Our Family Vacation to Houston Part 13
At supper time we left the Gardens and found an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. It’s always a tad hectic getting everyone situated in their seats with plates, napkins, silver ware, drinks and food. After everyone else was eating happily, I went to get my food. When I got back, Joy wasn’t there. “Jason, where is Joy?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“What do you mean you don’t know? She was sitting right by you,” I accused.
“Yeah, and now she’s gone,” he said, stating the obvious.
We looked all around, but didn’t see her. I asked Faith if she would go check the bathroom and told her to please come right back and tell us if she Joy was in there. I suppose we weren’t all that worried at this point. But Faith went in the bathroom and didn’t immediately come out. We sat eating and pondering the disappearances of our children. Finally, starting to get up, I said, “If I don’t come right back out call the police!” half jokingly, but before I had taken a step, out of the bathroom came our two daughters.
“Joy!” I began my lecture when she reached the table, “You have got to tell us you’re going to the bathroom. You can’t just disappear.”
“Mommy,” she said, “Daddy is not a very good listener. I told him I was going to the bathroom and he said ‘Yes!’”
I looked at Jason and we both burst out laughing. It is not uncommon for my husband to be deep in thought and even answer questions that he later has no recollection of hearing.
A few minutes later, the incident all but forgotten by Jason and me, Grace piped up and said, “Daddy, when someone talks to you, you have to say a word so they know you are listening!” There you go–Communication 101 from my five year old! Now if she gets it, what is the matter with the rest of the population!
It was about then that I looked down at my feet. They were burned to a crisp! Yep, my feet and one whole leg were the victims of sunscreen neglect. I took such great pains with everyone else that I neglected to douse myself completely. I was glad it was me though and not one of the rest of my family!
After supper we once again returned to Moody Gardens. It was the event the kids had all been especially waiting to see–Rio on the huge screen and in 3D. It was fun and even Little Jason seemed to enjoy the whole thing.
This concluded our time in Galveston, where I planned to go to spend time at the beach. We didn’t end up going once, but we had a grand time!

Communication 101…..I had a good laugh!
Esther – you are a better woman than I. I would’ve come unglued on Jason.
Maybe you’re just a faster learner than I am. Because freaking out on Dave hasn’t seemed to have helped over the last 9 years. So maybe you’ve just learned it’s easier to laugh than get upset over something that isn’t going to change 😉
Your attitude is showing . . . and it’s a wonderful thing!
“Mommy, Daddy is not a very good listener!” lol! Too funny! I’m glad everyone turned up fine!
Well, I’m glad they were safe!
Sorry to hear that you missed the beach, I’m sure the weather was perfect for it too. But if you had a great time then that’s really all that matters, and you’ve recorded it so well your kids are sure to have some awesome memories from it!
That reminds me of my dad who was a bit hard of hearing out of his 6 kids only my younger brother and I caught on that if we called him by name (not being disrespectful) instead of calling out Dad, he would hear us better! He always said he appreciated the effort!