MiniVacay Recap...

** The summer has gone to my head. I wrote this post over a week ago and then I never hit post. Long live summer.** 

We decided that we wanted a "simple summer" this year. No big trips - no pressure to plan the "perfect" vacation. We really just wanted time with We5Kings, so we decided on a weekend getaway to Galveston and it was maybe the best decision ever. 

We drove down to Houston last Thursday to hang with Ryan at his hotel and then headed to Galveston early on Friday. We hadn't been to Moody Gardens and we knew the kids would love it - perfect combo of outdoor/indoor fun to beat the Texas heat. On Friday we tackled the Aquarium and none of us were disappointed by the giant amount of fun that was in store. 

I couldn't have planned this picture better if I tried... 

I really tried hard not to take 1000 pictures - I took pictures when the kids requested them and only when I thought it was "worth" the stop. This kept us moving through the aquarium and allowed me to take THEM in and not some random photo-op. It's amazing what almost a decade of parenting can teach you.

What do you think? Should we be penguins for Halloween? 

We spent about a half an hour in the "tunnel" watching the fish swim over head - trying to get a glimpse of every single shark and clearly searching for Nemo and Dory. I did want a picture of us here and wifey of our cameraman didn't want to move. 

What do you think? I'm getting good at the photoshop! 

 As we were heading out Radley spotted this nurse shark and had to compare this size which clearly meant the girls did, too. 

(We were dying at all the Christmas decorations - even fish and sharks celebrate Christmas in July. HA!)

Moody Gardens turned out to be even better than we expected. There was tons to see, not too crowded and INCREDIBLY priced. Since we were staying the weekend, we didn't feel rushed to go through everything at once - we knew we could spend two days looking around. And since we are a family of 5, the annual membership was the smartest purchase by far. This gave us access to all 3 pyramids and their newly added "private beach" and water park.  

I snapped about 10 total pictures including this one to prove Ryan and I exist and we finished our Friday in the sun before heading to dinner. 

We decided Saturday would be our day at the beach. We slept in, grabbed some grub at the hotel, slathered on the sunscreen and headed out.

One family picture to prove we were all there and it was time for fun!

These two are never too far from each other. 

I know that birds creep lots of people out, but we kind of LOVE feeding the seagulls. 

The birds were big fans, too. 

We stayed at the beach all day, breaking for about a two hours to grab lunch at the hotel and swim in the pool before heading back for more. We finally left around 5oclock to wash up and go get dinner. Landry just couldn't make it which basically meant the day was perfect. 

We rounded out the weekend by returning to Moody Gardens on Sunday to explore the Rainforest - which was my favorite of the three pyramids. And as much as Radley really really REALLY loves sea life, I think even he swayed to this exhibit. 

It's hard not to when the animals are so CLOSE to you. 

I didn't even have to zoom - this guy was lounging by the door so he could enjoy a cool breeze every now and then. Monkeys are smart. 

They do a great job of keeping things eye level for the kiddos and really keep their attention by making everything so engaging. 

I loved being able to tell stories of my trip to Costa Rica and showing them everything I was able to see in a real rain forest. 

I love when the kids insist on taking a picture of us. 

Emmy was in HEAVEN - she LOVES parrots and insisted on taking tons of pictures AND sending a video to Gigi. 

And this dude followed Radley and his shoelaces around - it was the funniest thing ever but he was convinced that those things were food. 

So many beautiful creatures to see... 

and I wanted to plant each of these in my yard immediately.

So thankful for a weekend away and so happy that we chose to do something "in our own backyard". 

Can't wait to go back - Radley has already requested it for his birthday!

:)