Fun In The Sun

This week we went to Port Aransas for a fantastic vacation! We left on Tuesday, drove to Corpus Christi and, after lunch at the two-story Whataburger (on the second story patio, of course) checked out the USS Lexington. It was loads of fun. First we went to see the Fighter Pilot movie in the MEGA-THEATER *echo effect* which was so great that we bought the DVD. Everybody but Mom and the littlest ones (she had the stroller and there were no elevators in the darn thing, just steep and dangerous stairs) went on top to see the planes. My favorites were the Trojan, a cool helicopter, and the Phantom II (wonder why?). I was wearing my POTO shirt that day (which wasn't very prudent, considering how hot it was) and told Dad he should take my picture with the Phantom II. Alas, Mom had the camera. We then proceeded into the super structure to see the controls, and down below to see the living quarters (including barber's shop, dentist, sick bay, chapel, etc.) and engine room. While down there we went past the galley (the kitchen, for you ignorant landlubbers) and Jack wanted to know what the food had been like. Luckily we bumped into a nice veteran who had been stationed on this ship. Dad asked him how the food was, and he said, "Not too bad."
Mom missed out on all of this, sadly. And she had the camera the whole time. Meaning, no pictures. :( Before we left, Grace and Emma, Jack and Ian, Benny and I all piled into the simulator. At first we weren't sure if Ben was tall enough, so we had him stand in front of the "You must be this tall" sign. He was just barely tall enough! A round of applause. While Dad was buying the tickets he was giving out instructions.
"Grace, don't sit next to Jack. Or Ian. That's guaranteed trouble right there. Everybody be quiet." Repeat. Repeat again. Ticket-seller-simulator-operator-guy was laughing the whole time. I don't know what was so funny. Do you?
Anyway, the simulator was loads of fun. We were on a "desert mission". You really felt like you were in a plane, banking this way and that, speeding through a landscape reminiscent of Indiana Jones movies after the enemy. Ben was next to me and clearly very into it. He was making explosion and gun noises the whole time.
Then the K family marched into the gift shop! Mom and I cast our greedy eyes on Rosie the Riveter "We Can Do It!" shirts.
Me: "OOOOH it comes in my size!"
Mom: "HINT HINT"
But we didn't get them. *sigh* We had to settle for a magnet. Mom did, however, surprise me with another (more affordable) shirt, which I like even more, as cool as Rosie the Riveter is. Ben got an adorable soldier helmet, Emma got a plastic helicopter thingy, I got a couple of postcards (one to send and one to keep) and Jack got a really cool pencil sharpener. I'd tell you what it looks like but I'm not really sure exactly what it is. It's some kind of huge gun. So everybody was happy and we all got back in the car and proceeded towards our destination, Port Aransas! We got there and began searching for the condo apartment we had reserved. As we were driving along the beach looking for it, we became inevitably stuck in a patch of softer sand. Dad tried everything until at last the boys and Mom got out and pushed. It was slow going, but- yayeth!- we were out, and continued to a harder part of the beach road. While stuck we hd realized that we had passed the apartments. We got back onto the real road, and continued along the real road (no more beach driving for the van!) till we came to a group of condo/resort buildings. Our apartment immediately received general approval. There was a TV in every room. Need I say more? All the boys (except Tristan) shared a room, and all of us girls shared a room. In our room we had a coffee maker, fridge and microwave. Which of course was very exciting, even though they were never used. The whole thing was a two-minute walk to the beach. After settling in, we of course headed straight for the water. We spent the whole afternoon and all the next day at the ocean, yeeha! We had planned to go home on Thursday, but plans changed and we stayed an extra day. Our apartment was already reserved by someone else for Thursday, so we spent the morning packing and waiting for the call to head over to our new apartment. We did, and it was nicer than the first one. We spent the rest of that day mostly at the pool. Jack, Ian Dad and I went to the beach for a while, but eventually the boys got bored and went back. I wasn't staying there all by myself, so I went too. Dad stayed behind and enjoyed some peace and quiet.
On Friday we left the condo and went back to Corpus and went to the aquarium before heading home. It was pretty fun. At the parts where the nice employee was explaining what makes a reptile or what kinds of rays there are, Grace and Emma answered most of the questions. At the stingray exhibit I think Emma talked more than the guide, and not even about stingrays. It was a fun day.
So everybody enjoyed vacation. Ben said his favorite part was swimming in the pool and going to Chili's for dinner. It is nice to be home though, in my house, in my room that I don't have to share with anybody especially hyper two-year-olds, and my books.
I can't think of a nice closing statement, so I'll just say, ta-ta for now!