South Padre!

My parents really wanted to go on some kind of family vacation with us this summer.  We didn't want to go somewhere too far and chose the beach over the mountains.  My mom's boss has a condo in South Padre that they allowed us to use for a reduced rate, so South Padre it was.  My brother was the only one out of all of us to have ever been, so it was new to everyone else.  It was actually very nice.  Compared to Crystal Beach or Galveston, the beach itself was SO much better and the water was SO much clearer.  You weren't scared to go out in this water.  My favorite thing was that there was essentially NO seaweed.  If you've been to Crystal, you know how nasty the seaweed can be!

For only $100 bucks round trip each, we opted to fly to Brownsville versus drive that far with a toddler.  Good choice.  The flight there was full and hot, but thankfully, very short.  The flight home was pretty much empty and as posted before, Carson got to go in the cockpit.  What a treat!

We rented a car for cheap (again, a wise choice that I know my dad appreciated since he didn't have to get up early and come get us).  We were only 30 minutes from the hotel, so as an FYI, if you can fly to Brownsville vs. Harlingen. 

Anyways, the whole trip was pretty relaxed.  We spent a lot of time at the beach just dinking around and also at the pool.  Carson really wanted to show of his new swimming skills. 

If this doesn't make you laugh, nothing will...

Those goggles lasted all of about 2 seconds.

Fun in the surf with David and Erin...

Hangin' with Mommy and Pops...

Building "cakes" with Pops...

More fun in the surf with Pops, "Dove", and Erin

Love this picture!

At first, Carson wasn't so sure about going in the water at the beach, but he eventually loved it. The undertow was pretty strong, so we didn't let him go far at all unless we were holding him. He loved holding onto us and going out farther.

 

So Carson NEVER wears a hat, but Wannie bought him this one at Gap on clearance for like $3 bucks or something.  It's the same color as Daddy's hat, so that's what we called it, "Daddy's hat."  He wore it after that.

He made "Dove" go get lots of "wa-doo"

My little beach baby...

We had fun feeding (or teasing) the seagulls... those suckers can look at you pretty scarily!

Building more "cakes"

Awkward Andrew picture...

We ate lots of seafood.  Carson loves calamari.  The best food was probably the fish they guys caught, along with some fresh shrimp Andrew bought at a seafood market.  Andrew pan-fried it all up with some baked waffle fries and broccoli (everyone but my dad LOVES broccoli in our family), and IT WAS DELICIOUS!  Carson also loves pirates and saying "Argh, Matey."  He doesn't like napping when there is fun to be had.  If we ever go back, which I hope we do, I want to take him to the sea turtle place an maybe Schitterbaun.  I think he was a little too small to be able to really enjoy it.  I frequently overbid in Spades but am generally faster than David at the game Speed.  I didn't get sunburned and actually tanned.  WHOOP!

I also did my good deed for the trip.  I saw a little girl on the beach (maybe 8-10ish, I can't ever tell) who clearly looked scared and like she didn't know where she was.  She had gotten separated from her family.  I wasn't sure if she spoke English, but thankfully she did, at least some.  She was clearly terrified, but I think was slightly comforted once she knew my mom and I were trying to help.  She knew they were near the volleyball court and that there was a blue tent.  I knew of two volleyball courts, but there were a million blue tents.  Based on the direction the came from, I suggested walking back that way towards the court I knew about in front of a restaurant.  If that was the right one, she definitely had wandered pretty far.  We started walking that way and just as we were coming up on the court, I saw a lady RUNNING down the beach in tears.  It was her mother.  She was FRANTIC.  I can only imagine.  In this case, everything ended well, but it certainly could have gone another way.  NOTE TO PARENTS - ANY time you go anywhere with your kids, establish a landmark of some sort that they can easily identify to someone if they get lost.  The fact that she knew they were near a volleyball court made all the difference in the world.  Until she told me that, I honestly didn't know what to do other than to go to our hotel and call the police.

Anyways, we had a great little trip, minus the lack of nap time.  Carson refused to sleep in his pack & play, which, let's be honest, he's WAY too big for.  He takes up the whole thing.  He slept in a twin bed pushed against the wall with one of us.  Andrew got to go to sleep early every night just so Carson would go to sleep. 

I think the thing I enjoyed the most was that he finally got to spend a lot of time with my parents.  He doesn't get to see them enough and when he does, it's usually a rushed weekend.  I felt like he really bonded with his Gigi, Pops, Dove (Uncle Dave), and Erin (David's girlfriend) on the trip.  My dad bought him an Elmo towel and every night at bath time, he specifically requests his Elmo towel AND he tells me who gave it to him "Gigi Pops."  We were fortunate to always take some kind of family vacation, even if it was only camping in some state park.  I cherish those times and hope it's something we can do with our family every year too!