Galveston Day 2

Today was our first full day on the beach and we took full advantage. After breakfast we headed straight for the sand.  I have to say that going to the beach with 2 kids isn't exactly relaxing so it sure was nice to have extra hands and eyes while playing around all day.  We had a great time but we sure were exhausted by the end of every day!

Emma ate so much sand.  In every picture her face is covered!

Snack time!

Chris and Brett waiting on the perfect wave

Ashley doesn't like to get in the ocean but she was a good sport and played with the girls

After our beach day we all got cleaned up and attempted family pictures on the beach.  The wind was almost non existant, which was nice, however since there was no wind the mosquitos were absoulutely horrible!  They were pretty much eating us alive so we didn't last too long but we still managed to get several shots.

Gram was being silly and imitating all of us trying to get the kids to look at the camera and smile

my little poser...

At Benno's for dinner.  Somehow Gram got stuck with all the kids at dinner two nights in a row

 Silly faces!

Emma was great at dinner every night and was actually quite noisy.  I think she got louder after being around all the big kids.  I guess when you are the 6th grandchild you have to be extra loud to make sure everyone hears you!

Yea, Emma!  She was very much into clapping her hands this trip.



Galveston Day 1

Yesterday we got home from spending 4 nights at the beach in Galveston with Chase's side of the family.  We went back to the Islander East for the 3rd year in a row and it did not disappoint.  For our reference, we stayed in condo 413, which was an end unit, with Chase's parents and then Jill's crew was in a 407.  Both units had been updated with nice furnishings so they were great units.  This was Emma's first vacation and she did very well.  It took us exacatly 5 hours to get there including a quick stop at McDonalds for lunch.  It was touch and go for about an hour before we stopped becauase I think Emma was hungry and bored of being in the car but she fell asleep after she ate and it was much more peaceful after that.  I have a bajillion pictures so here's some from our first day of family fun.

Here's a picture of our room.  All 4 of us stayed in the room together and it worked out just fine.  We had a full size pull out couch that Madison had all to herself and Emma slept in her pack n play.  The air conditioner was blasting most of the time so it drowned out any noise from one of us moving around in the room.

Gram and Grandad's room

our kitchen area was really nice but it could have been a little bit bigger.  When you have 14 people trying to eat lunch it got a little cramped!

As soon as we unloaded we put on our suits and hit the beach.  When we were pulling up to our condo Madison said, "It's time to put on our swim suits, people," she was just a tad bit excited to be on vacation!

Toes in the water, diaper in the sand

 My bathing beauty in her "boobies."  This is what she calls the top to her 2 piece suit

 Emma was so relaxed with the sound of the ocean waves that she fell asleep in Jill's arms

Jumping waves with daddy is sooo much fun!

These 2 have quite the time together.  They are 9 months apart and love to play

All cleaned up and ready for dinner

The Ray Family

Posing with Aunt Sheshe, the Peacock crew stayed at Hotel Galvez