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Are you ready for an extra long, super-sized post?! This post is extra special to me because it’s about my family. My parents (Bruce + Nancy) took my family and my brother’s family to Galveston Island, Texas for a week at the beginning of June to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Adam and I rang in our 12th anniversary – on June 3rd – while we were there, and my parents was on June 4th. We stayed in a beach house Airbnb and played on the beach, did touristy things, cooked at the house, and relaxed. It was glorious.
On the evening of June 3rd, we had all planned to take some family photos on the beach at sunset. We had coordinated outfits and everyone got ready. We walked to the beach and when we got there, I chose a spot and set down all of our stuff. I said to everyone that before we took our family photos, I had a little surprise planned.
I had planned a surprise vow renewal for my parents on the beach. My dad knew about it, so he could help me with meaningful songs and so he could get a little gift for my mom.
My nephew Carson and niece Selah and my son Ren walked down the aisle first. My brother Michael walked my mom down the next to Pachebel’s Canon. Adam officiated a short ceremony where my other son Sutton read a scripture and we celebrated my parents’ beautiful commitment. My dad gave my mom a ring and necklace and they sealed their vows with a kiss. I think my dad and I were the only ones who teared up, but my mom was definitely surprised!
After we gathered our thoughts, we did family photos. Here is my brother Michael and his gorgeous family. Do you see how my red-headed brother got all the blonde kids, and me – the natural blonde – got all the red-headed kids? Funny how genetics work! Michael snapped a few photos of my family as well, then I did a few extras of Sutton since his birthday was in June, and how often do you get to take your birthday photos on a beach when you live in Kansas? We finished up with a few candids of the kiddos playing, and we all left the beach feeling very grateful for that evening on the beach.
And now for the phone photos.
Ren and Carson loved the outdoor shower at our beach house! Was definitely nice to have to get all the sand off before we went inside.
My parents got us all matching t-shirts to wear for the week.
Selah. The closest I'll ever get to a mini me.
We went to visit a war memorial. You could go inside a submarine and a battleship.
Inside the submarine...
On the battleship...
After visiting the boats, we went and had our one big "out to eat" meal. Most of the rest of the time, we cooked in our house. We went to Fisherman's Wharf, which was a place Adam and I had gone 2 years ago when we went down to Galveston for our 10-year anniversary. My parents said we had also gone there back when I was in high school when we visited Galveston.
Instead of paying exorbitant prices for the aquarium, we found a free nature center. It had a fun fountain out front.
I was mostly just taking Ren's picture because he looked so cool. Lol.
Inside, they had a whole area with crabs and other sea creatures that you could touch. We learned about fiddler crabs, which come out at night. Which spurred Adam, Sutton, and I to stay out at the beach one night after dark and we caught 7 fiddler crabs. There was lots of screaming and running involved, as they looked like big spiders running around on the sand. They were fast! No pictures of that adventure unfortunately...
They also had some gigantic fish tanks. And also an outdoor nature preserve where a few baby deer lived.
And back to the beach.
We drove past the Rainforest Cafe a few times and Ren was obsessed. We decided to humor him and just take our 4 there for lunch. It did not go well...
Ren was terrified of all the loud noises and the animatronic animals. Lots of crying, he never took his hands off his ears and I had to feed him like a baby.
One of our last meals was a shrimp boil! A little spicy but so good!
There was so much we did that I didn't post photos of, but hopefully this will help us remember at least some of it! Thanks to my parents for the awesome trip!
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