Padre Island

Back in November, Matt and I decided we would take a family vacation trip. Naturally, we thought DisneyLand would be our destination and I bought a Disney travel guide. Half-way through the very helpful and thorough guide, the authors remarked that when surveyed, 4 to 6 year-old Disney-going children felt the pool at their hotel was the highlight of the trip. Boom. 

I shared this with Matt, we laughed, talked and concurred that all we really needed for our vacation trip was sun and water. My dad, a native Californian, suggested we look to the Atlantic Ocean for warm water, rather than enduring the frigid waters of the Pacific coast. So, after Googling all sorts of things and checking our Reward Miles eligibility, I picked Padre Island, Texas as our destination.

We had three relatively short flights to get us (all of us except Gunner - he stayed with the Grammies) to the Gulf Coast. The boys did a great job flying and making connections and using the "weird" airplane bathrooms. Since we had Smith in a cast with a walker, we got all sorts of kind attention and wheelchair rides and shuttles. Thank goodness!

The moving sidewalks were an enduring source of entertainment. Each time we exited a plane into a new airport, Sawyer would say, "What?! This is the same place!"

Smitty was a trooper - scooting and hopping through airports and narrow aisles and long corridors.

We rented a small but comfy condo within a 1/4 mile of Whitecap Beach. White sand, warm water, palm trees, 80 degree temperatures...yes! We went right to the beach that first night and splashed in the waves. What a thrill to witness our boys' first encounter with the ocean. Even Smitty said, "Mom, this is the best day EVER!"

We crammed in as much fun as we could - miniature golf, Chuck E Cheese, beach time, pool time, doughnut runs, frozen yogurt dates, - adventures at every turn! These boys was tired.

 

Mini golf. 

(I excused myself from the mini-golf adventure to visit TJ Maxx and sip an iced latte at Barnes and Noble.)

Any down time at the condo, my monkeys were monkeying around outside looking for "Catty". Catty was their name for any furry black caterpillar they found and befriended. Sawyer also killed a few Catties - retribution against his brothers, I suppose. 

 

Man of many faces.

Some afternoons we would split up - the older boys and I would head to the beach and Matt and Sawyer would stay back and play in the pool at the condo complex. (Matt neglected to apply sunscreen and got a terrible sunburn the first full day of the trip. From then on he avoided the sun whenever possible. Ahem. Also, that first day Sawyer, in his eagerness to enjoy the ocean, swallowed more salty seawater than is advisable and managed to get sand in every nook and cranny of himself. He opted for the pool whenever possible.)

Armed with an adult-sized cast cover, large elastic hair bands and medical tape, we water-proofed Smitty's cast as best we could. He and Mason built many sand constructions (not castles) and tested the strength of their buildings against the waves. This "work" kept them {mostly} peace-ably occupied for hours. Yes, hours. I sat close by, soaking up the sun, nibbling Twizzlers and - drum roll please - READING A BOOK. Glorious.

We journeyed north to Corpus Christi to explore the Texas State Aquarium. It was small but cool.

We packed a lunch to eat at the aquarium picnic area. It's no wonder I call them monkeys, right?

We got to hand-feed the stingrays. Such interesting creatures.

Blue wonder.

Another full day.

Proof that I was there! (photo by Mason)

We hunted for "creatures" in the low, marshy areas. We saw many hermit crabs and sea snails, long-legged sea birds, pelicans, and only a few hard-shell crab.

Classic Sawyer.
 He's giving Matt a tutorial on how to pick up a crab and then ends up falling in the water. We had to dash back to the condo to change his clothes before dinner.

Our accommodations. Thank goodness our condo was on the ground floor. Poor Smith had to hobble, or wait to be carried, up and down the entry steps.

Flying home, the very kind pilot invited the boys to explore the cockpit pre-flight. What a thrill!

We had a grand ol' time on Padre Island. We gained funny stories, happy memories, suntans and a much-needed break from the routine.  We enjoyed Easter dinner at AppleBees, of all places. Would we go back? Probably not. Been there done that and Texas is no Hawaii. But it made for a fantastic family vacation trip.