The Colletts Go To The Beach

Well, we have experienced our first family vacation and live to tell the tale!  We loaded up and drove to Port Aransas, TX for a few days on the beach with Tony's family. Jennifer and Steve and their daughter, Madeleine (4), and son, Beckett (2), came down from Chicago, and Tony's Aunt Joyce came down from Cincinnati to meet us for the weekend (we missed Tony's Aunt Jeanelle and hope she can come next year!). The kids did great with the traveling and being in a house with so many people (14 total); they had a great time on the beach and had lots of fun playing with their cousins.

We left to head south on Wednesday night after I worked graduation and Tony got home from work. Our idea was to eat dinner, then put the kids into their pjs and drive to Houston while the kids slept- that was the idea. We left at 7:30 and made a quick stop to get gas; at 8:30, both kids were still awake and Harper was yelling/ squawking every 5-10 min. The ride was not going as planned and were frazzled and dreading the drive the next day already. Thankfully, both kids finally fell asleep and slept for about an hour, before Jack woke up and cried off and on for the last hour of our drive. We made it to Mimi and Papa's house in Houston and put the kids in bed and tried to fall asleep with Harper crying off and on for an hour- it was a long night.

The rest of the weekend, though, went MUCH better than the first night. The kids were really good on the drive to Port Aransas, even while we waited an hour in the line for the ferry. They ate a good lunch on the road, and even had a snack in the car, and were very happy to scope out the vacation house when we got there.

We got up Friday morning and took the kids down to the beach and they saw the ocean for the very first time. I enjoyed watching their awed looks and seeing their smiles when they sunk their toes into the sand. Harper is our little fish- she loved the water. We held the kids and walked out into the ocean and Harper was grinning from ear to ear. Tony squatted down and dipped Harper into the water and she squealed with every wave that came in. In fact, later in the evening, we rode down the beach in a golf cart and Harper started clapping her hands and squealing when she saw the ocean.

Jack was more of a beach guy. He is more cautious of the water- just like his momma. I could see his concerned look when we walked into the water, but he didn't cry; Jack wanted to watch everything that was going on before he was ready to be dipped into the ocean. He didn't much care for the waves splashing him, but he did like sitting in the surf and playing in the wet sand- I was happy to oblige while Tony and Harper splashed in the gulf.

The second day on the beach both kiddos played in the water, even Jack smiled when the waves splashed him this time; I was proud of him for venturing back into the ocean on the second day. We spent more time playing on the beach the second day and the kiddos were more comfortable with the pails and shovels Mimi got for them.

We packed up and headed back to Houston on Father's Day. It was nice to be able to be with Tony, Papa, Uncle Bubba (Ryan) and Uncle Steve to help them celebrate. The kids were great on the drive back to Houston and had lots of fun playing with their cousins when we got back to Mimi and Papa's. They even got to ride on Mimi's rocking horse (something Tony did as a kid) they grinned the whole ride.

We got up and headed home after lunch today. Harper and Jack were asleep before we made it to the highway and were glad to be home and sleeping in their own beds tonight. In fact, we put the kids to bed at 7:15 and they were both asleep by 7:30 (a record, that's for sure).  Tired babies are a sign of a great vacation!  We are so blessed to have time with our family and can't wait until Collett Family Vacation 2015 :)

P.S. Tony's awesome sister, Aunt J, took these photos of the kids- she has a gift!