Congratulations!

Well, my computer shut down on me in the middle of this post and it didn't save it - so, I will just have to start over!

First - I want to say congratulations to my son, Josh for passing his CDL driving test! He passed with flying colors last Friday so, CONGRATULATIONS!

Now, onto the beach....! We have been going to Crystal Beach for so long that the kids consider it a second home. They know their way around the entire peninnsula! It's not that big and very family friendly.

This is a picture of the "pink" house we stayed in for so many years. It's called the "Disch House" on the realtors' lists. It's a really nice, clean house with three bedrooms but it only sleeps 8. We have just got to the point where we need at LEAST 4 bedrooms for privacy and then the single guys get the couches!

This is a picture of my kiddos and my mother (Mema). Notice Matt is usually alway in, or close to the water and Joshua is usually somewhere with a shovel. He's just starting a hole in this picture and Matt is helping Becca make a castle. This is directly in front of

the beach house and the tide is going out. Matt is 7, Josh is 6 and Becca is 2.

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The next picture is the same day, later in the day. Notice where the shovel is. Josh dug himself a BIG hole. I have another picture somewhere of Becca standing in the hole and it is deep!

(I want to apologize for the way these pictures and typing are set up. When I preview and/or publish this, they are never in the same place as they are during the setup! - I haven't figured it all out yet!)

Anyway, we usually just hang out on the beach or run up and down the peninnsula during our week. There are a lot of little souvenier shops and shell shops to visit and we usually visit each one every year "just because it's what we do"! There's a grocery store/gas station/gift shop/Ace Hardware store in the middle of Crystal Beach where we do most of the shopping. Their prices are not jacked up like you would expect and are very reasonable. There is a Super Wally World on Galveston Island where we stock up on paper products, but for food, the grocery store is not bad. We always take too much food anyway and wind up taking the majority of it home. I think my kids could live on ice cream for this week. We probably buy 1 container of BLUE BELL (it HAS to be Blue Bell) ice cream every day. Oh, and cones. Also, the ice cream trucks roam up and down the beach all day playing that annoying song "Do Your Ears Hang Low". Every time we hear that song ANYWHERE, guess where our minds go!! S

o, during the really hot time of the day, we go to the grocery store or take a nap or play games or watch tv or (This is my favorite) PEOPLE watch from the porch. There are not many people on the beach during the week when we go because we usually go off'-season, but we check out the ones that show up! Then, the #1 favorite thing to do is watch people get stuck in the sand. You can't believe how many people drive their cars into deep sand. So, our 4 wheel drive truck comes in handy. The boys have pulled countless people out of the sand over the years. Sometimes, they get a tip, mostly just a thank you!

I can almost hear the ice cream truck.....SORRY - no snow cone trucks here!