Family Trip to the Beach/Ocean in Galveston

Russ and I pulled off a big surprise for Damaris yesterday. Although a lot of people knew what was going on, she had no clue at all. When she got up yesterday morning, she was surprised to see that Russ and I were home instead of at work. We told her we just needed a day off and we were going to spend the day as a family just hanging out. We relaxed all morning (while she was getting dressed, Russ snuck all our swimming suits, towels, etc. to the car) and then headed out to Target to pick up a couple of things (mostly things we needed for our trip) and then "decided" to go out to lunch. I randomly picked Cracker Barrel and we headed out that direction. She didn't catch on at that point that the Cracker Barrel we went to was not the one we normally use. We ate lunch, browsed the store, and then decided to "head home". As we were driving towards Galveston, she started looking a bit confused but didn't say anything at first. When we passed over some of the water a bit before you cross the bridge, she commented that Russ had gone the wrong way and this wasn't the way home! LOL! As we began to cross the bridge, she finally got it. We stopped to change into our swimsuits (this was another shock for her because last time we went to Galveston, we just got ankle deep in the water in the clothes we were wearing) and then took a while to find a place we liked that wasn't too crowded (access point #10 for anyone interested). We unloaded, layered on 50SPF sunscreen, and headed out into the water. There was a lot of seaweed on the beach and plenty in the water, but it wasn't bad enough to cause problems. Damaris got splashed in the face by a wave as we got out a bit further into the water and she did not like the salty taste of the water. We tried to help her float on her back and float with the waves but that did not work. She thought it was cool that I could do it though. After over an hour, I was worn out from fighting the waves (really good exercise though) and headed back to the beach to get the camera and take some pictures and video (below). We had a good time and the temperature was just right with a great breeze. Russ is not a huge fan of the beach, but he stuck with it for Damaris and I. What a great guy!!!!! Damaris and I decided that we need a beach in our backyard. I know we will be going back again, well, we will have to convince Russ first! Enjoy the pictures and video below: