Brazos Bend State Park ~ Arrival

This past weekend we spent walking in Brazos Bend State Park. It was an amazing weekend, and one that I hope we can repeat sooner, rather than later!

We got the car loaded for the most part on Thursday evening ~ peeked through the windows and wondered where we were going to put the rest of the necessary items ~ like FOOD, shook our heads and went back to finish getting ready for the drive ahead of us. We were up at 4:30 Friday morning, showered, loaded and on the road a little after 5:00 A.M. We were excited to get such a great start because we wanted to get to the park as early as possible. Sites are given out on a first come, first serve basis and we wanted to get the best possible site since we would be there the entire weekend! We made it to Houston and picked up Rick's sister, Brenda. This would be the first time EVER she had been camping and we were excited to be able to share one of our passions of life with her. (Man we were hoping the weather would hold off and it would be a great experience for her!) When we first walked in and saw the pile of supplies she had we didn't know how we were going to get everything loaded in the car, but we made it and once again we were on our way. We stopped for a short lunch and made the park by about 1:30. The folks at the park are wonderful. So friendly and helpful! Rick and I collect the park pins now, so of course as soon as I saw them I showed Rick which one I wanted to add to my collection. We got three of them and I got mine pinned on my hat right away! We got our site, paid the fees and off we went. The volunteers told us that once we got down to the camping area we needed to drive around and check out the sites, if we found one we liked better we could call and they would change it for us.

Once we got down to the sites we decided we DID like another one better and moved to the new site before we got anything set up...this is a good thing, LOL. Our site had a beautiful tree that we were able to set our tent up under. This made for cool afternoon and evenings. The site was clean, well maintained, and plenty big with a nice big picnic table and little grill, as well as a fire pit if we decided we wanted a camp fire. Perfect!

We pitched the tent and got everything unloaded and arranged to our liking and then we were ready to begin exploring. Housekeeping done it was time to LET THE FUN BEGIN!

For our first hike we selected Creekfield Lake. The signs explained that this was a changing ecosystem. What was today swamp would in the future become a forest, so we were observing the birth of a forest. The swamp water will slowly disappear and the life it supports will go away and forest life, trees, plants, and animals will take over.

This was our first view of Creekfield Lake.

Did you notice the light post in the bottom left corner? These are set up along the path to the Observatory. The lights are labeled with planet names to give you an idea of the distance from the sun.

This is actually the trail around the northern end of the lake. It is about 1 mile around this end of the lake, and the trail is paved and well maintained. We were there in late afternoon, so the wildlife wasn't as active as it would prove to be later in the day. We did manage to see this little guy out sunning himself on a log near the banks of the lake.

We continued along the trail and spotted this White Ibis posing for me!

The lake is surrounded by Oak trees covered in Spanish Moss. In hindsight I wish I had gotten a better picture of these. But this was the best I got this trip. (I did get a pretty "artsy" picture of the moss and leaves entertwined that I may select for another post later.)

Once we took a quick trip around this lovely path we decided to head back to camp for a quick dinner to allow time for it to cool down a little so perhaps we would be able to see a little more of the wildlife promised by the several web sites we looked at prior to the trip. We spent some time eating, talking, and laughing and then decided to go over to 40 Acre Lake.

This trail is about 1.2 miles long, but it takes you a lot longer to walk it than you would think. You tend to stop a LOT! We walked down to the pier first to check out that view of the lake. The path here is cement with curbs. We walked down the shaded, curving path barely glancing at the plantlife on either side of the trail in our eagerness to get close to the lake. At about 5 steps from the gate we heard a sudden rustle in the grass to our right and heard a GIANT splash. We all jumped and spun to look at what caused that ruckus. This is what we were greeted with!

Our first glimpse of an American Alligator! We had to laugh out lound at how we had jumped at the splash - but it was nice to know our Flight/Fight instincts were intact and we were ready for the flight part anyway! We walked out to the pier and decided this might be a nice place for some sunrise pictures in the morning. Then we headed back up the pier for some more pictures. At the end of the path I spotted this pretty plant.

I loved the way the sun shone through the leaves and wanted to get a picture quick. After I shot this one I walked back to the pier to capture the water plants along the bank.

There are more, but those also will have to wait for another, later, post.

We walked back up the path to where it intersected with the trail and headed off to the woods. As you walk through the shade you turn a corner and the 40 Acre Lake Trail intersects the Prarie Trail giving you the opportunity to walk through and observe the prarie ecosystem. Since it was late afternoon and still VERY hot we opted to continue through the woods and save the praries for another day. When we got through the woods and got to the lake we were excited to see more wildlife. Not too far along the trail we spotted another turtle sunning himself on a log.

We also had to start our "gator count". At first they were hard to spot in the water. From the picture above you can see that often they are covered in the algae and they don't show a lot of their bodies above the water. We got pretty good at spotting them lurking close to the banks of the lake just about 4 - 5 feet from the edge of the trail.

We walked on up the trail, counting alligators as we went, until we got to the observation deck. Just as we got there another hiker commented to us that if we walked on past and started up the Elm Lake trail we could see an alligator on the side of the road. We thought, "What the heck...we'll give it a try." This is what we saw.

This guy was HUGE! He went from the edge of the water to the edge of the trail easily! We wouldn't get too close since I'm a "Nervous Nellie" AND had read the literature that told us that they can move 30 MPH for 30 feet, so you didn't want to get any closer than 30 feet! In fact 30MPH for 30 Feet pretty much became our mantra on this trail!

We walked back to the observation tower and climbed up to take a peek at the view. From one side of the tower you can look at Pilant Lake, which appears to be more of a marsh than a lake, and on the other is 40 Acre Lake. We got our best entertainment of the day while up in the tower. A young couple chose to walk down the Elm Lake path and became startled when they happened upon the alligator sunning himself alongside the path. They were determined to go on down THAT trail, to not turn around. After several aborted attempts, and much jumping, starting, stopping, yelping, and laughing they finally got by him....it was very funny to watch from above.

After we descended from the observation tower we walked over the spillway and along a shaded path. On one side was the lake, on the other swamp. In a hollow in the swamp we came across this baby.

You can tell he is only a year or two old because he still has his yellow coloration which allows him to hide in the grasses close to the shoreline.

We continued around the lake adding to our "gator count" until we got back to the woods. We ended up counting 12 gator sightings on this, our first foray into the habitat of the American Alligator! Brenda and I were so excited!

We walked through the cool shade of the woods and came across this broken Oak tree branch in the middle of the path. I was fascinated by the Resureection Fern attached to the branch. This fern will appear as a ball of coiled dead leaves most of the time, but turns to a lovely green fern with sufficient moisture. Can you tell there had been a lot of rain before we arrived?

This landed us back at the parking lot where we proceeded to call it a day and head back to camp. We were pretty much exhausted, and knew we would be getting up early to head back to 40 Acre Lake the nexgt morning to try for a sunrise, so we headed for the showers and bed. We laid down and watched the fireflies and stars and listened to the frogs as we drifted off to sleep dreaming of more opportunities to observe the beauty of this park.

Memaw Camp ~ The final day!

Whew....today is a sad, sad day...the final day of Memaw camp ~ part 1.

Pepaw and I were up early again since he had to go to work. I was hoping that CC would sleep a little longer, and he did. I was able to enjoy several cups of coffee and listen to the birds outside for about an hour before I heard the door slam and turned to see a grinning face and hear the chirpping "Hi Memaw". The day was starting.

CC climbed up in the recliner and requested "Robots", so I put it in for him and he watched that for a little bit while I fixed some cinnamon toast, grapes, and cantaloupe for breakfast. Once the girls were awake everyone came in to the table and ate, chatted, and laughed. Then it was time to get ready to go to the park. This is something they had been asking to do all week and MOTS was specially excited. I filled up the water jug with lots of ice and water and we headed out.

Now, I run this area for my "speed" training just about every morning in the summer and I SHOULD be familiar with it, right? Well, there seems to be a difference when you are running and when you are walking at 2 year old speed. Sheesh. We walked, and walked, and WALKED. I didn't think we were EVER going to get to the turnoff. Hollywood actually found a bench along the way to sit down on and rest. We finally got to the turnoff, walked across the bridge, and made the turn to the park. Uh-oh...this was NOT what MOTS and I remembered! There wasn't a tree anywhere near the eqipment or seats, it was bone dry with lots of dead plants in the "garden" area, and the grass was more brown than green. Captain Chaos walked over to the small play area, climbed up the steps, went down the slide one time and announced he was ready to go home! OK...well then....hmmmmmmmm. We turned around and walked back. It was hot, we were all tired, and all I could think about was how glad I was that I brought the water jug. We made frequent stops so all could get drinks and I poured water over their heads to keep them cool. Chaos would laugh and laugh because the cold water tickled! I went back later and measured the walk. We had actually walked 1.25 miles to get to the park and back home!

Once we got home we decided we were very hungry so we went over to the McDonalds. The kids ate and then played at the playplace. Much better! I read for a while. I let them play until both girls were "done", then we peeled Captain Chaos off the play equipment and headed back to the house.

Back home it was time to do a little picking up again and then enjoy some TV in the nice air conditioned comfort of the living room! I told them that after CC got up from his nap we would go to the OTHER park and feed the ducks. This was quite exciting news and everyone tried to stay very quiet so CC would go to sleep.....yeah, right!

He did finally sleep about 3:30 - AFTER I promised that we would leave the house no later than 4:00 because we had to be packed up and ready to go meet their parents when Pepaw got home from work. We let him sleep while we got everything (HAH - like they weren't going to forget SOMETHING) packed up and ready to load in the car. At 4:05 we were loaded in the car. As the garage door was going up I hear this small voice from the backseat, "Did anyone get the bread for the ducks?" Ooops. I shut off the car, ran back into the house, grabbed the bread, gave the dog another treat, locked the door, jumped back into the car, and we were off.

When we got to the park we found we were the only people silly enough to be out in the Texas heat at 4:00 in the afternoon! Even the ducks were fighting over the shade! It was OK though - once they found out we had food they came running!

After we finished feeding the ducks we drove back home just in time to meet Pepaw. He changed clothes and we were off to meet {C} and Partyboy for dinner. We had a great dinner, we listened to stories about their trip, they listened to stories about Memaw camp and finally it was time for hugs, kisses, and goodbyes. We got them all loaded in their truck and we got into our car. As we were driving off we were talking about how much we were going to miss the kids. We were still laughing at some of the things that had happened over the past 5 days when I looked at Pepaw and said, "Do you hear that?" AHHHHHHHHH, quiet. (but I am going to miss them - this old house is TOO quiet some days!)

Memaw Camp ~ Day 4

A comparitively calm day here at Memaw camp. Pepaw had to go to work today so we got up early to get in a little exercise before the kids got up. I got dressed in my "walking" gear and headed out to the little lake nearby to go walking with my friend. We meet up there three times a week during the summer. She is getting ready to start the C25K training in September so we are picking up the speed.

I walked in the door at 6:15 AM and was greeted by .... CAPTAIN CHAOS! I couldn't beleive he was already up. Poor Pepaw was standing there nodding his head saying "Yep, he's up and ready for action!" I had to laugh. Pepaw told me he had gotten dressed for work and was sitting on the side of the bed tying his shoes when he and the dog heard a door slam. They looked at each other and said, "HUH?" He opened the door and there stood CC looking at them. He grinned really big and said, "Hi Pepaw!"

I hurried my shower so Pepaw could leave for work and came in to plan the day. Our first stop today was going to be the pool ~ It has been really hot and I thought that would be a nice cool activity and they could all burn a little energy. They had a BLAST...

After the pool we all came back and got ready to go eat some lunch. MOTS picked Subway so off we went. The two younger ones wanted the kid's meals and MOTS was a little upset. She claims that she and Hollywood generally split a 6" meatball sub. No problem I told her...order one just for you! Her eyes looked like saucers when I told her that, she gladly obeyed my request, lol. Once all the orders were put together the kids were getting into their seats and dividing up the meals. MOTS was helping me get the drinks situated when I hear Chaos's voice, "OH NO." NEVER a good sound. I look over at the table and there stands MOTS, nearly in tears, with her drink going all over the table and floor. "This always happens when I try to help them!" Again, not a problem. I grabbed some extra napkins, we mopped up the spilled drink ~ all 32 ozs., refilled, and got re-situated. THEN we were able to really enjoy our meals!

Once that was taken care of it was off to Target. I wanted to get the movie "UP". I hadn't seen it, the kids like it, and I wanted it...so we got it. We also picked up "Ferngully", "Robots", and "Milo and Otis", as well as a journal, some Jolly Rancher gummies, and a bat and ball....hmmmmm, can you say "Memaw is an easy touch when shopping?", LOL...

The trip home was quite uneventful and we piled on the couch to watch "UP". Chaos sat still for the first part, but soon left to go play with his puzzle. Once that movie was over we watched "Ferngully". It was very cute. Chaos hadn't seen this one before and was captured by the animation so he sat down on the floor to watch. Next thing I knew this is how he was watching!

Yes, 6:00 AM is early for a 2 year old and makes for a long day...Even Captain Chaos couldn't fight off the nap today!

Memaw Camp ~ Day 3

Today was a calmer day at Memaw Camp. We only had one activity planned for the day ~ Toy Story 3! The kids were up pretty early and ready to go. They were eager and excited. We loaded up and headed to the theater. We got there about 30 minutes before the movie started, found our seats (on the very back row as usual), and MOTS and I headed down to the refreshment stand for "breakfast". Each child got his/her own "kid-pack" of popcorn, drink, and candy. Now I haven't done this in quite a long time - the last time I got a kid pack you simply ordered the thing and told them what drink you wanted...not so anymore...now you have to choose your candy too. Sure glad I had MOTS with me. She selected some kind of Extreme Sour ropes or some such thing I'd never heard of! We got everything situated, stopped and picked up a booster seat for CC and headed back up the stairs. Once I got back up there and Pepaw and I got everything passed out I was just getting ready to sit down when Hollywood decided it was "break time"...sooooooo back down the stairs we went. Once we got that little chore taken care of I finally got to settle back in my seat. Hmmm...the good news is I only had to sit through the 3D previews!

The movie was REALLY good. I have loved ALL the Toy Story movies but I do believe this is the first one that actually made me cry! If you go be warned ~ take tissues with you! All the kids did a great job. CC only made one loud comment during the entire movie and it was at an appropriate time so all the folks around us laughed with us and no one got upset with him...a good thing!

When the credits rolled we packed up the trash and glasses and headed down the stairs to leave. When we finally got out to the lobby this is what we were greeted with ~

and that isn't the half of it! He was COVERED in the sour coating from the Extreme candy from his toes to his hair! It was EVERYWHERE! Everyone we passed was cracking up looking at him. We drove right on over to Whataburger (Hollywood's lunch choice) and I ordered the meals while Pepaw managed clean-up duty. While we were there Cotton called to see what the plans were for the day ~ he met us back at the house for a relaxing afternoon of visiting, playing with the kids and dogs, and watching the US Open. Made for a great Father's Day for Pepaw!

By the end of the afternooon it was definitely time to start picking up around the house. All three kids went back to the back bedroom to pick up clothes and toys with no argument. After just a few minutes I hear one of the girls screech all THREE of Captain Chaos' given names. This is NEVER a good thing! I walk back to see what is going on and I'm greeted by Chaos running around the room with an empty puzzle box on his head yelling "Look at my hat, look at my hat!" It was determined by all that it would probably be for the best if CC took a little "time out" of cleaning. He came in and sat down on the couch to join Pepaw watching some golf. After about 5 minutes we looked over and saw ...

Today was a very good day!

Memaw Camp ~ Day 2

We got up as late as the kids would let us because we knew it was going to be a long day. We started out by going to Weight Watchers. Pepaw was going to weigh in, Memaw decided she would rather wait another week. We also wanted to drop off the WW 5K walkathon pictures. Pepaw had created a beautiful album for the center. After saying goodbye to all our friends at the center we headed next door to Khol's to get everyone a new outfit. Little did we know what an experience we were in for.

We walked in the door and as soon as Captain Chaos saw the blouses hanging on the racks he was gone! I HIDE - I HIDE! We quickly got him corraled and made our way to the toddler department. We found some shorts and shirts and made our way to the dressing room. MOTS's idea of the size we needed proved to be a little "off" so Pepaw had to go back and try a smaller size. When we tried those on Chaos thought it was enough. I grabbed his shirt and he decided he could fly! So here I am on the edge of the dressing room holding a two year old by the shirt while he waves his arms and legs in the air. Pepaw, MOTS, and Hollywood were all so busy laughing I didn't know how long I was going to have to hold him like that! We made it back to the dressing room, found the right size and then we were ready to go look for some things for the girls. CC was with Pepaw and "promised" he would be good and wouldn't hide anymore. Have I mentioned he is two - NEVER believe a two year old when he says he'll be good. As soon as Pepaw set him down he was off! It took MOTS and Pepaw both to capture him again - by that time he was several aisles over and hiding in the clothes again...he also played chase around the pole. I don't know if they would have caught him at all if he hadn't accidently seen himself in the mirror and slowed down to look! Pepaw and I took turns watching CC while MOTS and Hollywood picked out their new clothes and then we finally got to the registers to pay for the purchases. By the time we made it to the car I just knew we had to be halfway through the afternoon, but NOOOOOOOOO! It wasn't even 9:00 am yet!

We wanted to drive over to Cabela's and look for a tent we had found on-line. This is a pretty good drive so as soon as everyone was ready we loaded up the car and off we went. We stopped at Chick-fil-a for breakfast first and then we were on the road. Funny how putting kids in a car nearly always results in -

























We arrived at the store and were surprised to see quite the commotion outside - balloon arcs and a LOT of activity. As we got closer we noticed that they were having a kids fishing contest. The girls weren't too interested in that so we bypassed that activity and headed for the doors.

As we entered the store we were amazed to see that several of the State Parks had set up interactive exhibits. They were letting the kids do wildlife rubbings, and for the Dinosaur Valley State Park they had set up a "pit" where the kids could "excavate" bones just like they do at the park! This was such an unexpected treat!

The kids love going by the fish tanks here. Party Boy and {C} had just sent a picture of Tigger having a staring contest with a fish in Chicago, so they decided to have their own staring contest with Texas fish. Still trying to figure out who one that one!

This guy just kept watching us through the glass - MOTS was fascinated with him. If we moved right he craned his neck right, if we moved left he craned his neck left...not quite sure what he was looking for!

After we finished looking at the State Park exhibits, the animal exhibits, the fish, AND finished wandering the aisles for a bit we headed up the elevator. As you exit the elevator there is a BIG stuffed Moose. I tried to get a picture of everyone around the Moose, but CC was having none of that! He was terrified of the thing...so we went ahead and headed toward the tent area. On our way the girls saw a table set up for face painting, so of course we HAD to stop and get their faces painted!

While I waited for the girls Pepaw and Captain Chaos made their way over the see if the tent we wanted was available at the store or if we were going to have to order it. While they looked at the tents CC found his...at least that is what he told me when we joined them - at the top of his lungs...MY TENT!

As we were waiting for the elevator to go back downstairs CC saw the Moose again. Don't know what changed, but this time he wanted to sit in his lap! Crazy Captain Chaos...you never know WHAT to expect!

Just before we left the store Sydney spotted one more exhibit she thought we needed to see. So off we went to pet the snake! I really didn't think CC would try it - but he loved it the most!

After we loaded up the car we headed out to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. On the way we passed The Dump. We'd been seeing advertisements for this furniture store for quite a while so after lunch we went on over and walked through the store. To say the least, this was quite an experience with CC. He did much better than at Khols, but because he tends to look around more than he looks forward it was only mildly surprising when he ran into one of the dollies they use to move the furniture from place to place. Good things kids bounce, LOL. He wasn't hurt at all - and everyone around had a good laugh with him...

We didn't do too much more when we got home. Everyone was pretty tired and it was decided that sandwiches and goldfish with ice cream for dessert sounded like a pretty good end of they day.

Today was a very busy day for everyone!

Memaw Camp ~ Day 1

Yesterday was the first full day of Memaw camp. It was MUCH too busy (as was today) for me to get it all written up...so I guess I'll be blogging a day behind, LOL.

I got up nice and early and met my DF for our three times a week walk. When I got home Pepaw went to the club to run. I was going to go when he got back. We were hoping to get all that done before the kids woke up....silly us! At 7:07 AM I hear the patter of little feet, and sure enough here comes Captain Chaos down the hall. He peeked in at the girls and then saw me - MEMAW at the top of his lungs was enough to wake both girls...so the day had begun.

We got everyone dressed and ready for the day's adventures by the time Pepaw got home...needless to say my run was going to be postponed for a bit because the little guys were hungry.

We instituted a new tradition this year. Each little one gets to pick where we eat once a day. Pepaw and I went ahead and ate our WW breakfast meals then MOTS picked Sonic for their breakfast. Off we went. When we got there they all wanted breakfast burritos and (drum roll here) ICE CREAM! OK...it is Memaw camp...the week when pretty much the kids rule - so ice cream it was! They had so much fun!

After Sonic it was back to the house and into swim suits for pool time fun. We dug out all the old floats and toys and hiked to the pool. We spent a good part of the morning there playing and making some new friends.

Then Hollywood informed us we needed to eat lunch. Her pick...Chicken Express. We walked back home, changed and Pepaw and I again ate our WW meals then took the kids to Chicken Express where MOTS had fried catfish and Hollywood and CC had the tenders. They ate just about everything in sight and were quickly ready to move on.

We just relaxed most of the afternoon. Uncle Cotton came by and visited until Angel got off work, then we all went to CC's pick for dinner - McDonalds! We ate, talked, and the kids played and had a great time. All in all - a VERY successful first day of camp!

Memaw Camp Gets Started

First, for those of you that don't know - I've been doing "Memaw camp" every summer for about 8 or so years now. It started out because I was "off" for the summer, my DD and DSIL wanted to work summer youth camp for their church and needed someone to watch the baby. Enter Memaw. They kept talking about going to camp and MOTS was very upset that she wasn't going to camp too, so {C} told her she WAS going to camp - Memaw Camp. So, every summer she comes for a week and we do all kinds of fun stuff. Since the inception MOTS has been joined by Hollywood and Captain Chaos. DH and I always try to incorporate all kinds of activities for them, and to live by our motto: Squeeze 'em up, Sugar 'em up, Send 'em home.

This is the first of two Memaw camps this summer and even though the kids only got here last night we are already having a TON of fun.

They arrived last night full of excitement. Captain Chaos most of all. Even though he was with us last summer he doesn't much remember it and has been asking his mommy, "How many more sleeps until Memaw camp" for a while now. It was FINALLY time!

We took everyone to Soup or Salad for dinner, then Mommy and Daddy left and it was just us and the Grandkids.....whew!

We all gathered around the TV to watch "Enchanted" and it was fairly quiet for about 20 minutes or so....until Captain Chaos discovered that he could be an acrobat!

He found if he spun our recliner around just so........he could crawl or jump from the chair to the couch and back! After each jump he would put his hands in the air and say with such excitement, "I DID IT!" Scary for Memaw, but entertaining for everyone else.

After I recovered from that little adventure we settled back into the movie. I could see the wheels turning in Chaos' head as he looked over to our collection of weights. He wandered over and checked out the tricep bar first. It was hilarious to see his booty go up and down as he tried to lift the weights. He quickly announced, "I can't" and moved on to the free weights. He found the 3 lb weight and moved it over. He then looked at us, bent over, picked it up in both hands (like a barbell) and "deadlifted" it over his head. He was so proud that he could lift it by himself!

Can't wait for the adventure to continue today! I'll let you know how it went!