Family time traditions

My little family doesn't have too many traditions although I love the idea of them.  I love the idea of my kids being grown and having fond memories of our family.  I love the idea of my kids knowing that their parents loved them desperately and chose to show that love through fun family traditions.

Now, don't get me wrong.  We do fun things with our kids.  After I put Camden to bed, Jeff and I play Super Mario Bros. on the Wii with Cade.  This is Cade's love language!  The boy loves Mario Bros and has such a good time playing the game with us.  I guess that's a kind of tradition.  I've taken Camden to get her fingernails painted a couple of times.  She loves it!   So that's another sort of tradition.  But those aren't exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm thinking more along the lines of a family vacation or outing.  A place or activity that is done regularly.  Through the years.

So anyway, recently we went to Kemah Boardwalk.  It was an amazingly beautiful day.  The sun was shining and it was in the low 70's.  It wasn't too crowded like it can be closer to summer time.  We had such a great day...it was truly a blessing just being there together as a family.  We ate outside, right on the bay, at Cadillac Bar.  We watched the boats go by and saw a couple of feral kitties scrounging for food.  Then we walked around and since it was so warm, we let the kids play in the splash fountains.  Cade mostly stayed out of the water but Camden ended up getting soaked!

We walked over to the Aquarium and went to Stingray Bay so we could pet the stingrays!  Both kids loved it but Cade really loved it.  He told me it was the best day ever which made my heart just sing!  The stingrays would swim by and we would dip our hands in the water to touch them.  They're very smooth and slick feeling.  A few thought we had food so they'd come up out of the water with their mouths open.  It was crazy!  Camden's favorites were the two big, black ones that stayed on the bottom.  They never came up top for us to pet them but she kept an eye on them, calling them the "momma" and "daddy!"

 The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around playing games and winning cheap prizes!  There was a live band playing so we listened to them for a little bit.  They were pretty good.  I wanted to find out who they were but I couldn't find their name anywhere.  We also rode the train and the double decker carousel.

The kids had a blast and so did we.  This is what I'm talking about...a place we all enjoy.  Something we can do as a family and have fun together and make memories!  I think we'll have to start going a couple times a year and make a new family tradition!