Well, Kemble survived her very first road trip! And when I say survive, I mean DID ABSOLUTELY PERFECT THE ENTIRE TIME! The furthest she has gone is to Hamilton when she was only 2 months old and that was only a 2-hour drive. She is just so happy all the time, I didn't really expect otherwise, but I just wasn't sure about the long drives and if she'd want to eat every 4 hours even on the road, etc.
Coincidentally, we planned a weekend trip to Galveston with my family the same weekend that Stephen's brother, Patrick, would be graduating from A&M. After we realized we were the same weekend, we were so mad, then we realized how perfectly it would work out. We were to be in Galveston Friday afternoon, and the graduation was at 9am on Friday, so we just kind of detoured to College Station on our way to Galv, and it worked out great. We left Thursday evening after dinner and Kemble's last bottle and drove all the way (all three of us in our pajamas!) to Hearne (the only place we could find a hotel room). We were expecting it to take quite a while, but surprisingly, we pulled into the hotel in just under 3 hours at just a little after 10pm. Kemble slept the entire time. When we got there, she woke up and stayed awake while we set up her pack n play and brought in our bags, then she thought it was party time. I know she didn't know what the heck was going on, but we were exhausted and knew we had a long day ahead of us, so we tried desperately to get her to sleep, but she wasn't too into that idea, she preferred to talk and blow bubbles and kick as hard as she could in her pack n play! Finally, after 2 hours, she fell asleep. At least we're pretty sure she did, we know we did! :) I'm so mad, I told Stephen to make sure I got a picture of her in her first hotel room, but of course, I forgot.
We woke up early the next morning and all 3 had a quick but yummy breakfast at the hotel. We packed up the car and headed to College Station and sat in a little traffic on campus before arriving at Reed and finding seats at about 8:30. We sat up high, hoping it wouldn't disturb too many people if Kemble wasn't as still and quiet as we hoped. I have to say... she did SO well!! She just sat in Stephen's lap the majority of the time, watching what was going on and quietly playing with her toys. At one point she started whining a tiny bit, so Stephen walked around in the lobby with her and she was fine. Luckily, the H's came pretty quick, so Patrick graduated about an hour or so into the ceremony. Kemble was getting sleepy, but I knew we needed to feed her first, and so at 11 we took her to the car and fed her and she slept until the rest of the graduation was over. Stephen and I weren't too upset to have to leave early, although I was sad to miss singing The Spirit of Aggieland at the end.
Kemble blowing bubbles and being a happy girl during graduation
The Aggies (and future Aggie!)
Stephen's family after graduation
Congratulations Uncle Patrick!!!!!
We had good steaks for lunch and then said goodbye and were on our way to Galveston. Unfortunately, the weather was a little gloomy, and traffic was horrible through Houston. Kemble was a trooper though and slept through it all, even the stop and go traffic, which is her least favorite thing in the world! I guess she had sleep to catch up on from the night before, because it took us over 3 hours to get there and she was OUT, even though it'd then been about 6 hours since she'd eaten by the time we got there! Anyway, when we finally got to a pretty humid, sticky, damp Galveston, we were all ready to be out of the car and change clothes and relax.
Our trip was two-fold. Mamie had a free weekend beach house rental from points she'd earned from our usual summer trips that she had been trying to use for months. Also, Jessica had a beach volleyball tournament there, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to soak up some sun and watch some volleyball. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. Back to Friday night, we went to eat at Rainforest Cafe, Emily's favorite, and while we were there it started storming bad, and the power even went out in the restaurant for a few moments. Kemble loved watching the fish in the aquariums and didn't even freak out when the rainforest "storms" came periodically. Unfortunately, the real storms outside were much worse, and the streets were starting to flood on our way back to the house. Early Saturday morning, Jill got word that Jess' tournament had been cancelled due to the weather and the flooded beaches. There were a couple more storms that looked like they were heading our way too. Jess was a good sport about it, but I was pretty disappointed! Anyway, the storms never came, and while Saturday wasn't a beautiful day, it wasn't raining, and so we enjoyed the beach for a few minutes and spent most of the day relaxing together inside the house. It was an adorable, comfy house and we almost forgot that we were 3 rows back from the beach this time! Kemble loves her cousins and the girls are so good at entertaining her!! She wasn't quite sure what to think about the beach, we put her toes in the sand and water, and she didn't hate it, but she didn't love it either. I know she'll enjoy it more when it's nice weather and she's just a bit older in July. We went to Gaido's for dinner that night then enjoyed a game of Cranium. Sunday was a gorgeous sunny day, it would have been perfect for a beach volleyball tournament! I wish they would have considered postponing it until Sunday. Anyway, we had to be out of the house by noon, so after a leisurely breakfast and packing up, we were already on our way back out of town. It is always so sad for me to leave Galveston.
at the beach for the first time!
(And THIS is why we are on Weight Watchers!
Hopefully our next beach pictures will be better!)
snuggling in our bed at the beach house
Daddy and Kemble before Gaido's!
me and my girl!
Our house was the 3rd one back.
That front row house still has not been touched since Hurricane Ike. Through the broken windows, we could see a chandelier still swinging in the dining room. Pretty creepy. There are still houses like that scattered throughout the neighborhoods, even over 1 year later, and even in these nicer neighborhoods. You can see how much erosion took place at the beach, the foundation is several feet above the current sand level. While we were there, the tide was really high, but it seemed like there was just no beach left.
Toes in the sand!!
Fun in the..... not so much sun
Cute girls in their matching Polo swimsuits
...Kemble would not cooperate for the pic!
Again, Kemble fell asleep before we even hit the causeway, and slept until we got to Fairfield. We got gas there, and used the opportunity to feed her, and then I sat in the back with her and she was happy and playful the rest of the way home. I was so proud of her, she was a perfect little traveler, a good sport about everything, and I think she had as great a time as we did! It was so fun to visit and show Kemble two of our favorite places ever! We have such great memories of College Station and wished that it wasn't so crowded so we could take her to Freebirds, Layne's, Wings N More, and around campus. We'll definitely take her when she gets a little bigger. And Galveston, well, is Galveston, and if you know us, you know how much we love it and what a tradition it is for us! I absolutely can't wait for our 2-week trip in July. The countdown begins now! Oh, and thanks to Stephen for driving all weekend and getting us everywhere safely! We enjoyed all the driving time to just talk and enjoy each other's company.
.....Now, if only I could manage to get us all unpacked!
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