Charlie Cat Barrett

Well, after five months of loving on this kitty, while we searched for a good home for him, we made it official and adopted him. A cat is about the last thing that I wanted, but he warmed his way into the kids' hearts and he makes them smile again after losing Cooper. Crazy story though- we took him to the vet to get microchipped and set him up for a neuter only to find out that he was already microchipped and neutered! I'm not sure why I didn't take him in to see if he was chipped when we were looking for his home. We had to sit in a room while the vet attempted to contact the owners and poor Tyler and Kinley were heartbroken to think that we might have to give him away after we finally decided to keep him. Surprisingly, he was never registered. I still suspect that he was dropped off at our house on purpose, but I guess none of that really matters at this point. He's ours now. The kids would like to introduce you to their new kitty.... Charlie Cat Barrett

Galveston 2017

Our little Galveston get-a-way turned out to be a little exciting as we left our sunny/dry weather and headed straight into Tropical Storm Cindy! It was crazy that the Tropical Storm was literally going to hit the town the evening that we got there. We decided to brave the weather and not let a little rain ruin our vaca! It has made for a fun story to say that we were in the middle of a Tropical Storm. :-) And the truth is, it wasn't bad at all. It was drizzly when we got there and we walked to dinner from our condo (because... come on, how many times can you say you took a walk during a Tropical Storm??!). Most of it hit that evening while we were sleeping.  It rained a little the next couple of days, but we still managed to get to the beach one day, hit up the Aquarium and Pier another day, and ate at some yummy restaurants! I don't think we've eaten at a bad restaurant during our two trips there. It's so good!! We tried Jimmy's on the Pier, Nick's Kitchen and Beach Bar, The Spot and my favorite... Fisherman's Wharf. Somehow, Travis got Tyler and Kinley to try a raw oyster at Fisherman's Wharf. Tyler was so mad after he tasted it that he was almost in tears. He thought it was disgusting! Kinley did a good job at faking that she didn't think it was as horrible, but definitely didn't want another one. HaHa! Kinley also got her first sunburn... and I mean sunburn(!!) (with zero sun! Agh!) AND she choked on a peppermint in the car. I'm not sure I'll ever forget that look of panic on her face when the peppermint got stuck. I flew out of the passenger seat and around to her so fast, pulled her out of the car and then she threw up in a parking lot and out came the peppermint. It was nuts! Overall, the kids had a great time (they absolutely love playing in the sand and could do that all day!) and it was nice to get away from the house for a few days! We'll be back!







The storm clouds looked pretty crazy as we got closer to the coast.




View from our condo balcony


Walking to dinner at Jimmy's on the Pier




















Brooklyn attempted sunscreen.


Beach day




















































































Holy sunburn!




Aquarium at Moody Gardens
























Pleasure Pier