-time pleasures like Kite Flying.
And of course Mom had to take a "jumping on the beach" photo because it is a tradition.
Both the boys have their own kites but Duke is a bit anal-retentive about his kite and didn't want it destroyed by his crazy brother trying to crash the kites mid-air. So he decided to help Imp fly his kite.
Everything was going great until Duke got bored and left Imp alone.
See Duke leave. See Imp's kite crash.
I glanced over to check on Imp and I saw him dragging his kite a considerable distance along the beach, hoping it would magically jump back up and fly.
A few minutes later he gave up and brought his kite to my mom. The four kite-tails where completely tangled up with each other AND the string. It was a complete mess and even Nanny couldn't fix it.
Duke said we would work on it later. He is a hoarder and doesn't like to toss anything.
They (Duke) finally got tired of kite-flying so they played some kick ball.
Then they dug for China.
Glad to see some things never change. Boys and dirt are a constant in my life.
Meanwhile my mom and I were reading our Kindles, freezing to death.
My two cups of afternoon coffee hit me and we had to head back to the condo.
The kite was still a mess.
The boys wanted to swim in the man o' war-free pool before going in and I said sure, figuring they would never get in since it was in the 50's outside and the pool was not heated.
But like I said earlier, my kids don't let cold water stop them from having fun. They jumped in (NO DIVING!), swam around for about ten minutes, and then decided they were a tiny bit cold. Thank goodness because I still hadn't disposed of my two cups of late afternoon coffee.
The next morning was gorgeous.
I know this because I was sleeping with Imp and he woke me up around 6:00 to see the sunrise.
I always tell the kids the early bird gets the worm, and no one wants a worm. But Imp is an early bird and I have to deal with it.
Since we were up we went for a walk on the beach. It was very peaceful since we were the only idiots up so early.
I really needed some coffee. See my strained smile?
But I am happy we did it. We even saw a few shrimp boats. Which of course meant I had to sing (off key) one of my favorite song "Shrimp Boats".
My kids wanted me to "hurry, hurry" and finish singing.
After our morning walk, breakfast, and lots of coffee we went to the end of the island and watched the tankers and other ships headed toward the Houston Port.
Here is my "Little Merman" photo of Imp. My mom and I went to Copenhagen years ago and saw the original "Little Mermaid". Imp is much cuter.
When I took this photo I didn't notice that a tanker was behind him. Thank goodness for the clone tool!
Later that afternoon we went to the beach and it was still a bit chilly. Mom and I were wearing our jackets and freezing to death.
To a native Texan, 63 degrees on the beach feels like 32 degrees. I am sad Weather Bug does not reflect this on their app.
But my boys didn't care. We didn't see any scary sea creatures and they went and played in the surf.
Way out in the surf. Do sharks attack when it is freezing (63 degrees)?
Mom and I got sick of being cold so we called them in. The kids weren't cold at all and would have stayed out there until dark. So I blamed my mom's weak bladder.
Yes, I am really that bad of a daughter.
When we got home after our trip I saw Duke sticking Imp's tangled kite in the garage. I told him that he had to untangle it right away or toss it in the trash.
One hour later that kite was fixed. That boy did not get his patience from me...
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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I've never seen a Portuguese man o' war either. Thanks for introducing me to one.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, 63 and you were freezing. You'd never survive where I live. In fact, never mind outside, the temperature in our house throughout the day is generally set at 64 until the late afternoon when we'll up it to 67. You'd be an icecube!
Oh and thanks for sharing about the kites. It brought back memories. I still have my kite from when I was child--it came from Hawaii and has a 50ft long tail!
As always, thanks for sharing!
Lisa D.
That is amazing you still have your childhood kite. I went through quite a few of them... ;-)
DeleteAnd I love 63 degrees when I am walking outside, but that is too darn cold for me to get on a bathing suit and go swimming! If I had been walking around I would have been fine, but the sea breeze felt much colder than 63 and the late afternoon sun was just too weak. But I love cool days at the beach much more than hot days as I can avoid getting into a bathing suit.