When Plans Get Derailed

Today we traded our swimsuits for bluejeans, our flip-flops for tennis shoes and headed to Galveston for a day out.


We very much enjoyed the scenery of an almost hour-long drive along the coast.  


Once in Galveston we headed for the Galveston Railroad Museum. 

 I have an entire other post to devote to a section of this museum, but that is for later.  Today we're talking about... today.

Look at my manly man carrying my bag.  Since I was carrying his baby and all.  Even with a sling (yay for baby-wearing!) Mama's arms can get tired.

Tyler can make anything funny.  Here he stepped in a hole in the flooring of an engine.  Without any drama or tears he announced "I stuck in the train! My foot stuck in the train!!"  No harm done to Tyler, his shoe, or the train. 

One of my favorite pictures from the day.  It's HUGE!


From here we continued on with our agenda and headed for the tip-top end of Galveston Island for a ride on the ferry.

Out of the van and to the front of the boat:

Brooklyn, along for the ride, as always:

As we approached the docking site I heard a dad next to us tell his kids we'd be seeing the dolphins soon.  I thought he was just teasing with his little girls, but no!  Just a few moments later... there they were!  So glad I had the video camera in hand to grab that right quick.

After the dolphins we all scurried back to our cars and exited the ferry.  Here is where things took a sudden departure from planned.

We were supposed to drive less than a mile up the beach and picnic at a totally cool and interesting historic park and playground area.  Seaside.

We drove right to it, alright, only to be met with orange cones, a dump truck, and a "Closed Until March 2012 for Road Construction" sign.  What!?  Ummm... this is March 2012 so... can we come in?  Please?

We did all we knew to do and took an about face.... back to the ferry.

Here's the catch: the line to get on the ferry going TO Galveston is a lot longer than the line OUT of Galveston.  We sat.  And waited.  And sat.

Once we finally got to the ferry station area, we were quite dismayed to be pointed off to the side, out of the line of cars.  

We had just been randomly selected for a homeland security inspection.  We watched the driver and passenger in the vehicle in front of us get out and stand near their vehicle while two officials looked under it with a mirror, under the hood, and all around.  

Brooklyn started to cry.  I was already laughing and the thought of all 6 of us piling out and rebuckling.

The inspectors were super nice, Brooklyn behaved, and only Greg had to get out.  (And we passed with flying colors... Whew!) ;)

And this is my absolute favoritist part of the day: you don't get delayed when you get randomly inspected.  Oh no.  Once you pass your inspection you are ushered to the front of the line.  My car-cranky kids whose lunch was delayed and playground under construction got to pass alllll those other cars in that long,long line and get right on the ferry.  We were one of the last cars on board.  

See how God did that?  Love it.

And although it was a little bit more of a delay, we circled around to another park.

One we had seen from the ferry.  And finally, at 2:30 in the afternoon, sat down in the shade for our picnic.

It even had a playground.  Can you spot all 4 of my guys in this picture?

Meanwhile, Brooklyn and I enjoyed the shade a bit more:

It was a long day out, but another fun day full of God's blessings and provisions.  So thankful!