Blanco State Park

On our way down to Houston Jeff and I thought it'd be fun to spend a couple days camping. Jeff found a killer spot on the Guadalupe river.

Good call, babe.  We went to Blanco State Park in Blanco, Texas.  This place was so pretty.  We hiked, swam, and pretty much spent 2 days just hanging around the river and taking naps. 

That little winding road led to a cute little "wild life observatory."  Saw quite a few songbirds.  No squirrels. 

Saw quite a few cows.  This Mom made sure she gave her little one a good bath...

I thought it was sweet she licked her snot after she bathed him and not before.  That's a good Mom.

This was the view from our cabin.  We originally thought we would tent camp, but couldn't help it when we got there.  It was so beautiful along the river!  At dusk the fireflies would come out, there weren't any mosquitoes, the park was nearly empty because it was the middle of the week... we were right by the pavilion, the river, the playground, the volleyball court and the river.

The park has this cute little pool.  Well, cute until we saw all the "wall worms."  Or more commonly known as leeches.  Oh, they were so gross.  Teeny little tiny black ... squiggly pieces of disgusting, just clinging to the wall til they were big enough they could drop off and find something to latch onto.  Gak.  Gives me shivers thinking about them.  Gross critters.

This is how Tristan spent most of the time we were there.  A spoon.  Some rocks.  Some dirt.  Kissing the pavement with his nose and head.  Taking naps.  Then playing in the dirt some more.  He does really well when I drag him places.  The first night we were there I wondered how it would be getting him to sleep without a confined area for him.  I laid down with him and he slept until about 4, when he decided to get up and get his sippy cup.  Then when I held my arms out to him, he came and laid down next to me and spent the next two hours happily sleeping on my neck, stomach and arms.  I'm glad one of us slept... the next night we did the same thing, I laid down with him til he fell asleep and then went to our side of the cabin.  He did the same thing, woke up about 4 and came to cuddle with me.  As soon as he fell asleep I put him back on his sleeping bag, where he slept another 2 hours and then came back and wanted to cuddle again.  How do you resist a cuddly baby that just wants to lay on your chest and tummy and sleep there?  You don't.. you just become a human pillow.  Overall I think he did great.  He's such a happy go lucky little man.

The flowers outside our cabin.  They attracted quite a few butterflies, but they were always too fast for a photo.

Our cabin was also right by the park.  How cute is this face!  He loves swinging.  I'm glad I took this before he got nailed in the head.  Tristan took quite a spill on a cement slope.  He caught himself, but that big ol noggin of his made him fall-and he stopped himself with his nose.  It was pretty bloody and his goose egg was the size of a large marble.

 

Can you tell how much this little boy loves his Dad?  Loves Jeff.  Just loves him. 

Later on we went hiking on the nature trail.  If you ever camp here, I will just save you the trouble and tell you that this is the view, and this is where all 8 million mosquitoes were hiding.  I hate those things.  I read once that 26 kinds of song birds count on mosquitoes for survival, but I'm to the point I think we could go without a few birds if it means no mosquitoes.

It was a beautiful break and just what Jeff wanted to enjoy before he goes back to school for the summer. 

Wimberly

Last weekend I went down to Wimberly to visit my parents.  They were in town from China.  When I say, "In town" I am using that term very loosely.  Somehow my Dad figured that Wimberly was halfway from Lubbock to Houston.  Um.  Sure Dad.

Ben used the same logic to get us there.  He asked me if I could see a shortcut on the map.  I said, "Yes, but it looks like a very small road, you sure it's not dirt?"  He assured me that his Iphone doesn't pick up dirt roads.  Um.  Liar.   We ended up in the middle of nowhere on curvy, potholey, dirty dirt road.  Thankfully we eventually got to where we were going.... and Ben is never allowed to give suggestions when driving.  That is how I have these pretty pictures of the middle of nowhere.

We stayed in some cabins right on the river.  I thought I'd go down and see the friendly and cute geese.

They were neither friendly, nor cute.  The psycho geese chased me all over the place.

Seriously!  They were crazy.

When they get really mad they put their heads down and charge.  I was tempted to stick around and see if it hurt, but .... I'm not into pain.

Finally my brother came along, and they heard how great his road trips were and they took off, fearing the same fate.

Aside from the crazy geese, the place we stayed was beautiful.  This view of the pool was right out the cabin door.  And this has nothing to do with the picture, but the second night we were there a HUGE thunderstorm rolled in.  The lightening, thunder and rain were crazy.  Just crazy.  I was worried Tristan would wake up, but super champ baby slept through the night both nights, despite being in a new place and having thunder loud enough it set off every car alarm and made you feel like you were in a scene from Jurassic Park.

They had a cute little playground, a place called Pioneer Town full of cute old buildings, and dirt. Lots of it.

Tristan spent the entire weekend covered in and eating, dirt.  He played in dirt. He ate dirt. He sat in dirt. He wore dirt.  He is more boy than any boy I've ever met.  He loved, loved, loved all the attention from being around extended family.  I was super sad Jeff didn't get to go-taking a trip the day before finals is not ideal for him... so he stayed home and studied.

Whitney didn't force feed anyone ice cream, and is somehow weaseling her way into the "Favorite Aunt" spot.  Not cool.  I am going to have to up my game and stop beating the children.

I haven't seen Sierra or Katie in forever!  I am glad they came.  And it was nice to have Sierra there because these two....

Loved seeing their cousin.  They played, played, played and played the whole time.  Pretty cute.

We also spent some time at the Wimberly Days market.  It was a beautiful outdoor garage sale type venue.  There was a lot of really unique and cute things.  I found a plate in an antique shop that I had when I was a kid. I mean, it wasn't the EXACT plate but you know, close.

The girls found a double rocking chair and took turns hanging out in it.  I don't know why Sadie looks like she is crying-she really wasn't. 

Ben asked for a refill of Dr Pepper and we think it came out as Diet Coke.  How gross.  Actually, I don't know why he is making this face.  Whitney took this picture.  She would know. 

While we at lunch Dad entertained Tristan with a game of... "Where'd the bottle cap go!?"  It was never ending excitement.   Lunch was so good-delicious brisket and live music.  The man sang, "Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys"... (and don't let your cowboys grow up to be babies!) to Tristan.  It was cute. 

This is how I felt after being in the outdoor market for 3 hours when it got to be 100 degrees. I finally threw a fit and we all went home. Ben never did find his Dr. Pepper sign, but I suppose it just wasn't meant to be. Tristan is actually crying in this picture because he has sunblock in his eye.

This is how I felt after being in the outdoor market for 3 hours when it got to be 100 degrees.  I finally threw a fit and we all went home.  Ben never did find his Dr. Pepper sign, but I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.  Tristan is actually crying in this picture because he has sunblock in his eye.

Eventually the sunscreen came out and he had a blast chasing his applesauce container around the river.

I am encouraging my parents to retire somewhere like this.  We had fun taking a walk around the river. 

Tristan enjoyed everyone carrying him around and being his friend.  He loves big kids.

Whitney caught a turtle.  This was the best picture I could get holding Tristan, who was super helpful in the picture taking department.

We didn't have room in the tiny, tiny car we drove so I couldn't bring a stroller.  Or a baby carrier.  But that's OK, I didn't mind carrying Tristan around the entire weekend.  My back isn't sore at all.  So glad we didn't take the van though.

Tristan, Mom and I all wore neon green so we'd be seen in case Ben decided to lead the group anywhere and we required search and rescue.

And that was our weekend!  It was a lot of fun.  I foresee many  more future trips there... hooray!

Caprock State Park

We got home from Arizona early Thursday morning. After sleeping most of the morning, we straightened the house up, took turns running errands and got ready for Ben, Tonia and the kids to spend the night. They talked us into going camping with them at Caprock State Park. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of Ben. This is the first trip I think I have gone on with him that hasn't resulted in a catastrophe. Aside from the fact that we went camping in January and it was below freezing that night. That actually wasn't that big of deal since Jeff and I brought 8,000 blankets. I am SO glad we went though! That park is one of the best kept secrets, I don't think anyone I know has ever seen that side of Texas. It was beautiful-just beautiful. We saw tons of road runners... Saw tons of deer... almost lost Sushi when she figured out she could chase them. Fortunately she came back.We even saw a whole herd of wild pigs. The ranger drove by shortly after, and when he heard we'd seen them he asked where about, then said not to worry if we heard gun shots because he was just taking care of the pigs. Kudos to anyone (besides Dad or Tonia) who understands this photo. Isn't the red rock beautiful? It reminds me of Southern Utah-in between Provo and Moab.

Under the trail there was this natural bridge-not as big as anything in Arches but it was still super neat. The kids loved exploring it.

One thing I learned from my Dad is that you never go back to camp until it's almost dark. Stay out and about as long as you can, then you come back, cook dinner, clean up and go to bed. The hike ended a little earlier than we wanted, so we drove around and looked for fubbalo before we went back to camp, cooked dinner, and froze in the crazy wind. Then we put the kids to bed, looked at our watches.. and whimpered because it was only 8pm.

How did Twistan do on his first camp out? Super. Until 10pm. 1am. 2am. 3am and 5am. Then he cried like a baby for who knows what reason. However, when he woke up at 7am he was probably the cutest child around. He laid there with Jeff for an hour and a half and just sang and talked. He must have known he was on thin ice and was doing his best to save his butt by being cute.

After breakfast we went hiking. Jeff tried to put a snack in his pack but it mysteriously disappeared.... I bet we find those raisins in just a few hours, fully intact.

I couldn't help myself with this one.

Hannah was a trooper. Of course, life is easy when you get to be carried through the entire hike... it's hard not to like that part.

We turned sideways in an attempt to get Tristan in the picture. This trail came by the primitive campground. That looks like a really fun place to camp in the future. When Twistan can carry his own stuff.

This is Twistan's best bud. She carried him all over and played with him a lot. That little boy just loves other kids, it's like he knows they're "one of us..." I think she would have even changed his diaper if I'd asked, but coming from a family of all girls I didn't wanna answer more questions about "What is that?"

The biggest hit of the whole trip was the last thing we did. We went fishing. They had recently stocked the lake with two thousand rainbow trout, and they loaned us fishing poles for free. That combination is sweeeeeeeeet. So we grabbed the kids and enjoyed fishing. There was nothing cuter than their little faces as they reeled in a fish. Of course, nothing is sadder than the one kid who doesn't catch anything when everyone else does, either. But hey, that is part of fishing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. It's about learning to deal with the times you don't win, and learning to be gracious the times you do win.

Tonia made fun of me while we were on the bank. I was struggling with sanity because the baby sat in the dirt and ate rocks the whole time, while the other kids got covered in mud. I am my father's daughter as I yelled at them to stop doing everything they were doing. Tonia remarked, "Wow. You have a lot of your Dad in you." I can't help it. I don't do sticky, slimy, snotty, or vomity. It drives me nuts when kids wipe their faces on their sleeves or the inside of their shirts. It drives me nuts when they drag things in the dirt. I can't stand it when people smack their gum. I can't stand it when they walk around with a cup of liquid over carpet.. and don't get me started on people who drive in the left lane and aren't passing. I might make myself crazy thinking about the things that make me crazy. That, and the list is too long to post this late at night!

Anyway, it was a super trip, and I suspect we will be going again in the near future. And I'm already excited about it!