Galveston remote blogging: night 1 and day 2

Oy vey. Looking back at what I posted yesterday evening, in light of last night's events, I feel bad for ever suggesting that my eldest child and most precious daughter may have been left by the road yesterday. Long story short, dear Annie was riding her scooter and fell, breaking her right arm. (A new one for us as she's broken her left arm twice, but not her right. Hi, Dr. Sackett!) So that entailed a LONG trip back into Galveston for Cathy and Annie last night to get a dubiously applied splint, which is covered by the plastic bag you see here:


In any event, it sounds like everyone is making the best of the day, and I've seen some evidence of that...

...like Jack prowling in the shallows...


...and Will building a sand castle empire...


...and Sam asking, "Where's da beach?"


It looks like Mary Shannon and Annie are having a good time at the beach!


And this alleviates my concerns from last night and confirms that Will Tompson is still being taken care of well!

Here are all six of the big kids out in the water:

I'm headed down tomorrow! Yippee!

Remote Semi-Live Blogging from Galveston

Well, bright and early this morning I waved goodbye to Cat and the kids as they headed south to Galveston. The trusty family wagon including a borrowed roof top cargo carrier (thanks, Karl!) was filled with beach toys, scooters, fishing poles, swimsuits, and food for our family and the Tompsons of Houston for the next five days.

(Quick aside: as I was helping Cat pack last night, I commented that I didn't think that the 3 bottles of wine she was taking would be enough for 5 days at the beach. Her response? "Valerie is bringing 4 more, and you boys are on your own to get beer." So I think they'll be well provisioned [I typed and then quickly deleted "lubricated" because I know the type of person that reads this blog] in that respect this week.)

Anyhoo, Cat has been kind enough to update me with periodic notes and pics from the trip. They've made it safely to the house, which sounds great, and I can't wait to join them. In any event, here's the day as I've experienced it vicariously via text and e-mail:

11:15 am -- I assist in the search for a Redbox in The Woodlands in which to return a movie, as well as a McDonalds for lunch. (There's one at Exit 69 in Spring off I-45, by the way.) Thank you, Google.

1:08 pm -- "Leaving houston headed to big g." The renovations to the Tompson house are reputed to be "Awesome."

2:17 pm -- "On island not to house yet. Passed place we stayed [Spring Break 2008 with Barbara]. Still there."

2:55 pm -- "The bridge in the background is the beach. Pretty awesome."


You can barely see Sam in the lower right corner of the picture sprinting toward some unknown thrill/dangerous condition. Looks like fun.

3:17 pm -- "View from our upper balcony."


I sure hope Will Tompson survives this trip.

3:22 pm -- "I forgot the pkg of steak seasoning. It is in the spice cab. Please bring it for grill nite."

[Yes, I am happy to make a 280 mile trip to deliver spices. Try me.]

[At this point, Cat ignores my very pertinent question of whether they have had their first bottle of wine yet.]

4:49 pm -- "In the 1st 5 minutes Rach got a crab and Jack found a shark skull. Nice."


Curiously, I have not seen any pictures of my eldest child in Galveston. I'm wondering if she's currently locked in the roof top cargo carrier or if she made the entire tri? There may be a band of Gypsies out somewhere on I-45 with a new daughter/scullery maid/laundry wench. Good luck to them.

Now (roughly 6:00 pm) they were headed to the resort for the swimming pool and some dinner. Sounds like they are having a blast! Can't wait to get down there and join them!