The Gillmores/ Griswolds... We are one in the Same!!!

Alright. I know I promised an update... I have been really busy and slow to tell you about our Griswold family vacation. So here it goes... It all began with me still feeling awful and trying to mentally get excited about being sick on my vacation! :( We were packing Sunday night and getting ready to meet my parents at the bay house in Galveston Monday morning, when Blake turned on the news and noticed there was a hurricane headed for the same place we were, how rude! It just seemed like our luck for us to plan our vacation over 7 months ago and the only week out of the year that we wanted to visit the beach, a hurricane would choose to do the same. Seriously, was that really necessary?!?!? We were trying to be hopeful but also flexible in our plans. So, we finished packing and decided to just head to the Woodlands, to my parent's house to at least be with the family for as long as we could, plus Monday was my dad's birthday, so we couldn't miss that! :)

Monday morning came and we were ready to start our peaceful vacation, or so we thought. Blake was ready way before me, so he lied down to take a nap. I decided to load the car and not wake him. Except, when I got down to my car, I had a completely flat tire! I mean, down to the rim, absolutely not drivable, flat!!! Ugh... just one more thing to add to our "luck!" lol. It was in the 100s that day and felt even hotter, I was running a fever and sweating like crazy trying to stay positive. I got Blake and he began changing the tire to the spare. I felt awful that he was having to do this in the miserable heat but was also mad at him for not noticing earlier when he had gone down to the car. It was a true test of our marriage as I just had to walk away and give us both time to breathe, think, and process away from each other so we didn't say anything we would regret! lol. It's funny now but, at the time... we were both very frustrated and not happy campers. We finally got the tire taken care of, the car reloaded, and were off to get gas and make sure there was enough air in all of the tires. We got to the gas station and had to wait FOREVER as everyone was freaking out over the hurricane and trying to fill up in case of evacuation, I guess. There were lines and crazy people everywhere! It was quite the experience, especially when added to the events of our day thus far. We finally made our way to the Woodlands and arrived around 6:30 PM... WAY later than we had planned or even hoped for. We finally got there and tried to unwind and celebrate with my daddy on his special day! 

Tuesday came and we all slept in anticipating the hurricane, thinking it was not smart to head down to Galveston until the storm blew threw. Much to our surprise, the storm turned, totally missed Galveston and was heading more towards the Woodlands. Seriously??? This became my new phrase for the week. Was this really happening? Oh, it sure was. Only to us, we seem to have this special kind of luck that attracts this kind of drama! After we woke up and realized what was happening, we got ready and began loading the car in the pouring rain trying to get away from the rain and finally get to the bay house to try to relax and enjoy our vacation. We drove through some nasty weather but were pleasantly surprised to arrive in Galveston to really nice weather, yea! We got settled in and just played games around the house for a while. We got cleaned up and then headed off to find some dinner. We stopped at a place near by called The Captain's Table. It looked cool from the outside, so we had high hopes. We got inside and it was pretty cheesy looking and the food wasn't much better. It was just the cherry on top for our "luck" I was telling you about. We had a good laugh and tried to quickly forget how expensive our meal was for not very good food. lol. 

The rest of the trip was mostly "drama free" except for some funny inside secrets with my family that I cannot share, of course! ;) Until Thursday night... my brother went don't to the bunk house to go to sleep with he found some friends had infested his suitcase, bed and his whole room... ROACHES!!! Huge, Texas-sized roaches. One jumped on his neck and he was jumping all over the room throwing his shoes trying to kill them. It was hilarious, except to him of course! lol. We got him moved up to Whit's room and finally went to bed around 3:00 Am or so. We left the bay house Friday morning, so the guy who owns it could have it back for the weekend. We hung out at "The Strand" all day and headed back to The Woodlands Friday afternoon. 

Friday night, Saturday and Sunday were spent at my parent's house and consumed with the Olympics, popcorn, lots of Rummikub, and Farkle (a card game). lol. I love my family and always have so much fun when we are simply all together! 

Here are some (ok, a bunch of) pictures of our trip...

My dad, Nathan (little brother) & Eric (future brother-in-law)

decided to build with the Jenga blocks trying to have fun @ home

The whole family (well, almost) plus my dad's parents but minus my mom

on Monday night August 4th

Dad turned 48!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

 

Papa Jim got some new shorts but couldn't bear to give up the tube socks and cowboy boots he was so used to wearing...

Dad enjoying his new hammock he got for his birthday

I was ready for hurricane Edouard that had so rudely decided to ruin/

or at least delay our family vacation... lol. ;)

The storm was a total bust (we got more rain in the Woodlands than they did in Galveston)

so by Tuesday afternoon we were finally...

Off to Galveston...

This is the beautiful bay house in Galveston, a family friend let us borrow for our little vacation get-a-way two weeks ago. :) We were so blessed. It was beyond nice and extremely relaxing...

Here is what it looks like from the street

Here is what it looks like from the bay

We had dinner at a really awful local sea food place, so we decided to entertain ourselves :)

Eric and Whitney were trying to smile and be troopers as we ate... yummy!

We were doing the same @ good 'ole Captain's Table 

A little sisterly love

We had a lot of fun doing random activities, such as kayaking, we relaxed... read books, laid out, enjoyed the weather, played lots of games, played pool, hung out on the beach, fished, got ice cream, walked on the sea wall & loved just being a family.....

Get 'em Eric! 

Nate is such a stud!

My dad is the coolest dad EVER!!!

My dad, his parents & Taz just hanging out

Sometimes it's nice to do nothing! 

My dad's dog, Taz, is such a rockstar!!!

Whit's camera has some cool color features we were playing with...

My Papa Jim is a serious pool shark! ;)

Dad & his kidos playing on the beach

Group shower... we are such a crazy family!!!

Was Blake really fishing?!?!?

Dad caught one... a baby one!

Heck yes Nate... get ya one!

Eric finally got one too! Wah-hoo!

Here is Blake "walking" Eric's fish for him

We couldn't let Blake feel left out,

so here he is posing with the fish Eric caught. lol

Eric & Blake cooked a huge family dinner for all of us...

they totally scored big points with the Gillmores... we love to eat! ;)

The familia being lazy watching t.v.

We love us some Ben & Jerry's

They ate theirs WAY faster than the rest of us!

My boy looks good in a cowboy hat... even if he was just borrowing it from my Papa

We liked the fun shrimp in the background

It's always fun when we are together!

The food at this place was awesome- good sea food!

Dad & Mom

We like to goof off no matter where we are :)

All of the kids...

He's so much fun!

The Waterfall Cafe had the best burgers, or maybe we were just really hungry! lol. 

This phone booth is really special to Blake & I- We met in college by singing in a traveling group together. At our first photo shoot, we crammed our whole group in this photo booth in Galveston, good times and funny memories of how we met and came to be. :)

Awww... the memories of when it all began...

We could have fit more!!! ;)

We had coke floats & got some yummy homemade fudge... delicious!!!

It was so funny when Eric was graded a "mild" lover, but...

Nathan was graded a "passionate" lover! Too funny!