To celebrate Jacob's 40th Birthday, we took our crew camping at Garner State Park in the Texas Hill Country...and found fall weather and beauty during our stay. The cypress trees that line the Frio River were showing off their rusty hues - my FAVORITE! It rained and drizzled on our first morning, so we woke up and walked over to admire the bit of fog, mist, and MOOD. It was glorious! It drizzled most of the day - and we hiked up the top of Old Baldy only to be in the middle of a slippery, misty cloud. But we still caught a view of the river lined with all the beautiful colored trees! You know it's a good trip when you come home tired, wet, and muddy ;) This new decade of our 40s is going to be full of wonderful and crazy new adventures - bring them on!
We spent the better part of the day exploring Bull Creek today. We had so much fun! We really didn't want to leave, but it was on the cusp of 100 degrees, we were soaking wet, and Hudson's diaper was about to explode...next time we will bring swimming suits and a swim diaper ;)
We started out hiking around a few of the trails. Sawyer even brought his binoculars and packed his own little backpack today - he set out his "explorer" outfit last night before going to bed. It makes me smile, knowing my kids look forward to our Adventure Day as much as I do. We found a shady place along the creek to eat lunch - of course, Hudson tried to eat every rock he could find...he's at that age. After our hike and picnic lunch, we decided to really get our feet wet (among other things).
I helped the kids climb up on this huge rock. They had a pretty fun view, and even spotted some snapping turtles swimming around in the water below. We had so much fun wading and splashing. If you're looking for a fun place to cool off with the kids - this is perfect! There are even a few natural little water flows/falls which make a perfect slide! I realized today that we've lived in Austin now for two years and never made it to a splash pad!?! I guess we prefer mother nature's swimming holes a bit more ;) We'll most definitely be going back - with swim gear on!
Summer naturally began when Kindergarten ended. Oh, the joy and anticipation of summer vacation! Between downpours of rain, which has been an amazing blessing for the drought, as well as our lawn (we haven't had to water all YEAR!) And between birthday parties - we have spent most of June outside, adventuring. Keeping cool in rivers, hiking, and camping in the sunshine (and heat ;) We have yet to break 100 degrees, which has been a record-breaking "cool" summer for Texas, and made it quite enjoyable for us! Hooray for summer!
1. hardcore hiker girl, right there (6 miles at 2 years old!)
2. keeping their cool at sculpture falls
3. mother nature makes the best toys ;)
4. teaching baby boy the ropes of summer fun
5. we found little nests in our hanging flower baskets on the front porch, and kept a careful watch over those tiny eggs
6. and then they hatched! are you my mother!?!
7. exploring the gardens at mayfield park
8. little adventurers
9. this pretty peacock let us get pretty close to admire his beautiful colors
10. flowers taller than hazel
11. on the trail at the nature preserve
12. friendly longhorn in the middle of central texas (road trip!)
13. our campsite at garner state park
14. make shift high chair around the campfire
15. golden hour in black and white
16. studying up for his junior ranger badge
17. hiking, bouldering, and sweating up Old Baldy
18. we made it to the tippy top!
19. view of the frio river from the top
20. view from IN the frio river (and more of mother nature's toys ;)
21. river rats
22. kids and rocks
23. cooling off in the lazy river
24. her first time spelunking, in crystal cave
