Life's A Beach

Sure, the murky water isn't crystal blue like Hawaii, it lacks the powder beaches of the Caribbean, lacks California's waves, frequent hurricanes insure against the establishment of graceful palms, and it's location near Texas oil refineries and off-shore rigs is far from exotic, but Norah and Justin aren't jaded by comparisons and lofty expectations.  It's simple for them:

Sand + Water = Beach = Uproarious Fun!

We arrived early in the morning, and the kids were practically glowing with anticipation.  They continuously ran around the beach like uncaged monkeys.  They played chase, attempted a sandcastle, dug holes, collected seashells, and made crazy charges into the oncoming waters.  We finally pulled them out of the water when they started turning blue as Smurfs, and dried and warmed them with towels despite their protests.

Our lunch attracted the attention of several seagulls that harassed us continually.  Eventually Justin missed a bite and accidentally dropped a slice of ham directly in the sand.  He wrinkled his nose as he retrieved it and noticed the sand clinging to it.  The ham was quickly cast aside.  A flying frenzy of seagulls materialized from thin air crying "Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!", and lingered long after the little piece of ham was consumed, looking at us almost in a most predatory manner.  We counteracted the invasion by giving Norah and Justin permission to unleash the furies against the unwanted invaders, a task they gleefully accepted with hoops, hollers, shrieks and wildly flailing arms. 

After a long afternoon at the beach we drove to the east end of the island to watch the colossal tanker ships enter and exit the harbor.  The kids fell asleep almost immediately as we drove to Galveston Island State Park on the West end of the island.  Once there I met with the most unfriendly State Park employee ever, got a map, and headed for the birding trail.  We didn't bother waking the kids, instead we carried them with us as we took a quiet walk.  The water of the coastal marsh continually slapped with the sound of fish leaping from predators below, and the ground was littered with crab claws left behind by predators from above.  Despite the heat and our heavy loads, we enjoyed a quiet walk amongst the swaying grasses and a vast array of wildflowers.  Gradually the kids awoke from their catnap and enjoyed the remainder of the walk until it was time to go to dinner.

 

We rented a 4 person bicycle with a shade canopy on top, and a basket seat for Norah and Justin on the front.  These are not as easy to pedal as they appear.  Heather and I felt that our exertion here more than made up for the high calorie dinner, but the kids didn't seem to understand why we didn't want to go farther and faster.

We stopped at a beach side restaurant called "The Spot" and ordered delicious hamburgers, fries and onion rings that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.  The kids fulfilled their crowd-control duties and eagerly dispersed the seagull and grackle bandits, sometimes even startling nearby patrons as they shoo-ed them from all points on the deck.