Galveston Trip

You know you live in Texas when you can go to the beach in late September! Our family took a day trip last month to Galveston, TX, a gulf port city just 90 minutes south of us. The only time Jaden and Cody had ever been was last summer, and both boys hated walking on the sand in their bare feet! :) This year, thankfully, was a much different story. Jaden and Cody happily spent several hours playing in the sand and water. The weather was just gorgeous (not too hot or humid, but definitely not cold yet either), and the beach was clear of seaweed (the first time I had ever personally seen a clean Galveston beach). Cody and Jaden spent the morning playing with sand toys...

zooming around with their dump trucks,

building sand castles (sort of... we at least built a foundation!),

feeding seagulls (the boys laughed and laughed when the birds came close),

jumping over waves with Daddy,

crawling and running through the waves,

 and snacking by the shore.

The boys' very favorite activity was sitting in the water and letting the waves crash upon them. With each set of waves, the boys would crawl forward to even deeper water. What a different story from their tentative beach experience last year. They both loved every bit of it!

 After our picnic lunch at the beach, we changed clothes and drove to the Galveston Island ferry just down the road. This free car ferry is an approximate 15 minute ride to the Bolivar Peninsula. We didn't take our vehicle, as we were only going on the ferry for the joy of the ride. Jaden and Cody enjoyed watching the cars load and unload. The ferry can hold up to 70 vehicles and 500 passengers. Amazing!

If you watch the waters closely along the journey, you can see leaping dolphins.

Following our ferry ride, we enjoyed some ice cream at a local candy shop. Unfortunately, we missed the taffy pull, but the ice cream was still well worth our stop-in!

Along one of Galveston's main streets, the city was holding a boat show. Cody and Jaden loved getting a close-up view. Their favorite was this yellow one.

For dinner, we experienced the Rainforest Cafe. If only waiting for our food could be this easy at every restaurant! Cody and Jaden were captivated by the moving animals, the nearby aquarium, and the occasional thunderstorm.

We even tried out the animal bar stools. Can you believe that nobody served these cute little boys? :)

And of course, we had to pose with the rainforest animals out front.

What a beautiful day in Galveston! The boys were well entertained and in wonderful moods overall, even with missing their afternoon naptime. It was a perfect family getaway!