Our Week in Galveston

MIMI rented this house in Galveston so we could spend the week relaxing with her, PawPaw and Mike's brother's family. It was a much shorter trip to get to the beach this time. The house was in a neighborhood and all we had to do was walk across the street to get to the beach access.The girls had to check out the beach right when we got there on Friday night.
All three girls shared a room while Carter slept in the room with us (in his pack 'n play) the first night...until we decided that everyone would sleep better if he was in the bathroom the rest of the week :-) He did enjoy one morning of hanging out in bed with Mommy and Daddy before the rest of the house woke up.

The men set up these tents so we didn't have to spend all of our beach time in the direct sun.
Aubrey spent the first two days at the beach under the tents because she was terrified of the water.After a morning at the beach, we came home, had lunch and everyone napped. Then MIMI got out the play dough to be played with only outside on the porch.
We spent a lot of the week finding ways to entertain 6 kiddos under 5 years of age. PawPaw went and bought a couple of kites because it was perfect kite-flying weather. The kite was a huge hit and we didn't lose one!
Another day spent under the tent playing in the sand.
Carter isn't sure what to think of the water?!?!?!
Snack Time
More kite flying but this time on the beach.
Mike is trying to teach Lily how to throw a frisbee.
The beach house had access to a pool that was located in a condo complex next door. One evening we decided to go swimming and enjoy dinner by the pool. The pool had this fun waterfall feature so all six of us took advantage of a great photo opportunity. This particular morning we decided to hang around the house and relax a little. Graham got a hold of a barbie and a tutu. I guess both little boys are used to having lots of "girl" stuff around with having older sisters.

MIMI had fun fixing the girls' hair......and painting their toenails.
Eating and throwing ice out of the coolers on the porch became a favorite pastime.
A couple of evenings were spent playing under the house and taking walks on the beach. The guys found these horseshoes at the house.
MIMI brought along plenty of chalk and bubbles. She even drew hopscotch and taught them how to play.
The Hall Children

Galveston 2010
The boys getting a wagon ride on the beach.We decided the quickest and easiest way to do bathtime was girls in one tub...
...and boys in the other.

After the first two days the weather took a change for the worse as a tropical storm was approaching the coast. We decided to take the kids to the Aquarium for something different to do.The kids LOVED looking at all the fish, especially Carter. He yelled "Shark" as loud as he could and pointed to whatever he saw the whole time we were there.

Looking at the sea urchins.

Emery was one of the few brave enough to touch them. When you put your finger on their 'belly' their 'legs' would gently wrap around your finger. It was very interesting.

Carter just wanted to play in the water.

The Hall family at the Galveston Aquarium.
The kids were given a booklet that you went around to all the exhibits and collected stamps of different fish. The girls had a great time collecting as many stamps as they could find.
Wow, that is a big shark!

Carter checking out the shark cage.

MIMI with her grandchildren

Conveniently there was a great place to eat lunch right inside the Aquarium.

Another fun pastime - feeding the birds. Unfortunately there weren't many birds and it was super windy so some of the bread just ended up back on the porch...

...but that was okay for Carter because if the birds weren't going to eat the bread he would!
There is nothing better than snuggling in bed watching a movie on a rainy day.

On the last day we were there the rain finally slowed down and the water was much safer to go into. There still wasn't much beach to walk on because the tide was so high but that didn't stop us.

Aubrey finally got over her fear of the water and had a blast splashing around with her sisters and brother.

Check out Lily's serious running in the water face!

Emery thought the sand felt pretty good all over her legs.
Carter was doing some diggin'.Here is the whole group the morning we headed home. We had a wonderful week and made many memories.

Saying "Good-bye."

Vacation Bible School

In February I was asked to step in as the co-coordinator for VBS. It sounds like a big job but because of the organization from previous years and the amazing volunteers we had in key positions, my job was pretty easy :-)

My biggest job was organizing all of the adult volunteers and helping get ready for the week by working on decorations and supplies. There were many hours spent on painting/drawing/cutting to create an incredible set in the sanctuary and precious decorations to be hung all around the church.

The theme this year was High Seas so everything was based on a "pirates ship" and all the animals and accessories that go with it.

Our VBS is offered for children finishing Kindergarten through finishing 5th grade. If you volunteer, your nursery/preschool kids can come for free! The preschool program is a mini-version of the real thing. I am truly amazed at how God works on even these little ones. It is worth helping out for the week just so the kids can have this experience.

Each morning the kids would meet in the sanctuary in their crews with their leaders. The drama team would put on a skit based on the bible point for the day. This group practiced many hours before the week of VBS and it showed. They are fabulous actors and they really got the kids attention.
A favorite of the skits was the parrot. He would spend the rest of the morning walking around entertaining the kids. He put up with A LOT from everyone throughout the week but he was a trooper. He was met with tons of high-five's from the older kids and plenty of tears from the little ones.

During opening time while the kids were singing songs and Pastor Mike was giving a short inspirational talk, we would pull out the volunteers to circle up for pray time. This was something new we did this year that turned out to be a powerful couple of minutes with all of the people that worked so hard to make VBS a success.

After opening, the crews would break off and go with their leaders to different stations. This is music time. The VBS CD is one that we listen to quite often in the car. The kids can do all the hand motions with most of the songs. Even Carter shouts out a few of the key words.

Games was run by Pastor Ray who was definitely a favorite of the kids. He didn't really stick to the "curriculum" but what he did was not only fun and entertaining for the kids but also meaningful.

Each snack went along with the bible point for the day. Nothing is better than M&M's, ice cream, pie filling and all sorts of goodies that can be related to God's word. A memorable moment from behind the scenes was watching the church interns search all around Houston and make blue jello for 600 kids (no Cisco does not sell individual blue jello cups.) Each day the kids were asked to go home each night and find a "God sighting" they could share with their crew the next day. In crafts, the crews would write down their "God sightings" on a sticker. (Laurel is a 3 year old girl at our church who has cancer. They found this horrible news out 12 days after their second child was born in February.)

Then they put the sticker on...

..a map. This map showed the kids that God's work is being done all over the world. The map was the entire size of one wall in our fellowship hall and was completely covered with "God sightings" by the end of the week.
One of the crafts was to tie together these blankets. Each crew put together a blanket to be donated to a local children's home.
Thursday night Pastor Mike made delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough that some of the volunteers baked on Friday morning. As a part of the service projects the 5th graders did throughout the week, we had them pass out warm cookies to each of the volunteers. Is there anything better than fresh, warm cookies to say how much we appreciated all the help?Our mission project for the week was to raise money to send kids to Frontier camp. If the kids met the specified goal by Friday then we would "whale snot" Mr. Beaker who is another kid favorite because he walks around all week being silly and having lots of fun. As you can
see, we exceeded our goal!!!

I had an incredible week. It is indescribable to walk into a sanctuary filled with almost 600 kids and 100 volunteers singing praises to our Lord.. I was overwhelmed at how smoothly everything ran the entire week thanks to everyone coming together for one cause.

The #1 reason I love VBS: The other day I overheard Aubrey and Emery telling Lily not to be scared/worried about something because "God is always with you." That was one of the bible points from the week.

Splashpad Playdate

We met our friends, Madi and Izzy...

& Caroline and Cate for a playdate at the Fairfield splashpad.
Splashpads are so much fun and a lot easier on the moms for the kids to enjoy getting wet without having to take them swimming.Carter enjoyed "borrowing" toys from the other kids.
We had a picnic lunch right in the splashpad area.
Carter finally decided to get wet when we were dressed and ready to head home. Gotta love boys!