Port Aransas Vacation

After Aaron's Mexico trip was over, the four of us headed to Port Aransas for a little vacation! Aside from the West Virginia work trip last fall, the four of us haven't taken a vacation by ourselves. We always try to include whichever grandparents can make it, so this was a treat...no offense, grandparents! :) We weren't sure how the trip would go since, up to this point, Owen and Mason have HATED sand. We decided that we were just going to make them like it. And they LOVED it! The first day on the beach, their favorite activity was getting their feet covered in sand and then washing it off in the water. My kids don't like being dirty, can you tell? We went for pizza that night and the kids passed right out at bed time.
After a suggestion from a friend, we got the kids some nets so we could try to catch little critters along the shoreline. We did catch a tiny hermit crab and some other shell-less crabs that were super tiny and the kids could have cared less about. What they did love were the tiny little clams that live by the thousands under the sand. We dug them up, put them in the net to rinse the sand off, and dumped them back out. Owen and Mason thought it was the coolest thing to watch them all wiggle back under the sand. If you ask them what they saw at the beach they'll tell you they saw shells under the sand that wiggle, and they give a little wiggle with their body. It's so cute! Later this night we went to the "pirate restaurant" which was dubbed that because it had a jolly roger painted on the side of the building. Of course, the kids thought it was awesome. Afterward, we went to a little ice cream shop for dessert and then strolled around to all the token beach souvenir shops. It was a fun, relaxing day!
The last day we were there we went for an early swim before checkout. Then we ate some lunch and rented this cool little car that the kids called their "gig 'em tractor." We drove around the island, saw some pelicans on the bay side, stopped for sno-cones, drove down the beach a while, and then headed back. Now the plan was to head to Austin for the night, wake up, and hit Sea World with Granna (Granddaddy had to work all weekend, but have no fear...Friday, August 21st is his last day of work EVER). Busy vacation!
Owen and Mason loved Sea World a lot more this year! We got to go backstage at the Viva show because my sister's friend is a cast member. We saw some super cute and super noisy Beluga whales up close. Last year the kids couldn't have cared less about Shamu, but this year they thought it was pretty neat and really wanted to take home a giant, stuffed Shamu. Since a giant, stuffed Shamu is the LAST thing I need to add to my house, I told them no. Sorry kids. You'll have to make due with the plastic figurine of Shamu you got last year. They got over it as soon as we left the store. Phew!
Overall, it was a great family vacation for us! I just wish we had more vacation time so we could do things like this more often!

Port Aransas

Sea World