Galveston Solo....Somewhat

For my birthday this year, Toby and I took our first vacation solo a.k.a kid free. Skye had to work most of the week we would be gone and was not interested in going with us.

The feeling of freedom that comes from traveling kid free is like you've died and gone to heaven. Of course, we had Bo, but he's so old now that he's a perfect traveling companion.

The first day we got there we walked along the seawall. We walked about eight miles. Our hotel was right on the beach and there are so many things to see and do along the seawall.

We checked out a few souvenir shops...

 Had some lunch and a margarita...

Cool little benches along the seawall to sit and watch the ocean....

Hotel Galvez. Right on the beach. Really cool and really old....

There was some kind of a memorial, I'm assuming for children who've drowned...

The next day we woke to clouds. It turned out to be a good thing, because it never rained but the clouds kept it from being so hot...

Pleasure Pier was right down from our hotel, it was so pretty when it's lit up at night...

 Downtown on The Strand...

Hanging out on the outside hotel deck in the evenings....

Pretty beach flowers....

Bird prints in the sand...

Riding the trolley....

One of Galveston's cruise ships. On my bucket list...

Enjoying a drink on the deck at Willie G's...

Letting Bo play in the water and chase seagulls....

More bird prints in the sand...

Riding the ferry across to Bolivar. Our plan was to swim at Crystal Beach, turns out Crystal Beach was not so crystal, so we ended up doing a little sight seeing and coming back to Galveston to swim where the waters were much prettier. The ferry ride was nice though...

The Lighthouse in Bolivar...

Every restaurant we ate at had a view of the beach...

The last day we were there, Skye decided to join us since she had the day off. We had a perfect family day.  We spent the day swimming then to Pleasure Pier that evening..

View from the top of the Ferris wheel....

More drinks, more selfies...

On the ferry....

I just want to say that I fell absolutely in LOVE with Galveston. Just writing this blog makes me pine for Galveston. I can't wait to go back next month for Toby's birthday.

FAMILY

Here are a few more pictures from Lucas and Emily's visit in July...

When this pic was taken, Emily was feeling tired and had gone inside for a nap. She was tired because me and Toby are going to be GRANDPARENTS!!

It's a small world. When Lucas and Emily were in Yellowstone, they ran across Lucas's best friend from high school, Curtis. How cool was that?!!!!

My pretty flowers Skye got me for my birthday. Nothing beats fresh cut flowers for any occasion or just because....

Family, Friends and Freedom

July 4th was pleasant this year. Lucas and Emily arrived in from Daphne to share the day with us...well, me anyway. Toby and Skye had to work. Skye did get to come home for lunch and spend a little time with them. They'll be headed back through Austin tomorrow from their trip to Yellowstone and both Toby and Skye will be off to spend time with them.

On the 4th me, Lucas and Emily spent time lounging in the pool and catching up. Lucas and Emily went to bed very early because they were headed out early the next day to Yellowstone. I enjoyed the evening fireworks show right in front of my house with the neighbors. I'm pretty sure Lucas and Emily didn't get a very restful sleep from all the noise.

No pics from the 4th, mom was having too much fun to think about snapping photos.

I often pass by this old cemetery old the country road near my house. It's off the beaten path and looks interesting to me. I've often wanted to stop and check it out, so the other day when Skye was off we decided to drive up there and take a gander at it. It's chained off and I wasn't sure if we were allowed on there, but we took the chance anyway.

There were a lot of old gravestones, so old you couldn't even see the engravings anymore. Then there were some new graves, a lot of them with the same family names and grouped together which led me to believe it was some kind of family cemetery...

Last week Toby and I hiked Bull Creek. It was nice to be able to cool off in the creek after a hot hike....

We like to hang out with our friends Dean and Ruben at least once a week. They're fun to be around and we enjoy their company....

Some other random photos from the last couple of weeks...

Oh! And me and Toby went and checked out Walter E. Long Lake a.k.a Decker Lake. It's very close to our house and we haven't been there in about ten years because it's really not much there for anyone without a boat or some other water craft. Recently, I found out there making some big improvements to the lake....cabins, piers, boat rentals,  hiking trails, etc. so that will be nice...

There's a nice swimming area too...