Family had a fun day playing together

I turned around to see my son-in-law holding a cracker above my head and grinning like a fool. Granddaughter Emma, was also holding a cracker above my head. They both burst out laughing at getting caught.
We had been on our way to the beach in Galveston, Texas. Part of the journey included a ferry ride. Once the ferry was under way, everybody got out and headed to the back of the boat. Hoards of seagulls swarmed the boat. I was momentarily afraid that we were in a remake of that old Hitchcock movie, The Birds.
The kids threw crackers onto the water so they could watch the gulls swoop down for a treat. Grandson Jacob, concentrated on feeding the ratty-looking brown birds perched on the rails. I decided to hold my cracker up high to see if the seagulls would eat out of my hand. Several of them did. I never saw them coming but felt them pluck it out of my hand as they flew by. Jacob tried it but got scared and jerked the cracker away at the last second. One bird brushed Emma’s hair on its way for a treat.
That’s when the more mischievous members of the family tried to get one to land on my head by holding the crackers just above and behind me. My son-in-law said a couple of the gulls were considering it. Thankfully, I caught them before any of the birds worked up enough courage to snatch a snack.
Other families were also feeding the birds. One tiny little girl had a bird use the top of her head for a bathroom. Perhaps she should have offered them a cracker, also.
When all the crackers were gone, we headed back to the car. Shortly thereafter, the ferry reached its destination and we resumed our journey.
In a mile or so we turned off the paved road onto packed sand. We chose a spot and once again we all got out. I made sure they left the crackers in the car.
Once we were all slathered with sunscreen, everybody took off for the water. The youngest grandson, Nicholas, was the first to get in the warm waves. Emma preferred to stay on shore and fly a kite. The water was less than a couple of feet deep and the beach was empty enough that it was easy to keep an eye on the children.
My daughter, Beth, scooped up sand to help anchor the chairs. She inadvertently scooped up some tiny sand crabs. All the kids were fascinated and soon they were all digging for sand crabs. They found more than a dozen of the little crustaceans. They terrorized, I mean, played with them for a few minutes before returning them to the sand.
After an hour or so, all the guys, big and little, waded out to set up a crab trap. We played for a bit then had lunch while the trap soaked. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon. Jacob and I waded out to retrieve the trap. The motion of the water tried to knock me off my feet every time I reached for the line. I finally snagged it and we discovered four or five crabs inside. We reset the trap a little closer to shore.
When the trap was finally brought back to shore there were six crabs inside. I had never seen real crabs before. The blue on their shells was as saturated and pure a blue as was ever created. They threatened us with their tiny claws. After they were thoroughly examined they were returned to the water. One of the seagulls had been watching and scooped a crab up for lunch. We packed the car and headed back. This time I kept a close eye on the son-in-law and children when they fed the seagulls hovering around the ferry.
It was a nice, relaxing and fun-filled day. I’m glad we are the kind of family that can play together. I’m also glad a seagull didn’t land on my head.