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Texas Coast: Day 3

Sep 8th, 2009
by Jim Reverend.
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(This is Texas Coast Day 3, Saturday, September 5th.)

The bucket

The bucket

We started the day out with some breakfast cooked at Justin’s Mom’s house where we were staying. After breakfast, we headed out to an Alligator Farm. We saw Crocodiles, Alligators, Cayman, Snakes and Turtles. A tour guide gave a nice long talk about the animals and even let us touch them. We left the tour because it was rather long and everyone was getting antsy. We were going to eat on site, but the wait was too long so we picked up some BBQ to eat back at the house.

The pink chair on the shore

The pink chair on the shore

After Celeste’s nap we headed back to the beach. This time we’d be meeting lots of other people there. There were 5 toddlers in all and the beach was full of cars and people. I dug a hole in the sand to serve as a private toddler ocean being continuously refilled by the oncoming waves. Celeste had a blast looking for seashells, rolling in the sand, playing in the waves, and walking down the beach and dancing yo other people’s music. She particularly enjoys Tejano.

As the sun was setting and we’d had our fill of sun and sand we packed up and headed back to home base, stopping at dairy queen for a quick meal.

Texas Coast: Day 2

Sep 6th, 2009
by Jim Reverend.
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Celeste watching Poi

Celeste watching Poi

(Since I’m now a day behind, I’d better include dates to keep things clear. This is Texas Coast Day 2, Friday, September 4th.)

We started our day with an awesome breakfast. Then did some grocery shopping, visited some people including three adorable toddlers, and then came home for a nap.

After nap, we headed out to the beach for a late afternoon / early evening swim. Celeste loved it. She didn’t open her eyes underwater, was not afraid of the waves, and had a blast looking for seashells, watching the birds, and playing in the sand. When it got dark enough, Bonnie spun Poi on the beach and Celeste watched in awe. It was a LOT darker out than this photo makes it look. Bonnie loaned me her Canon G9 which I had on a tripod and took a 1 second exposure to capture this.

I got bit up pretty bad by mosquitoes in the last 15 minutes before we left. 20 bites or so in all. I’m usually almost immune to them. Celeste, who was in my arms, didn’t get any bites at all. So I guess I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead of going with the flow, I was starting to get stressed out about sand and baths and dinners and drives and all of those other things. I tend to be a beacon of peace and anti-stress… until I’m not. It’s like a lightswitch. At any rate, in the middle of all that stress Celeste, who probably sensed it, bit me. And then shortly there after the mosquito attack happened. So, with all of that together, I was in full blown panic mode, which is not good.

Aside from not quite being curvy enough, Justin was a good surrogate wife for the evening, though. He calmed me down, made some jokes, and had fun with Celeste until I got back to my usual self. We sat down for a good dinner, Celeste discovered a love for Ranch dressing, and then we headed home.

A good day, all in all, despite my panic attack.

this and that

Aug 31st, 2009
by Jim Reverend.
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Straw!

Straw!

We leave for Galveston/Bolivar in 3 days. This time with Celeste along too. Temperatures are supposed to top out at 90F with 76F dew points. So, hot and humid as expected. My biggest concern is sun exposure for C and trying to find stuff to do other than swim on a peninsula that has practically no shade. Because 12 hours a day at the beach for 3 days in a row probably isn’t such a good idea. Maybe we’ll take some short trips to The Island, the Boardwalk, etc and find some shaded things or indoor things to do.

Celeste didn’t sleep very well last night. She woke up quite a few times crying and difficult to console. Around 2am was the worst. She cried for a while. Then asked for milk. When I brought her milk she cried because it wasn’t in the “blue cup”. When I told her she could have the blue cup in the morning, she started crying again. Eventually we ended up staring at the fan together and taking about the lights. An hour later she fell back asleep. Not sure what’s going on or really how to handle it except to continue to be patient and give her love.

I guess I found some chiggers yesterday. I think I know where and I’m glad I was holding C when I was there. I have yet to find any on her. I’ve got quite a few bites on my ankles and even one up at my hip. Of course they itch terribly.

I’d been going back and forth lately about buying another camera. Something smaller than a dSLR, but better and more capable than the pocket SD1200 I carry around now. Saturday sort of sealed the deal when I tried to hike, photograph, and carry Celeste all at once. If she was a little older it’d probably be okay. The trouble is that I have to wear a backpack since I have camera stuff, my stuff, and Celeste’s stuff. So I have no quick place to put the camera when she wants to be lifted. So, when I lift her she either gets a heavy camera in the face or I get one bashing against my elbow. I’m trying to not rush into buying anything this time, though. So, I’m going to give my big rig another shot during our trip to the coast. And Bonnie’s going to lend me her G9 at the same time so I can sort of get a feel for both since the G10 is what I’m looking at buying.

I went to bed at 9:30 last night and I’m still exhausted this morning. Not sure if I’m still a little sick or if it was due to all the waking up Celeste did. But, regardless, I’m not looking forward to going in to the office today.

Celeste got her first goose egg on Saturday. I let her do all sorts of things that many people don’t let their kids do. So, I’m sure those of you who know me and my parenting style are saying “I figured that would happen!”. But here’s the funny thing: she didn’t fall off the boardwalk I let her run on, 10 feet above the ground with no railing. She didn’t hurt herself jumping off the stool on to the living room floor all by herself. She didn’t hurt herself playing the “oh oh oh” game that she loves so much, which is basically her running in place on my chest. No. She hurt herself walking. No not on a trail, or in the sand, or in the water. She hurt herself walking on the sidewalk in front of a commercial establishment. She tripped on something (I don’t even know what), and hit her head on the large decorative rocks that adorned the place.

I’ve been going back and forth about buying a photo printer. This weekend sort of sealed that for me as well. My local CVS does just as good as my Dad’s photo printer and is much, MUCH cheaper.

And that’s all we have time for today. The end.