It was time for Mom to come out for another visit. She was looking forward to the heat of August in Texas (those of you who don’t know her probably think I’m being sarcastic… I’m not!) and we were looking forward to spending some more time with her. When Mom comes, we try to do all the fun touristy things that we wouldn’t probably do otherwise.

We didn’t plan it this way, but were excited to see that Mom would be here with us to celebrate Howdee and Penelopee’s very first birthday! They turned one on August 27, and Mom flew back to Colorado on the 28th- the timing was perfect.

Our first “touristy” stop was to the Texas Sealife Center. This place was so neat! Honestly, I enjoyed this tour much more than the aquarium. It was just the three of us with the tour guide. She took her time, let us (me) take 1,000 photos of each animal, answered our questions and made us laugh! The Sealife Center is run by volunteers. They take in several different types of animals and rehab them for release to the wild. At least, that is the ultimate goal. Some of their animals will live out their lives at the center.

The turtles at the center:

The turtle in the bottom right (above) has a splint on his shell. His shell was broken somehow, and the volunteers created a splint for him to keep the pieces together so they can heal.

We had so much fun! We were so happy to be able to support this great non-profit organization who does so much to rehab these animals and support the wildlife in our area. We will definitely be back.

When Mom visits, all of the animals get so excited. Especially Frostee… Frostee loves her Grammy! Except this time, Ranger had to get involved and make sure he wasn’t missing out on any attention.

We also went to the beach! You know, one would assume that since we live so close to the beach, we would be there all the time. Don’t get me wrong, we do go down and drive the beach and listen to the waves about once a month. But we don’t get in the water every time. It seems like the only time we get in the water is when we have company!

Before we got to the beach, we took Mom to the Chapel on the Dunes in Port A. It is such a beautiful structure. We first saw this chapel when we came to Port A on our honeymoon. When we were here for Hurricane Harvey in 2017, we figured it would be the last time we ever saw the Chapel. We should have known better though, the Chapel was “barely touched” by Harvey according to Fox7 in Austin. The Chapel is locked unless you set up a tour, but you can look in the windows at the beautiful wall murals.

We made it to the beach, after a fun filled adventure changing into our swimming suits in the changing area. Note to selves: Put on suit at home next time!

We were sitting in our chairs, enjoying the weather and the sights and sounds of the ocean when I noticed we were beginning to be surrounded by sea gulls. They usually only gather around people for one reason…

I made pizza for dinner on my new pizza stone! It was so good!

The time had finally come for Mom’s visit to wrap up. While we were sad to see her go, it meant we got to celebrate Howdee and Penelopee’s birthday!

Can’t wait to see what we get into next time Mom visits!