Trip to Galveston

It's a 2 hour trip from our house to Galveston. That seems a long way when you are driving it with kids, but a really short distance when a hurricane is bearing down on you. We loaded up, gave the boys handheld gaming devices, grabbed the portable DVD players and away we went. 

The trip went fast and we arrived on the island. Drove around a little to see all the rebuilding. Saw a lot of houses that are now abandoned due to the damage done by Ike.

We got caught in a thunderstorm, and were amazed to see blue tarps still on many roofs. The gov't supplied the tarps and they were all supposed to be repaired a long time ago with gov't funds. No idea why they are still there.

This little fishing pier is on the back side of the island and yet it looks like twisted tinker toys. 

This is The Flagship Hotel, built on a pier over the water. It has been around for about as long as the seawall. Unfortunately, it is slated to be torn down now. So sad. Even sadder is the thousands of Oak trees destroyed by the salt water. They are busy cutting them down all over the island.

Thunderstorms can pop up out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. This delayed our beach time a little, but not too much. We grabbed some lunch and waited it out.

My boys at the beach. Notice the man off to the right in the picture. He is way out there and the water is only up to his thighs. It stays shallow for a very long way. 

Those black dots in the sky above the kids are Pelicans. 

Although the beaches by the seawall were crowded, we were at the west end of the island and the beaches were really empty.

Ahren took to the water right away, but wasn't too happy when he kept getting sand in his water shoes.

Ahren spent most of the time running back and forth from the sand toys to the water. 

Sun protection was high on my list.

Best buds.

More running up and down the beach. This is a most excellent way to wear out small boys.

Splashing in the surf. Nice little waves.

And one last shot of Levi and his freaky eye thing he does.  Attack of the Zombie Albino Boy.

We had a wonderful time. In fact, we had so much fun we will be placing an offer on a house down there today. A nice little beach house, located on a canal with a boat dock. It's only a few years old, in brand-new condition and comes fully furnished. Three bedrooms, two baths, and just 5 minutes by golf cart from the beach in the above pictures. It's on the high end of the island and they only got 3 feet of water under the house during Ike. No damage. Chris's company is buying it for investment reasons, but it will be our weekend get-away spot. Cowabunga, Dude!!