TEXAS in Oct. 2011

The bad thing about having family that lives far away is that you don't get to see them enough. The great thing is that you get to go on vacation to visit them. Mitch's brother, Carson, his sweet wife, Hilary, and their precious son, Cooper (who is 2 months older than Jett), live in Houston, Texas. We love them very much and we try to visit them yearly. This year is especially fun as we watch these two energetic cousins become good buddies. They are hilarious.

The boys share a common love for Curious George. This is a great way to wind down at the end of the day.

Carson & Hilary have some incredible connections to generous families who have blessed greatly during this trip. We are spending the majority of our week in Texas in Galveston, a city on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. We are staying in an AMAZING beach house owned by friends of Carson & Hilary.

To say that this beach house is the perfect location for us to hang out with our busy boys is an understatement. As you look at the following pictures, I'm sure you'll understand what I mean!

This is the beautiful master suite that Carson & Hilary insisted we stay in. What you can't see is the large walk-in closet (where Jett sleeps in a Pack-n-Play) and the massive tile bathroom with a 3-foot deep tub, duel shower head shower, and "his and her" sinks. It's been a rough week.... ;)

There are inlets off of the Gulf that many beach houses have been built around. This is the view from our Master Suite window.

This deck is perfect for the boys to run and play on. It's also a great place to eat, nap, visit and lay in the sun.... did I mention it's about 25 degrees here???

I love this section of the deck. Directly below this area of the deck is the speed boat and a couple of kayaks.... of course, right? ;)

The best part of this trip (and there are MANY great parts) is watching these cousins interact. They love each other and they feed off of each other's silliness. We are constantly entertained.

This is the pool/hot tub that overlooks the bay. The boys love splashing around in the water.

Just a few minutes down the road is miles and miles of gorgeous sandy beach. This was Jett's first time setting foot in an ocean. He has seen the Pacific (In Vancouver) but this was his first experience in Atlantic waters. The water is surprisingly warm and Jett took to it like a fish. As soon as his feet hit the sand, he booked it for the water and went straight in. Mitch was hurrying behind him.

After playing in the ocean, you want to get that salty water off of your skin and what better way could there be than a bath with your cousin?!

This is the "Sea Wall" that goes along the Gulf coast for several miles. This is truly a beautiful city.

 Carson and Hilary put Jett to bed for us yesterday evening so that Mitch and I could have a nice dinner date together. (Muchly appreciated) We wanted some fresh seafood so we went to a popular place that is located right on the water. It's right beside a port where all the cruise ships come through. We had some incredible shrimp, crab and tilapia as we sat out on the deck, over the water and watched the sun set. We actually had a dolphin come swim close enough that we could watch it jump and play as we finished our dinner.

From the restaurant, you can see this view. These are oil rigs from out in the ocean. The one on the left is one that they are taking apart to "retire" and the one that is lit up on the right is being repaired and will be returned out to sea in a week or so.

These last two pics were taken by Carson on his new iphone 4.... they're pretty great. They add to my thoughts that an iphone may be in my future...

And, of course, a video. The boys are little movie stars and so much fun to catch on video. Many great memories already and the week is not over!