We don't live in TX (live in Ohio, north of Columbus), but yes we do take our dd out of school for cruise vacations. Last year was the first year we did it. We are going on another cruise in a few weeks, she will miss 5 days of school. We have another cruise booked for Jan 2019, she will miss 6 days for it. She is in fourth grade, we probably won't take her out once she gets in high school. Right now it's not that difficult for her to make up the work she misses, she's an A student and usually only misses 1 or 2 days because of illnesses during the school year. We can only cruise during Jan-March, due to hubby's job, so if we want to do any kind of family vacation, she will be missing some school.