Most people know to use lavender for sleep, calming, and relaxation, right? It’s everyone’s aromatherapy go-to. For the lavender you pick up at Walmart or Target, this is perfect. However, what many people don’t realize is that a little drop of high quality lavender, like Young Living or DoTerra, contains many different constituents. These constituents benefit the body in many different ways, therefore the oil can have many different uses. Here are some lesser known uses for lavender essential oil that you may not be aware of.
Lavender helps promote the healing of minor cuts, scrapes and bruises. Get yourself an empty roller bottle and carrier oil (grapeseed is best for absorbing into the skin) and add ten drops of grapeseed for every drop of lavender. Pompeii brand is my favorite. I use 10 ml roller bottles so I will fill about a tenth of the way with lavender and the rest of the way with grapeseed. This 10:1 dilution will help your lavender last longer and help make sure it is safe and diluted enough for even the most delicate and sensitive skin. This is a go to at our house for all family members! It’s your all natural neosporin, your aquaphor, and your hydrocortizone. Lavender helps accelerate the healing process.
Lavender helps with focus. You can pair it with oils like cedarwood and vetiver. We call these three our focus trio. It’s really good to help with focus and concentration. Isn’t it interesting that lavender helps with sleep and relaxation, but can also help with what we would perceive to be the opposite? The reason for that because it has many different constituents and those constituents help with different aspects of supporting the body.
Lavender helps promote hair growth. You can add a few drops to your shampoo or conditioner, along with cedarwood and rosemary. If you will add these you will be so glad you did. They will help promote thicker fuller hair, or if you are wanting your hair to grow longer. If you dislike DIY and prefer ready made Young Living makes a Lavender shampoo and conditioner that is divine.
Lavender helps with allergies. I love to call lavender “the sneeze stopper.” It’s really good for allergy season. If anyone in your household is sneezing, you can just apply a drop to the tip of your nose and it will help with that.
Lavender is undoubtedly the Swiss Army knife of oils, with many, many uses that I have not even covered here. For more uses, check out my older post, Lavender: Young Living Starter Bundle. However, a part two will definitely be needed in the future.
This article contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
If you’re child is headed off to summer camp, you could feel overwhelmed or unsure of what to pack and what they need. Most camps will provide a list, however they can be vague and still leave you with many choices to make. As a mom who has sent her kiddo to camps in the past, these are some tried and true essentials that you will want to be sure to grab. I could receive compensation from affiliate links included.
Mesh Shower Caddy. This allows any water or moisture to drain. I love this one in particular because they can even fit their towel and a change of clothes in the compartments. I also love all of the little pockets.
Laundry Bag. Your child will need somewhere to put their dirty clothes. This is a two pack and they are pretty cute as well.
Water Bottle/Misting Bottle. I love that this water bottle also has a mist feature. When your child gets hot on a hike they can cool off with a little mist.
3-Pack Camping Lights. These can be great for reading at night or for needing to leave the cabin at night to go to the bathroom.
Mini Fan. This would be very handy to stay cool in the hot summer heat, and I love the colors.
Travel Bottles. I love that these are silicone and squeezable. They help ensure less wasted product. And again, all the colors.
Jersey Sheet Set (Twin). I know when you think of camping, you think of sleeping bags, but in the summer heat a set of sheets and a light blanket are the way to go! My girls have tried both and the sheet set has our vote over the sleeping bag for sure!
Quick Dry Microfiber Towel. I’m solutions oriented, and I loathe the smell of mildew towels after a towel’s been sitting all week at camp. This is a great solution! Bought several.
I hope you have found this list helpful! I have shopped around, and these were our top choice for each of these items. If you would like to read more ideas for summer camp, check out 13 Care Package Ideas for your Child at Summer Camp.
This summer will be my daughter’s first time away from home for more than one night. While I know she will have the best time and that she will be in good hands, I also know she must have some anxiety about being away from us – the unknown of not knowing all the girls and experiencing things she may have never been exposed to before. I read in our parent information packet that we are able to send care packages. We can even hand them over at drop off! I love thinking of ways to make my children feel special, and even more than that, I enjoy executing those ideas.
I remember my weeks spent at summer camp, and how special it felt to hear the head counselor call my name during “mail call.” Conversely, the days my name was not called I felt disappointed and left out. I want to make sure she has a letter and or small token of our love each day she is at camp.
I hopped on Amazon and may have gone a bit overboard adding items to my cart that I thought would make her week there a little more special. My criteria for care package gifts were these two things: 1) something she could use or do while at camp 2) something she could share with her fellow campers 3) something that would brighten her day and put a smile on her face.
Here is my list, in no particular order (affiliate links included for which I may receive compensation):
A deck of cards. For downtime when girls are just hanging out in their tent or cabin.
Clue, the card game. She had so much fun playing Clue with her camp friend last time they were together, that this just made sense.
Camping Mad Libs. My girl loves Mad Libs so I couldn’t resist grabbing these for her. Added bonus? These tear out and fold into postcards that can be mailed home!
A beach ball. Something fun to hit around with friends at the pool.
Splash balls. She can play with these during pool time at camp. There are enough in this pack to share with friends.
Mini legal pad. So she can write to us, or write or draw anything else she might like.
Cute Stationery and Envelopes. Pre-addressed and stamped so sending us letters is easy, and hopefully more desirable. Our child is going to horse camp and the horses on the cards are gorgeous! How fun it would be to get mail from your child at this age?
This cat night light, is battery-powered and changes colors. How cute is this?? It can be pitch-black dark in those tents and cabins at night!
Camping LED Lantern. Easier to power on and more practical than the little cat; multiple brightness settings.
Glow bracelets. I was going to get glow necklaces, but they were too long to fit in the bubble mailers I bought, even the larger ones.
Her favorite gum. The parent guide stated clearly we could not send food, but made no mention of gum.
A misting fan. Some of the days can be brutally hot.
I hope this list of care package ideas has been helpful and has inspired you. Check out my list of Summer Camp Essentials to help your child have the best possible camping experience.
What is the most used app on your device? Most people would more than likely respond their email, or some kind of social media. Mine is hands down the Notes App. Probably because I use it in so many ways. I’d love to share just some of the ways I use Notes and hope you find some new ways to use this albeit basic, but highly functional App.
Gratitude list. I like to write 5 things I’m grateful for each day. And I’d like to thank Oprah. I remember sitting on my couch in high school and hearing her suggest doing this on paper. I don’t always have pen and paper, but I always have my phone on me. I set a reminder to add to my gratitude list each night before I go to bed. Doing it right before bed helps ensure the last thoughts I have before drifting off are good ones.
Things to do at work. I don’t do well with just one overall to do list for the day. One of the best choices I ever made was to make my home and work to do lists separate. And when you make yours, use the clickable bullets function. It’s so satisfying to click each item and watch it drop to the bottom of the list as day goes on. Anything not done on any given day just gets bumped to the next day.
Positive quotes list. I keep two of these – one for daily quotes that I share with my students and one for me personally. This is one of my favorite and most frequently used notes!
Appointments. This is a list of appointments to make, and appointments I’ve already made, with dates for myself and my children. I only recently started this list but it’s so nice to see everything in one place, broken down by month and household member. Organized by month, I look at and update this list for each family member. It’s nice to see the month at a glance, and to be mindful of appointments coming up and those that need to be scheduled. Obviously these go on the calendar, but having them all listed in one location has also really helped me to make sure everyone gets their basic appointments scheduled on the regular.
Keeping me up list. FAVORITE. I started this note at the recommendation of my therapist and I use it almost nightly. This is one to use when you can’t go to sleep and can’t seem to shut your brain off. I am not sure why this works, but typing my concerns and the things that are keeping me up allows me to go right back to sleep. It’s like I’m releasing them onto the note and letting go of them. 100% recommend!
Books. This is a really long list for me! I see books all the time at the bookstore or have friends recommend books to me. I will not remember the title unless I write it down. I keep books my kids want to read on this list too, under their name as a separate category. It’s bulleted so I can click them as we read them. We are a public library family so I will always see if the book is at the library before I buy it. We have tried being Kindle readers but all love that tangible book experience. I need to turn pages!
Packing list. I keep several packing list notes. One for the beach, one for winter travel, and one for camping. After years of reinventing the wheel, I love having these master packing lists to build from. Huge time saver.
Supplements. This is an odd one, but I am huge on taking supplements. Everytime I run out of a supplement or someone recommends one to me, I enter it here. I believe that we can either care for and nourish our bodies now, or we will medicate them for ailments later. Prevent instead of treat!
Grocery list. This one is on-going, and focused on the perimeter of the store (that’s where the healthy foods are). One of my favorite parts of this list is a subcategory I added which is meal ideas. It really helps to think about meal ideas as a whole when you are shopping. I make it bulleted as well, but it doesn’t have to be.
Movies and Shows. This one stays at the top of my Notes, because friends, family members, coworkers and podcast hosts are always recommending shows and movies! I will not remember what they tell me if I don’t write it down! It’s so great to pull up this list when we feel like there is “nothing to watch.”
Things to Cancel. This list has saved our family more money than any decision I’ve made in the past year. I made this list of all of our subscriptions and expenses on paper, then highlighted the ones we could do without or cut back on. It ended up being a list of 11 different things to cancel including: Hulu, one of our cars paid off, lower phone bill (cut by almost $100 a month just by asking), Amazon Prime video, Amazon Freetime, Amazon Music, and I cut out a redundant life insurance policy. If we aren’t using it, it’s getting cut!
Birthday wishlists/Christmas wishlists. I keep these for my husband and each of my kids and they help so much with gathering ideas and making sure to get everyone exactly what their hearts desire. I start my list a couple of months before Christmas or their birthday month.
Bucket lists. These are some of my favorite lists to make! I keep one for summer, spring break, fall break and Christmas break. I keep a lifetime one as well. So fun to check off so make it bulleted.
Things I didn’t know I wanted. You may be familiar with the Instagram reels called “Things I didn’t know I needed off of Amazon.” I created my own personal list of things I didn’t know I wanted and it has been the most fun! It has become one of my favorite lists. When someone asks me for a gift idea for my birthday, Christmas, teacher appreciate or any other gift giving holiday I will often pull something from this list!
Prayers. This is a special note where I put prayers I love to pray over our family, each specific child and family member, over our finances, our health and more. Some I have found and copy/pasted, and others I have just authentically written myself but want them on repeat.
Repairs. I have a list of household and car repairs or maintenance that need to be made. I make it bulleted and clickable, not only for when they are completed, but also to help rank order their importance. I can click and then unclick to bump minor repairs to the bottom of the list.
Passwords. This one is a bit controversial, and some may consider it risky, but I need quick and easy access to many passwords. Not only for myself, but for my children. I keep a list for their school accounts as well as their personal use.
Food and wine. This is a fun one. I keep a list of restaurants to try and wine recommendations. Once I find a food or wine I love, I bump it to the bottom (so make the list clickable) and put a star emoji beside it. It enjoy returning to restaurants and wines I love almost as much as trying new ones.
Triggers. You will find that most of my lists are positive, but this one strangely may be the most beneficial and here’s why. When you know our triggers and are aware of the things that stress you out, you can put things in place to limit those stressor. For example, being late, crowds and traffic are high on my list. I have put things in place to minimize each of them. I’m not late as often because I strive to arrive early. I avoid crowds by going to the store at less crowded times and I take back roads to avoid traffic.
Writing topics. This list is a must for any blogger or writer. Anytime a topic comes to mind, if I feel strongly about a subject, or feel I am an authority on a certain subject, I add it to this list. Even if you aren’t writer, you might consider keeping a journal and having a list of topics for your journal. Journaling is such a beneficial way to get your thoughts and feelings out and to release strong emotions. It can help you process and problem solve in a way that just pondering can’t.
I hope you have found some useful ideas within this list of lists! I would love to know your favorite, or if you have found any great uses for the Notes app that I didn’t mention.
If you would like to learn more Apple Notes tips, this PC Mag article taught me a trick or two.
I was listening to one of my favorite podcast guests, Dr. Daniel Amen. He was telling a story about taking his son to a Sea World type park. This story has impacted how I parent and I want to share it here so that I always remember it, but also that it might help inspire others.
Dr. Amen took his son to the aquatic park where they enjoyed sea lions and dolphins, and his son asked to see the penguin show. Dr. Amen struggled to get his son to listen to pick up or do chores or anything he asked. He noticed however that this penguin was doing literally anything the trainer asked and was fascinated by it. He wondered how the trainer was able to accomplish this, so he went up to her after the show and asked.
The trainer explained that anything the penguin did that she asked, was rewarded by a hug from her and a fish. When he did the wrong thing she completely ignored him. This was such an “aha” moment for Dr. Amen and it was for me too as a parent.
How often do we as parents stop and correct the wrong behavior, issue a consequence for the wrong behavior, or decide it’s a “teachable moment?” There are times and places where this is appropriate, but the penguin trainer is onto something if we want confident and resilient kids, and if we want bonds with them.
Every time we criticize and correct, what happens? They get defensive and we isolate the child. We push them away. And often we take their good behavior for granted. We fail to acknowledge with they do the right thing because it’s expected.
I shared this with my older daughter and told her I am committed to doing a better job with this! I am a middle school teacher and totally embrace and practice positive reinforcement with my classes of 30+ students. Why doesn’t it translate for me with parenting? I am going to have to be intentional about it because old habits die hard, but just like Dr. Amen has pictures and figures of penguins in his office, I now have a penguin as my Google Chrome background to remind me to praise what they are doing right. Catch them being good!
Do you take the same vacation every year? If you answered yes, we did too, and probably for all of the same reasons we did: we loved going there. We also knew our way around, and knew exactly what to expect. We knew we would have a great time, and it was our happy place.
One beautiful spring day, I was sitting outside a coffee shop, enjoying my latte and working on a blog post. At the table next to me were two girls talking about the summer vacations they were planning. One was like me, planning her same favorite beach vacay, and the other said something I will never forget, and the title of this post, “why are you taking the same vacation every year?”
She went on to explain that she intentionally plans a different trip every year, and that there is a whole world to see. She asked her friend if she thought about exposing herself and her family to different places. She talked about how much fun it is to explore new places and to plan for each trip. She said how meaningful and enriching it was for her children to actually visit the places they had read about in their history books. She had fallen in love with adventure and trying new things. She then shared trip experience after trip experience, at which point she had me convinced.
I went home that day and announced to my family that we should start planning a trip somewhere new and different. I thought I would be met with resistance, but to my surprise they were excited. Since then we haven’t repeated a trip since except for one, where we visited our old faithful beach locale for nostalgia’s sake.
I’m not saying to never visit any place twice. And I also realize to some who already love to travel to new places, that all of this may sound obvious. But where I live, I assure you so many families travel to the same place every year, and I wonder if they will look back and feel they missed out. Will you? In a lifetime that is so fleeting, we want to live in a way that we have no regrets, and that we can feel we have lived it to the fullest.
If you take the same vacation every year, consider branching out and trying somewhere different. Ask yourself what you love about that place, and why it is so important you to go there specifically. For us it was partly for financial reasons. Where we loved going was affordable! But I have been pleasantly surprised to discover places all over the map that we now love just as much that are just as affordable and in some cases they even cost less.
My intention for writing this is not to convince anyone that going on the same vacation is wrong. I hope to go to our old favorite again soon, and wish we had the financial means to do both each year: to go somewhere new and to to our beloved beach town. My hope is that someone who has never considered going somewhere new would have their eyes opened to the possibility that they might love another place as much as their old standby.
After reading this, if you feel as convinced and compelled to go somewhere new as I did that day at the coffee shop, I would love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments where you decide to go.
I was led to write this post because I searched for a playlist like the one I created and couldn’t find one. I wanted a playlist that was not just any worship music, but one where each song made my heart soar. A lot of the songs are worship songs that we sing at my search, but some are songs that have been important for me during different trials in my life and gave me hope and comfort. I hope this playlist lifts your spirits like it has mine.
On this playlist:
Make Room by The Church Will Sing. This song reminds me to surrender, let go and let God. Our worship leader wears a baseball cap at times that says “Let Go For Dear Life.” Yes! Instead of holding on for dear life to all our worries and struggles, we should be letting go of them and casting our cares on HIM.
Oceans by Hillsong United. This song has been a go to for me for years. “Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders…” I heard on a recent podcast that both faith and fear are stories we tell ourselves. If we are going to tell ourselves a story, it might as well be a good one so let us choose faith!
Lion of Judah by Elevation Worship ft. Brandon Lake; Gratitude by Brandon Lake. I was able to attend the Joyce Meyer conference last year and hear Brandon Lake live and in person. I love anything he does now, to be honest. He has a way of delivering encouraging lyrics with his voice that can get me out of any kind of negative headspace.
Rest On Us by Maverick City Music. This is a song we often sing at church, and I like to think that it’s a call for the spirit to come and join us in the space at church, but I also love it when I’m just driving down the road in my car. It reminds me that I’m never alone.
Graves Into Gardens, Runnin’, Oh Come to the Father by Elevation Worship. They had me at “You turn shame into glory.” (Ok, I could just listen to an Elevation Worship playlist, and that could be satisfying all by itself, but I really like a variety of artists and songs on a playlist so while they appear a LOT on this list, I hope you enjoy my attempt at variety.)
What a Beautiful Name by Hillsong United. I remember my mom telling my as a kid, that there was power in the name of Jesus. As I’ve gotten older I do also see the beauty. There has been nothing I’ve faced that he hasn’t helped me to overcome.
Hills and Valleys by Tauren Wells. I remember when my girls were babies couldn’t sleep (and therefore I couldn’t sleep) playing this song and it uplifting me. So it has a special place in my heart.
Overcomer by Mandisa. It isn’t possible for me to hear this song and not see my now 14 year old daughter at age 5 sitting in the back seat and singing it at the top of her lungs. We would sing it together over and over! And sometimes hearing her sing it would bring tears to my eyes because what better mindset could you want for your children?
Do It Again by Elevation Worship. “He made a way, when there was no way…” This one deserves its own spot on the list because over and over God has proven he will never fail me. His love is faithful and I know he will always not only provide, but deliver – exceedingly abundantly.
Victor’s Crown by Darlene Zschech. Underrated, and my favorite song on this entire list. It brings tears to my eyes each time with the truth and hope it brings. I can’t wait to see what you think of it, if you’ve never heard it before. You overcome!
Lord I Need You by Matt Maher. We can get so caught up the business of life and need to be reminded we need HIM every hour, every minute.
That’s it for now! My playlist is always evolving, so I am sure it will only grow over time. Here is the link to it and I hope it encourages you and lifts you up.
Dry shampoo has become fairly common, so much so that many girls even keep some in their handbag. But do you know what’s in your dry shampoo And did you know you can save money by making it yourself?
My recipe for dry shampoo is so easy and only has two main ingredients. I really like to use protects on my body that only contain ingredients that I can pronounce. And if you’re also interested in hair growth I will share the essential oils you can add to help promote thicker, fuller, longer hair.
To make dry shampoo, you just want to mix equal amounts of baking soda and cornstarch. Mix together in a bowl. I keep mine stored in a half cup glass jar, so then 1/4 cup of baking soda and cornstarch for a full half cup jar. If you want to make a larger batch, simply maintain a 50:50 ratio on these two ingredients. To apply, I simply take a fluffy makeup brush and brush into my hairline, or wherever needed. I am blonde, so I find this recipe will blend invisibly. Brunette friends may prefer cocoa powder instead of cornstarch.
To ramp up your dry shampoo so that also improves hair growth, simply add a drop each of lavender, cedarwood, rosemary and peppermint. You can find these oils here.
If you are someone who does not have oily hair but still would like the benefits of these oils, you can make a hair spray, by just taking a misting bottle of water, and adding these same oils listed above. Add one drop each per ounce of water. Because oil and water don’t mix well, add a splash of witch hazel or vodka which will serve as a carrier to help the water and oils to incorporate. I also like to add tea tree which helps protect the hair from lice, and just promotes a healthy scalp in general.
When you think of going on a beach vacation, Galveston may not be the first on your list, especially if you’re not from Texas. Our family had been making our way up the Eastern coast, then across the Gulf Coast, choosing a different beach town each year, in a different state: Seaside, FL, Orange Beach, AL, Gulfport, MS, New Orleans, LA. And this year we chose Galveston!
Mod Coffee – my favorite coffee shop in Galveston. I love the vibe of their outdoor space.
Everyone tried to tell us it was a different kind of beach, and it is. The water may not be emerald green like the Florida coast, and it’s not – it’s a bluish-brown depending on where you are. And you don’t see condos and homes all along the highway – you see a McDonalds, a Walgreens, dentist office, Kroger, and Academy Sports. And you don’t park and then walk across the highway, you can actually park right on the road, or in some cases further down the highway, you can pull right onto the beach.
Jamaica Beach: One of the many drive-on beaches.
What I want to share here, are things to do in and around Galveston that are sure to delight families who love good food, and time spent on beautiful beaches. What I will not be sharing are the popular tourist destinations like the Pleasure Pier, Moody pyramids, and Schlitterbahn waterpack (was closed while we were there due to off season). Our family is less interested in being tourists when we travel and tend to prefer traveling – immersing ourselves in the town and what it would be like to live there for a week.
Checking out Katie’s, one of the very best seafood markets we’ve ever been to. Impressively fresh and high quality seafood.
We chose an Airbnb that was within five minutes of the Target, Mod Coffee Shop (the best coffee shop on the island in my opinion,) and a 5-10 minute drive from the beach. I woke up each morning and chose a different beach each day to see the sunrise. From there we would venture out and explore what Galveston and the surrounding areas had to offer.
The most vibrant sunrise during our stay. This was near the Seawall.
On our first day we procured lunch and food since we had a fully stocked kitchen in our vacation home. For lunch we grabbed brisket sandwiches at Bucee’s in Texas City, just 15-20 minutes away from our house. The girls had asked to go to a Bucee’s while we were in Texas and this was the closest one to us. It was fun seeing the reaction of my husband and younger daughter who had never been to a Bucee’s before.
When in Texas, Buc-ee’s is a must, and there is one just 15 minutes away from Galveston,
For groceries, there is a Walmart right along the Seawall and it was huge, much nicer, and a better selection than our Walmart back home. We also ventured to Katie’s Seafood Market, for what we had found in our research and experience, to be the best and freshest seafood on the island. We bought shrimp and flounder that were so good!
To offer perspective, this was just minutes from the Walmart which was across the street from the beach.
Then we made our way to the beach. We started with a beach close to our house, called East Beach. There are more centrally located beaches closer to town, like Stewart Beach, but we found it to be crowded and not as clean. I always recommend looking for where the crowd is NOT, and for us, that was East Beach. This surprisingly ended up being our best and warmest beach day. The water was clear, calm, and warm enough to swim in.
At East Beach, our favorite.
Our second day the girls asked to go to Target. They are always curious about how Targets vary when we travel and this one was surprising due to its HUGE toy department. It was at least twice as big as our toy section of our Target back home. You felt at times you were in a toy store due to the massive selection. It made me nostalgic for bricks and mortar toy stores like Toys R Us. Madeline got an epic slime set that helped entertain her the rest of the trip.
Madeline and her slimes. 😊
After leaving Target, we went to The Black Pearl, known for having the best fresh oysters. Pro tip, we didn’t realize it until it was explained to us, but oyster season actually starts in November on the Gulf coast. We visited in October, so oysters were harder to come by and priced higher. They were good oysters, but a little pricier than we had hoped. I love that the teenager will eat them with us. We promised Madeline she could have McDonalds for being a good sport and sitting through this – and it was a McDonalds right on the beach. But before heading to the “Golden Arches” we spotted the cutest bookstore next door so we had to go in.
The Black Pearl Oyster BarOne of my favorite pics from our trip. At Galveston Bookstore.Madeline gets McDonald’s by the beach.
Once everyone was fed, we were ready to enjoy some beach time. I talked the group into checking out Jamaica Beach. It is a much less crowded area. We were the only ones there with the exception of a few fisherman. It was also a drive-on beach. It feels so foreign to drive and park your car on the sand, just feet away from the crashing waves. Speaking of crashing waves, there was a front coming in with rain in the forecast the next day, so no one wanted to get in and swim here. The current was way too rough. I would recommend this beach to others because it isn’t crowded, and I was able to find quite a few pretty shells. The girls enjoyed running along the beach and writing their names in the sand. The sand is pretty packed due to it being driving on.
Jamaica Beach
After leaving the beach, we headed to Kroger which is on the Seawall. It is a huge Kroger and very nice! We made the mistake of going after school was out and people had gotten off from work so it was pretty crowded. We recommend going earlier in the day. We did find a GREAT deal on crab legs. I had a coupon which got us even more off an already great deal. This ended up being one of our best meals we had there and allowed us to use the corn on the cob we had gotten the day before.
Our crab dinner 🫶🏻
On our third day, it was a rainy day, so we drove into Houston. We started off exploring the downtown area a bit. I had pinned some murals, statues and other sites, which we checked out, but the traffic and confusing one-way traffic directions had me wanting out of that downtown area. So we made our way to In-N-Out Burger, of course! This was one of our non-negotiable stops – we were determined to have In-N-Out on this trip since we don’t have one back home. The one in Houston was closest to us, however we saw one being built close to Galveston but it was not open yet. In-N-Out did not disappoint. My husband and I were regulars back when we lived in San Francisco and miss having it as a nearby option. We so took for granted being so close to one.
The girls try In-n-Out for the first time
After lunch, we headed to the HEB to find something for dinner that night – I told you we are all about food on vacation. HEB the local grocery store chain and is huge (everything is bigger in Texas). The best part about HEB is the low prices, especially on sea food! We found great prices on lobster tails! After leaving HEB I put in the GPS to go to the giant Barnes and Noble bookstore, but we stumbled on the most adorable Trader Joes that was formerly a movie theater! We of course went in and grabbed up some of our favorites, then killed an hour or more at the bookstore.
The cute Trader Joes that was formerly at theater.The giant Barnes and NobleHouston was huge. Great to visit but can’t say I’d want to live there.
When we got home, Anna Claire asked to watch a scary movie, so we watched The Shining. Then we had our delicious lobster dinner! My tail was so big I couldn’t eat it all. We saved it, don’t worry.
Lobster dinner!
On our fourth day, Anna Claire wanted to see the sunrise with me, but sadly when we go there, it was still so cloudy that there was not much to behold. She had wanted to get some Uggs at the outlet mall in Texas City, so we revisited Bucee’s for gas and snacks and then let her shop. She was able to find her shoes and we explored the Halloween store for a bit. It got the girls thinking about what they wanted to do for Halloween.
AC got her Uggs.
When we got back to our house, we finally were given the all clear to use our adorable garage space that they had fixed up for kids and teens. We weren’t able to use it before due to an issue with bees. Anna Claire and I played ping pong for quite a while! We realized we aren’t very good but got better as the day went on. Might be fun to get a ping pong table. Larry made us the most DELICIOUS lobster dip with my leftover lobster! It had corn and some of the gouda that AC had picked out at Kroger. I argue it was the best bite I had on the trip.
AC and I worked on our ping pong skills.
After lunch, we stopped at La Kings Confectionary. Please stop here if you visit Galveston! It is a legitimate candy shop! So charming. It is also a soda and ice cream shop. I got Madeline ice cream which I had promised her on the trip. Her cookie dough and mint chip ice cream were so good and enough for the family to share.
This is the closest our horse loving girl got to riding a horse this trip.
Next up was East Beach again. Larry and the girls love to get all in at the beach. They are getting in the ocean! This was their favorite beach so no surprise they wanted to go back there. I was able to find some shells and got in the water a little myself.
Return to East Beach
Our last day we made the ferry trip over to Crystal Beach. If you visit Galveston, you must do this! All four of us agree it was our favorite day of the whole trip. We were able to see so many dolphins on the ferry ride. Don’t stay in your car! Get out and stand on the observation deck. I personally saw twenty or more but there must have been hundreds. You don’t have to try to see them – they are everywhere. You will see one!
Galveston Ferry. So many dolphins!
After arriving to Bolivar penisula, which is where Crystal Beach is located, we checked out the beach itself and liked the vibe! It is a drive-on beach as well and there were so many shells! The family didn’t get in the water as much due to lots of shell and particulate matter that was scratchy to your feel and legs. We still enjoyed our vitamin sea.
Crystal Beach I think this is the only pic I have of the 4 of us together on this trip.
The highlight of our visit to Bolivar was Stingaree. It had the best food and was the best sit-down restaurant meal that any of us have had in recent memory. We had Boudain balls, crawfish tails. fried mushrooms, crab stuffed jalapenos and more. It is by the water and we enjoyed having such amazing food with beautiful surroundings. A local gem for the area for sure. Finally, I should mention The Big Store. It was a lifesaver for providing us with everything we needed to make dinner and a bathroom.
Our view from our table at Stingaree. Best meal out! Crystal Beach
We loved Galveston, and like every beach vacation we’ve ever had, we would be happy to come back. Memories made!
(Written two years ago, and found in my Drafts. Not sure why I never posted.)
I had lunch with my 12-year-old daughter today. She wanted to talk about popularity and I think she wanted reassurance that it wasn’t something she needed to chase. We had the best talk.
We talked about what “popular girls” at her school talk about, and it wasn’t anything she was interested in talking about: talking bad about other kids, judging, gossiping, and talking about boys and dating which isn’t even on her radar yet, thank goodness.
One of the things she is finding most upsetting is hate talk. My daughter is friends with a lot of popular girls, and often overhears them agree with each other when bashing someone “yeah, I can’t stand her either,” or “I hate her too,” when she knows good and well the girls agreeing with these things really like the girls they’re referring to. They will look at my daughter as if she better not say anything.
She shared that when she is with her friends who are considered popular, and someone “better” comes along, and they drop her and act like she’s invisible. I wondered what she meant by “better,” but I could identify with everything she was saying because I’ve lived it too as a girl.
Side Note: When I was in school, I had friends who most people would consider to be "popular," and they were smart, kind, and amazing girls with strong moral values! I share this to say that there is nothing wrong with being popular, and I don't want that to be the take away from this post - for it to come across as I a put-down for popularity all together. It is great to be well-known and well-liked. I am all for that definition of popularity - popular leaders can be great role models. My concern for our young people today, is when popularity means sacrificing who you are, and friendships forged from mutual hate and cruelty in order to belong to a popular clique. That type of popularity sadly does exist in our schools and is the type my daughter is subject to. Think Mean Girls.
We also talked about how quality is so much more important than quantity. She mentioned one of her favorite popular friends in particular who seems obsessed with being friends with every girl in the “popular” circle and she can see how this is changing her friend. I could tell it makes her sad because she really likes this girl, but she was also able to articulate that this friend must be insecure on some level to exert so much energy on how she is perceived by others. I told my daughter that it is a much happier and healthier path to have a few friends who accept you for exactly who you are than to have a lot of so-called-friends who require you to give up pieces of yourself to be who you think they want you to be. That must be so exhausting!
As we were leaving the restaurant I left feeling like she got my message that popularity is overrated. I reassured her that she was fine to wait on boy talk, and that she has her whole life ahead of her to think about that. She’s ok to be a kid. She said, “that’s what I thought,” with her sweet smile. I let her know that as long as she is true to who she is and is kind to everyone, that she’ll never be without friends; to make it her goal to have friends in every social circle because she will need to get along with all types of people in the real world.
I am so proud of my girl and the close friends she is choosing. They are great kids, kind, down-to-earth, grounded, true to who they are, and care about how they do in school. I don’t know if they’re popular and don’t really care. I know they love my daughter and she loves them. I am also proud of her for continuing to love all of her friends whether they have a label of “popular” or not.
Essentially Better Living 