Trish’s Blog

Texas SandFest – a wash

We drove four hours yesterday to get to Port A for the Texas SandFest weekend extravaganza! My responsibilities at Church for this weekend are non-existent due to it also being General Conference weekend. If you’re not familiar with this, it’s when the Prophet and other Apostles speak to the LDS inhabitants of the world. If there’s something you have a question about, whether Mormon or otherwise, you’ll probably hear an answer or how to get the answer at some point during this conference which is broadcast from the Conference Center (the Tabernacle got too small, so they built a bigger building) in Salt Lake City, Utah. A lot of people get dressed in church clothes and go watch the broadcast at the Stake Center (church building in their area), but our family likes to stay in pajamas and watch it on BYU-TV at home. So we tivo’d it and we’ll watch it together when we get back home.

We were a little worried about the weather, but on the drive down we didn’t catch one drop of rain. We made it in good time and were able to spend a few hours hanging out with Josh’s mom and dad and a couple of their old friends who had been staying with them for a week and were headed home the next day (today). These old friends go way back and they could remember Josh at Seth’s age and earlier. So we had Grandma’s famous macaroni and cheese with tuna and peas, a piece of pina colada cake, and Blue Bell brownie nut ice cream. The cake and ice cream was for my birthday. Oh, and I got a way cool basket that Josh’s mom handmade just for me. It has green detail on the sides and was filled with chocolate dipped strawberry candles. I laaahhhhv my present!

We went to bed early and then got up the next day ready for the beach. It did not look good outside, but having checked the radar and the weather reports, we decided to go ahead with our plans. Grandma did most of the work… she took care of everything–snacks, towels, tent, buckets and shovels. All we had to do was show up. And away we went.

They live really close to the beach, so we drove across one major intersection and out on to the beach (yeah, you can drive on the beach over here). Between mile markers 8 and 10, there were tents and canopies set up with flags flying overhead marking where the action was. They had a lady and a guy telling everyone to stop and park because the spots closer were reserved for the handicap and vendors. Grandma got around it by telling them that she had carvers in the car (since the kids were planning to register for the youth/guppy carving contest), and I swear, she owns this island. They let us go on through. We stopped and parked a little ways in and walked the rest of the way to Lesson Mountain (where the kids were to sign in). On the way, we saw what the master carvers had done. There were lots of sandcastles with intricate walkways and arches. One had a giant heart that looked like a box of chocolates without the lid and only one chocolate left. Amazing work. We won’t know who won until tomorrow.

We got to the right tent, signed the kids up and then let them play while we waited for the contest to start. The kids had a blast playing on a sand dune (the water was choke full of seaweed and it was cold, so they couldn’t go in) and I’m glad they did because that’s about where the fun ended. We watched a cold front move in above us… very dark sky and then it just opened up. The contest had just begun and Sarah and Zack began to work, but they were very discouraged by the cold, and getting pummeled by giant drops of cold water. Seth was shivering like a leaf and after about 30 minutes of hanging out in the tent and never getting him warmed up again, Grandma took him to the car. Zack wanted to stop and go with them, but I tried to get him to shake it off and not quit.

When it did not let up after an hour, we decided to consider our entry fee a donation, and booked it to the car. Grandma sure put a lot of work into our day for it to all be for naught. She treated us to Whataburger (major hamburger joint that started in Corpus) even though she’s on Atkins and couldn’t get one herself. Talk about love, huh? We ate at home and then watched two movies in a row that she has been saving on her tivo to watch with the kids… The Ant Bully and Barnyard.

Then we ate some yummy ribs for dinner with broccoli and mashed potatoes (again, she couldn’t eat the mashed potatoes, but she made them for us). She just put salt and pepper on the ribs and put them in the oven for 3-4 hours. They were falling off the bone and delicious. So simple and yet so satisfying. If I can eat ribs all day, I think I’ll start on the Atkins Diet. I just have to give up the other food groups that I eat… like candy and bread and rice and candy and ice cream and cake and candy. I just need to lose half an elephant and I’ll be right as rain.

Well, even though our day at the beach was rained out, we’re having fun with Grandma. We’ll probably spend tomorrow visiting with the great grandparents, doing one last drive by of the SandFest to see how the master carvers did, and then heading home.

Currently watching : Barnyard – The Original Party Animals (Widescreen Edition) Release date: By 10 April, 2007

Posted on March 31st, 2007 by trish
Filed under: Haley Kids, Life