Spring Break 2020 {Corpus Christi, TX}

This past week was Spring Break for us here in San Antonio, so we loaded up & headed to Corpus Christi for the first time! As always, Derek was our resident travel agent & had planned excursions for us to the Texas State Aquarium, USS Lexington battleship, Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History, and of course some beach time! We had a great trip, and it certainly didn't hurt that the drive was only about 3ish hours. The perfect little road trip! The kids' top music requests for the drive were the Frozen 2 Soundtrack, Imagine Dragons, and a techno song called "Confusion" {they mainly like this one b/c they know it annoys me!}.

Whenever we travel to a new city, we immediately scout out a park near our hotel that we will undoubtedly frequent each day of our trip. Whenever we have a few minutes of downtime, to the park we go! There's no such thing as downtime in the hotel with Brady. ;) He found a new pterodactyl squeal that he loves to do, which isn't the most hotel-friendly sound..but perfect for the park, ha!  We traveled to Austin, TX for the first time last year & will be heading there again with the girls' school next month--they've already asked if we can go back to their favorite Austin park! :)

Vacation means lots of eating out..restaurants that have kids' menus with activities/crayons will always have my heart!! Such a small thing that makes a huge impact with tired, hungry kids!

And of course vacation also means lots of desserts! :)

Derek took one for the team & let the kids bury him in the sand one afternoon while I sat on the beach reading my book...heaven on Earth!

Shelby's favorite activity on the sand: digging a hole near Dada's hole until their hands meet underground to form a tunnel. :)

We took the kids to Chili's for their first time ever on this trip, and they all LOVED it! This is a big deal in our house b/c there are only 3 other restaurants that the kids all like to eat at {Cheesecake Factory, Jason's Deli, & Panera}. They shared a dessert from the kids menu, and they thought they were living LARGE!

We drove down to Corpus Christi on Saturday morning & drove back home on Wednesday morning. A little rest area dance party to break up the drive! We're so thankful we were able to squeeze this trip in before the coronavirus hysteria really amped up. The tourist attractions, beaches, and restaurants we visited on our trip were all busy & thriving--you would have never known anything was awry.

It was the perfect length trip, so we had plenty of time to rest & recuperate at home before getting back to reality on Monday. But as fate would have it, who knows when "reality" will resume now that schools and businesses are shutting down nationwide to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

As of now, our kids' schools are extending their Spring Break an additional week. Our church has moved services online, our piano studio is closed, our library is closed {this one hurt me the most, ha!}, and the list goes on. The kiddos & I have our regularly scheduled 6 month dental checkups scheduled for this upcoming week, and although I haven't heard anything yet..I'm guessing those appointments may get cancelled too. Such a weird time for everyone. Can't help but think about people whose jobs & paychecks are in limbo with the current state of affairs, people who are fortunate enough to still have jobs to go to but are scrambling for childcare with schools suddenly closing, people whose vacations or weddings have been affected by this, and not to mention those that are actually sick. I am reminded how thankful I am for Derek's stable job & my job as a stay-at-home mom. While the world seems like it's literally falling apart, very little is actually changing in our little corner of the world and it's not lost on me what a gift that is. Praying for the health & peace of our community, country, and world.