Water and mud, oh my...

One of the ways we've been surviving the hot (and sometimes boring, at least according to E...) days of summer is with two new, fun sprinklers. E plays outside a good part of the morning, enjoying the water and the resulting mud. Fun times!

Vacation snapshots: Sea Wolf Park

This tiny little park is home to the USS CAVALLA (WWII Submarine) ; the USS STEWART (destroyer escort - one of only 3 in the world), a well-known fishing pier and a playground. The park was built on an immigration station site (the second largest in the country after Ellis Island!) and offers a great view of Galveston harbor.

We opted not to tour the sub or the ship, but enjoyed them from the outside. We watched many people fishing off the pier and watched many huge boats in the harbor. E was also delighted to see the ferries shuttling cars back and forth! The playground, of course, was very popular, too. A neat adventure!

Vacation snapshots: USS Cape Gibson

We stumbled upon this amazing ship when we were trying to find SeaWolf Park (more on that tomorrow). This beauty is currently housed at the Texas A&M Galveston Mitchell Campus. We enjoyed looking at all of the neat details on this ship and admiring the sheer size of this beauty.

Vacation snapshots: Ride the Ducks

We opted to try the Galveston "Ride the Ducks" tour while we were there. Have you ever seen these interesting boat/vehicles? The "duck" is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was originally designed inside General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks. Our duck, the "Miss Michelle" gave us a great tour of Galveston and Offatt's Bayou.

We learned all kinds of history about the area, saw many interesting sights and saw tons of pelicans while we were out on the water. Very interesting, and very cool!

Vacation snapshots: Star Drug Store

Read about this little gem several places when planning our vacation. This little drug store in Galveston's historic district is too cute -- and has great food and ice cream. Love it!

Vacation snapshots: on to Galveston!

You may remember that last year we had a dream vacation to Florida with my folks. While Galveston really cannot compare to the sugar-sand beaches of Florida's panhandle, we still wanted to have some beach time. After seven day of fun with family and friends, we ended our vacation with some beach time for our little family of three.

We did "Ride the Ducks", went to Moody Gardens, enjoyed beach time, many seafood dinners and many beautiful sunsets. A wonderful, relaxing way to end our "south Texas tour" of 2011!

Vacation snapshots: it just makes my heart smile...

...to be with my sweet family and my best friend and her sweet family. For years, we'd talk about dream about the husbands God picked out for us, and about our future children. To see it all now - the blessings we both have - all in once place - priceless!

Mommy and E school: week five - dress up, pretend and "careers"

This week in Mommy and E school, we've been talking about dress up and pretend. We picked several different "careers" to talk about, from fairy princess to vet to meteorologist. Today we talked about weather and meteorology. E loved it! She always loves watching the weather forecast on TV, loved being able to "pretend" at that on our vacation, and really enjoyed creating her own forecast. (Now, if only that rain prediction would come true!)

Vacation snapshots: girlfriends

I've known Jenn since I was about four years old. I've known Tami since the first day of ninth grade (we were both new to our high school and terrified!) We all went to the same college, and now J and T happen to live about 10 minutes from each other. Such a blessing to spend time together and get all of our families together. Such crazy, wonderful fun!

Vacation snapshot: sweet girls at church on a Sunday morning

Vacation snapshots: buddies!

MPH is my best friend's middle child and her only son.

MPH is one of the sweetest little boys I know.

He's also a crazy, silly boyish mess

who loves Star Wars and being silly.

My daughter thinks he is awesome!

(Favorite quote of the trip from MPH:

"Mommy, why do we call her

"Miss Amy" if she is your sister?

Shouldn't we be calling her "Aunt Amy"?

Sweet little man thought we were sisters...

and we are, in heart, just not by blood! :) )

Vacation snapshots: swinging is cool...

....no matter what your age!

Vacation snapshots: can you spot...

...hubby's mom in this great, old photo?

(Hint, she's the one on the left that

looks just like hubby and E!)

Vacation snapshots: do you know what this is?

Neither did I, until our trip to the San Antonio Zoo.

It's a Nutria.

And did you know they're found in North Texas

along our creeks and rivers?

I had never heard of this critter before,

and really had no idea we had them in the area!

Excited!

One way to get over the post-vacation blues? Book another getaway! I just made reservations for our 11th anniversary getaway in October. We're eating here and staying here. Excited!

Vacation snapshots: future meteorologist?

We found a really cute "be a weatherman" display at the Witte Museum in San Antonio. Their science treehouse area had a room where you can stand in front of the "green screen" and pretend to be a weather person on TV. To add to the fun, there was also a green blanket in the area, where you could cover part of your body and see what happened on the TV screen. Daddy loved to pretend that part of him was missing. Talking heads on TV? Indeed...

Vacation snapshots: Steve's banana cake

While we were at hubby's sister's house, E and and Auntie Lu made "Steve's Banana Cake". This recipe is a family tradition. Hubby's mom used to make it all the time, and we've made it in every form: muffins, cake, loaf, you name it. E had fun helping Auntie Lu in the kitchen - making sweet treats and making memories!

(And no, before you ask, we have no idea who Steve is. But "Steve's Banana Cake" sounds so much better than just "banana bread", don't you think? And yes, the recipe above is a treasure - written out in my dear mother-in-law's handwriting. Extra special because she is no longer with us.)

Vacation snapshots: Go Fish

E has been really into board games and card games lately. I packed some of her favorites for our vacation, knowing we'd have extra time for family time/game time due to our more relaxed schedule.

We had a hoot of a time playing CareBear Go Fish at hubby's sister and brother-in-law's house. You've not lived until you've heard two grown men asking each other for "Smart Heart Bear" and "Laugh a Lot Bear". We laughed until our sides hurt - and had so much fun!