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.