Oh July, how I love thee.

That’s a weird thing for me to say, I know, what with my extreme disdain for the heat of a Texas summer. But really really, this summer is already going down in the books, and there’s so much of it left to come!

Because our March-June was so crazy busy, we decided to take it as slow as we could in the month of July. We needed time for fishing trips and Girls Days… well, I needed one and Mack needed the other. I’ll let you decide which is which. We also desperately needed a family vacation and a grownup getaway. July is the time for all these things. Since the fishing trip and the family vacation both happened in the last week or so, I thought I’d send this blog week out on a beachy happy note! These pictures are a mix of images from the “big camera” and some from Instagram. My Instagram-addict-ness has been well-covered, and it’s not getting any better. 🙂

We drove down to Port Aransas, TX on Thursday morning. I love a good road trip… especially one that involves thunderheads, Texas flags, gorgeous little boys, and ferry rides.

We got to our resort, The Mayan Princess, right around supper time. It’s the second time I’ve stayed here, and while they had a bit of a wifi issue this time, it was otherwise another wonderful trip. I’d highly recommend these condos to anyone.

The perfect cure for being cooped up in the car for 6 hours? Grab your little sister and run like mad into the Gulf of Mexico!

While Dorothy loved to splash and play in the waves, what she loved even more was DIGGING.

Jack is such a stud. He’s completely fearless, and he’s innovative in his beach play, and he loves his little sister and takes great care of her. We’re so proud of the person he’s growing into…

“Hey! Let’s all stare into the sun for an unattractive tripod family picture!” I have all the best ideas.

Our plan for this beach vacation was simple. Play in the surf from dawn til it got hot, watch movies and eat and nap and shop in the middle of the day, and go back out and play in the water again ’til it was too dark to see. This plan is brilliant, and we’ll continue to use it on our other beach vacations pretty much forever.

We’re in love with the Port Aransas Brewing Company… best fish we ate on the whole trip. The sister restaurant, Beach St. Cafe, is also awesome. Get the ribs and thank me later.

This last picture is actually one of Jack’s! He told us just where to sit and everything. Talented little guy. 🙂

This past Tuesday morning, Mack and Jack and I went on a little fishing trip with my cousin, at Lake Ray Hubbard. We’d love Stephanie & Geoff even if they didn’t have a boat, but it certainly doesn’t hurt our relationship. 🙂

The day was cool and the clouds were lovely and the swimming was perfect… but the fishing? Notsomuch. Guess that just means we’ll have to try again!

Funny little story. Jack found a rock or a screw or something on the boat and went to put it in his pocket, and exclaimed, “Oh man!! Guess what I found??” The answer is four adhesive mustaches. Well ok then.

And we came home, thoroughly worn out from a crazy couple of days, sunburned like WHOA, and happy happy happy about summertime. Our next trip starts exactly two weeks from today… I’m already ready. 🙂