What a wonderful day! We woke up this morning and leisurely got ready to face the day. Had breakfast at the hotel and then we were off! Our first destination was put on hold and instead we turned into another souvenir/beach shop. We made some major purchases today...each of the girls got a necklace (Thing1's is a shark tooth necklace, Thing2 got a bright pink puka shell necklace), I got a beach umbrella, DH got a skimboard, and the girls got a boogieboard.
Then we were off to our first destination, the Texas State Aquarium. We had a great time! They have some really neat indoor aquariums, and even have a couple of hands on displays. The girls got to hold marine hermit crabs and pencil urchins and pet stingrays (there was also a shark in the pool but he was not swimming near the edge). We also saw a dolphin show and checked out the sea turtles. We had a great time.
We headed back to the hotel to rest for a little while and change into our beach attire. We spent almost 4 hours at the beach, we were there past sunset. The kids had a great time "surfing" on the boogie board. They also loved body surfing, and even at one point did it with their life jackets on so they could float better. Then we decided to build a sand castle and everyone in the family participated. DH worked on the moat and drawbridge. It was pretty fancy! We used the dribble technique to decorate the castle (I learned this technique from my mom on this same stretch of beach "back in the day") and I was excited to show the girls. DH was kinda impressed, I think. HA!
Now we're back at the hotel, everybody is showered and in bed. I'm heading there myself. We're hoping to get an even earlier start tomorrow. The tourist activity we're planning to participate in is an outdoor thing. And its hot. And we don't like hot. We want to be done before it gets hot!!
Then we were off to our first destination, the Texas State Aquarium. We had a great time! They have some really neat indoor aquariums, and even have a couple of hands on displays. The girls got to hold marine hermit crabs and pencil urchins and pet stingrays (there was also a shark in the pool but he was not swimming near the edge). We also saw a dolphin show and checked out the sea turtles. We had a great time.
We headed back to the hotel to rest for a little while and change into our beach attire. We spent almost 4 hours at the beach, we were there past sunset. The kids had a great time "surfing" on the boogie board. They also loved body surfing, and even at one point did it with their life jackets on so they could float better. Then we decided to build a sand castle and everyone in the family participated. DH worked on the moat and drawbridge. It was pretty fancy! We used the dribble technique to decorate the castle (I learned this technique from my mom on this same stretch of beach "back in the day") and I was excited to show the girls. DH was kinda impressed, I think. HA!
Now we're back at the hotel, everybody is showered and in bed. I'm heading there myself. We're hoping to get an even earlier start tomorrow. The tourist activity we're planning to participate in is an outdoor thing. And its hot. And we don't like hot. We want to be done before it gets hot!!
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