David got his first "weekend" off in several years and we decided to take a family vacation down to Galveston. We packed up and left Friday afternoon- beach bound! Well, let's just say the phrase "life always happens while you're making other plans" could be our mantra for the weekend. First off, we hit traffic in Houston, three tolls, and steady rain...it took us 6 hours to finally get to Galveston. We arrive and Little David comments from the back seat, "I am NOT impressed with this place guys!" I thought David and I were going to lose it we were laughing so hard. I think our standard of the beach is a little high, considering South Carolina has some pretty darn beautiful beaches. Galveston was devastated by hurricane Ike this past fall and it is still in bad shape. Many of the businesses are still closed, there is debris everywhere, so many people displaced from their homes, piers washed away, beaches washed away.....it was truly sad.
Still eager to embrace a new adventure, we check into our condo-which was very nice but still had so much water damage...again, sad. I had at least packed food and snacks for the kids and rice milk but after the long journey we were hungry and tired. In order to get any food (not even a vending machine in the condo) we would have to go back out into Galveston and we were down on the east end away from everything. We decided to order pizza in and stayed up late watching a Disney movie with Jr.
The next morning, we awoke to a foggy, rainy and increasingly growing colder morning. We decided to go out to the aquarium. We had a great time at the aquarium! After that, we realized the water park (even the indoor part) was not open, and many of the other "kid activities" were closed. We couldn't go to the beach due to weather so we decided to just save the money we would've spent on another night in the condo and head back.
Plan B...we drove to NASA and drove around that area for 2.5 hrs looking for a hotel room. No hotels were to be found. Most of the hotels in Galveston and outlying areas are still full with Fema families. So, with heavy hearts we headed home. We made it a point to discuss how lucky we are and how many blessings we have, when so many of those people are still homeless.
We arrived home and after spending more than 14 hrs (cumulatively) in the car, were relieved to just get back in our own beds. We woke up Sunday morning, had a nice breakfast at home and headed to the park and then our local exotic safari zoo. Little David and I have been to this zoo before but it was Grant and Daddy's first time. The experience there is so unique because you have bison, Scottish cows, camels, deer, llamas and many other animals come up and eat right out of your hand. Daddy really enjoyed it too and it was good to see him relax and let go of the stresses of work, even if for a short time.
So, although our weekend wasn't what we pictured, it was wonderful because we got to spend it together! We will remember the people in Galveston in our prayers as they rebuild and we are grateful that God opened our eyes to even more of our blessings.
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