Going Crazier in Corpus Christi

On our third day of our awesome vacation we found ourselves all too burnt to go back to the beach. We were a little disappointed, but there are plenty of other thing to do in the Corpus Christi area. First thing in the morning we went to all the beach novelty shops. We found one that had a giant shark that you walked through to get to the door. We managed to spend ridiculous amounts of money on souvenirs including but not limited to shark tooth necklaces and shell Christmas ornaments. 

After shopping we went to the Botannical Gardens. They had a fun assortment of semi tropical plants, tropical plants, parrots, and mosquitos. I got no less than nine mosquito bites on top of my sunburn. It turns out that over half the gardens are over an alligator habitat complete with swamp and board walk. I was convinced that I would have malaria or west nile virus...or both before the end of our tour.

They had a great butterfly habitat where hundreds of butterflies were soaring all around you as you walked through.

Even better they had a really great playhouse that the kids enjoyed running around.

We looked around for some alligators at the swamp but only found more mosquitoes so we decided to go back to the hotel for an afternoon nap.

After resting up at the hotel and watching innumerable PBS cartoons that make grown men weep, we went to the mall. Everyone got some ice cream and Wendys.

The Corpus Christi mall raised itself above the ordinary by having numerous aquariums and a play land for small children. It should be noted that Liam still considers himself a small child.

The kids had a lot of fun, in fact Miles attempted to stay and live at the play land. He tried to explain that he would be just fine if we left him behind...I didn't believe him.

Ian immediately found three new friends (he does this everywhere we go). He had a godzilla which made him the coolest kid in the play land. He was explaining all the finer points to the male under six crowd and had a captive audience.

As the sun went down and was no longer burning our skin through our clothing we went down to North Beach so we could see the ocean one more time before going home. The kids were under strict orders not to go near the water. Liam sat down and watched the water. Then when he saw where the ocean waves reached...he scooted down. When the waves washed over him he looked up in horribly feigned astonishment and said, "Oh no, I got wet!".

From there on out, he just dove right in.

Naturally Ian followed suit.

Miles continued to be afraid of the ocean and was content picking up dozens upon dozens of random shell bits for us to take home. Speaking of taking random things home. Matt in a fit of bizarre sentimentality ended up packing up the stray orange tabby that resembled Azrael.

Guess which unwilling person now owns two cats? I'll give you a hint...Matt was the only willing partner in this. Azrael is seated above and her minion Gargamel is curled up at her feet. So it looks like we brought back more than shells from the beach.