Port Aransas Day 3- our final day!

Today we went to visit the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi.  I told Caleb we were going to see where a bunch of fish live and so from that point on he called it the "fish house".  Caleb enjoyed seeing the fish, snakes, eels, sting rays, dolphins, turtles & various birds.  He is still a little young to truly appreciate any kind of museum experience, but we still had a great time!  There was a nice balance between riding in the stroller and running through the exhibits like an overly excited wild man :)

Caleb took a short nap this afternoon in the hotel bed after lunch.  When he woke up we spent some time playing in the condo before going for one last swim.  He tried to make lots of friends in the pool and enjoyed more time doing 'bounce bounce' (walking in the pool), climbing pool stairs repeatedly and kicking and splashing.  We ordered pizza and started to pack things up before we leave tomorrow morning to go home to Temple.  Caleb let Bryan rock him for a little bit tonight before asking to be put in the bed where he fell asleep on his own.  This trip has been a great experiment on sleeping in a big boy bed!

We've had a fantastic trip and really enjoyed our time as a family.  Here are some of the highlights of our final day in Port Aransas & Corpus Christi:

Mr. Social was talking up a storm to this little friend at the first exhibit

Looking at sting rays & fish

This aquarium had a half-circle you could stand in and have the fish swim all around and above you.  Caleb was in awe!

Some of the beautiful fish we saw at the aquarium

Watching the dolphins swim around.  This exhibit had plenty of room for Caleb to get the wiggles out!

At the 'Sting Ray Experience' where we waited (not so patiently) for sting rays to come over so we could try to pet them

Caleb's shirt was soaking wet from splashing while we looked at sting rays.  It's no wonder they didn't come anywhere near him!

For my Chi Omega readers - the owl exhibit

Caleb liked the turtles... look closely - they are on the log!

Daddy & Caleb take in the USS Lexington, which is located right next to the Texas State Aquarium

Port Aransas Day 2

We had a wonderful, fun-filled second day in Port Aransas!  Caleb slept for almost 12 hours last night in the 'big boy bed' and woke us up by calling out "Mommmmyyyyyy!" from his room.  After breakfast we went swimming in the pool and Caleb had a blast!  I'm pretty sure he didn't get out of the water for the full 2 hours we were down there.  We found a section of the enormous pool that is only 2.5 ft deep so Caleb can easily stand up and 'bounce bounce' around in the water.  He loved playing in the water in between Mommy & Daddy and also practicing his kicking skills.  We bought him an inter tube ("water kurkle") and an inflatable boat to play in at a local souvenir shop.  Caleb enjoyed them but really preferred to just explore and play near the other kids.  When we finally drug him out of the pool to go eat lunch and rest, he yelled out, "No! Kids!" because he wanted to stay and play around the other children in the pool.  He tried to make friends with several other kids in the pool.  We love watching our social little man enjoy himself and be so friendly!  We also managed to get him to keep his hat on the whole time by telling him he would have to get out of the pool if he took it off.  :)

After lunch we decided to have some quiet, restful time in the room.  Caleb watched the movie Cars (again) and then took a nap on his big boy bed for about 1.5 hours.  When he woke up from his nap he played "racecat on the conkink" (translation: racetrack on the concrete) in the condo before we went down to the beach to fly our kite.  Caleb insisted on wearing his 'eyes' just like Daddy.  He enjoyed the kite and seeing the seagulls, but in general the waves make him a bit nervous.  We let the water hit our feet a few times and that was about all he could handle.  As the water was coming up towards us he would say "water comes!" and then yell out "bye bye!" when it receded.

We went to dinner at a local Cajun restaurant and Caleb loved the corn, new potatoes and sausage.  Best of all was the fact that we let him have iced tea, or as he calls it a tea cup!  We had another swimming adventure after dinner and Caleb loved seeing the moon come out while we swam.  He's now sleeping soundly in his big boy hotel bed after a long battle to get him to sleep.  We started to regret letting him have the iced tea when he was still going strong at 10pm!  After Bryan rocked him a second time Caleb eventually asked to go to sleep on his own in the bed.  We're impressed to see how much more grown up he acts each day - sitting at the table and not in a booster seat, sleeping in the big bed, talking up a storm, and being so brave about trying new things - especially in the pool.

Tomorrow's plans include a trip to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi and hopefully more swimming if the weather holds out!

Port Aransas Day 1

We set out this morning for Port Aransas around 9:45.  Our car was packed to the limit with suitcases, beach toys, kid gear and things to keep Caleb entertained.  Hands down the most important item we packed was the DVD player for the car!  We have never used one before and my parents had an old one that they let us borrow.  It is no exaggeration to say that this thing is a miracle worker.  We made it from 9:45 to 12:15 with barely a peep from Caleb who was totally absorbed with watching the movie Cars for the first time.

He either looked totally zonked out and mesmerized:

Or totally thrilled because the cars happened to be having a race or doing something funny:

We arrived at our hotel, Port Royal, and checked in to our two bedroom condo.  It's an older hotel but our room is clean, spacious and has a full kitchen.  Our balcony overlooks the gulf so Caleb really likes that.  He has been calling the hotel the "beach house".  Once we had our car load of stuff in the room, Caleb was ready to go to the beach!

We packed up all of our beach stuff and made the walk to the beach.  Caleb had not napped at this point so we knew we might be pushing it, but he did really well!  He was a little uncertain about the crashing waves and the piles of seaweed on the beach.  While the beach is nicer than Galveston, it's definitely not like being in the Caribbean!!  We quickly left the beach and went to the pool where Caleb had a much better time.  He loved bouncing around in the water in our arms, practicing kicking his legs in the water and blowing bubbles.

After we swam a bit we got ready to go to dinner.  We went to Virginia's in Port Aransas which was recommended by Caleb's adoption social worker.  We ate outside overlooking the marina and there was a really pleasant breeze.  Caleb enjoyed being outside and seeing all of the boats.  We had a great dinner, although Bryan and I did note it was quite different from previous anniversary dinners we have had in the past!  Today we celebrated 7 years of marriage!

After dinner we took the ferry to Aransas Pass so we could pick up breakfast food and snacks at Wal-Mart.  Caleb was passed out from exhaustion shortly after the quick ferry ride!  It was a long and full day for our little buddy!

He's sleeping soundly in his hotel bedroom right now on a queen size bed, surrounded by pillows on one side and the toddler rail on the other.  We're keeping our fingers crossed he doesn't do any acrobatic moves in there and fall off the bed.

We so thrilled to have this time together as a family and know the memories created this week will be with us for years to come.  Throughout the past two days, Caleb has said repeatedly "Mommy & Daddy" or "Mommy & Daddy in the car" or sang our little family song about how we love him.  He is really noticing that our whole family is together right now, and it's not just for a few hours!  We love spending this time with him doing something new and exciting, although I feel certain he is mostly thrilled to get all this one on one time with both of us!  He makes our hearts feel so happy and we are so thankful to be a family and to be creating these memories together.

Boerne, a Baby Boy and a Bump

Yesterday marked the start of our first ever family vacation!  We planned this time off months ago at the beginning of Bryan's intern year and we can hardly believe it is finally here.  Bryan has 9 days off in a row-- 2 weekends plus a full 5-day work week!!  We planned a family beach vacation to Port Aransas so Caleb could see the beach for the first time.  On our trek to Port Aransas, we stopped in Boerne to visit my best friend Katy, her husband Travis and 5-week old Tyler.  This was our first time to meet little Tyler and it was so fun to spend time with them!

Katy and Travis were gracious enough to let us stay at their house despite the flood of visitors they have had lately.  We relaxed at the house, ate a yummy dinner, and let Caleb run himself ragged in the backyard and in the neighborhood pool.  He loved playing washers with the Daddies and throwing the tennis ball for Maddie.  Sadly, in all his running around Caleb face planted in the yard and bumped his head on some landscape edging.  He got a pretty big goose egg and bruise but it looks much better after 24 hours.  Although it was sad for Caleb to bump his head, we were grateful he didn't hit his eyes or teeth or need any stitches.  It could've been much worse!

Caleb really seemed to enjoy the pool this summer, as compared to last summer when he was not so sure being in the pool was a fun idea.  He let Bryan carry him around in the water and he even put his face in the water on his own to try to blow bubbles.  Caleb also loved practicing climbing into the pool on the steps.  We were thrilled to see him enjoy the water and knew he'd have a great time once we got to our hotel the next day!

Since Caleb has gotten too tall for a pack n play, we let him sleep on a twin mattress on the floor with a portable toddler rail attached to it.  We had him in the bedroom with us just to be sure he was ok and he did great!  Although it's not likely we'll take him out of his crib when we get back from our trip, it was a good way to see how Caleb would handle a 'big boy bed'.  

The absolute highlight of the trip was spending time with baby Tyler.  We love Katy & Travis and it is so special to see them as parents.  Tyler was so precious - he has the most content little facial expressions and sweet disposition!  It made me laugh to see that he has Travis' fingers and toes.  We can't wait to see who he looks like as he grows up and learn more about his personality.  I think Caleb enjoyed seeing Tyler too, who he calls "Tiger".  He reminded me multiple times as we drove to Boerne that "baby Tiger no walk, talk waa waa waa", which was his way of repeating what I'd told him about Tyler being a tiny baby who can't walk or talk yet.  I wanted to make sure Caleb didn't think Tyler was going to be a new playmate... at least not on this visit!

Here are some pictures from our great time with the Nichols!

Sweet little Tyler

Wide-eyed and enjoying his swing & mobile, which Caleb called his "moon fan" since it had a moon & stars on it

Playing washers with Daddy & Travis

Still excited about playing washers, only moments after getting his goose egg bump

Ready for an evening swim!

Having fun with Daddy & Travis (pronounced "Tavis" by Caleb)

Tyler had his dinner while the other boys swam

Travis was pretty pumped about his new goggles.

Caleb looking at the pool lights with Daddy

Climbing in and out of the pool

Laughing with Lady, Tyler & Travis this morning after breakfast