Our summer vacation this year was in South Padre Island. My brother, Walter, joined us for a few days. It was so fun to vacation with him and spend some time with him.
FRIDAY, JULY 27
Here's our first picture on the beach.
After the first picture, it didn't take them long to get in the water.
Every Fri. night during the summer, the city of South Padre sets off fireworks in the bay. We heard of several good places to go and decided on Amberjacks. It was pretty good food at a decent price, too. As we were waiting for the fireworks, we got this beautiful picture of the sunset.
SATURDAY, JULY 28
The first thing we did the next morning was go to the beach, of course! Ryan and Brock started hunting for seashells and clams.
Walter and Steve relaxed in the sun.
Walter and the boys digging for clams.
Later in the afternoon, we took sand castle lessons. They were awesome!! I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but we were taught by a professional sand castle builder named Andy Hancock. He was fun and quite a character. It was amazing watching him work. He showed us how to make "pancakes" using really wet sand to build it up. It was my favorite thing that we did while in Padre and we highly recommend them...and Andy! Check out Andy's website HERE.
He used Brock's hand to make the bridge by layering sand on top of it.
Here's Brock looking through the tunnel of the bridge that his hand just helped make.
And Ryan, too!
Andy has added a tower to the castle now.
Here we are with the beginning of the castle before Andy started cutting it.
And is now cutting out the roof of the tower.
He uses a pencil to cut out windows and doors...
...and this cool little trowel thing to cut out the stairs. In this picture, you can also see that he's made bricks on the top part of the tower and big stones on the side...all done using a pencil.
He showed us how to use a straw to blow off excess sand.
Then it was our turn to make a castle of our own (castle #2)! Walter is helping Ryan and Brock make the "pancakes" to build up a tower.
Walter using his hand so Brock can make a bridge and tunnel.
Andy helping the boys with their "pancakes."
Brock and Ryan making "pancakes."
Andy had this amazing tool (we call it a "baller") that makes these perfectly round balls. It was amazing watching how quickly he made this. Uncle Walter bought a set of them for the boys. Thank you!! We had a great time using them!
Watch Andy use the baller.
Andy helping the boys with their castle (#2).
Walter using the baller on another castle (#3).
Carmen adding more detail to the original sand castle that Andy started the lesson with.
Ryan and Brock with their finished castle.
The front of the boy's castle.
The back of their castle.
The back of the original castle. We added some stones and used the baller (just because it was so fun to use!!)
The finished front of the original castle.
Carmen with the finished product.
Steve and Brock working on castle #3. The ball Walter made is on the back. This is showing the front. We also call this one the "Roman Colosseum."
Brock, Steve and Walter working on #3/Roman Colosseum.
The front of the finished Roman Colosseum.
The back of the Roman Colosseum.
Ryan, Andy and Brock.
Our family!
SUNDAY, JULY 29
Today, we just hung out on the beach! I used the "baller" to make this turtle.
Sitting on the beach reminded me of one of my favorite songs by the Zac Brown Band: "Toes in the water, toes in the sand. Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today. Life is good today."
And another Zac Brown song: "Knee deep in the water somewhere, got the blue sky breeze blowing wind through my hair. Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair. Sunrise there's a fire in the sky, never been so happy, never been so high and I think I might've found me my own kind of paradise."
And this one reminds me of Toby Keith's: "Red Solo cup! I fill you up! Let's have a party! Let's have a party! Red Solo cup...you're not just a cup...you're..my..friend!"
Ryan chasing sea gulls.
MONDAY, JULY 30
We took the boys on their first snorkeling trip, in the bay. Steve and his boys on the boat.
Miracle of miracles...I actually got a good picture of me and the boys!!
Got a couple good pictures of the boys as we waited for the boat to leave the dock.
Steve snorkeling.
The boys actually did pretty good. It took a while for them to get the hang of just floating on top of the water, but once they got it, they did really well and enjoyed seeing some fish and seashells. It was pretty shallow water, so it was a good first time for the boys. Steve and Ryan even saw an amberjack that was as big as Ryan! Here are Steve, Ryan and Brock snorkeling.
Our snorkeling family!
That evening, we went crabbing...and didn't see once single crab. :-( We did have fun looking, though!
TUESDAY, JULY 31
Today was another beach day...and our first day to attempt to build a sand castle with our new knowledge! Andy was nice enough to let us borrow one of his 10-gallon buckets, so that's what we started with.
We then added another bucket to the other side and a bridge and tunnel to connect them.
Carmen and Ryan working on the castle.
We added a tower on one side and stairs (you can barely see them) going down the other.
We obviously had to use the baller and we made some secret passages at the bottom and a door into the tower.
Brock and Ryan working on the castle.
Ryan using his new skill of using a straw to blow off excess sand.
Steve added the stones between the tower and stairs and the brick on the lower portion.
We took a break from the beach and went to a sea turtle rescue hospital. It was a really neat place. They have a lot of sea turtle that have lost fins because of fishing nets or other reasons. They rehabilitate them and try to re-release them back into the sea. If they aren't re-releasable, they take care of them at the rescue hospital. This one was a very big sea turtle.
And they have babies, too!
Ryan and Steve.
The boys also wanted to buy some souvenirs with money they had saved. So, we went to this souvenir shop. They loved the shark entrance!
When we got back, we went back out to the beach. Steve wanted to build a fort around our castle. So, we used the 10-gallon bucket to make four pillars and then created the wall around it. I also didn't like how our original tower looked. So, I took it down and rebuilt a new tower.
Not too bad for amateurs!!!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1
We spent today at Schlitterbahn. I didn't get many pictures, but I did get Steve and the boys on the Boogie Bahn! Here's Ryan:
Brock
Steve
Ryan wanted his picture taken with the big sea turtle before we left.
That evening, we went out to eat at Pier 19. It was a neat restaurant on a pier that goes far out into the water. The boys got pirate hats...
(even the big boy!)
...and their kid's meals came in these cool, little pirate ships.
After dinner, we walked out onto the pier. We looked out over the bay through binoculars and sat with an old pirate.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2
Steve rented a boogie board for our day on the beach. Brock really enjoyed it.
We also worked on our second, smaller sand castle.
This is a good picture of the "pancakes" that form a tower. Then, you carve out the design.
The double towers on the left are what Steve carved out of the "pancakes."
These were Brock and Ryan's towers and wall with a tunnel.
Steve's double tower.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3
Brock saw these guys using a skim board all week long. So, when Steve went to rent the boogie board for another day, Brock begged him to get a skim board, too. I'm not sure I've ever seen Brock so dedicated to learn something. He worked most of the day trying to learn how to ride the skim board. He did good...and we were proud of him for trying so hard.
Brock with his skim board.
Ryan with the boogie board.
Steve working with Brock to learn the skim board.
Ryan skimming.
Brock skimming.
Our last night there, we went to a Mexican restaurant called "The Big Donkey." Inside was a small donkey that Ryan wanted his picture taken on.
While there, Walter took some family pictures of us. Can you tell which child didn't think this was a very fun idea?
At least we got a couple good pictures of Steve and I.
We made some great memories on this vacation. We enjoyed having Walter with us and we had fun on every adventure we went on. Once again, I'm reminded how blessed we are. God has given us an amazing family, a daddy/husband that works hard so we can do fun things together and a life I wouldn't trade for anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment