Choke Canyon Camping

 Its the weekend before Thanksgiving so we are camping. We drove almost two hours to Choke Canyon. The high was 88 and low 45. We started out in shorts and T-shirts and got our site. Then to the lake. We all paddled (didn't take the camera) around seeing fish jump, lots of birds but no alligators. We got out on the shore to play, then started heading back. And the wind really picked up so much so that we couldn't paddled against it! We pulled over and ended up walking up an old road and carrying the kayaks there. Gloria hadn't brought shoes so she and Lydia shared. They got the truck and we were all safely loaded up. It was quite an adventure but all were good sports.

 We called our time the Bird and Butterfly tour, because there were so many birds and butterflies!! But the land is harsh South Texas, mostly mesquite trees and tons of sticker burrs.

 Our camp site was right by the little lake.  We had dinner and a fire and went to bed early. It was so cold in the morning that we needed heavy coats, but we got up for breakfast tacos and walks by the little lake.

 The trees were COVERED with small chrysalis.

 Then we took several short trails to the (closed) nature center. We joked that if we didn't see a hawk in Hawk Alley we'd ask for our money back, but we did see one circling around. We also saw Green Jays, a vermillion flycatcher but no peregrine falcons.

 Gloria tripped and skinned her knee but her sweet sister helped her out for a while.

 We spotted one javelina in the trees so we quietly sheathed around, until we turned the corner and saw its whole herd.  They watched us for a bit then trotted off! The babies were fluffy and cute.

 Dinner time at the campsite.

 Sunset of beautiful colors and lots of ducks on the little lake.  I love staying two nights camping so there is an entire day in between to not get in the car and just enjoy being outside without having to mess with setting up or taking down camp.

 Monday, I slept late while Caleb and the girls went fishing (and catching), after breakfast, we packed up and headed home.  The girls were entertained by making pillow forts for sleeping Flower.

Garner State Park

 We went camping with some friends on Gloria's birthday weekend and had a fabulous time. Friday Lari Jo and I went up early to get a spot (and we did in Old Garner) and to set up tents before dark. The dads and girls joined us that evening after school and work.

 Saturday morning the girls were up and off down the trails behind our campsite. They discovered White rock cave. After breakfast and with flashlights we all went for a hike to this cave and

 Crystal cave which was bigger and had lots of shiny quartz rocks on the walls.

 Back down in the camp and found a pay phone and took a selfie :)

 After lunch, we changed into swimsuits to enjoy the Frio River.

 The cicadas were loud and the water was cold. The girls loved swinging and jumping off the rope swings.

 The gang.

 We decided to do the big walk before dinner, up Old Baldy. It was steep but had great views.

 We then hiked down and around the long ridge line and got a great view of Old Baldy where we had been.

 Happy hikers.

 Our trails.

 Climbing trees in the campsite.

We had hotdogs and s'mores for Gloria's bday.
Sunday morning we woke up and tried to go to camp church but no one else came. We then changed into suits and waded down the river for a ways before packing up and heading back to civilization.

Birthday and Mother's Day fun

May is a fun month! After OneFest, mom and dad brought a cake to our house for the first birthday celebration of the month.

On my actual birthday, Lydia and Gloria greeted me in the morning and pointed out they brushed their hair and made their beds! I took the morning off work and attend Friendship's Food Fair. It was great to see old friends and tell them I am moving. I then worked the afternoon.

I had gotten henna for the party and Gloria did it for me (and lots of other friends that evening) and Lydia did hers.

Since Caleb was gone, I asked a few friends to drop by and hang out. It was a great mix of people and we ate a lot of great snacks.

The Saturday of Mother's day weekend, we went to Barton Hills Farms for customer appreciate day. Last fall we had gone to their corn maze and pumpkin patch.  The maze areas was full of zinnias

We cut bunches!

Enjoyed the shade and kettle corn.

And all of us jumped on their huge pillow trampoline.

Lydia gave me a coupon for my birthday saying they would do whatever I want without complaining so I cashed it in for dresses to church on Mother's day :)  I have a wonderful mother and I am so thankful to be mother to these wonderful girls.

Cruise

We went on a cruise. 5 night from Galveston to Progresso and Cozumel Mexico. The day we were to leave from Galveston was super foggy so we had extra time on shore. We walked around the beach and downtown including public library museum. Then it was our time to board. Here is our balcony and Galveston and fog.

Our nice little room with balcony!

Then there is this fun thing called safety check where we all crowd onto the deck where the life boats are and get our names checked off. 

Most of our time was spent eating, three meals a day at lots of great restaurants and plenty of snacks in between. Then we went to a show to learn about the cruise. There were some surprises that night, one being mom won the grand prize of dinner for two at the steak house.   

Fortunately, since the food was so plentiful and good, I also spent a lot of time walking. Here is our first fun day at sea. We had room service for breakfast, explored the decks, mom and I did Harry Potter trivia.

Here is our reading nook in the adult section. Then on sailing days, High Tea was served which was one of my favorite things and needed as we didn't have dinner until 8:15.

That evening Mom and Kathy got all cruise elegant and went to dinner at the steak house. I put on my swimsuit and had a piece of pizza on the deck then watched Doctor Strange in the hot tub. 

First day in Mexico, the fog caused us to change plans of order of the ports and we also decided to seize the day and go on an excursion instead of just hanging out. We did the Sacred Caverns. We drove for 2 hours to the interior through Merida and smaller villages, ones containing Maya ruins. Our peppy guide chatted most of the time. 

We went into two cenotes and got to swim in both. We were given snorkel gear but there wasn't much to see. The cave features were cool. Then we had a nice Maya taco lunch and little children performed a couple of dances. 

The entrance to one of the caverns. 

Back on board, the performer for the night missed getting to the boat so we had trivia before our first sit down dinner. Table for 11 with 6 people (by the last night it was only me and mom at our table for 11). All the staff are international and I loved reading their name tags which stated their home country. They danced and we got to join in as well. The food was amazing and you could get as much as you wanted!

Cozumel day! We ate at the breakfast buffet, then walked the deck before heading to shore for our snorkel trip. Getting off the boat was always funny. Staff were dressed up for pictures. We didn't buy any but posed for our own. 

Ah the Mexico I love-clear, blue waters; white sands and great temperatures. 

We had some time before our boat left so we did some cheesy tourist stuff. 

On our snorkel boat. We had three stops and they were all right by the shore and cruise boats. We saw lots of fish, rays two times and a barracuda were highlights. I tried to be the first off and last on each time. We were served soda during the couple of minutes between spots. There was also a sun deck on top.

There is never enough time in the water! Back on the shore we chilled on the small beach before heading back to our prison, I mean cruise ship :)

Mom and I went and heard some live calypso music before dinner. It was Valentine's day so we got two desserts. We took tons of pictures of our food because it was pretty and the majority of our trip was eating, so if anyone wants the food pic tour, I can show you. 

Entertainment for last day at sea was eating and towel folding! We also did tea again, more reading in our nook and walking. It was super windy. I had wanted to go down the water slide. It was closed while it was warm and we were in Mexico and I didn't feel like putting on a swimsuit on this cloudy windy day.

Before bingo was line dancing-I participated in the dancing not the bingo! We went to a piano bar with an amazing player. 

Our waiters on the last night of dinner. Then we went to the 80s musical dancing show. It was good. I stayed up to see the break dancers. The next morning we packed up, ate breakfast and then hung around with a ton of people waiting to get off the boat.
One should never complain about a fabulous trip where one doesn't have to cook or clean or even drive or plan fun activities, but we think we all checked Carnival cruise off our life list. There were fun moments but next time I would rather spend more time in Mexico snorkeling and less time getting there and back with thousands of other 'interesting' people.