This past weekend, we went to Corpus Christi to visit Ben's cousins Matt and Sam who are both students at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. We both took the day off from work on Friday, so after stopping for breakfast tacos at Helen's Casa Alde in Buda, we headed down to Corpus. It only took us about 3 hours, and aside from the fact that I was little uncomfortable at the end from sitting that long, the drive really wasn't too bad at all.
When we got into Corpus, we checked into our hotel and then headed over to the boys' house. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of their house, but 5 guys and 1 dog live there, so you can use your imagination -- haha. Really though, it wasn't too bad, but the girls confessed that this was the cleanest that it had ever been and that their mom had threatened to take away their big screen TV if it wasn't clean when she got there later that night. After checking out the house, we decided to go grab some food at Fajitaville.
We sat out on the back patio since the weather was practically perfect, and we snacked on all sorts of appetizers -- buffalo wings, grilled shrimp, quesadillas, bacon & jalapeno wrapped shrimp, and chips & queso.
The distances to all of the "nearby" colleges, and last but not least...paradise: 0 miles. ;)
The U.S.S. Lexington...
After eating, we walked down to the water.
Baby Boy's first trip to the beach.
It was so nice to just walk around and wade in the water -- without a care in the world, and when we got tired of that, we walked back up to the restaurant and played cornhole for a little while.
That evening, we went to the girls' house to say "hi" to both Lexi and Annika and to see their house, which is super cute. We lounged over there for a little bit and then went back to the boys' house to watch the baseball game. Ben and I ended up leaving before the game was over though. It definitely wasn't late, but my baby bump and I were pooped, and I needed my beauty sleep. ;)
On Saturday morning, we got up at a decent hour so that we could have breakfast at the hotel before heading to the aquarium. Our continental breakfast had the coolest pancake maker, too. All you had to do was press the "ok" button, and a couple of minutes later, two pancakes came out of the side -- just like a printer. Pretty nice if you ask me.
A few weeks ago, when we were originally planning this trip, the only thing I wanted to do aside from hang out with Matt and Sam and go to the beach was visit the Texas State Aquarium, but honestly, it was somewhat of a letdown. They really didn't have that much, and as Ben put it, we were older than the average visitor age by about 20 years. No lie -- there were kids everywhere. Screaming kids that were running around in every direction. I just kept thinking -- it's a good thing ours will be nothing like that. ;)
We saw stingrays...
An owl...
A bald eagle...
A couple of sea otters...
...that played/wrestled just like Annie and Amos do.
Some small sharks...
And some dolphins...
....which were definitely the most exciting exhibit.
Thankfully, we were able to catch their show, which was actually pretty impressive.
And before heading out, we walked through and looked in all of the aquariums. The fish were beautiful, but seeing them in an aquarium isn't nearly as cool as seeing them in the ocean like we did in Belize. It didn't help that Ben kept saying, "what kind of life is this?" He's such a softy. ;)
Before leaving, we decided to climb all of the stairs up to the observation deck, and although I was completely winded by the time I got up there {my lungs aren't quite what they used to be}, I'm glad that we did. The view was really pretty up there.
After leaving the aquarium, we ended up going to Port Aransas to go to the beach with everybody else that had come into town the night before.
Lexi's parents -- Tim and Annette...
All of the girls -- Me, Priscilla {Kim's friend}, Lexi, Maggie {Lexi's sister}, Caden {Priscilla's daughter}, and Annette...
...except for Aunt Kim who was playing football with the boys.
After spending a couple of hours hanging out at the beach, I went with Ben, Sam, and Matt to Newport Dunes Golf Club so that the boys could play. I just wanted to drive the cart and enjoy the beautiful course.
The weather was absolutely amazing, and after a little bit of practice, we were off.
All 3 of them play about the same and are fairly good, so that made it even more fun.
Matt was so close to hitting this one in the water.
So very close.
Beautiful, huh?
And they even have towels soaking in ice cold water that are mango scented. Amazing.
After the first nine holes, we stopped by the club house for burgers and then started on the back nine, which were even more beautiful than the first. You had a view of the ocean at almost every hole.
And when the sun started to set, it only got prettier...
There were several rabbits out on the course, too. They blended in pretty well -- especially in the brushy areas, but Ben was really good at spotting them, and thankfully, he always pointed them out to me, too.
By the time the guys finished up the 18th hole, it was completely dark out. They all played really well, but Sam ended up winning, and Ben came in last, which was unfortunate since they had a few crazy bets on the line.
After showering up, we then met the rest of the group downtown at Dos Comales for dinner.
Me, Matt, Lexi, Maggie, Caden, Priscilla, Kim, Tim, Annette, Annika, Sam, & Ben.
And after dinner, we headed over to the girls' house so that Matt and Ben {who came in 2nd and 3rd} could follow through with their bets and suffer their punishments, which involved taking shots of mayo, drinking a disgusting concoction, and other random stuff involving Bengay. Boys -- do they ever grow up???
That next morning, we all went to church, and Matt was baptized along with about 30 other people. Their church is much more contemporary than Ben and I are used to, but I am so glad that we were able to be there for such a special day in Matt's life. Both Matt and Sam have really grown up to be such great guys, and we are so proud of them.
Annika & Sam...
Aunt Kim & her boys...
Me and three of my favorite guys...
Lexi and Matt with their friends Mike and Ally...
After church, we all headed over to Wallbangers Burgers for lunch, and after saying "goodbye" to everybody, we decided to make our way back to Austin. A cold front had come through Saturday night, so when we woke up that morning, it was both cloudy and cold and therefore not really beach weather. We had a great time though and really enjoyed spending time with Matt and Sam {and everybody else}. It's hard to believe that the next time we go to the beach that it will no longer be just the two of us. Our beach trips will be pretty different at that point, but I can't wait. I love my life, and I just know that I'm going to love it even more come February. :)
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