Vacation Day Two - Monday 6/4/07

The first thing on the agenda for day two in Galveston was to walk out to the beach. As any weather person knows, Galveston was the site of the worst natural disaster in American history. They now have a large seawall with a road (Seawall Blvd). David caught a fish while playing in the water.


He had to show it off! You can practically see through it!


There were lots of pretty birds on the beach. Here is one we saw. Does anyone know what kind it is?


Joe caught a shrimp, of all things, in the water. We kept it alive in a small beach pail. We even took it to the room with us. Unfortunately, it flipped out of the water while we took a nap. Oddly enough, I put it back in the water (it may have been out of water up to an hour) and it still was alive. It didn't last long, though. As soon as I woke up the next morning and inhaled the stench in the bathroom!


It was a perfect day for playing in the water or the sand. The skies were sunny, temperatures were warm, and there was a nice breeze. It wasn't unbearably hot or humid.


Joe Cool!


Matt's goggles didn't give him as much protection from the saltwater as he had hoped.


The boys found all kinds of interesting creatures, as they usually do.


A room with a view! This was taken with a bit of a zoom from our room. This is the area of the beach where we played.


Very interesting shrimp there, Joe!


Joe shows off his shrimp to David!


Joe shows off his shrimp catch to Matt! Yes, that is the Weather Channel in the background. We didn't really "watch" any TV on the trip, but I did keep TWC on to keep up with the weather.


Joe ready to jump!


A handstand in the pool...Dad was impressed!


Matt enjoyed the party atmosphere around the pool!


David enjoyed carrying Matt around the pool!


Joe was cool after all that diving!


The boys enjoyed the atmosphere at the pool.


Headed up to the room on the elevator. The hotel Galvez was wonderful. Here is the "lobby cam" showing you what you see before boarding the elevator.


Not a bad view from our hotel room on the 4th floor of the Hotel Galvez. Here is the hotel's official website. Thanks to Priceline we got an amazing deal on the room!


After cruising down Seawall Boulevard, we decided to eat at Joe's late in the evening.


The crawfish etouffee was tremendous. Matt tried it and loved it!


David is getting into his corn on the cob!


After a fun day at the beach, pool, and plenty of food, we were more than satisfied.


Joe finished eating the corn and was trying hard to figure out how to get more...

Vacation Day One - Sunday 6/3/07

Packed and ready to set of on our journey. We left at 4:10 a.m.


There were a lot of stripped, bent, and blown down trees from Hattiesburg, MS southward due to Hurricane Katrina which struck the area almost two years ago.


Check out the damage to this building in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.


The boys got a kick out of some of the weird stuff we saw as we passed outside the stores in the French Quarter.


This was the first time the boys had seen this type of architecture.


We have an hour. Anyone want to try a beignet or two at Cafe Du Monde?


Here we are. Time to introduce the boys to beignets on a Sunday morning.


Hot and yummy! He said he "liked it a bunch!"


After almost burning his hand, he really liked it!


Matt liked it enough that he had sugar all over himself. He had a cute white dot on his nose after this bite!


Memories are made of this!


The guy with the trombone played the Alabama fight song when I walked by sporting my Alabama tee shirt.


Signs of Katrina are still everywhere in New Orleans.


St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, New Orleans is the oldest Cathedral in North America.


Trees were still barren west of New Orleans nearly two years after Katrina.


The storm we approached east of Lake Charles.


Welcome to Texas! President Bush's name still appears on the sign, but a recent law passed by the Democrats will to change that. Can you say, "petty partisan politics"?


On the way to the ferry we saw unusual sights across from the beach road on Bolivar Peninsula. We saw cows across from the beach and plenty of oil wells.


Joe took this photo of the Bolivar Lighthouse as we waited in line to board the ferry.


All aboard the ferry.


Matt enjoyed the breeze on the ferry ride.


Joe enjoyed the ride. The boys told me they saw a shark. I didn't see that but I saw plenty of pigeons.


David is almost there!


The free ferry ride from the Bolivar Peninsula to Galveston Island was a great way to end the trip.


After checking into our hotel (Hotel Galvez), we headed out to the beach just before sunset. It was a beautiful evening after a long day of driving.


The water was cool at first but it didn't take long to get used to it.


Matt was ready for the beach after a long day in the vehicle.


We ended the day enjoying the sunset behind us at Galveston Beach.


Joe playing in the sand, making a seawall.


After our time at the beach we headed over to Wendys. That was my coolest Wendy's experience simply because we enjoyed our burgers and frosties across the street from the beach with a warm breeze blowing.

Vacation and Quality Time

This is my favorite time of the year. I am a single Dad of three wonderful boys. School ended today, baseball is ending, and I am taking my boys on an extended (and well-deserved) vacation. I have been working and saving my leave all year for this. We are going to Galveston and Dallas this year. My oldest son is a huge Sammy Sosa fan and I am hoping he will get a chance to meet Sammy, get his autograph, and watch his 600th home run in person. That would make his decade! This will likely be some of our best quality time.

I do not have my boys all of the time so I have a special challenge. I spend the time they are not here (or asleep, as they are now) taking care of business (washing clothes, paying bills, commenting on your blog, sending weather reports to James Spann, etc.). When they are here, I think I have learned to appreciate these times more than I ever would have before I became a single dad. Even though I was always a "hands on" dad, I think I used to take our times together for granted much more than I do now. I think the Lord has a way of taking a situation that the devil meant for harm and turning it into a victory. These days pass so quickly. We MUST make the most of them and live so that we have absolutely no regrets.

If you have any suggestions for places to visit or eat in Dallas, please let me know!

I cannot wait to make some great memories with my boys during the next few weeks.