This past weekend was definitely one for the books! My parents and our little family haven’t gone on an overnight vacation all together in a while. I could not wait to get away, especially after working SO much the week before!
We packed up everything Friday morning and my parents met us at our house and off to Corpus Christi we went! We stopped and ate lunch in Rockport at the The Melting Pot ,a seafood restaurant, where everyone is given a bib to wear, and paper on the table which Brielle LOVED to draw on pretty much every piece that she could get her hands on. I strongly dislike the smell of seafood and it made me sick to my stomach to the point where if I didn’t lay my head down, it was going to come up. I felt like I had strep throat the two days prior as well, and since my throat was burning with pain, throwing up was the last thing that I wanted to happen. After we ate, we went on our way to Corpus Christi to meet my moms longtime friend Lea and her mom at the Corpus Christi Aquarium. Just a little FYI for people that go; bring a stroller, and it was a pretty expensive visit ($25 per adult), plus in order to get seats at the dolphin show you would have to wait in line for 1+ hours (which we did not know, and I don’t think Brielle would have wanted any part of that anyways), and the food and drinks are very expensive! But, other than that, it was a GREAT time, and we even got to watch the dolphin show on the outer side of the place and it was still amazing to see. I still can’t say I have touched a stingray, but I did touch a baby shark. The alligator was beautiful to see, and just the place overall with all the little activities we could do, we all had a good time and got some pretty cute pictures out of it!
After that, we went to dinner at this pretty good Mexican restaurant, and let me tell you the dessert was by far the best part of the meal. I think it was fried ice cream with little whip cream bites with chocolate on top. Afterwards, we checked in the hotel, and then walked down to the marina to see the beautiful ocean and walked around there. Overall, it was a great day and couldn’t wait for the next day!
Saturday was our day to go fishing, and since Brielle wanted to stay up ALL night, Shane and I both got 0 sleep and I started our morning early by making every one get dressed at 5:30am and walk down the marina to watch the sun rise, which was BEAUTIFUL! We then went back to the hotel to eat breakfast, and I actually got a call from the family I used to Nanny for and they were staying literally diagonal from us at their hotel, so we all walked over there once my parents woke up to go visit them and say hi for a little while. They looked adorable, and I was so happy to see Brielle play with them. It’s surreal to see your child playing with the children that you helped raise (it literally makes my heart so happy!). WE love you Zavaleta Family! We then went back to hotel and let everyone nap before we packed up and went to Wal-mart to get any last minute things before heading to the beach at Padre Island. It was so fun and VERY sandy, but we all had a blast celebrating Independence Day, and just being with each other. Once the beach was complete, we packed up and headed to Bob Hall’s Pier in Mustang Island to do some fishing, watch the sunset go down, and see the beautiful display of fireworks, literally in every direction! Afterwards we headed back our hotel and of course got stuck in the 4th of the July traffic when everyone was leaving when the fireworks ended, and once we got to the hotel, we all showered and then went to sleep.
Sunday morning (with Brielle having MUCH better sleep than the night before) we all went out to eat breakfast at the restaurant near our hotel, and waited on my brother and his family to meet us there. Once they joined, we had a day full of windy swimming, pizza for lunch, and some nice relaxation with all the family. We loved every part of it! Once all the kids had pretty much had enough of swimming, we packed up and headed back home to Yoakum (only to literally be home long enough to do 3 loads of laundry, deep clean the house and organize, unpack from the beach and re-pack for my work week in Austin and then watch the USA women’s Soccer team WIN!!) I then headed out and drove the hour to my moms, just in time for Brielle to run around and play for a little bit, and go to bed!
Note to self: Plan a full day of rest from a vacation before heading into work the next day. I was exhausted those two days during work and just dragging during those 12+ hour shifts! Thankfully we ALL made it home safely with all of that driving, and I am SO happy we got to get away, even if it was for just three days!
Here are some of the pictures from the trip! 🙂
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