Earlier this month we took a trip to Galveston for the weekend with my mom and her husband. I was excited for a little R&R and to introduce Pete to the ocean – more on that later. We hadn’t been to the island in a hot minute mostly due to baby life, but I’m glad we went!

We rented an Airbnb in the middle of the island, just a short drive from the beach. It was super cute and had everything we could ever need for a weekend getaway. Seriously, I highly recommend it, especially for larger groups. It was pet-friendly, too! (Link here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/29510829?)

Short trips can feel a bit rushed if you try to plan too much. My mom and her husband, Tom, are pretty chill, though, and are fine with not having any particular plans – or having to plan around nap times and feedings. Neil, Peter and I arrived Friday night and we had pizza at the house and caught up a bit. Saturday morning, after eating the breakfast Tom made us, we walked down the street to check out a neighborhood garden we’d seen the day before. Let me tell ya, it was amazing!

Seeding Galveston is a local initiative to develop sustainable urban agriculture on Galveston Island through hands-on teaching methods. There are gardens like the one we visited all over the island to promote “island-wide locavore food culture.” When they lived in McKinney, Mom and Tom had an heirloom garden where they grew small batches of herbs and vegetables and sold them to local restaurants. So this was totally their jam. We walked around the garden and looked in on the chickens and goats. Peter still doesn’t know that animals are different than people. So he was less than impressed.

Soon it was time for lunch (my favorite part of the day). We met up with Neil’s parents at the Sunflower Bakery & Cafe and waited in a very long line. Well, they waited. I pushed Pete around the block to rock him to sleep in his stroller…

After lunch, it was time to hit the beach! I was pumped. I was excited. I thought Pete would have the time of his life. I was very, very wrong. Due in part to the crappy weather, our time at the beach was windy and cold. We put Peter in the sand to play and initially he was intrigued. Sadly, it ended too soon. The wind began to blow sand into his eyes, causing him to rub them with his sandy paws. It was a MESS. So we scooped him and tried to show him how fun the waves could be. Should we have checked the water temperature first? Probably. Are we new parents? Yes. The frigid water made the little guy squeal and from that moment on he clawed onto me like a koala and did not want to be put down. If any of you know Peter, he is not the clawing type.

Can you tell he doesn’t trust it? Hopefully, we didn’t traumatize him. Then again, his parents hate the beach, so maybe it’s in his genes. After the somewhat of a fail beach adventure, we went back to the house to chill. Despite Pete not knowing what animals are, he fell in love with my Mom and Tom’s labradoodle, Luther. He especially liked getting licked – and licking Luther’s ball…

That night, we had leftovers and watched a movie on Netflix (I told y’all we were chill). Early the next morning, Mom and Tom hit the road to get back to Fort Worth at a reasonable time. We got to “sleep in” – 7:30AM never felt so good!

Then, we checked out of the Airbnb, packed up the car, and made our way back to the mainland. And just like that, the weekend was over! It was a bit of a whirlwind, but it was a nice break from the everyday. I wonder where we’ll go next?