Summer Fun

Typhoon Texas is our happy place in the summer!  It was a few weeks before we had time to visit this year, but luckily it was the day Tropical Storm Cindy was forecast to hit (and all we got was a few sprinkles!) and it was nearly empty.  We rode everything as many times as our legs could carry us up the stairs.

 

 It was the first time I'd taken my phone around in a waterproof case, mostly because I didn't want to pay for a locker, so I was a little nervous but it was fun getting pictures.

Breaktime for a funnel cake!

One more bucket list item for me this year - to touch the star.  It took several tries but we finally had the perfect ride with enough weight and I happened to be the person at the top so I got my fingertips in the star.  Success!

The kids will miss this playground area.  They have all kinds of games that they can play for hours here.

I've always wanted to stop and get a picture here and it's now or never!  We sure love Katy and we are going to miss it a lot.

We had some pictures done with Grandma and Grandpa after one of the recitals and I got a few of the prints early.  I sure have some handsome guys to enjoy.

Jamaica Beach

We rented a beach house on Galveston Island for some fun time with cousins and the kids couldn't wait to see everyone.  Unfortunately, the drive from the Dallas area is much longer than from Houston, so we had some time to kill.  We kicked off our vacation with a little mini golf.

 Finally, everyone arrived and we unpacked and started having fun together!

 

Then it was straight out to the beach!  We were on the third row so it was just a quick walk out to the sand. Jamaica Beach is great because it's quiet, shallow, and perfect for families.

Uncle Jason picked the perfect place to dig this hole because it stayed for days and was right at the tide line to fill up at high tide.  Every day the kids enlarged it and played in it for hours.

The kids dubbed it the "bathtub".

 And naturally, a toilet would be next to the tub.

Not sure why Ben wanted this so badly, but he maintained his "toilet" all week!

Nothing is more fun that sand and waves!

The whole gang eating together...lots of laughs with all these guys.

We found several hermit crabs and they quickly became fun little pets for the day.  Since we're moving, at least it was easy for me to tell the kids NO to bringing them home.

 

Straight from the hand!

The last time in the bathtub...a very large tide in the afternoon finally ate it up. The bigger waves did make for some great boogie boarding on our last afternoon.

Aunt Stacey found a really cool sandcastle kit so the hermit crabs got a pretty sweet home.

Finished product!

 We had a nice view from our porch, even though a few houses were in front of us.  It was a great place for coffee in the mornings and sunsets after dinner.

On our last morning, Tropical Storm Cindy was making her presence known. The storm surge covered the entire beach.

We still had fun walking around to see what washed up and we enjoyed our last few hours on the beach that was so different in just 12 hours.

One last picture!  Love these boys so much.  We said goodbye to the Frenches and started home.

 

The seawall was pretty interesting in places because some of the beaches were totally gone.  Naturally, we still saw plenty of people swimming though.  Crazy.  We enjoyed some lunch and then headed home right as the rain started.  Thanks, Cindy, for waiting until our trip was over to bring the bad weather!

Maldives

After the craziness of Jakarta, Matt and I were so excited to celebrate some time together in the Maldives.  Free Heineken was a great start on Silk Air!

  

After four hours over open ocean, the barrier islands were a very welcome sight.

 

We were picked up in style from the Male airport and a 30-minute ride took us to Kuda Huraa and our resort.

 

I doubt there are any "bad" islands in the Maldives, but I was beyond excited when we pulled up to this one.  No roads, no cars, no sidewalks...just white sand, palm trees, and golf carts if the walk is too far.

Our first home was an adorable little beach bungalow just a few steps from the ocean.  It was still nice relaxing in our own pool and cabana as well.

The beach was picture perfect and because every bungalow has its own pool, we rarely even saw other people out there.  It felt like we had the island to ourselves most of the time!  Except for the beach attendants who would bring us cold drinks and clean our sunglasses.

Many a happy hour was spent reading or napping here :)

We also enjoyed the main pool (also nearly all to ourselves) and the fish just on the other side in the ocean.

This was a cool eel that hung out and enjoyed our pizza crusts.

One of the beautiful sunsets.

I loved visiting the sea turtle rehab clinic at the resort and learning about all the different turtles.

We moved to an overwater villa for the second half of our stay.  The inside was beautiful but we spent every waking minute out on the incredible porch.

When we ordered room service on the convenient cordless phone, we never even had to get up to open the door.  We quickly figured out where the rest of the guests were spending all their time!  It was so hard to leave the peace and serenity on the deck.

Our own pool overlooking the perfect water.

The top item on my bucket list - jumping off my own porch to go snorkeling.  We went several times a day because we would find different creatures at different tide levels.  We did take a boat out to see sharks, rays, eel, and countless schools of fish.

Paradise!

Just what the doctor ordered - some R&R before we went home to begin our international relocation.

This was my favorite friend off the porch - a huge sting ray that hung out all afternoon.

Black-tip reef sharks were common but thankfully small and shy.  On the other side of the reef, we saw some that were much bigger and a little more curious.

It was not easy leaving such an idyllic place!  But I'd never left the kids for two weeks before and I was anxious to get home to see my babies.  That helped make it a little easier.

We made the most of a long layover in Singapore on the way home - one massive pepper crab at East Coast Seafood!