Texas Trip 2014

The last week of August was spent in hot and humid Galveston, TX. It was a reunion of sorts, with a main focus on celebrating Grandma Lois' 90th birthday. Our flight there was a dream. I sat and read my book with a sleeping baby, and Ryan sat many rows in front of me with a toddler that occupied her time with coloring and reading books.

We were so excited to take Maya to the beach. And we were not disappointed! She loved the water and the sand. Our first day there she got to spend a couple of hours playing outside.

Brianna was loved and held a lot. Her Uncle Joel really seemed to love holding her.

I thought it was neat that my toenails matched the color of the wet sand!

I got to take Brianna in the ocean! Well, sort of. She slept through the whole experience.

Ryan spent the most time with Maya when she was in the ocean. I only took her out once, but that's okay. I trust Ryan's grip better than mine!

She loved having the waves splash into her!

And of course she knew to hang on for dear life!!

I waited patiently for their safe return. :)

Fun family beach photo! I would definitely say the sun was hot and bright that day.

The last day we were there it rained alllll day. It finally cleared up in the late afternoon, and we were able to take some family photos. I love this candid shot!

Our lovely hosts, Kent and Lalo. They were kind enough to rent a large beach house for us to all stay in. It was fun to get to stay right on the beach. In fact, we never left the house until the dinner celebration for Lois' birthday on the last evening.

I love spending time at the beach with Ryan! 

Here is the whole gang. All of the extended family on Ryan's dad's side. It was a good crowd!

That night we went to dinner at a close by restaurant. The food was pretty good, and afterwards Lois was presented with a birthday cake and we all sang to her. I think she was a little confused, because, as she reminded us, her birthday is August 3rd, not August 28th! She was a good sport though. :)

Brianna was quite content in Grandma's arms. She must have felt safe there.

When we got back to the house Maya climbed up on this chair and wanted to hold Brianna. Perfect photo-op! This is the best one.

The others are:

That night Maya woke up crying around 10:30 PM because she couldn't breathe. A cold had set in. She was also wheezing and had a croupy cough. Thank goodness Brianna stayed asleep, but it was sad to hear Maya struggling so much. She finally fell asleep at 12:15 AM. Needless to say, the return flight home the next morning was much less of a good type of dream, but we managed. 

It was a fun vacation, and I'm so glad that we were able to go!