HappyBear at Play

Go, go, LittleBear!

A fun family weekend in Galveston!

Wow - it's been over a month since our last post?? Yikes!

Before any more time slips away, we should recap our first family vacation as a trio to somewhere other than grandparents' houses -- a long weekend in Galveston with the Brown family!

Thanks to Aunt Sue and Uncle Vic's generosity, Jeff's whole family -- the three of us, Aunt Sue and Uncle Vic, Grandma B, Kim, Josh and their four kids -- were all able to stay together in a house right on the beach at Galveston for four days (three nights). It was beautiful weather -- couldn't have been more perfect, really, with highs in the low 80s and cooling off at night. The house was amazing -- plenty of room for all 12 of us, and Bethany especially enjoyed the decks off the back that overlooked the ocean.

The water stayed pretty shallow until you got really far out, so that worked well for all the kids. Being just out of peak season, the beach was almost empty besides us. We think we saw a bit of oil around, presumably from the big oil spill this summer, but not enough to affect us in any way. We were just a few minutes from the Sea Wall, too, which pleased Bethany's historical side and provided an opportunity for us young parents to conveniently get away for a date one night.

The three of us also got to share lunch one day with our friends Tim, Jenn and their new baby Emma from Pennsylvania, who moved down to Galveston to help those who suffered (and are still suffering) following Hurricane Ike. It was fun, guys, and so nice to meet Emma!

Back with the family, the kids all really seemed to enjoy playing together. LittleBear spent a lot of time admiring what the bigger kids were doing (esp. Little J), and I think Little J and E had fun doting on LittleBear, too. Us parents appreciated having a few extra sets of adult eyes to help watch all the little ones, too!

Lots of fun times were had by all! Here's our round-up of pics from the weekend (including quite a few shared by Aunt Sue and Kim), and here's a video of LittleBear and Little J playing in the house one afternoon.

Embedded below is another video of LittleBear during his first foray into the water. He seemed to generally enjoy it, until he was hit in the face by his first wave of salt water. That pretty much did him in at that point. We went back out again the next day, and he again bravely walked into the water right alongside us until he got another taste of salt water. That was enough for him. We'll try again when he's a little older.

All in all, a very fun weekend with family!!