The Day Grandpa Gets Older

OK, so his birthday isn't really until Wednesday, but today was Papa's Birthday Celebration.

My entire family are water babies. We were all raised with one foot in the sand and the other foot in a pasture. If I had to describe where I grew up, it would be at the Beach Farm.. or the Farm Beach.. or the Ranch by the Sea...   Yes I think I like that one the best.  

My family owned two houses. One.. a Ranch.. and Two.. A Beach house. They were only 30 minutes apart from each other, but represented the difference between Fall and Summer.

To me.. it was a dream. A fairytale childhood.

I wish Joshua would of had this, but alas the Beach House was sold... and even with the possibility of some day owning it again, it was permanently taken away from us during Hurricane Ike.

But the sea .. it runs in my veins... I inherited it from my father.. and I believe I have passed it on to my son.

So of course, on my father's special day, he choose to bring the family close to the water. Back to Kemah we went. Back to the Aquarium. One of our favorite places to be... one of our favorite places to make memories and spend time as a family. Happy Birthday Dad.. and maybe one day.. I can afford you that beach house.. that boat..  and anything else you ever want. Thanks for choosing to spend your special day with us..... by the Sea.



He watches the boats and chooses which ones he will own one day.



His favorite were the wooden boats that looked like pirate ships. He called them the 'Captains'.



Joshua's Special Present for Papa. An original Joshua Smith piece of art.



Joshua was so proud of his art. He literally spent a hour on it and kept saying.. "Papa is going to like this."  And when it was time to open presents... it was the first thing Joshua handed to him.

As a mother, I had the biggest smile on my face because its so great to see your children be so proud of themselves.

 

 

Papa gets new clothes.







 









Joshua helps Papa blow out the candle.





Loves his ice cream.



Kisses for Granna.



After dinner, we changed and headed to the splash pad. This is Joshua's favorite place of course...

Laughing at the water splashing everywhere.



Dancing with the water.



 

   



The splash pad was fun, but we were ready to move on to the rides. On the way there, Joshua noticed a Carnival game where Scooby Doo was the prize.... and of course he had to have it.

He played against Uncle Ryan, and as you can see Joshua was firing at the wrong target.

So .. he needs a little help......

And guess what?? He did win!!! Even with a slow start.. even with hitting the wrong target... He won!!

On to the rides... the train is his favorite!

 

Choo Choo!!



 

 



And this is our paradise....





By the sea...



It's almost impossible to watch a sunset..... and not dream.

So dream on little man. May all your dreams come true.

And dream on Papa. May your birthday wishes come true.