Our Family Trip to Galveston!

Other titles considered:
"Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" And DIE!
"The Little Mosquito that Could" And did.
"How Your Positive Attitude Can Save Your Family Vacation"
"50 Ways to Kill Mosquitoes" Though, don't count on any of them working here in Galveston
"Stagnant Air, Stagnant Water: Mosquito Haven"

"Some Beach that I Used to Know" Like last visit, when it wasn't infested with mosquitoes...
"How to Be Itchy"
"Para-Para-Para-dise" For Mosquitoes

Luke and I are both used to visiting the beach in the summertime, and we want the same traditional trip for our kids. Lyla has been to the beach 4 times in her 4 years, and Flint already twice! We planned this trip with the intent of keeping it "just us" for most of the trip. It's a shame we couldn't spent more time on vacation so we could have time with our families, friends, and time to ourselves, but we were happy to have Nonna there a couple of days, and happy to have some "just us" time for the next five.
We packed up the car one Friday morning in June, and loaded the kids in with as many distractions as would fit, including coloring stuff, books, DVDs, snacks, a few toys, blankies to snuggle, and more snacks. We were prepared to make many stops to allow small feet to walk around and take breaks, but they were surprisingly easy on the way down. We only had a few fussy moments, and they were easily redirected. Naps were disappointingly brief, but the kiddos were the happy sort of sleep-drunk that we cherish, instead of the cranky, miserable sort, that we just don't like.

 We arrived in Galveston shortly after 4:00, and almost immediately after unpacking at the beach house, walked down to the beach for a short visit. Flint hadn't been to the beach as a toddler. Last year, he was only 8 months old, and not quite walking yet. He cracked us up with his complete lack of hesitation about walking on the sand - he headed straight for the ocean. Lyla followed close behind.

 We were surprised by the amount of seaweed on the beach. I'd never seen it so high. To get to the water, there was literally an 18-inch drop off from the seaweed wall directly into four inches of water, after trudging across five feet of it. By the end of the week, it was far better, but because of the "wall" situation, there was often a trapped tide pool that could not drain. Like... all day. The kids did not care, though, so we tried not to let it bother us. We had plenty to do in the sand and in the water...
 That first evening on the beach, we buried feet and made birthday cakes with sticks for candles, hunted for seashells and went for a short walk. We got in the water and learned how not to drink the ocean, jumped over waves and went a little further out to float over them. Flint became instantly attached to the big red pail and the little blue pail. Lyla was instantly drawn to swimming in the waves. The kids were just as excited about the house, though, as they were about the beach. And they were also both tired from the day of travel, and hungry! So we soon went in, dined on PB&J and beer (for us grown-ups!) and once the kids were settled, the Grocery Hero (that's me) sojourned to The Walmart to gather sustenance for the next several days. She (me) did not return that night, until after 11:00pm. Because, as we all know, Walmarts are always an adventure.

 The next day, we welcomed Nonna to stay with us for two days. The kids were SO excited that she was coming and made sure to engage her as much as possible in their various activities of urgent importance both in the house and at the beach. They spent time together reading books, playing with dolls and trucks, snuggling during movies at night, burying feet in the sand, fetching water in pails, splashing in the kiddie pool, flying kites, and most of all, floating on the waves (or jumping over them)! Lyla had the most fun becoming a mermaid, which was an activity to be repeated several times during the week.

Just after Nonna departed on Monday, the pesky mosquito situation we'd been experiencing went from "annoying" to "dangerous" as swarms of mosquitoes hovered everywhere. Swarms. Every. Where. One morning, we woke to find the glass of the windows and door just covered in them. Thinking they were attracted to the coolness of the windows from the A/C inside, Luke and I foolishly sprayed them and swatted at them. We even sprayed the hose all over the side of the house trying to get rid of them. Silly, silly humans. From there, it only got worse. And nothing seemed to help. We tried various Off and Cutter products, special bracelets, Citronella candles, you name it. Finally, we did some research online and read reviews of some products. We got an Off lantern with some candles and smokey paper things that cover a 15x15 foot area. It worked pretty well, and at least made the deck a safe place to play. And that's pretty much where we spent most of our outdoor time for the next four days.

To get to the beach, we'd wrap each kid in a towel to try to cover them, then, armed with Deet (yay, cancer!) sprint from the deck to the bottom of the stairs, leap over the bottom steps (which seemed to be some kind of mosquito haven), dash over the burr-laden dunes, hurdling the growth and minding the path, all to get to the safety of the shoreline. However, we soon discovered there was no safety to speak of. At least not until we were neck-deep in the waves. Thus, this is how we spent our days at "the beach." There was one time that I very stupidly forgot to put on my sandals before venturing on the Running-Deet-A-Thon. I got caught mid-dune with a burr in my foot, yelled out for help so Luke could grab Flint. He came immediately and grabbed the boy. At that moment, a look of horror came over his face, and many profane words escaped his lips as he began swatting at my back and screaming, "Go! GO!" as if we had reached some climactic part of battle. I did "go," but on one foot. And when we got to shore, breathless, Luke informed me that my back was completely covered in mosquitoes. Moments later, though, I would not have needed  that bit of information, as my back could attest to it. The itching was sudden and intense. And poor Luke. He could not close his eyes the rest of the day without flashes of that nightmarish image stalking his mind: The Antietam of Emily's Upper Back. Except, it was a "Mosquito-Eat-Um."   Later, though, we found most of those twenty-something bites were pretty small, as their evil work was left unfinished, thanks to the heroic deeds of one truly courageous man. Congressional. Medal.


Did I mention how out of shape we are? Holy cow! Running over hilly sand, carrying beach bags and children? If we hadn't also been stuffing our faces with "beach house food" all week, we might have successfully completed a "Seven-Day Shred."


I also forgot to mention that our sweet Lyla is... well... sweet. I mean, VERY sweet. Mosquitoes LOVE her. Well, they love me, too, but they really, really love Lyla. And our little miss is allergic to them, as some folks are. No Anaphylaxis or anything like that, but her bites swell up at least four times the normal size, and instead of being just itchy, they are also quite painful. So, we were particularly concerned with the mosquito situation in regards to our daughter! No one wants to be miserable at the BEACH!

Bite on the back of Lyla's thigh.

Checking out a crabby, wrapped in mosquito protection...

It's not to say that we weren't having fun. We totally made the most of it. We made it out to the beach in for a couple hours each day, but it became kind of a one-trip-a-day ordeal because it was such an effort and there wasn't much time for relaxing in the sand as we had to submerge ourselves in the water as a defensive tactic. 

What "Happy Birthday" looked like.

  

Flint checking out his "girlfriend."

Right where we were most of the time, enjoying the waves and playing in the boat.

 

  

Passed out during the brief walk in from the beach.

Bucket head!

The kids got used to popcorn and a movie almost every night.

Drinking out of fancy cups!

  So, the kiddie pool up on the deck really saved us. The kids used it to rinse off after the beach, and would get in and out of it all day long. They had the most fun being their little nekkid selves in there with all the "fancy" cups and bowls from the house to scoop and pour water. Flint even took to throwing it over the balcony, which became a fun game for Mommy when actual bowls, cups and dishes ended up in the dunes. It was a welcome substitute for the beach on those really bad mosquito days, and with the waves just over the dunes, it was almost just as good. Now, if we'd brought a kiddie pool we could all fit in.... now, that would have been something!

 

 

 Later in the week, fed up with the mosquito situation, we trekked northward along the shore to find a beachy spot along the seawall in town. We were desperate to escape the evil biters and found respite at a public beach that was nearly mosquito-free, thanks to the large concrete wall behind it (not to mention the whole town... and a lot less standing water and foliage). While this wasn't exactly what we had in mind for our isolated piece of beach, we were at last able to breath a sigh of relief and just plain enjoy ourselves. The only problem here was, we couldn't stay too long because of nap time and lack of an umbrella. Therefore, we made it count. We searched for shells - and actually found some! We splashed in the waves, chased seagulls, and badgered Luke into diving down to bring up critters and treasures. We ended this lovely afternoon with a special treat from one of Lyla's favorite "sometimes food" places: Sonic. Even Flint got his very own milkshake. Lucky boy.

Chasing the birdies...

Treasures! In a fruit cup...

Being silly while waiting on Sonic drinks...

When we got back, the boy went down for a nap and Lyla and I went out souvenir shopping. She was promised a store that had lots of pretty seashells to shop for. We had to drive a little further back toward the seawall than I'd hoped, but it was a fun adventure. I think I defined "souvenir" for Lyla at least a dozen times. And she is a completely adorable shopper. The store we found was also a furniture and decor store specifically for beach houses and condos. It was quite large and there was a lot to look at, though not quite so much in the way of souvenirs. I heard a lot of, "Oh, look at this! It's just perfect!" and "Oh, this one is adorable!" She also has quite the endurance for shopping. More so than her mother, for sure. Lyla selected, firstly and most importantly, a small gift for Lily, a special friend of hers that hasn't yet visited a real beach. After that, she was determined to find presents for everyone she knows, though with some convincing, she narrowed it down to a few family members and two special things for herself: a snow globe and a small collection of pretty shells. Never have the contents of two little paper bags been so exciting.


The next day, things seemed to be slightly less awful with regards to the, yes... you guessed it... "mosquito situation." We had planned to hit up the public beach early and stay all day long, but we made it out to our own beach and realized we hadn't seen but a few mosquitoes. The water looked different, too, and there was something else that seemed ... different. What could it have been? Ah, yes - wind. WIND! Yes! The beach just isn't the beach with no breeze! And it was just the right breeze, sending the mosquitoes back to the bay, where they belonged! And so it was that our very last day at the beach, quickly and easily because the very best day at the beach. We went out early, took a break only to eat lunch and allow Flint to nap, then went back out and stayed out until dark. During the day, we even got to see a small tornado across the water. I learned it's called a downspout when that happens. It was really neat! And we were even greeted by a small rain shower and some cloud coverage, so it was actually a nice temperature outside. Ah, what a day!

Finally able to sit on the beach long enough to build a sand castle!

 

Looking for critters and treasures with Daddy.

 

  

Flinty loved his boat.

Oh yeah! We remembered to get a family shot!

  There was one unfortunate incident, though: Miss Lyla got stung by a jellyfish. Boo! It was no Man-o-War, though, thank goodness. I'd been stung earlier in the week, so thought to buy some vinegar in case it happened again. I ran up to the house and grabbed it and poured it over Lyla's sting. In between bouts of crying and complaining about the itching and burning, the decided to take a big swig of water from the bottle of... uh... vinegar. It was kind of hard not to laugh at her reaction. It reminded me of that scene from Dumb and Dumber when the cop drinks the pee out of the beer bottle. That stunned look; she was just frozen and expressionless and ... Ack - my poor girl!! I grabbed her some juice really quickly to wash it down and she was just fine. It definitely took her mind of the sting, though!



While Luke and I rushed to get our canopy packed up and our beach gear lugged back to the house before sunset, Lyla held on tightly to Flint's airplane kite. She was so proud to be flying it all by herself. But! A gust of wind suddenly carried it off! She took off like a bat out of Hell, wailing all the way, chasing after it. Luke chased after her, chasing after the kite, which fortunately (hooray!) got caught in one of the pickets in the dunes. What a happy moment! Daddy was a hero! And what a great (and by "great," I mean "dorky") metaphor for our trip. We arrived so bold and full of energy and great expectations, then had some big let-downs... but we chased after what we wanted, recovered our spirits, found fun where we could and we were happy! Or something like that... 

We ended the evening with a snack for the gulls.

 The following morning, we decided to get up super early to watch the sunrise. And by "we," I mean Luke and I... and the kids. They had no part in the decision-making, but we dragged them along, thinking of all of the advantages. They'd get to see something beautiful they'd never seen before AND they'd be good n' tired for the drive home. It would be such a breeze because they'd just sleep most of the trip! Right? The sunrise was quite pretty, and we thought it was a nice way for the kids to say goodbye to the beach, in their jammies, with sheet-marks still on their cheeks, rubbing their lil eyeballs. We walked a little, found some final treasures, got sprinkled on briefly by a welcome rain cloud, and had a tender little moment together in the morning twilight. Ah, these are the best times!

Amused by the brief rain ...

Ever-ready for her close-up.

 The drive home was uneventful except for the part where our genius "sleepy kid plan" was a complete failure.  Instead of being sleepy and sleeping, they were just needy, whiny, grumpy and cranky. Lyla did take a small nap and Flint tried to, but was awoken when we had to pull over to let Lyla go potty. So, for about 3 hours of the 6-hour trip, this Mama was rear-facing dear Flinty in the back, in attempts to soothe, entertain, distract and/or feed him. We hit no traffic, though, so the trip went pretty quickly. These kids sure were happy to be home. Flint ran straight to his bedroom, calling, "Books!" and Lyla happily unpacked her toys and placed them in their proper places in her room (on the floor). We were soon reunited with Maya, as well, who was greatly missed!

 

 

We love the beach and we did have a great time together. Next year, though, we're beach-bound elsewhere. 

Thanks for the memories, Galveston!

More photos here!