Fun in the sun

Back in September, Mikey's parents rented a beach house in Galveston for a long weekend. We all arrived on Thursday and headed back on Sunday. It wasn't until after we got home that I realized the kids, Mikey and I did not leave that house/beach area the entire weekend. We ate all our meals there (so much easier with kids!), and we managed to stay busy with all of the beach time. Plus, naps and mealtimes provide so much daily structure that you feel like there is always something coming up next.

The house was perfect. It is advertised as being a second-row house, but Hurricane Ike must have wiped away most of the first row because we had a marvelous view.


This is the view from our balcony. Not too shabby! That is our setup - doesn't it look relaxing?


This is the lone remaining first-row house on our little stretch of beach. It was fascinating to me for some reason. It looked like something out of a horror movie but was also pretty in a sad way. That probably makes no sense, but that's OK. :)


We were still deep in the turkey burger obsession at that point.


Synchronized bowling.


Just because he is cute.


William sandwich!


With a mobile baby on your hands, sometimes putting him on your shoulders is the best way to know for a fact that he isn't getting into trouble.


Cheeeeese!


"Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring..." I know I can count on my mom to get the "Mary Poppins" reference. That's the kind of song that gets stuck in my head for days, and I think of it every time someone talks about flying a kite.


Someone tell Mikey to learn how to relax. He just always looks so stressed out.


Gorgeous sky.


Night golf on the beach - the kid would play golf in his sleep if it was possible.


Ryan could be distracted from eating sand momentarily, but he always went back to it.


Clearly he plans to own that shot.


Two peas in a pod.


I love this one! The field goal is actually a broken sand rake. William's eyes absolutely lit up when he saw what he could make out of a seemingly useless object. He set up the funnel as a tee, and you can see the golf ball in mid-air. This picture pretty much sums up our big boy. He has a great imagination and a true love of sports.


Many thanks to Mikey for capturing this picture. It makes me happy.


Love those guys!


We treasure all the quiet, snuggly moments with Ryan because they are harder to come by now that he is go, go, going all day long.


Ryan only had eyes for Grandpa out there on the beach that night.


While I got this halfway decent picture...


...this is the reality I was working with. Ryan would not stop turning around to look at Grandpa!


Oh my goodness, I adore this picture. Aunt Amy has so much love for her nephews! They are very lucky little boys.


Are you bored of us yet? It's not often that we are on the beach (although you wouldn't know it based on our beach adventure in July!), so we take advantage when we can.


Ryan wrapped up the weekend with a little cuddling and swinging with Grammy.