Camping at Huntsville State Park

Remember our camping trip to Huntsville State Park last year?  When I questioned our sanity taking two three year olds off into the woods without power, to pitch a tent on the banks of a lake with alligators, snakes, bugs, and a campfire for the entire weekend?   Well, at least this year we had power.  :)

And we decided two, now 4 year olds, wouldn't be nearly challenging enough.  So we invited half a dozen 3 & 4 year olds to come with us!  :)  And we had a great time!

The view was fantastic.

Beautiful sunrises -

And sunsets -

And thanks to all the rain we have had over the last few weeks the burn ban was lifted so we enjoyed hotdogs, smores, and catching up with friends around the campfire.

And did I mention the alligators?  No?  Well, there were alligators, too.

Much, much closer than that spec off in the distance.  In spitting distance actually.  And I can't spit far.  :)  Kevin's lucky he didn't get eaten.  But more on that later...

There were also quiet early morning walks, or as quiet as it can be with multiple 4 year olds... :)

Playgrounds to explore.

And swings.

We even made it over to the Nature Center to hear the Rangers tell us all about Alligators.

We even got to pet them!  These teeny little guys were 7 months old.  Can you believe it?  I would have thought they couldn't have been more than a few weeks old.

There were also canoes.

And thankfully, naps.

There were also trucks.  And great friends to play with.

And enough dirt to keep every little boy in hog heaven.  :)

And did I mention fishing?  Because we definitely did some fishing. 

Ryan and Connor both caught fish.

So many actually that we had a little backup at the fish removal station. 

And like last year when the boys caught their first fish here at the park, we were able to help some of their friends catch their first fish as well.

Caden caught his first fish ever.  As did his mom.  His dad rounded out the family trifecta of fishing success with a bass!

Dean was also among the successful first time fisherman.

As was Willow who was absolutely ecstatic to catch her first fish.  She wanted to keep it forever.  :)

And remember those lines out at our campsite?

Kevin had some luck as well.

He landed an Alligator Gar.

And a catfish.  As Kevin was hauling in the catfish just inches from dry land the catfish broke the line and Kevin made a dive for it catching it just before it made it's way back into deep enough waters to swim off.  And about the time Kevin leaned over to grab the catfish was when I noticed the two alligators who popped up at the edge of the grass just a few feet away.  Apparently Kevin had hooked the catfish in the gills and it was bleeding attracting their attention.

They put an end to Kevin's fishing success for the night and stayed firmly in place just a few feet off the shoreline for 3 or 4 hours.  Each time we would shine our flash lights out into the water we could see the amber reflection of their eyes.  Just sitting there.  Staring intently as us.   Needless to say we kept a close eye on everyone snack size and kept them well away from the waters' edge.

The next morning Kevin managed to haul in a good sized large mouth white bass. 

Unfortunately you can't keep bass here so he had to toss him back.

And he's one fish story Kevin will probably be telling for a while.  Kevin took a quick length measurement and tossed him back.  When we got home Kevin looked up the records for the lake and realized that it might have actually have been a tad bit bigger than the lake record.  But we'll never know for sure...

A Visit to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo 2012

We took a Friday off and ventured out to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  After a frustrating 20 minutes trying to find a place to park only to discover that the only public parking anywhere even remotely near the stadium was full we gave up and headed over to the park and ride at Fannin South.  It couldn't have been easier to park, and catch the train.

The boys of course were thrilled to get to ride on the train, even if it was all of a 2 minute ride.  :)

The train conveniently dropped us off about a close as you could get to the entrance to the hall with all the livestock stuff.  We hadn't been there 10 seconds when the boys were checking out the bees, and I was opening up the map and showtime guide and we ran into friends from work who had also just arrived.  It never ceases to amaze me what a small world it is.  Among the millions of people at the show to run into so many people you know.  Last time we went we ran into my Aunt's family.  And given how non-observant I am that's saying something!  Especially given that letting the boys roam around means that my view rarely gets above the 3 1/2 foot mark.  :)

We spent some time wandering around the Livestock area.  Checking out the newborn babies, wandering through stalls of animals, and of course petting as many animals as possible.

The boys' fascination with hatching chicks hasn't waned any either.  They loved to watch the baby chicks and asked a million and one questions about them. 

Afterwards we wandered out to the carnival area.  We sat down and watched kids chase robotic steers for a few minutes.

And then wandered on through the rest of the carnival in search of the pig races.

We found the pig race barn about 2 minutes after the show started, and by the looks of it quite a while after they had closed the gates as the stands were absolutely packed.  So we wandered back over to the food tents and grabbed dinner (the Texas Skillet Burritos were YUMMY!), and the boys of course devoured their corndogs and favorite kind of juice.  We finished just in time to head to the Mutton Bustin tent to watch the kids try to ride the sheep.

Kevin was kidding Ryan that he should try it.  Ryan was all but ready to sign up - "Get me a jersey, Daddy, so I can ride!!!"  When I told my grandmother later that Ryan was disappointed that we didn't let him ride she mentioned that the boys' cousin rode this year and hung on all the way to the end of the are where they had to pry her off and that if the boys wanted to ride we had better do it quick as they would only have another year or two before they were too old.  I figured they would be too young.  Maybe next year if they are still interested we will have to see what you have to do to sign them up.

After Mutton Bustin, or Button Mustin as the kids still call it we made our way over to get in line for the pig races.  We found seats near the starting line to watch the show.  As the announcer was telling us about the pigs and the races and they had shut the entry gates Ryan suddenly had to pee.  As Kevin was following Ryan out of the row and we were talking about where he might go Ryan bee-lined for the grass just in front of the trailer holding the pigs and in front of everyone dropped his pants and went.  :)

After the pig races we made our way to our seats in Reliant Stadium.  We found our seats just a few minutes before the parade started.

We were a little higher up than I would have liked, but being in small quiet section on the end of the aisle at the very top of the steps within feet of the bathroom couldn't have been better.  I will certainly be asking for similar seats from here on out. 

When the Train concert started and the boys were dancing precariously in the space in front of their seats I decided it would be safer to find a little more space - so we stood at the top of the platform while they danced for a couple of minutes.

That dancing must have been hard work, because a few songs later they were both out like a light.

Kevin and I enjoyed the rest of the concert while the boys snoozed.  Connor slept so peacefully that the didn't even bat an eye when I picked him and carried him the half a mile back the ramps and around a few rounds before deciding there was no way I could carry the 40lb lump all the way back to the car and passed him off to Kevin.  Kevin carried him still soundly sleeping the rest of the way out of the stadium while Ryan and I walked.  Kevin eventually had to wake Connor up and move him to his shoulders to be able to carry him back to the train.

We were a little nervous about how long the lines would be and how long it would take to get on a train.  Despite the long line we found seats on the first train and had no problem at all finding the car and getting back out on the freeway.  We will definitely look to take the train again next year.

A visit to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine

For the boys' birthday this year we decided to take them to enjoy a few days at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas.  It's essentially an indoor water park located inside a hotel.  Perfect for the kid who wants to go to Schlitterbahn all year round.  :)

Not that you will see any pictures of the waterpark here... We were apparently having too much fun getting soaked to bother with taking any pictures actually inside the water park.  And by we I mean Kevin.  Because in mid February I still hadn't found my camera.  I misplaced it in mid December and didn't find it until mid March.  The day after I ordered a ludicrously priced replacement because they discontinued my camera, which I LOVED, and the replacement camera didn't have nearly so rosey of reviews. 

But in case you are wondering this is what the lobby looked like.  :)

It's actually a beautiful hotel with rustic theming throughout.

And kid friendly activities like storytime at the big clock.  Come in your PJs.  :)

We managed to get a nice spot for storytime the second night we were there.  If you are going, definitely get there early!

The kids (and their mom especially... :)) enjoyed MagiQuest as well.  It's a game where you get a magic wand and then run up and down all eight flights of stairs via the "hidden staircase" and explore the various public areas of the hotel looking for the items on the list to complete each quest and earn a rune.  The kids were excited to find the various items on each quest.

Like the crystals we found on our first Quest that lit up different colors when you pointed a wand at them.

They also really enjoyed pointing their wands at all kinds of things throughout the hotel and having chests open, pictures light up, and absolutely everything talk to you.

I have to admit the interactive stuff was awesome.  And addictive!  There were people of all ages playing for hours on end.

The waterpark of course was lots of fun, too.  The kids had a good time running around both the kid pool and the fort shooting water cannons and soaking anyone and everyone in sight.  They also checked out every single water slide that they were tall enough for.  From the 4 small slides in the kiddie pool, to the two bigger slides in the fort, as well as 2 of the BIG water slides that they were tall enough for (or almost tall enough for in Connor's case.)  When you come in the park area they measure your height and you get a different band depending on your height.  Red for < 42".  Yellow for 42 - 48 inches.  And Green for > 48".  The 5 biggest slides required either Yellow or Green bands to be able to ride.  Ryan managed to get a yellow band by a hair while Connor was well below the cut-off and ended up with Red.   The irony of course being that Ryan is the chicken who while he enjoys sides, it isn't his favorite thing.  Connor on the other hand would have ridden every single one.  As many times as possible.  :)  Maybe next time...

Connor's favorite by far was the lazy river.  He enjoyed swimming around in the river, dodging water at 2 or 3 places along the way.  His particular favorite was when I sweep him up and make a mad dash through the obstacle course section of the river dodging or attempting to dodge the 3 or 4 water canons as well as the dumping buckets manned by maniacal kids intent on drowning adults in particular.

Ryan enjoyed both the kiddie pool (wave runner sprayers in particular) and the wave pool with or without the waves. 

Kevin of course enjoyed the big slides.  Particularly the Green one where you plopped out of a chute into what I called the big drain to circle around and around before getting sucked in shot down the rest of the tube. 

Needless to say we will have to go back again when the kids are a little older, and taller.  And next time?  Next time I am taking my own water soaker to give the kids manning the guns above the lazy river a dose of their own medicine!  :)

How we spent the month of January

9 months of the year we spend weekends doing a little bit of everything.  But from January to the second week of March it just one birthday party after another.  There is literally one every.single.weekend.

On the bright side, 2 hours in a bounce place helps the boys run off some of that boundless energy.

But then again, they also load them up with enough juice, cake and frosting to ensure there is no rest for the weary... parents that is.  :)