Spring break is over, family flew back home, kids are back in school and life is getting back to normal but we're so grateful for the week we did have. 🌴
The first day started off a little rough. Actually before I get into that let me go back even further. We had a couple people tell us that they were going to visit us for spring break. First it was Jill and Mike but then some financial stuff came up and they weren't able to make it. Then Giovanna and Leo were going to come up but then needed to change their plans when they discovered they were pregnant and expecting (which we are soooo excited for them). I told Danny that we should make our own plans with the kids and get away during our spring break. We talked about Houston and we talked about Galveston as some options. Then we received news from Dave and Donna that they wanted to come out for our spring break week. We told them we'd love to have them here but that we were planning on leaving home and exploring some place although we weren't sure where yet. They were just fine with that and also were interested in either Houston or Galveston as options. The kids last day of school was Friday the 10th and then they would have the following week off and return on Monday the 20th (today). Two days before their last day on the 8th Danny got a call from his dad and was told that they had an available time share in Corpus Christi and asked if we would like to entertain that idea instead. We didn't even have to think about it, we for sure loved that idea. Our spring break was about to begin and we didn't even have a plan yet of what to even do in Houston besides explore NASA. Dave said he'd look into it more and the next day told us that he booked it. The time share was available for a whole week. We had it from Friday the 10th to Friday the 17th. I was so stoked. He told us that we could go ahead and head there whenever we wanted and that they could just meet us there. Jill heard about our now beach plans and came up with the idea that maybe Georgia could still come even though the rest of them couldn't. We were definitely okay with that idea and assured her we'd take great care of her. So they booked a last minute spot for her to fly in with Dave and Donna. They weren't flying in until Sunday and needed to head back by Wednesday night for their early Thursday morning flight out of Austin. Dave said we could go earlier to the time share and stay even after they needed to leave.
I definitely wanted to go as soon as school was out. Danny didn't. He didn't want to stay away for a whole week and wanted to wait to drive up with his parents. We didn't exactly see eye to eye there but it turned out to be a blessing that we waited because Hudson got pretty sick late Saturday night. I had used that Friday and Saturday to pack us all up and buy some fun new beach toys for the week and hadn't really noticed how slightly off Hudson was. He's not a complainer at all so when he does complain we need to fully trust him and assume it's worse than it is. The only problem was that the only time he would even whine about any pain was right before dinner. He kept telling us that his stomach hurt and we assumed it was because he was hungry. We'd tell him that food was almost ready and that was that. When we really had to stop and think about his stomach pain comments we realized that they had started early Thursday morning before school. I told him that maybe he was feeling a little anxious because it was his school's fun run day. By Saturday night when we were putting him to bed we could tell he wasn't feeling like himself but we didn't know what it could be. Turned out we would see a lot of him that night. He barely got any sleep and kept complaining about stomach pain. He woke up with a fever and threw up a couple times when trying the tiniest bites and we just felt so bad for him. I was supposed to teach the church lesson that morning and sent a message to someone letting her know that I needed to take Hudson to urgent care and asked if someone could cover my lesson for me. We weren't going to leave for Corpus Christi until after Danny's parents and Georgia flew in but we needed to figure out his pain before driving a couple of hours to our vacation home. We realized that he was on day four of complaining of pain and I was starting to worry that it would be his appendix or something really serious and we needed to get that checked out. The doctor there checked him out and when he looked at his throat he said it looked pretty bad and confidently said it was going to be positive for strep. The weird thing is that Hudson had been eating just fine the whole time except for that morning when he couldn't keep anything down. He never once said anything about a sore throat. They checked his appendix area and ruled out anything wrong there. They tested him for strep throat and that test came back negative. I was shocked when they still wanted to treat him as if it was positive. They said that since it was day four it could be the tail end of it and the possible reason for why it didn't show up positive. I was just glad it wasn't his appendix but still confused on whether or not I should give him medication for something that I wasn't sure he even had. We headed to the store and grabbed him the prescription the doctor ordered and then hurried home because I believed that our guests would be arriving soon.
The plan was to make lunch for our visitors and then leave right after but as always plans seem to change a lot when you don't want them to. Their plane was landing around 10:30am and we figured we would see them sometime between 11:30am and noon. They didn't show up for hours. I mean hours. We finally called and they told us they heard there was traffic so they stopped to eat lunch before coming our way. At that point I looked at my son on the couch feeling sick next to a throw up bowl and Danny trying to catch up on sleep nearby after not getting much sleep at all because we dealt with Hudson for most of the night and I remember thinking that this wasn't going to happen at all. I had to try really hard to stay positive through this.
I debated including any of this but I don't want to give the impression that our vacation started off smoothly and was perfect by any means. This is life. Let's just say I was very excited once we did get on the road. We didn't get to our destination until after 6pm. Over four hours after we thought we would but that's okay haha. We were finally there! Hudson actually did amazing during that whole drive. The medicine seemed to be working right away and he didn't get 'sick' at all. We had a full garbage bag next to him in case he needed to puke. Addie rode up in Grandma and Grandpa's rental car so that she could ride up with Georgia. The kids had no clue that she was coming along so that was a fun surprise.
The best part about where we now live is that the beach is only two hours and maybe 40 minutes away. It's not that far the more we think about it. We got there and we were able to finally start our spring break vacation. The timeshare goes right out back to a canal that leads to the ocean. It was really cool. We got there to some people on boats and other people fishing. The vibe was chill and we loved it. Hudson was feeling much better by then which was awesome. We didn't have enough time to play at the beach that first night because of time but it would have been a perfect day had we gotten there earlier. The weather was warm and overall amazing. We went out to eat at Whataburger and then settled in for the evening. Georgia slept with Addie on the pullout couch in the main level. Hudson and Grant shared a queen bed together on the second level, and the twins slept in pack and plays that they are very close to outgrowing soon in the big room that Danny and I slept in on the top floor. Dave and Donna opted to get their own hotel room.
We all thought this shark building looked pretty cool.
The next day Monday was very windy. The kids wanted to check out the swimming pool but I guess it's closed on Mondays. Danny was excited to check out the beach so after breakfast we headed to grab some things to make a quick lunch and then headed towards the beach. We were waiting for Dave and Donna for a little bit and then Danny told them to meet us there. The skies showed some signs of possible rain but thankfully that never happened. The water was warm and the kids didn't take much time before just heading right in. I love how warm Texas beach water is. It's so different than my other beach experiences outside of Texas (not including Brazil). The wind however was chilly. Luckily Rylee and Quinn were so excited to play in the sand with the new beach toys that they didn't even get into the water. That made it actually really easy for us because they were so content in the sand. Then when Donna and Dave got there we were able to worry even less because Donna loved being able to just watch the twins on the sand for us. The boys stayed in the water the longest. Addie and Georgia joined the twins on the sand. Danny was able to have time just talking with his dad on the beach and I tried to soak everything in. It honestly started out perfect, despite the wind. But then as is typical when you have a whole bunch of freezing kids the whining starts and that's when we left. We were going to have lunch there on the beach but it was so crazy windy that it wasn't even going to be an option for us. The kids were cold, hungry and sandy and we decided to head back to the timeshare for baths and food.
After some baths, lunch and downtime we decided to check out downtown Corpus Christi. Our timeshare was technically in South Padre Island just outside of Corpus Christi. As we were driving along the coast we found a pier with a really nice playground so we stopped there for our evening. We walked along the dock and it was pretty funny because if Dave sees a fisherman he's going to stop and ask them all about what they are catching, what they've already caught, what they are using to catch the fish, all the info. It's kind of cute that he can't resist. Even Danny pointed it out that it was something he loves about his dad. After checking out the pier we then had the kids play at the playground until dinner time. David suggested us having a home cooked meal of fresh seafood and offered to cook it for us which was really nice and turned out super good. We got the kids some mac and cheese for them to eat. Also while eating dinner we got a call from Jon and Halle announcing that they are expecting their first baby so that was pretty exciting for the family.
The next morning on Tuesday it was still a little windy but it felt better than the day before.
We checked out a wildlife refuge nature park that was pretty nice. It had a nice boardwalk that we walked up and down trying to find new species of birds for Danny's list. The end of one of the trails led right to the Oso Bay. It was a nice way to start off the day.
Once again the skies looked like possible rain but it was more of a tease for the second day in a row. The only thing really left on my own bucketlist was to check out the USS Lexington ship. They turned it into a museum which we were going to do until we saw the ticket prices to enter. That changed our mind but we still planned on at least getting close enough to call it good. On our way to the battleship we passed some docks so Danny stopped for me. I don't know why but I really love docks. I love just looking at all the boats parked next to each other. I feel like a part of me wants to one day have one but I also don't see that happening for us. I can still dream though. After the docks we headed to the ship and by that point the twins were napping in the car so we let them sleep while only a few of us got out to walk along the boardwalk. It was really windy and really cold. If our spring break week had been one week earlier we would have ran into really warm humidity which would have been really nice compared to the windy humidity we did get. We were pretty quick at the ship since the twins were in the car with Grandma, we didn't want to take too long. We made sandwiches to eat in the car and that was our lunch.
The main thing on Danny's bucketlist was to take the ferry and island hop to Port Aransas. We decided to do it and that ended up leading to my favorite part of the whole week. While our car was parked on the ferry Danny looked out his window and saw dolphins. Real life wild dolphins. I was ecstatic! I love them so so much. Dave and Donna were in the car next to us with Addie and Georgia and we were trying to let them know what we were seeing but they couldn't get the view that we did since we were closest to the water. As soon as our ferry boat docked we got off and headed to the nearest parking so that we could see them again. Luckily for all of us it was another playground and pier area (Roberts Point Park). The kids will never complain if there is a playground involved. We climbed onto a tall lookout tower where we were able to show the rest of our group the dolphins that were in that water. I loved every second. We then checked out the pier where Dave talked to more fisherman haha and then let the kids go free on all the slides and swings they wanted to play or swing from. While we were at the playground I kept finding myself going back to the dolphins. I seriously love them so much. At one point Dave, Donna, Danny, the twins and I just sat on a bench and watched them in the water. This time I was able to get a better video of them.
How cute are these two little best friends?? They were taking turns catching their sister at the bottom of the slide. It melted my heart. It was seriously so cute.
When we got back to our timeshare for dinner I noticed that Grant was starting to feel a little warm. I was hoping he wasn't going to get what Hudson did but it did feel like he was starting to get a fever. He fell asleep on my lap while sitting on the couch and I felt bad for him. By that point Hudson had made a full recovery and was feeling completely normal which was great. We did brace ourselves for that night with Grant though.
Before bedtime we decided to walk to the pool to check it out. The kids really wanted to swim on this trip but the wind wasn't very helpful and the pool wasn't heated. Looking back now we should have just let them anyway that night because it would be our last night there.
The next day was Wednesday and it was Georgia's and the grandparents last full day with us. The weather was beautiful. I mean absolutely beautiful. Warm and sunny with the bluest skies. Grant also woke up feeling back to normal so we were glad that whatever he had ended up being quick.
Donna really wanted to check out some caverns near New Braunfels. She wanted to do this back in August when they had helped us move here but we never got around to it. Also it's pretty expensive. We decided to leave when they did on Wednesday and to go have one last full day together. I had felt kind of bad that they were here during such a windy week even though I know that's silly to say or even feel since I have no control over that. The only really good days were the first day when we got there late and the last day when we were leaving. During our drive out of South Padre Danny mentioned how we should have stayed longer there and utilized that timeshare for the full seven days and leave Friday instead especially since the weather was perfect again. It really would have been a perfect beach day. I couldn't believe my ears because he's such a homebody but here he was saying he would have loved to stay. And he was the one saying that even three days was too much when I was trying to get him to leave last week after the kids were done with school. I'll get whatever days I can get but the cavern experience truly was amazing so I'm glad we did end up doing that. Donna has been to many caverns and she had told us to pack some jackets because the deeper you go the colder it gets. That made sense. But apparently Texas caverns are a breed of their own because it was so hot and humid that we were all taking off layers by the end. We were a sweaty hot mess for sure. The kids all did amazing though. Rylee and Quinn insisted on walking the whole time and would get really upset with us when we tried to help them. This independent stage their in isn't so fun or helpful somedays when you're trying to intervene with adult assistance. Luckily for us we were the last tour group of the day so we were able to take as long as we needed and walk at whatever pace we could. Which was nice since we were a group of ten and the majority of the group are eight years old and under.
After the caverns we went to the twins's favorite place in the world: Buc-ee's. Those girls got spoiled there by grandma and grandpa. All of the kids did actually. They all got to leave with a new toy or stuffed animal and they all felt like they were in heaven. Dave paid for everyone's dinner as well which was super great because it's not the cheapest when you pay for a family of seven. We all had a nice picnic just outside of Buc-ee's on the lawn before we had to say our goodbyes.
By the time we got home these five were wiped out and thankfully fell asleep quickly. It was nice to have everyone back in their own beds.
Spring break ended up being so much fun. It was really nice having Georgia and the grandparents here, even if the weather wasn't ideal for a beach trip. It was Georgia's first time in Texas and it would have been Mike and Jill's first time too if they had been able to make it with their other two boys but maybe that trip will still happen for them while we're here. The timeshare ended up being the best and way more affordable than it would have been if we had to stay in hotels so we have a lot to thank Dave and Donna for. They really spoiled us with their generosity. I'm glad the kids were able to spend so much time with them this past week. Quinn and Rylee acted as if they hang out every single day. They weren't shy and freely gave hugs. Most people they interact with have barely heard them speak a word but they felt just at home with Grandma and Grandpa which was really cool to see. If this trip ends up being the only vacation that we're able to do this year I would have nothing to complain about. It was inexpensive (thanks to my in-laws) and it was the perfect little getaway.
Gina's highlight of the trip: watching wild dolphins
Addie's highlight of the trip: so much time with Georgia
Hudson + Grant's highlight of the trip: all the playgrounds
Rylee + Quinn's highlight of the trip: Buc-ee's
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