Next Stop: Brownsville, TX!

Tuesday we made the long trek down to South Texas to visit more family. Surprisingly there wasn't as much crying as before and Dylan even managed a 30-minute nap. However with two stops to try to keep Dylan calm, a 5-hour drive turned into a 7-hour drive. When we arrived my mom was busy getting everything ready for Dylan's birthday party! No one from my family has met Dylan yet since this is my 1st trip home since I was 8 months pregnant (aside from my immediate family), so she figured we could have everyone come over for a birthday party! Just a few weeks late, no biggie! :) It was really great seeing everyone again and for them to finally get to meet Dylan. Dylan was pretty fussy on and off since he'd been in the car all day and only slept for about 45 minutes after we got here, but he did a great job of staying awake and happy until about 8:30pm. He had so much fun at this party...he had a cake, got some cool presents, and even had his first pinata!!!

I thought it was a giraffe, but others told me it was either a donkey or a horse...I'll stick to giraffe.

Dylan instantly knew what to do...grab all the candy before everyone else!

And Dylan even got my meet his Great-Grandpa!!! He's the only living grandparent I have left, so this was a big deal to me :)

Yesterday, we decided, would be a good day to take Dylan to the beach (yet another first for him) before Tropical Storm Arlene would hit and the rain would ruin our fun. Well after Dylan finally woke up from his late morning nap and stopping for some fresh seafood we eventually made it to the beach. Immediately we noticed the dark clouds moving in, but we figured we had about 15-20 minutes to play.

We had a great time for about 5 minutes before the rain started. There wasn't anywhere we could really run for cover besides the overcrowded restrooms, so we all got pretty wet, even Mom & I who were planning on sitting back and enjoying the sun. We waited it out for about an hour before ultimately decided to head home because we knew the rain was here for good. And even though Mom & I were very determined to stay covered and dry (especially since we were the ones holding all the bags and everyone's stuff!) Keith and Joey managed to fight a few waves and Dad and Dylan played in little puddles around the shore. I really wish I could've snapped a few more pictures but I wasn't about to bring out my expensive camera in the rain. Of course it wasn't until later that I remembered I had my digital camera in the diaper bag that could've handled a little rain here or there. Oh well, I wish Dylan would've have more time in the water with the waves, but Keith said he had a lot of fun when he was out there.

Maybe next time Dylan!

It has been raining all day today and you would think it would be ruining our vacation, but the rain is such a refreshing sight to see...I can sit and watch it all day. We head back to Houston tomorrow and then back home either Saturday or Sunday, depending on how exhausted we all are. I'm so happy Dylan has been able to stick to his napping/sleeping schedule, I was really nervous about that. He doesn't nap and sleep as much as he does at home and I can tell he misses his crib, but that's okay! Here's hoping to some more safe travels and hopefully a couple of naps in the car!!!