it was great, until...

That was our mini-vacation that is.

But, let me start at the beginning.

While Mark was in Costa Rica, I purchased my very first priceline.com hotel room. (Now, I have never done this before, and will never do this again, but again, getting ahead of myself.) I ended up getting a room at Microtel for $52 a night. Not sure what a Microtel was before this trip, but we were a little nervous driving down to Aransas Pass on Thursday afternoon. We got to our hotel and when we entered our room, we found the tiniest little room, with only one double bed in it, that took up the entire room. This is really funny because I was planning on the three of

us- Mark, Lou and myself sleeping in one bed... but, a king sized bed because Lou is all over the bed when she sleeps. And, there wasn't a spot for the pack and play for Caleb. So, I go to the

front desk- mind you, this is off season for the beach, and ask for a room with a little more room or with either a bigger bed, or two beds. I even offered to pay the difference. The lady was really kind, and told me they only had rooms with double beds and no rooms with two beds. So, she gave us the only handicapped-available room. I told her that if someone came in and needed it, we would move, but to just let us know. So, we pack up everything, move rooms, and it was great. Now, Mark is a very light sleeper and needs his own space and complete darkness. He saw that our room was connected to the next room, and went down to ask if he could rent it. They let him rent it for $40 a night, AND, get this.. when he opens the door, he starts laughing hysterically. The room had two beds! So, it ended up being great and we each had our own bed. (Other than the first night, when Lou came in my room and wanted to sleep with me.. Here is a preview of how she sleeps.

Now, other than being right next to the door to where people park, listening to them come in and out all night long, we would recommend the Microtel to anyone who goes down to the beach and wants something in between Rockport and Port Aransas.

We went to Rockport on Thursday afternoon, and had a great time at the beach. Lou has been to the beach before, but this was the first time she didn't mind the sand, and really enjoyed the water. This was our first try with digging a hole in the sand for Caleb and keeping him covered with an umbrella. We didn't enjoy Rockport very much this day because the mosquitoes were horrible and we didn't have bug spray at this point. (Apparently, the mosquitoes were bad everywhere we went, and we smartened up and purchases bug spray.)

That night we went to Finn's, in Port Aransas, and it was DELICIOUS! Lou really enjoyed the ferry ride across, and Mark and I really enjoyed the nachos and hamburgers. Other than a restless girl, an hour of waiting for our hamburgers, and the mosquitoes- again with the mosquitoes, Finn's was great and we, again, would recommend it.

The next day, we woke up and decided we wanted to try a different beach, so we drove over to Port Aransas. We enjoyed this beach a lot more because it had waves, lots of hermit crabs, softer sand for Lou and Caleb, and it was surprisingly clear and clean. We spent the morning taking family pictures, and playing in the sand and water. Caleb was much better in his sand-hole today, and Lou just had a blast playing in the water.

That afternoon, we headed to Corpus Christi to the Aquarium and we really enjoyed it. Lou loves animals, so we spent the afternoon observing dolphins, birds, and other wildlife that they had on display.

On our way home from Corpus, I heard our lil Caleb making some grunting noises, and fully knowing that he was having a bowel movement, did not think that anything would happen with it, and I would change him when we got back to the hotel. But, when we went to pull him out of his carseat, he was, covered, I mean really covered head to toe in, well, you get the picture. It was hilarious, and thankfully our hotel had a washer and dryer available- for purchase- that we were able to wash his carseat cover and his clothes.

For dinner this night, Mark went to HEB and bought microwave dinners for us, since our hotel rooms had microwaves. They were not delicious and were not filling, so we ventured out to this little place called the Bakery Cafe, and ate some delicious chocolate pie and cheesecake for desert.

(I am getting tired of adding pictures to my blog because every time I do, they are at the top and I have to figure out how to get them in the right spots.... so, from now on.. I won't be posting pictures with this post. Use your imagination here.)

Saturday morning we woke up and went back to the Port Aransas beach and went swimming, caught and released hermit crabs, built sandcastles, and took lots and lots of pictures. Caleb gave us some great smiles, in which I will post later, and Lou did great. We decided to hit the road around noon, ate lunch in Corpus Christi and then started the drive to San Antonio.

When we were 20 minutes outside of San Antonio, Lou started screaming, I mean really screaming and holding her right ear. I tried to call her on-call doctor at the pediatrician's office and since I couldn't hear due to the screaming, they redirected to a walk-in pediatric clinic. She had/has an ear infection due to congestion that got really bad all of a sudden, and Mark and I were in San Antonio for 5 hours before we were able to home. We went from the clinic to trying to find a pharmacy that was still open on a Saturday, and then had to wait 2 hours for her prescription. We had a delicious dinner at Chili's while waiting where Lou slept the entire time, so I'm not going to lie, it was kind of nice to not have to deal with her during that time.

Well, we made it home.

We went to church on Sunday, and Lou was great because she was feeling better.

Monday morning came, and it was now Caleb's turn to get an ear infection. OUCH.

So, right now I have my two children on antibiotics, and it is chilly and wet outside. Kind of a nice excuse to stay inside and cuddle.. except when your baby does not want to be put down. Ahhh... Love me some Lou and Caleb!