Cousins weekend in Galveston

Recently my brother Jeb and his wife Alli came for a visit with their 3 girls, Makenna (6), Madison (4), and Marissa (2). We enjoyed some quality time together at our house in Houston, and then we headed south to Galveston for another weekend at the beach. We just never get tired of our visits there! My parents joined us there so it was a fun-filled weekend of family time. We enjoyed lots of beach time, pool time, yummy restaurants, and even an entire day at the Schlitterbahn water park. So much fun! Here are a ton of pics from our awesome cousins' weekend.

Alli with Madison and Makenna

Madison enjoyed one of Kaitlynn's tricks: climbing the outside of the staircase.

Cousin craft time. Aunt Alli always has the best crafts!

Love Makenna's smile.

I love this picture of Jeb and Alli's girls. They are all so blond and beautiful!

Uncle Jeb took the 5 kiddos for a paddleboat ride.

Love this action shot of Madison in her goggles.

Marissa loves being independent in the pool.

In Galveston, Connor enjoyed some time in the sand.

Makenna was our seashell and hermit crab collector all weekend. She had quite a few treasures!

Jeb and Madison.

Jeff joined us for the day, so he and Kaitlynn enjoyed their typical beach strolls.

Love this pic of Alli cuddling with Marissa!

Kaitlynn won't venture into the waves without holding Daddy's hand.

Jeb and Makenna -- so cute!

Feeding Cheetos to the seagulls. You can see one in his mouth, ha!

Fun in the sand.

Back at the beach house, Jeff enjoyed some relaxation.

Grand Daddy struck up a game of dominos with Connor.

Those 2 were quite the pair all weekend, playing games. 

One really neat memory from our beach weekend was that my Dad conducted a church service for all of us on Sunday. We didn't have to leave our beach house and we were even dressed in our swim suits. The kids thought it was pretty cool! We sang some songs and had a devotional followed by communion for everyone. The kids loved being able to participate in the service by reading from their Bibles and even taking communion.

The kids taking communion at our home church service.

More beach, this time with sand art. (Seriously, Aunt Alli is so great with crafts!

Jeb and MeMe

LOVE this picture of my Daddy! Hard to believe he was gravely ill just a few short months ago.

Couldn't resist including this pic. I see this look from Kaitlynn all. the. time.

Love this grin.

My brother Jeb's beautiful family.

They all loved the water.

This pic of MeMe and Kaitlynn is definitely a keeper. So sweet!

These two have quite the special bond, too.

MeMe and Grand Daddy treated all the kids to Rainforest Cafe. Always an adventure!

The 5 kiddos with MeMe and Grand Daddy.

Jeb and Alli with their sweet girls.

We wrapped up the evening with a little dancing.

On another day, we ate lunch at Bubba Gump on the new Pleasure Pier in Galveston. So neat!

Love this pic of Jeb and Madison at lunch.

Couldn't resist taking a picture of MeMe with her yummy crab legs!

We spent our last day in Galveston at Schlitterbahn. We've been numerous times throughout the years and the kids LOVE it.

Connor and Kaitlynn at Schlitterbahn.

This trip to Schlitterbahn was just as fun as in years past, but this time we had an incident that scared all of us to death. A favorite attraction for all the kids is the Torrent River, a wild section of the lazy river with huge waves. In the afternoon, this section gets PACKED with people and tubes. We were entering this section at the busiest time of the day. I was in a single tube, Alli was in a tube with Marissa, and Kaitlynn was in the child seat of a double tube with Grand Daddy. A sudden huge wave knocked Kaitlynn out of her tube into the river and swept her away underwater amidst the massive amounts of people and tubes. Grand Daddy, Alli, and I panicked and began frantically searching for Kaitlynn, but we just couldn't see her with all of the people and chaos in the river. I was screaming and shouting for her, scanning the river from side to side trying to spot her, but all I could see were tubes and people in every direction. I knew that Kaitlynn is a great swimmer, but even the best of swimmers would have a hard time navigating in that river with all of the people, tubes, and waves. After what seemed like an eternity (probably about 30 seconds), I heard someone shout, "Over here!" Another swimmer had spotted Kaitlynn nearby. I rushed over to get her and found her treading water, eyes big as saucers, with waves rushing over her head. She was scared but fine. Her lessons from Ms. Glendy along with all of her experience in the water allowed her to float safely and avoid panic when she was swept out of her tube. And I'm convinced that God had a lot to do with her safety as well. Only when I got home later that night and laid in bed replaying the events did the gravity of that situation sink in with me. It could've gone so differently. Grand Daddy and I both had trouble sleeping for a while; it was one of the scariest moments I can ever remember. Thank God Kaitlynn was safe! Although she doesn't seem too keen on returning to Schlitterbahn again anytime soon....

Kaitlynn's eyes were about THIS big when I found her in the torrent river, but she wasn't smiling!