Jeffrey sent me a message at the end of December stating that he was flying to Houston in two weeks, and that if I wanted to prove my love, I could drive 4 hours to see him for one night :) I, of course, wanted to see him, so thankfully it all worked out!
We went back and forth about driving down on Friday night and spending Saturday at NASA until Jeffrey was done with his conference, but in the end, we just drove down Saturday morning. The kids did great on the drive, and especially loved our pit stop at Buc-ee's. Brooke had a rare spoiled moment and declared that she wasn't leaving the store since I wouldn't buy her even a small toy, but I walked away and she had enough sense to follow me. That really was completely out of character for her, so I guess even grateful and well-mannered kids have spoiled moments, right?
With multiple potty breaks and a stop for lunch, it took about 5 hours to get to our hotel. We relaxed for maybe 30 minutes, then hopped back in the car to pick Jeffrey up. The kids were super excited to see him and were high-energy the whole way drive out to the beach. (Thankfully, Jeffrey is a fun uncle, so he played right along with them.) In my research about Houston and Galveston, I came across reviews for a place called the Kemah Boardwalk. They had several food options and a ferris wheel, so I was sold, haha. I knew the kids would LOVE riding the ferris wheel at night, and the whole evening ended up being super fun.
Can you tell they were excited about being with Jeffrey? The real fun hadn't even started yet, but Brooke and Colby were happy little campers.
We watched an amazing street performer before settling on a pizza place for dinner. The restaurant was attached to an arcade, so I let the kids roam while we waited for our dinner. Spending hours in the car had made them both a little kooky, haha. Being near NASA, the whole arcade had a space-inspired motif, which definitely added to the fun.
After dinner (which was super yummy), we headed back over to play a few games. I normally dislike arcade games, but since we were spending time with Jeffrey, it seemed like the perfect thing to do together. I intended to buy $5 in tokens, but swiped my credit card not realizing that it automatically charged $10 to your card. I felt like 50 tokens was a lot, but they were sure gone in a hurry. I challenged Jeffrey to the basketball game, and his reply was something along the lines of, "There is NO possible way that you will beat me." Well, guess who the winner was?? It was me! He went first and since we didn't realize that there was a second round after the first round ended, he wasted probably 5 seconds or so when he could have been shooting. But I will definitely never let him live this down, even though I had that slight advantage. I made some comment to Brooke about asking Jeffrey who won, and she said, "Isn't that kind of rubbing it in?" Haha, yes, my girl, it most definitely is. And yes, I've taught you not to do that!
When our tokens were gone, Jeffrey treated us to the ferris wheel ride. Colby had originally wanted to go with Kevin, but made a last minute request to ride with Uncle Jeffrey. Brooke also wanted to ride with Jeffrey, but when she realized that she would have to sit on the other side by herself, she opted to ride with Kevin and I.
She was slightly terrified for a good portion of the ride, but was finally able to relax and enjoy it a bit.
I was alone on my side, and I was even a little apprehensive of the height and the dark night sky, haha. But I liked the artsy picture Kevin took :)
On our drive back to Jeffrey's hotel, we stopped at Target to get a few things on the list Madi sent him. Again, the kids had fun with Jeffrey as he goofed around with them inside the store. By the time we left, it was nearly 11 and poor Jeffrey was exhausted. Jet lag is no joke, and he had only been in Houston for like 3 days after 27 hours of flights.
We only had 5 hours together, but it was 5 hours well spent! I love my little brother so much and I'm grateful that we had this small time to reconnect and strengthen bonds with him. I wish we lived closer so that we could spend more time together, but I don't know if that will happen any time soon. For now, we will take what we can get!
On Sunday, we ventured back out to Galveston to check out the beach. It was a chilly and windy day, but still a fun outing. As we drove along the coastline, Brooke spotted a dolphin statue that she instantly loved. Kevin is a total sweetheart and went out of his way so she could have a picture with it, and thankfully Brooke appreciated her Daddy's efforts.
This view, of my littles ready to embark on an adventure, brings so much peace to my soul. I think we all have a bit of the ocean in our bones.
Many shells were collected, mud was flung, and castles were built.
Kevin and I didn't get our toes in the sand, but we enjoyed watching the littles run and play together.
The beach was nearly empty, which made the whole experience more private and intimate, and I loved the tiny details that both amazed and excited the kids.
Although our time at the beach was short, I know those memories will last forever. Especially since I have these pictures to document our adventure. The drive back seemed to take longer than it should have, but I took a nice nap, so I can't complain too much :) This weekend was perfect and I'm grateful that it all worked out the way that it did. Until next time, Uncle Jeffrey (and Houston)!
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