December 8-9, 2023: Magnolia Beach, Texas

We enjoyed a couple days at Magnolia Beach along the Gulf Coast last week. It was a nice chance to catch up on some rest and relaxation...and enjoy the sun - even though it was a little breezy.

Mom's dream - to boondock at water's edge on the Gulf coast

The littles and Nellie had a blast playing in the water for two days. On day two, some older siblings and Lucy reluctantly joined them in the frigid water for awhile. Lucy didn't enjoy the water as much as we had expected her to for her breed... but then again, Nellie took a couple years to figure out that water play is fun, so I guess there's still hope for Lucy :)

Playing on the beach and letting the pups play in the water

Lucy's first time swimming ... she wasn't hugely thrilled

Sammy loved getting to fish, even though he didn't catch anything

On Saturday, the wind died down enough that we could have supper around the fire on the beach. We enjoyed hanging out and eating hotdogs and s'mores, but just as we finished roasting our marshmallows... the storm hit, and hit suddenly! Maleah jumped from my lawn chair that she was sitting in and the wind knocked the chair right into the fire...torching the bag that was hanging from it and causing the fire to grow. We quickly found ourselves dodging burning fire wood and ashes the wind blew around, until someone thought to grab a 5 gallon bucket and run for Gulf Coast waters to douse the flames. The next several minutes were very chaotic - running to grab the items the wind took and throwing things into the RV as fast as we could all the while fighting extreme wind, biting sand, and noisy waves that made communication difficult. It was crazy (and kind of fun actually, lol...) and eerily reminiscent of the sudden onset of the 2020 derecho we got caught in the middle of in Badlands, South Dakota.

S'more time!! (And the calm before the storm...)

Watching the waves during the storm... didn't know Mom was taking pictures, LOL

We knit while the storm rage outside and Dad reads for our annual nightly Advent tradition.

When the high-winds continued the next day, we decided we might as well leave Magnolia a day early since no one really wanted to play outside. We booked a site at a lovely, quiet campground outside of Edna, Texas and spent some time purging the RV of all the sand that had been tracked and blown in.

Mom has a new co-pilot helping her on the way to the campground

Advent reading around the campfire

We enjoyed another evening around the fire... this time without the abrupt and intense ending. Instead, we battled the cold with hot tea and seats pulled as close to the fire as possible. Nights like those are the type we'll remember for a long time ;)

Until next time, God bless!