How many kids under the age of NINE?!?!?!?!?!

ELEVEN, that’s ELEVEN little ankle-biter’s under the age of NINE!

Ok, hear me out… it’s the Spring of 2022: it’s frickin’ hot, everyone is finally getting back to normal after Rona, “The Lucky Lady” is ready to smother some new friends with her hugs and group text chats, so…. Five of us church friends decide to make a big ole family trip to the Texas coast. Coincidentally we went to the SAME beach I went with my family growing up as a kid. I AM STOKED! Also, Doc and our boys have never been to the Texas beach… like ever, like anywhere along it! Hint “Meeks of the MOUNTAIN” in our name.

If you know us by now, you KNOW we’re gonna fit in a fishing trip of some sort! First stop was Rockport so Doc could fly fish in the bay area with a local guide. He was fishing for Reds, and he said it was some of the most precise fishing he’s ever had to do. In Doc’s words, “We weren’t just slinging line to any ole spot!” He had the best time while me and the boys explored downtown Rockport. Doc was able to chew a cigar all day, fish, shoot the breeze, all while I spent WAY too much money on shark-tooth jewelry for CW, and tried to ignore Coop screaming all day cause he wanted out of the stroller. But… we’re having fun aren’t we?!?!

After a full day of activities, it was time for the Meeks boys to dip a big toe in the good ole Gulf of Mexico! Seeing the excitement from age 2, to 38 was FUN! We spent the evening at the Rockport Beach Park, and I would definitely go back! It was clean, hardly any people were there, there was no trash, the water was nice, and the shallow water went pretty far before it got deep. Highly recommend this beach if you’re looking for a public area.

For the next couple days we stayed in Port Aransas, Texas. The five of us families split two, two-story condos. The complex had a playground, awesome pool, grills, it was a wonderful place to stay and was only a mile drive to the beach! One thing that was a bit shocking to me, was what used to be a, “driving not allowed” beach, has become a, “bring your closest 2.87563409 million family and friends” kinda beach. Folks were parked side-by-side, backed in, as far as the eye could see in any direction. Honestly, it was a bit much for me. If we go back, I would prefer looking for a house on the water, so we could have a little more privacy… and a toilet. But, as we were leaving for an afternoon shower and a nap in the air conditioning, there was a snow cone truck, so that shut me up real quick!

One thing I would also encourage if you don’t like all the people is an evening/nighttime/need flashlights kinda hang out. We did this one night and I might have personally liked it better than during the day. We had us a little bonfire, found lots of sea life, kids were waving flashlights like it was a rock concert, s’mores, toys, gosh it was fun.

Now, you might be wondering what we did with all these little rascals besides the beach? Conveniently, one day the Dad’s planned a golf trip while us Mom’s took all them children to the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. Weird, I don’t have any golf pictures to show you (insert eye roll) but I do have some pics of CW touching and exploring EVERY LITTLE crevice of that place. I would definitely go back, there was a lot to see and take in. ALL of the kids loved it! Coop was fine being escorted around in the stroller.

Another day, where we didn’t let the Dad’s off the hook, was when we all went to the Texas State Aquarium. Honestly, these two days worth of indoor, fun activities is kind of a nice break from the heat and sand. Again, Coop was fine being pushed around in his stroller.

I’m actually writing this blog 2 years after we were there. I know, I know, I know… but life has gotten in the way and I’m totally okay with that. I started this blog for my boys to have memories anyway. Looking back on this trip, looking at the photos of ALL THEM CHILDREN together, thinking back on how we were wrangling them non-stop, trading each of our kids for one of the other families kids, constantly making sure no one was drowning, community parenting, feeding other kids besides our own, just all of it… y’all IT WAS FUN and I wouldn’t trade a moment of it! We’re all still really close friends, our kids are all two years older, we even have another baby on the way in this group (NO, not the Meeks) and these people are the true image of “Christian Community”. They be praying, dropping anything to help, crying with you, laughing with you, cussing with you kinda people, and I’m so thankful. Get you a community like this!