Family and Friends Vacation in Port A

July 19th - 23rd, we took a family trip with our friends, Eddie, Michelle and their three year old boy and almost 11 month old boy (Tyler and Trevor) to Port Aranas. We had a blast! We left to drive down there in the early afternoon on Monday. The girls rode on their first ferry to Port A. It was short ride, but it was their first! We stayed at the Mayan Princess (our condo was not the cleanest place). Once we got unpacked and settled, we fed the kids and then ourselves spaghetti and cleaned the place up a little. The pool outside our room was closed most of the week, but at least they had other pools that were nice.
Tuesday, we all went to the beach in the morning for about an hour. Daddy and Eddie put a tent up for us to sit under, which was nice. Natalie loved the water right away, Meagan needed a little more convincing, but eventually got used to it. They played with a beach ball and the sand. Natalie just loved the text of the sand and water and just played with it. Meagan on the other hand tried to eat the sand and some seaweed, yuck! We didn't stay out there too long because we didn't want to be out in the sun that long, but it was also time for lunch! So we went back up to the condo and had some sandwiches. The girls and boys all took naps and the adults relaxed a little bit. The rest of the day we just took it easy and everyone played inside. We then all went over to Corpus Christi to go grocery shopping. We had a great time walking around the grocery store with everyone! We headed back to get ready for dinner. We had tacos to eat for dinner and the girls even tried some! Once the girls were down, Eddie and Michelle stayed in with the kiddos and Daddy and I went for a swim and got into the hottub. It was nice to relax a little and look at the stars outside.

Wednesday, we got up and got ready and both families headed to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi. It was fun, we all got to watch a dolphin show, which everyone loved and then we went and looked at all the other animals. Meagan's favorite was the jellyfish and Natalie's favorite was the big fish. Natalie would even point at the fish went it swam by. It was so cute. Meagan would get really excited with the jellyfish. They are so interested in anything that moves. We love to watch them learn! Natalie even got to feel a hermit crab. They even got to see an alligator, yikes. We left with everyone and took some pictures outside and then headed back to the condo on the island. We fed the girls some lunch and they took a nap. All eight of us went swimming in the swimming pool later on that afternoon and the girls wear their cute little bikini's they got at their 1st birthday. For dinner Daddy and Eddie grilled some steaks and sausage outside our condo and Michelle made broccoli, corn and baked potatoes. It was so yummy! There was this little coffee table in the livingroom of the condo that Natalie constantly wanted to sit on. We would tell her 'No No' and point at her and she would smile and point back at us, as if to say 'No No' back at us. It was so cute!! We had a great day! Tyler kept us entertained also. He is such a funny little boy. He would call us Mr. Matt and Mrs. Melissa. Too cute! He sure can make us laugh. And Trevor is such a sweet cute baby!! We had such a fun day with everyone!!

Thursday, Eddie and Daddy made us some breakfast tacos. It was so good! The girls even tried some. All of us went down to the beach again to play, but only for about 30 mins. because we didn't want to keep the kids out in the sun to long. Meagan was still a little iffy about the beach water, but ended up playing in it and the sand. Natalie still loved it! She loved getting the wet hand in her hands and feeling it and then tossing it to the side. They liked crawling in the sand. Once we were done with the beach, we got into the pool at the condo and sat in there under some shade from some palm trees for a little while. We went inside and had some lunch and let the girls play with Tyler and Trevor a bit with the toys. The kiddos took naps and after they woke up, we went ahead and had an early dinner. We had fish (Mahi Mahi) and some jambalaya. We all got ready to take some family pictures down by the beach water. It was fun! Tyler even fed some seagulls. Meagan ended up crawling around by the beach water and loving it. Of course when she has clothes on she loves the water and then Natalie didn't want to get dirty or in the water with her clothes on. Too funny! We walked back up toward the condos and rinsed off with the water hoses and Daddy gave one of the hoses to Tyler, which was funny because he sprayed Natalie with the water. We went back to the condo and got cleaned up and got the kiddos taken care of. We had a great day!

Friday, we loaded up everything from the condo and said bye to Eddie, Michelle, Tyler and Trevor. We had such a great time with them!! We headed into the little town of Port A and had lunch at the Port A Brewery. We had really good hamburgers. The girls ate crab cake and crackers, both things they love. We left there and went to some other condos and met up with Aunt Tara, Jason and Jason's parents. It was good to meet his parents. They were nice. Tara got the girls a cap and then some blow up animals (a whale and turtle). Tara and Jason played with the girls a bit and then they took a nap with Daddy and all the ladies relaxed. After they woke up, we hung out a little bit and then we all followed each other to a restaurant called 'Virgina's.' It was outside, so we got to look at the water and see all the big boats. We had a good fish dinner. We then left there and said bye to Jason's parents and the rest of us went to a souvenir shop that had a big shark on the outside of it. We took a picture and then looked in the store. So proud of myself, we didn't by a thing. We then all went to the beach to walk and take pictures. We even drove on the beach for a little bit to park. The girls loved it and were having a ball. Stayed there for a little while and then had to tell Aunt Tara and Jason bye. We rode the ferry back to the mainland and then found our hotel in Ingleside.

Saturday, we headed back home and on the way we stopped in El Campo to eat at Pincher's. It was a cute place and the girls even got balloons. We took pictures behind some boards that had holes for the faces. They were cute. Made it back home safe and sound!! We had a great trip!!!

Just wanted to add that as of Sunday the 25th, Natalie and Meagan are both off the bottle and we are making Meagan quit using the pacifier cold turkey. She is doing really well with it. She cries a little at night, but then falls asleep! It will be easier to get her off of it now then later! I am almost done with my last formula container, so once that is gone, then the whole bottle will be whole milk. I've only been putting 2oz. of formula in and mixing it with whole milk. They still down their bottles. :) Meagan let go of the wall today and took off walking a couple of steps and I got some of it on video. It is coming soon I know, when all she is going to do is walk! Natalie is doing great practicing standing up. She likes for me to lay on the ground and then she uses me for balance. She will stand and then plop on Mommy! Just wanted to add these little tidbits in here!