White Family Visit: Part 3

After our fun at the beach, it was only appropriate to stop at Joe's Crab Shack for lunch. They had this great play area right next to our outdoor picnic-style table. Talmage was much more interested in this than the seafood. And thankfully his wonderful aunt and uncle were more than willing to entertain him!

This was Talmage's reaction when he saw the lobster. Sam and I just aren't fans of seafood, and it looks like Talmage agrees with us. Big surprise, since he isn't a fan of most food...

After lunch, we headed to Brazos' Bend State Park, which is home to over 300 alligators. We were fortunate enough to see at least 20! It's really fascinating to be just a few feet away from alligators with no barriers dividing you from them.

Talmage was very energetic and kept grabbing my mom's hand and dashing off panting, "Run, run, run!"

The alligators are pretty still for the most part. We had a couple of scares when they jumped out of the water to hunt which gave us some good laughs.

Aunt Avalon and Uncle Bronson did a great job helping with the boys!

White Family Visit: Part 2

Tuesday of my family's vacation brought several beachside adventures. First we decided to go ride this ferry. It's a free ride from Galveston to Port Bolivar, lasting just under 20 minutes one way.

 Both boys were thrilled to be riding on a boat! Talmage was just so interested in everything around him that he wasn't smiling at first. That soon changed...

 We had heard there were 2 things to be sure to do on the ferry:  watch for dolphins and feed the seagulls. My mom was the only one that actually saw a dolphin, but we all got to enjoy the fun of the seagulls!

 My dad held the bread out and got the seagulls to eat right out of his hand. Talmage copied him...

 ...and was absolutely delighted when one actually plucked the bread from his tiny, outstretched fingers! We were all pretty amazed, as well.

There were some pretty cool ships along the way.

We fed the birds with old, stale bread ends I had kept in the freezer for well over a year. I was amused when I looked over and saw Talmage eating his bread he had to feed the seagulls.

 After our fun at the ferry, our travels took us to the beach. I thought I knew of a great place we could go, but after driving for half an hour or so I realized that once again my directional ability was failing me, and we just turned in at the next beach access point we reached. Although it wasn't as nicely manicured as some of the other more touristy areas, it was kind of nice to be in our own little area.

Avalon and Bronson had fun jumping over the waves.

We made a message to send Daddy at his conference in Chicago.

The beach is such an amazing place of discovery for little ones. Talmage loved running around, exploring the water, poking at things he found on the shore, and finding little rocks and shells.

Wesley discovered sand for the first time.

 Apparently he wasn't quite sure what to think of it.

Pudgy little baby toes just melt my heart!

We had a great time visiting the ocean. Avalon and Bronson especially loved it and wanted to revisit it the entire time they were here (especially Avalon). I guess that just gives them all the more reason to come back and see us again next year!