As I stated in my last entry, Lori worked a night shift in the ER on Tuesday night, and unfortunately she only got to lay down for 1 hour during the night. Needless to say, she was pretty whipped the next morning. She finally got home about 9:00am and after making a few last minute preparations, the family unit was on it's way. The miles passed quickly (except for the wreck we were stuck behind for 20 minutes in South Dallas), and Lori and the boys were able to nap a little bit. We finally stopped for lunch in Buffalo, Texas, and everybody enjoyed the hamburgers and the chance to stretch our legs. We got back on the road about 30 minutes later, and made really good time all the way to Galveston. 331 miles in 5 hours in 29 minutes is not too shabby when you are traveling with two small children and a dog.
Once we got to the beach house and unpacked and ate, we headed for the beach. We got to the beach about 7:00pm, and we made the most of the 1 1/2 hours of daylight that remained. Aidan of course was the first to the water. I am quite sure that noise laws were being violated as Aidan's Screams, and Christopher's squeals bellowed through the evening air. Yep, I'm pretty sure that I heard a couple of car alarms going off from the ear piercing decibels being emitted from the young Thornton Clan. After a minute or so, the shrills turned to smiles a amazement, as watery bliss engulfed their bodies. Here is video that I shot about 30 minutes after we arrived.
We finally left the beach about 8:15pm, and went back to the house to get a bite to eat. After eating, we were extremely tired, and an early night was had by all.
We woke up on Thursday morning looking forward to spending the day at the beach, and waiting for our wonderful friends to get into town. Kenny and Hailey had taken off work on Friday, so they and Carley were driving down that evening. We got to the beach around noon, and commenced frolicking for the next 4 hours. Christopher takes after his brother and absolutely loves the beach. He has also copied Aidan's fearlessness, and wants to swim with the big boys. It takes the eyes of a Hawk and the quickness of a Cheetah to keep up with that little Monkey. Here is a picture of him frolicking around in his entirely too big beach clothes.
Actually the shirt fit just fine, but the "shorts" would have looked great with a pair of cowboy boots. Oh well, he did not seem to mind. While I was playing chase the Monkey, Aidan and Lori were out riding (as Aidan put it) some "gnarly" waves.
We left the beach about 4:00pm, and went back to the beach house to get cleaned up. After cleaning up, we had to drive into town and do some grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. For those of you who want to know, I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy. Geeshhhh....talk about some strange ducks........wow. Strange people in mass quantities all under one roof does not appeal to me one stinking bit. It's pretty bad when one is elated to get back into the 90 degree / 80%humidity parking lot. After a quick sprint to the vehicle and loading up the booty, we were on our way back to relaxation central. After getting back to the beach house we cooked and ate dinner. Kenny and Hailey got in a couple of hours later, and after getting the kids to bed, we start catching up with our old friends. Last time we did that, as I wrote on my last Galveston blog, we did not get to bed unitl almost 5:00 am. I wanted to make sure that did not happen again, so we limited ourselves to a few hours, and we all got to bed at a semi-decent hour (1:30am). Friday morning came in a flash, and we were all up by 6:30am. Christopher made sure of that with his rousing impression of a Pterodactyl. Lord that boy can be loud! Anyway, getting woken up that early is not a bad thing because that meant that Hailey would start cooking her absolutely delicious, world famous, mouth watering breakfast casserole. YUMMY! After feasting on entirely too much casserole, Ken and I made the journey back towards town for our Shrimp run. One of my favorite things about Galveston is the ability to get fresh (i'm talking right off the boat) Shrimp. We purchased 5lbs of Large Shrimp with Saturday's cookout/feast never far from our minds. After we got back to the beach house, everybody prepared for a day in the sun.
We got to the beach about 2:00pm, and it was a great day to be there. It was a bit overcast, and not too hot. The water was perfect, and Ken and Aidan set out to tame some waves.
Christopher meanwhile, sat in the sand and contemplated life's little secrets.
Well, maybe that's stretching it a bit....he was probably plotting his escape from the ever watchful eyes of his mother. Either way, he was cute as a button, and really enjoying himself. Here he is, involved in a pretty serious shark attack.
We stayed at the beach for almost 4 hours, and by the time we left, everyone was quite tired. We drove the 3 minutes back to beach house, and started getting the grill ready for the forthcoming burger and hotdog extravaganza. After stuffing our faces and getting the kids to sleep, we had a wonderful surprise when another of our good friends showed up to visit. We weren't expecting to see Kirk until Saturday, so his early arrival was just icing on the cake. Kirk is another one of those special friends that you can't help but to feel comfortable around. We all sat and visited until the early morning hours, and then called it a night.Saturday morning started off with a few showers, but it had all cleared up by noon. While we were waiting for the weather to pass through, we got a phone call from an old friend that we have not seen in years. She lives with her husband and 3 kids about 2 hours away from the beach. Sara and Alan decided to meet us at the beach, and they brought their 10 year old daughter Morgan, and their 7 year old son Nolan with them. Aidan and Carley now had some new playmates to visit with, and I was ecstatic that I was going to get to see my old friend Sara. I have been great friends with Sara for almost 23 years, and she is like a sister to me. All though we still speak to each other on the phone, it's been far too long since we have been face to face.
We all meet out at the beach about 2:00pm and once again the weather was great. After some big hugs were exchanged and the kids were introduced to each other, we all started visiting properly. While Sara and Hailey were visiting,
daddy was being challenged by is 5 year old son in soccer.
Morgan joined forces with Aidan, at which time I called in Kirk for my backup. Nothing like being old. Here is a shot of Carley trying out the boogie board.
After all of the playing, it was snack time.
We stayed at the beach until almost 6:00pm, and then made our way back to the beach house to begin preparing the feast. T-bones - New York Strips - Boiled shrimp and my favorite Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Jalapeño Shrimp. MMMmmmmmmMMMmmmmmm!!!!!! Everything turned out perfect, and everyone ate like there was no tomorrow. After dinner it was surprise time for Aidan and Christopher. Hailey made cup cakes for their forthcoming birthdays, and she and Kenny also had presents for the boys. So, everyone further stuffed their faces with delicious cakes, and Aidan tore into his Pokemon presents. After the festivities and the sugar, Aidan an Nolan got a bit goofy.
The kids drifted off to dreamland, and all of the "grown ups" filed downstairs. We played darts, drank a few cold beverages, and just reminisced about old times. It was really great to have so many good friends in one place again. I would not trade my friendship with those guys and girls for anything in the world. They are all quality people, and we are so lucky to have each one in our lives. The night ended about 2:00am, with the last day of the visit looming just over the horizon.Sunday morning was overcast, and we knew there would be a good chance of rain. Sara, Alan, and the kids left around noon, and the rest of us prepared for a final trip to the beach. We got there about 1:00pm and hoped that our good fortune would last. While Lori spent some quality time with Christopher,
Kirk started setting up his fishing gear. Mystic suddenly took an interest in what Kirk was doing when she noticed the bait fish flopping around on the hooks. Well, she took and interest all right, and the next thing you know she was chomping down on the lowest fish.....yeah, the one with the hook in it. Thankfully the hook only grazed her bottom lip and just cut it a little bit. It could of been much worse. Here is a picture of the carnage.
A short time later, the Heavens broke loose and put a big damper on our last's day's beach time. Bummer. We packed everyone and everything up and headed back to the beach house. After we got back, everyone showered, and started the long depressing job of packing. Wow, where did those 4 days go? A blur I tell you. I started loading up the CX-9 about 5:30 and we were packed and not wanting to leave by 6:00pm. We said our sorrowful goodbyes and took a few last pictures.
We then set out on our journey home and 5 1/2 hours later we pulled into our driveway. We are very thankful that we've had the opportunity to visit the beach and our friends twice this summer. It sure was fun, and a big thanks goes out to the Canons for inviting us. As of May this year, Kenny and I have been friends for 20 years. We have both had our share of trials and tribulations during that time, and have relied on our friendship for guidance many times. I could not ask for a better person to call my buddy. We are all proud to know him and his family and to be able to share such special times with such fantastic people.
I will leave you with one more note. Click on the picture, step back, and take it all in slowly.
KING OF THE BEACH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
William
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