Family Summer Vacation

Justin and I just got back from family vacation in Texas Wed night. We visited my grandparents College Station, TX and then my Grandpa and Frances in Rockport, TX. We had such a good time. Luckily, a lot of my cousins were in town both places too, so we got to catch up with them. A lot of my family had not yet met Justin so it was nice for him to get to know them and vice versa.

In College Station we hiked around a lot of wilderness land that belongs to my Grandpa and Dad. It was so hot and sticky that I was exhausted afterward. We even saw a dead cow that had been picked clean. It was pretty gross. We celebrated my sister's birthday, which was on June 3rd. And we all say around visiting and then playing pool.

In Rockport, we ate some delicious ribs that Frances and Grandpa made. I love ribs. We went to South Padre Island beach on Monday and swam in the ocean and made sand castles. Justin and I got extremely sunburned. Justin more so than I. Poor guy. We put a lot of sunscreen on, but it was the spray kind we'd never used before and I guess we just didn't put on enough of it. We've lathered ourselves up with aloe at least twice every day since then.
Justin and Mandy got to go kayaking for the first time in my Grandpa's canal behind his house. That was really fun. He fell out twice after climbing in, but third time's a charm and he had a nice long ride down the canal a few times.
We learned a new game called Montana Golf that was pretty fun and simple. I wasn't that good at it. Oh well.
We also got to visit with Frances' grandkids - Justin Lee, Meagan Lee, and Caitlyn Rowden. I guess they would be called my step-cousins. Anyway, they are all extremely sweet and we had a really good time with them. I've known Caitlyn since she was very little because she lived in Cedar Hill the same time my family did. Her mom even gave me piano lessons.

It was so nice to visit with all my family. I got to meet my cousin's boyfriend for the first time and I met my other cousin's wife Alainna for the first time. I also got to play with my nephew Luke a lot. I don't get to see him much because my brother Matthew and his wife Ashley live in Arizona. I did get to see him when he was two weeks old, but now he's 5 months!! We all had a good time in College Station. I hope that some day we'll be able to go back and stay there for a little longer.