Our Vacation!

We just got back from South Texas! It is a long drive. If you ever go to south Texas, take 77 from 35. No traffic!!!
Wednesday, we left at 12pm and tried to drive straight through, only stopping for gas. The kids were actually really good. Since we took a less traveled road, we did not feel the effects of 9 hours driving time as much. It was weird to hit sunny spots then torrential rains. There was flooding in a lot of the southern parts. We went through alot of little towns. My fave was La Granja. And the surrounding towns. We got to Brownsville at about 9pm at night. The kids were so excited that they were bouncing off the hotel walls. The manager called us with a neighborly complaint; the only way to quiet the kids down was to threaten them with eviction if they didn't go to sleep. It Worked!

Thursday: We got up at 10am then went to the beach: South Padre Island for 5 hours; It was raining when we got there, cleared up after a couple of hours. Good thing, cuz it was cold in the rain!
We took all this stuff; life jackets, boogie boards, towels, clothes, food, a case of water bottles, bug spray and sunscreen! Most of it just got sandy. We did put sunscreen on the baby, though! We met our friends over there, they had a great spot picked out. The kids were not expecting the saltiness or strength of the sea waves! Only Eva was brave enough to try it! We left as we saw more mature (smokers/drinking/cussing) people. I don't think South Padre is very family-friendly at night, but since we didn't stay, I have no true idea. We ate dinner at this place called Antojitos;best beans and tacos I've had in Texas! then watched TV for a while and crashed.

Friday we got up, bought more supplies to try to lure the kids into the water, but it didn't really work. We bought an inflatable boat, the boys put water into it and played in it, on the sand. Silly boys! They all loved the sand! Even Lilli, she kept eating it, then making faces and shuddering! Pretty salty stuff! We were at the beach for 3 hours only, came back got ready, went to Felicity's quinceanera- TOTALLY AMAZING! GOOD JOB SANDRA AND FAMILY! They worked on it for 2 years! They made everything! From tablecloths to the dress, bought silverware, made favor boxes, everything. Everything looked gorgeous! Especially Felicity and Sandra, (her mom, my friend) We came back to the hotel at 12:30 after dancing for a couple hours in heels-with the kids. Nidiam was there and I'm not sure what possesed me but I think it had something to do with Nidiam; I just kept dancing! I only got to dance a couple of times with Bruce but it was really nice. I was either holding Lilli or grabbing the boys to try to dance. Eva had a great time dancing with Nidiam, Daddy, Patrick and Me. Dylan had a serious crush on a couple of older girls (4-6) and they were sweet enough to dance with him by the hands when he came up to them. He would get all serious and dance for a bit then walk away and stare longingly at them, then go back and do it again! It was so cute. I did not have my camera so I had to take pics. with Nidiam's camera. Hopefully I can get them from her! We were getting tired but it still took us an hour to leave and thankfully the kids crashed pretty soon after we got back to the hotel.

Saturday, by 11am, we were trying to figure out if we were staying or going home, but I got a little sick so we stayed the extra night. Bruce also had (at 11am) a live radio interview 4-5 minutes long, for SWS bank. I took the kids swimming and met a nice lady who had quit her nursing job to be a trucker. We decided to wing it; ( Eva's birthday celebration) so I took Eva to get balloons, cake, donuts, ice cream, fruit, plates and a tiara. Eva did pretty good for a b-day girl!
We had lunch at Antojitos again; scrumptious tacos, had cake and ice cream at the taco place while Eva made 2 new friends; an older lady and a nurse-caretaker, they didn't really speak English but Eva didn't mind! then we gave Eva her presents in the car. We then went to a matinee of Ratatouille-funny! Then we went to the beach for the last time-the Port Isabel side and saw baby crabs, hermit crabs (brought some home) and my brave Bruce picked up a live one, and it kept pinching him (so funny!)

We kept trying to find this special fruit for Bruce (Nespera) and a HEB employee gave me one and it turned out to be the potato-tasting kind. Nummy! A bunch of our friends were at the hotel that we were at and we never really spent any time with them, it was a little surreal to see them 3 times a day and not really talk to them. Oh well! I definitely recommend the beach but be prepared; use cash to buy all the food and you probably won't need it but, if you must take anything, go to the dollar store first. You will get ripped off in South Padre if you go to the shops!Brownsville water tastes bad but the people were pretty
nice; learn some Spanish phrases and smile alot!

We left this morning at 8am, after hauling all our crap back downstairs and loading up the car.
We drove straight to Austin to see Dave and Holly.
OH MY gosh, Hill Country is beautiful and Dave/ Holly's home is amazing. They fed us an incredible lunch; broccoli salad, baked beans, filet Mignon steaks and chocolate mousse. It was so good!
I didn't mean to, but I think I hurt Bruce's feelings when I told Dave that his grilled steaks were the best I'd eaten- true statement! I had to profusely apologize to Bruce, but I am hoping he will take it all in stride! Bruce is a great cook! Besides, I can't grill a steak to save my life!
After that lunch, they took us to Lake Travis- 5 minutes away and showed us how high the water was, from all the rain. It was about 50 feet higher than normal and the lake was closed! The kids loved it and we got some nice pictures. We are happy to announce that they are newlyweds and expecting their first baby in December! Holly is a cute pregnant lady!

The drive home was not as nice as the the drive (traffic, fighting kids) there, but we made it!
And we are glad to be so blessed as to have a home and the opportunity we had to see more of Texas! The pictures will be up by tomorrow, I think....