Beach Vacation!!!

We were SO excited for our beach vacation this summer!  This was the first time we planned a vacation for the 4 of us that didn't revolve around visiting family in Sconsinsota.  Don't get me wrong, we LOVE to visit family up north, but it was exciting to have the chance to go somewhere new.

We were told by many Texans not to go to the Texas beaches, but since we weren't wanting a 12+ hour drive, we did some research and decided to check out Port Aransas, TX.  It was about a 5 hour drive from our house which was perfect for a 4 day vacation with our 6- and 4- year olds.

The trip was quite timely in that we all went to see Finding Dory just a few days prior to leaving and I stocked up on Finding Dory snacks, cereal, books, and crafts to take with!

The drive went well; the girls colored, read, and listened to a book on tape.  You have to take a ferry ride over to the island which was exciting and makes the little town feel quaint and quiet.  We checked in Thursday afternoon and headed straight to the beach.  We rented a cute little villa online that we thought would be good, but you never really know until you get there.  It was perfect for us!  Two bedrooms and a full kitchen, with a pool right outside our door.  It was about a 5 block walk to the beach which was great.

We made it!

On the ferry boat

Our cute villa

Let's find the beach!

The ocean is just over those sand dunes!

It wasn't white sand and turqouise water that we might have seen if we'd gone to Florida, but these midwesterners thought it was pretty amazing!

We spent part of every day at the beach jumping in the waves, looking for shells and playing in the sand.  The weather was great, sunny and upper 80's with the exception of one morning when we did our souvenir shopping!  With the ocean breeze it never felt too hot and the water was nice and warm.

Bringing the essentials on our walk to the beach

Little mermaid

Millions of tiny clams

Helping someone fish for bait

Me: Stand by that sandcastle so I can take your picture and send it to Gaga.  I'll tell her you made it.  Ada:  (posing) I did make it.

The highlight of the trip for me (and I think the rest of the fam) was our dolphin excursion.  We went out on a boat and saw lots of dolphins swimming around in the bay.  We happened to be in the right spot at the right time when a few dolphins started swimming and jumping right below us directly in front of the boat!  Ruby and Ada LOVED when the guides did a shrimp trawl, pulling up a net full of sea creatures.  The boat had a water table on the lower level where they showed us everything they caught and let the kids touch and pick up the ocean life.  I was amazed at how brave both girls were, they were not afraid to pick up anything.

Waiting for our boat

That white boat, top right corner was the one we went out in.

Time to set sail

Captain Ruby

The Skipper

Not easy to get pictures of the dolphins jumping!  We took a million pics and these were two of the best!

Starfish

Crab

Stingray

Sand dollar

Port A Dolphins 2016 from Steven Nelson on Vimeo.


Port Aransas was a cute little town with lots of gift shops, ice cream and candy stores.  We also ate amazing dinners every night.  I had my first fish tacos and they were amazing!  The girls each brought some money for a souvenir and ended up choosing the exact same stuffed dolphin.

The girls spotted a rainbow on our last morning as we walked to the beach

Island life was good to us...

but we were over the sand ev.ry.where.  She may or may not have clothes on under that towel.  She didn't.  And she walked all the way back to our villa that way!

Who's coming back with us next year?!!!