Matagorda Bay
Is this a cool sign, or what! I gotta get a sign like this!Matagorda is where one of LaSalle's shipwrecks was discovered. There is a really cool museum in Bay City that houses a lot of the artifacts found. Chris and Heather took the kids there one afternoon. (As soon as I get Heather's pics, I will have more vacay photos to post!!.... no rush, Heather!)
The beach at Matagorda was great.... much nicer (and cleaner) than Crystal! We will definitely be back!
We got home from our beach trip Monday afternoon, and I still haven't finished unpacking. I came back from the beach sick with whatever Ian had and am still feeling puny.... that's why it is taking me so long to blog! 
Ian, luckily was over his cold by the time we got to Matagorda. Bella, on the other hand, picked it up and felt badly for most of it. She didn't let it slow her down, though. And I kept her hopped up on drugs :) and let her get lots of sleep. We tried our best to keep Garrison and Delaney from catching anything.... hopefully, they never did... but since I caught it the last day, you never know! (I'm afraid to call and ask!) 
Isn't Delaney a little cutie pie?!
I LOVE being at the beach with my kids!! It warms the cockles of my heart!!!!!
We had a really fun time. We had lots of adventures! We both brought kayaks. Mainly for Chris and Phil to go fishing, but also for the kids to have some fun. I can't wait til they're older so we can really have some fun kayaking! The ladies will be taking the lead on this one, right, Heather? tee hee
On the second day, Phil caught a HUGE fish. It was a black drum. He initially thought it was a redfish. Needless to say, we didn't eat it. He basically had to wrestle the thing onto the kayak. And he caught it on a 14 lb test fishing line (whatever that means). The only part that would fit in the net was its head. Poor Chris, he didn't have much luck with the fishing.... so he finally gave up and left it with Phil... We bow down to the KING of FISHERMAN!!!
This is one UGLY fish... and can you see those lips (the fish... not Phil's)?!
One evening, we packed up the grill and a cooler full of food and went to an area out in the marsh to kayak and fish. There wasn't another soul around. We just hung out and stayed til the sun set..... beautiful, wasn't it, Heather? :)
T
We took the kids crabbing one evening.... Ian's first time!! He had so much fun.
Here is his first crab!! 
Can you see the size of it..... pretty impressive for his first crab!!
But more than the crabs, Ian was really excited about the huge barge stopping to talk to him! 
The first one went by and honked at him. He just thought that was the coolest thing. Then, another one came by and they actually stopped (they had to pull over for another barge). The guys came out to talk to Ian. He couldn't believe it! He was non-stop chattering with them. I'm sure they didn't hear half of what he said, but they acted like they did and were so nice, which really made his day! Now, THAT was the coolest thing!
Garrison and Bella.... teamwork!!
I didn't do too badly, either... Look at the big crab I caught!!
Bella got her first jellyfish sting this trip. She was so brave about it. Didn't even cry. Luckily, I had my ointment with me! After that, she was finished with the beach.... just for the day, though. She didn't let it keep her out of the ocean for long... 
This picture was taken right after her sting. You probably can't see it, but she's sticking out her tongue. It's what she did after I asked everyone to smile for the camera!!
.... that is, until the next day, when she got stung again. This time was bad. It got her really good, and she came screaming out of the water. She was not a happy camper. We're thinking it might've been something other than a jellyfish. And today, over a week later, she still has these strange marks on her arm where she was stung. Never seen anything like it before.
And poor Garrison. That same day he also got stung. In two places! He got it on the arm AND the leg. He was also very brave.... we've got some tough kids! After that, we packed up and headed for the pool! I don't think we've ever seen so many jellyfish! We had been spotting them throughout the week. Man, did Ian luck out!
Heather had come up with a plan for the kids to give back a little. So, one day, we had a "trash race". We told the kids they had to each pick up at least 20 pieces of trash and when they were finished, they'd get a prize. Man, were they excited to do this! So, I followed them with a trash bag while they ran around, picking up garbage. Much to my amazement, each kid did not want to stop at their 20 pieces. They all kept going, and we completely filled that bag! What a proud mommy moment! 
The prizes were these huge shells that were given to us by the man on the tractor who cleans up the beach. One day, while we were playing on the beach, he stopped to talk to Chris and handed him these beautiful shells that he finds in the wintertime and keeps in his tractor to give away. So, we kept them hidden until after the race.
This year, we stayed in a condo. It was pretty much just like any other beach house, only there were 2 condos in each unit, but we had plenty of privacy. And our condo overlooked a lagoon. Very pretty. The cool part was that our subdivision had a swimming pool. The kids LOVED that. And it was nice having something else fun for the kids to do besides getting sandy and sticky at the beach (although, I don't mind it at all!!).
We decided to go out for burgers one night. We went to this little joint. That's basically what it looked like... a beer joint. But we were told they had great food. It was no lie... the food was great. But while we were there, we got to witness a little domestic altercation (drunken wife yelling expletives at drunken husband).... it was just a little excitement. Luckily, they were leaving the restaurant while having their dispute, and since the kids seemed to have been oblivious to the whole thing, we weren't forced to explain that lovely commentary.
And Ian didn't even make it long enough for the food to come out. Poor little guy fell asleep on the table and wouldn't wake up! 
Passed out on the table at the beer joint. Hmmmm.......
The kids had fun piling onto the bed, watching movies on our tiny dvd player!
Our last night, we decided to go for a drive near the pier after dinner. It was pretty deserted and the sun was beginning to set. We looked for seashells and just hung out til it got too dark to see. 
Ian, Bella, Tara & Brandy... Having fun on the slip & slide
Here they all are... Ian, Tara, Misty, James, Brandy, Bella
What a cool grandma, getting on the floor and playing with the kids!
Bella was very upset that we couldn't sleep over at Moma's also. She has really been wanting to spend the night there, but only if I'm there! I guess we'll have to work something out!
Ian and Abby... how CUTE are they??
Here's Bella in the playroom... somehow, I didn't get a picture of Brian!
Craig has this cool game system.... wii???? Anyway, he and Chris played bowling, then boxing. This is them trying to mangle each other. Too funny. But to see them in action was really hilarious.
We started out at Teen Mania but after seeing the "green" water, ended up at Mercy Ships. They also have a great pool there (it's nice having friends with connections! : ) 
Bella and (one-year-old!) Bridget 
Austin, Ian, Zach 
This one is just to show how tan my little man is!
Alisa, Lisa, and Andrea
