Thursday, March 31, 2011

Friends From the North

When my mom started chemo, one of our fabulous family friends made a point to offer to come and entertain/care for/sit with my mom sometime.  This past weekend was it!  Mary and her daughter, Rachael, made a quick visit from the cold, snowy north.  They were able to combine some fun and sun for a very successful trip.  We went to Galveston one day and checked out the Tall Ship Elissa.  Travis is very into pirates these days so a pirate-looking ship was first rate for him.  (He didn't even seem bothered by the fact that it is really just a cargo ship...)

Here the boys are standing by the water line marks from the storms that have come through Galveston.  The top line is from Hurricane Ike, during Justin's surgery.  I missed the Hurricane of 1900.  That line isn't even in the picture.  I was concerned about getting the boys in the picture and I missed the top line!


Inside the ship in the crew bunk area.  Not very spacious!


Down in the engine room.


Justin wanted to slide down the pole.  He actually held on very well!  I even sent the picture to Miss Penny.

Not to be outdone...


Travis formed quite a bond with Rachael.  She played pirate, fishing, hunting and every other game he could invent. 


Not to be outdone...  This required two hands though!


Of course we had to do a little steering.


Travis thought this was great!


We decided that if we ever had to work on a ship, we would want to be the captain.  Much better sleeping quarters!  And a lounge area included!


The spare cabin wasn't even all that great, but at least it was private.


This picture we took from across the ship.  Justin loved checking everything out.


The whole gang from afar.


And up close.  I love Justin's "I am looking into the sun and I can't see" face.


Inside the museum there was fun stuff to see...


Like cannons!  Just like on pirate ships.  (Did I mention Travis has decided that he wants to be a pirate when he grows up?  What do you do with that one??)


Justin was checking out the cannon and the fun sound it made when you yelled into the barrel.  He cracked himself up!


There was even fisherman's gear for dress up.  The reflectors kind of messed up the picture.

After a bite to eat, we hit the beach!  It was a little chilly (especially the water) but there was no stopping these northern girls from enjoying a little sand and surf!  It reminds me of a picture from when we visited my aunt in Florida.  She is sitting wrapped up in pants and sweatshirt, and the four of us kids were all in bathing suits playing in the sand!  We weren't quite that bad.




Randy and I didn't bring our suits, because we really didn't think the boys would go in the water much beyond knee level.  Silly us!  Both boys enjoyed the water full force, and after a few attempts to acclimate himself, Travis even went wave jumping with Rachael.  Fortunately, she was happy to go in with both boys.



The mark of a perfect Spring Break:  A picture at the beach.  Great memories for sure.


I was trying to hold Justin a little away from me so I wouldn't get wet.  I am not sure why I tried, by this point he had already peed on me!


After the photo session Justin decided to throw the seaweed back into the ocean where it belonged.  It was quite the losing battle.




We had to leave when Justin started turning purple and we knew he wouldn't stay away from the water long enough to warm up.  We wrapped him in a towel and sat him on my mom's lap while we coaxed Travis back in from the water.

We haven't been to Galveston in so long and this trip was perfect.  The fact that my mom felt good enough to go was a huge blessing.  Both boys fell asleep on the way home and after dinner and a movie they tumbled into bed.  Randy and I got a date night out of Mary and Rachael's visit too!

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