Corpus Christi, Texas

We arrived last night in Corpus Christi . . . it is Colin's birthday so today we are spending it doing things he hopefully will enjoy.  Our first stop was the USS Lexington . . .

. . . now we headed south in hopes it would be a bit warmer but not so much and the wind is crazy too.  We arrive as they open and the place is empty which is nice.  We explored all decks and had fun even if we were really cold!

Of course it is always fun to see just how much food it cooked and prepared on this huge ships . . .

One of my favorite parts was towards the end as you walk down a non working escalator (so much easier to walk down than those stairs) . . .

It is a bunch of random facts about the USS Lexington . . . pretty thought provoking and makes you think at just how large these ships really are and what they do day after day!  As promised, Colin and my dad wrote the flight simulator and we visited the gift shop.  I enjoyed the Lexington even if it was cold . . . I can't imagine how hot it would be to tour in the summer months!  We had time to kill so we drove out to the Padre Island National Historic Seashore.

Colin was determined to get in the water; so I unzipped his pant legs and gave him his flip flops.

 Yeah that lasted like 2 minutes, and he was ready to go!  It was so windy . . .

We loaded up the car and headed back to Corpus for an early dinner.  Our energy levels were low since we skipped lunch in hopes of of a big birthday dinner.  As we were driving I was asking Colin if he was having a fun birthday and he said, "Not really it isn't that great since I didn't pick it."  Well as you can imagine that sure did not set well with me.  After going out of my way to plan fun things that I thought he would enjoy . . . I mean we can't all spend our birthday in Hawaii like last year.  The drive back to Corpus was painfully quiet . . . I think my parents were in shock at Colin's lack of respect towards me.  We arrived at Takeniwa Japanese Steakhouse around 3:30pm only to be told hibachi doesn't start until 5:00pm so we put our name on the list and leave.  I am still pretty angry at the hurtful words from Colin, but we poke around the mall until time to return to dinner.  It was pretty much downhill from there . . . the 11 year old had to make a trip to the restroom with his mother.  I was more than ready for dinner to be over.  The dinner was yummy, but I'm not going to lie I was unhappy and not thrilled at all.  Is this what is in store for the pre-teen years?  I sure hope not!  We headed back to the hotel for a much needed drink (or three) at the manager's reception.  I did let Colin open his two birthday presents.  So what makes a crappy day sweeter?

Cotton Candy!  While he went swimming, my mom and I read directions and got the thing to work!  I swear I was so close to dropping this birthday boy off on a street corner.  He was not very kind today which I find heartbreaking . . . at least the cotton candy was sweet!