Texas Schleichers: Family Trip to Galveston

In early June, right after school got out, we decided to take a family vacation ... just for our family of five. As important and fun as it is to go places to see our extended family, Matt and I have talked about how we want to be intentional about having special "just for us" trips each year as well. For this first official trip, we decided to stick relatively close to home ... Galveston!

The boys had been asking since the weather turned summer-like if we could go to the beach. So, partnering a trip to the beach with a couple nights in a hotel, and it was the vacation of the boys' dreams!

We drove down to Galveston on Thursday evening when Matt got home from work. We enjoyed a pillow fight, jumping on the bed, and a swim in the hotel pool before bedtime. The boys probably would've been happy if this was the extent of our vacation. :)

Our first outing on Friday morning was to Moody Gardens. It had always been on Matt and my list of "things we'd like to do" in our area.

We were impressed by all that Moody Gardens had to offer ...The rainforest was our first stop.

the butterfly garden

Nathan tried to eat the "rain" coming down from the ceiling

komodo dragon

Of course, the boys wanted to try to "catch" some of the birds

stingrays

macaws

Then, we went to see the movie Rio in 4-D. Ryan wanted to sit on one of our laps the whole time since he wasn't sure about getting wind in his face or sprayed with drops of water throughout the show. Ian thought it was great, and Nathan just slept. :)

The boys stopped to get their picture taken in this Wizard of Oz scene on our way to the aquarium.

a scuba diver cage

touching shells in the tide pool

Everyone loved the walk-through exhibit, especially seeing the sharks.

Both of the older boys were obsessed with getting each of the stamps on their "aquarium passport" and eagerly rushed from station to station -- most of the time stopping to look at the animal in the tank, too. :)

penguins

Our next stop was the Speed exhibit, a seasonal display of all things related to race cars ... perfect!

Ian timed himself at the pit stop station, where he had to unscrew the bolts, take the tire off, and then put it back on.

Ryan's absolute favorite part of the Speed exhibit was this ramp where he raced countless Hot Wheels vehicles, not even caring if he came in first or not. :)

Ian's top spot was this race simulator where he had to pedal a car and try to beat the person pedaling the other car. Ian definitely cared about winning ... and ended up being first place most of the races.

Ryan was mainly Ian's number one cheerleader but tried racing, too.

After naptime, we went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner.

Our table was right next to this fountain and statue of Atlas. The boys kept asking if it was Jesus. (I guess they were thinking of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.") Ryan was a little overwhelmed by all of the noise and commotion in the restaurant and has told us multiple times since then that he doesn't want to ever go back to the Rainforest Cafe. Ha!

After dinner, we headed to the Seawall to hit the beach. Of course, the boys wanted to feed the seagulls. Then, Ian spent most of his time swimming and splashing in the water while Ryan preferred to drive his dump truck through the sand and water. Nathan seemed to enjoy watching and didn't mind the warm Gulf water either.

The next morning, we headed back to Moody Gardens to go to their mini water park, Palm Beach.

We all headed to the splash pad first. Soon, Daddy and Ian headed off to the water slides while Momma stayed at the splash pad with the littlest ones.