Texas Vacay to see Jake's

A week long stay in a land faraway with family beloved goes by very quickly. I write this post having just left the ground and my heart in Texas. We're flying through the sky back to Denver where we'll stay the night before driving home tomorrow. I miss my brother and his family already.😪  So, I'm going to try to blog our vacation while it's still fresh in my mind.

After I found out we were going to be traveling near Denver Colorado for the Blad family reunion, the thought immediately came to me that I should check if there was an airport in Denver and if so, see how much flights to Houston might cost so I could visit my brother this year. When I looked into it I discovered my entire family could fly on Spirit airlines for less than $100 each, and so my plans began to come forth. We were going to visit Jake's family in Texas!

This was the girls first time flying in an airplane, besides that one time when Lily was a baby. It was awesome. The flight was only 2 hours or so, the kids loved it. We had a window seat which we required the kids to switch half way through the flight so there would be no arguments.

When we arrived in Houston, my brother was ready and waiting next to his silver Toyota Corolla that he would be loaning to us this trip.  He had told us to have our swim wear ready because we were headed to the beach. We stopped by a Chick-fil-A for a bite on our way to pick up some beach items from Kelli's sister, Debbi.  I ordered Jake's usual, a chicken sandwich deluxe (has added cheese, lettuce, and tomato) and it was delivered via a complex conveyor line that went over the first line of drive-thru customers and landed at the window for the second drive thru, the one we were in.  It was cool and there was such a ton of traffic at that Chick-fil-A, yet they got us our food fast.

We changed at Debbi's house and headed to Galveston's family beach just as the thunderheads were moving in. We had a few minutes to enjoy the warm Gulf-of-Mexico water before the rain began, and then it poured and then it thundered. The beach patrol kicked us out of the water after only a few short minutes of being in there, but I have to say it was an awesome experience. I haven't enjoyed beach water that warm, probably ever, even Hawaii waters in July last year was cool compared to this. Plus playing in the rain and not getting cold was incredible.  We headed back to Debbi's house to return her items and stopped at Rudy's BBQ for dinner. That also was a new experience. You buy your meat by the pound, they pile it on butcher paper and give you a few extra papers to eat off of. They load all your side dishes and meat in a big plastic tray and you're on your way to find an open picnic table equipped with BBQ sauce and salt/pepper. The food was quite good and it tasted even better eating it with Jake's family. You just gotta have some BBQ if you're in Texas!

After that, we made our way to Jake's house in much traffic and rain, but with Jakes as our cheuffer, the minutes flew by. We were amazed at all the tall trees. These highways are literally built in the middle of piney forests. It was remarkable beauty I wasn't expecting! I can see why he and Kelli decided to settle down there.💕🌳🌲

When we were closer to home, Jake took us to the famous HEB, his favorite grocery store that I requested to go to. There we bought my contact solution that I couldn't bring on the plane, and 2 flavors Texas-famous Blue Bell ice cream for dessert. I wondered why Jake was being particular about checking the ingredients in the ice cream and he told us Levi has severe peanut allergy. Poor little guy. He has to avoid quite a bit and carry around EpiPens everywhere he goes. Anyway, we got cookies and cream with cookie dough and raspberry amaretto swirl with brownie chunks. That did not disappoint!

We had the best accommodations too as Parker and Brooklyn both gave up their rooms for us!  That means they were having a sleepover in Levi's room. Jake and Kelli even bought brand new pillows for us! Talk about hospitality! We slept so well that Jake had to knock on the door to wake us up the next morning!