Holiday Happenings at Lake Brownwood

For the past three years, Zach. Meg and the boys have gone to Abilene State Park on the second weekend of December for Fa-La-La in the Forest. Campers are encouraged to decorate their camp spot and trailer for Christmas, Santa comes, hot cocoa and cookies are served. It is a sweet very family oriented weekend. We have gone out each year for supper and family time but this year we had planned to join them this year with our little Holly. However, the boys had a choir concert and piano recital the same weekend, so going to Abilene State Park was out. We did some research as a lot of the State parks in Texas do something during the month of December. Zach, Meg and the boys decided to go to Lake Brownwood the weekend before Christmas and invited us to join in on the fun! We all arrived on Friday, got our spots picked out, the kids were just so excited to be camping and just time to play and be outside! The camp was very quiet, we were surprised at how few people were there! We went into Brownwood Friday evening, for a burger and then back to camp to bed. The next day we had lots of fun watching the boys "decorate" the space between our two trailers. They have lots of woodland "blow-ups" so they were quite excited to get them out and light strung. It was cute and they were so cute about it! The Parks had a decorating contest, so of course they were sure hoping to win. They didn't but it didn't make the weekend any less fun! We enjoyed eating, playing games, watching the boys play, explore and cooking out. It was so nice to rest and relax during this busy holiday season! We would really love to return to Abilene State Parks next year, but we will just have to see what the schedule looks like. Holly looked so cute all decorated up and of course we are pretty sure she was by far the cutest trailer there!

Our three boys and silly photo bomber, Bud.

Our time with Hudson at Stephen F. Austin

It was dark by the time David, Ashley and Emma left, so we decided to eat inside as its so dark at our campsite. We had fun eating and Hudson was so excited and cute, it was pretty obvious he was feeling quite proud to have Bud and Honey all to himself! 

Side note:
This little boy and his love for his "blankie". He wraps it around his body or drags it, and its just so stinking cute

After dinner, we got ready for bed and watched a Mickey Mouse movie and then begin to try to settle him to sleep. 

He was so excited and had a hard time staying on his sleeping bag. Lot of ups and downs out of our bed, but finally he went to sleep with us and then we moved him down to his pallet. Not the most restful night, he climbed in with us about 5:30 and slept for another 30 minutes before being he was ready to roll out and play!

We dressed and had breakfast outside, which he loved! 

He talked and talked about everything he saw or heard.  He loves being outside and loves nature so we were very thankful the rain had let up for our day with him! So much fun. He loved the swing ground too! 

We took lots of hikes, a lot, which of course loved! He is a typical little boy, he loves to pick up rocks, sticks...you know...treasures all along the way.

He was so much fun, whether we played with bubbles, playdo or just hiking around, he is such a joy!!!
Larry let him “drive” his truck…oh my, he thought he was so big!
He is all boy...he loves to pull, push and turn every knob on a vehicle.


Late in the afternoon, we headed to Katy and spent the next few hours playing with the kids, visiting with Ashley, doing laundry and taking baths. David came in and Ashley had fixed us a great Pasta dish and we enjoyed eating in their dining room! Nice treat for us. We don’t sit down and eat at their house much, we are always on the go or eating out. So very fun, Ashley was so excited to have us "over" for supper, something we've never gotten to do in that way! Then we headed out, hard to leave as I was not through spending time with my girl but it was dark and we needed to get back to camp. We spent some time cleaning up the trailer, packing stuff away that we had brought just for kids play, etc. Then to bed, but once again, our hearts are so full of good times spent with these two and a treat to get to see David and Ashley too! A fun second stop on our Texas Tour!

Our time with Emma Grace at Stephen F. Austin State Park

Saturday, Nov. 7th and Sunday, Nov. 8^th 

Stephen F. Austin Park

Ashley and David found a sweet little breakfast place called Mamie's to meet at and we scheduled to meet at 9:30. We arrived before them and were waiting on the porch for them when they drove up. To say the kids were exited is an understatement! They were shocked, couldn't figure out how we just "appeared" there and super excited. We had a great breakfast (the kids were loved the Mickey Mouse pancakes), then we loaded up Emma 

 













 and headed back to camp. Emma was so excited she was giddy! 
We might have been pretty giddy ourselves!

It was rainy for the next several hours but we played games, colored,  played with play-dough, etc inside, while Bud took a nap! 
 















 










 




Emma loves to do any type of artwork, so she was quite content to sit at our little table and color, etc. while it rained outside. Oh, and we might have been eating a few snacks too!
 Once the rain stopped we went outside and enjoyed taking a hike. This girl thought the hike was through a forest and so her creativity took over and she made it quite the adventure for us all!

 










 She pointed out lots of places where the forest animals lived along with a tree that looked just like Cinderella. 
 







 



 








After a long hike, sometimes a little girl just needs her Bud to carry her and thankfully she has a Bud that can! We are so thankful for these days to enjoy our grands!



We played in the dirt and played with bubbles, before calling it a day and eating supper inside as it was raining again. Emma was so excited to be in the trailer,  so it was fun times! She went to bed and to sleep so easy and slept great till about 6 AM. She crawled in bed with us for a bit, then we got up and dressed and made Sweet Potato Pancakes and sausage. Yum. 

We enjoyed sitting outside and eating and planning what to do next!

We had tons of fun playing at the “swing ground” as Emma referred to it as it only had swings. 

We had such a fun day of playing, hiking, swinging, playing with play-do, playing and laughing. I read her several Bible stories and she wanted to write a book about God. It was about 6 pages long, with drawings and precious precious words from Emma about God and the Holy Spirit. What a precious heart she has, and what a great understanding of the Holy Spirit for a 6 year old!

  David, Ashley and Hudson arrived around 4, Hudson was SO excited for his turn! They stayed and visited for a little while, then took Emma and headed home as it is a school night for her. The time as always went way to fast, but we are so thankful to have a little one on one time with these two. They are both growing up way too fast!!!
Next up...Our time with sweet Hudson!

A very special trip to Inks Lake...

Though we really hoped for cooler weather for this week...after all it is September, this weekend could not have been more perfect! This trip was to celebrate my sweet hubby! He turned 60 earlier in September and we really wanted to celebrate and honor him as a family.  Behind the scenes, the kids and I were busy making plans, working on some special projects, etc. to make this time extra special. Larry and I were blessed to get to slip out of town a few days early and just veg, scout out a perfect spot for us all (which we learned at Inks is quite an ordeal!) and get ready for the kids and grand kids to join us on Friday. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and found a really sweet spot to start our time, and had it just been us for the week, we would have stayed in that very spot but we needed more room for another trailer and tent, so once we spotted another place open up, we moved and held it till the kids arrived on Friday. The weather was really warm, well, HOT so we stayed in the camper more than we have ever done during the day. But in a way, it worked because it really gave my sweet, hard-working man time to nap and veg as much as he wanted! We took a few walks (early morning), Larry did a little kayaking and just a little bit of fishing. We cooked a big breakfast one morning and then did a chicken pot pie one night in our dutch oven. We both really like cooking with the dutch oven and we both love eating meals out of the dutch oven! 

We really "set up" camp this time more than we have so far. On our trip to Utah, we were too busy sightseeing and so this was the first time we used the awning the whole time and even hung some rope nights to enjoy in the evening! 

 I had a lot of fun playing around with our new camera and enjoyed taking pictures of my hubby!

 Love watching my man paddling around and do little fishing.

Zach, Meg and the boys arrived around 3 on Friday, so they set up quickly and we enjoyed visiting. They gave Larry their gifts, which he was shocked with a new handgun. Something he has been really wanting, but didn't expect! I have some pictures of this sweet time, but for some reason they will not load! Grr.

The little guys were so sweet about the gifts they picked out for him as well. 

Then we drove to Marble Falls and ate at an incredible Cajun Place that Z&M knew about and it was delicious. We stopped by Bluebonnet Cafe and picked up a Coconut Creme & a German Chocolate Creme Pie! Then we headed back to camp and David, Ashley and the kids arrived about 30 minutes later. It was VERY dark, so we helped them get set up, we had the tent set up but lots to get settled before bedtime. Then we had pie, visited and headed to bed. 

Saturday

We were all up early and the kids were anxious to fish and kayak. The site was so great, it was right on the water, so it was super convenient for the kids to play and us to watch! 
Zach and Meg cooked a delicious breakfast of sweet potato pancakes and sausage, so yummy! They are quite the cooking team and had things ready so quickly! We all ate and then while the boys were watching the kids, the girls snuck over (best we could), and put together the table for Larry's celebration. Meg and Ashley did a great job putting together things, Owen, Clay & Will had made banners, and Meg brought lots of fun Mason jars and she filled them with all of Larry's favorite snacks. Larry loves snacks...so it was perfect for him...and none of us complained about all the yummy junk food!!! Though we all contributed with pictures, etc. Ashley did a wonderful job of putting together a great scrapbook for Larry, celebrating his 60 years. Larry was so surprised and very touched by all the pictures and words from his family.
We spent the day playing around the water, rented two paddle boats and the kids had fun taking turns paddling. The kids loved floating around in the kayaks, it was overall such a relaxing day of playing. David and Ashley provided a yummy sandwich bar and so once again...we ate! 

We continued to play around camp, then all cleaned up and headed back into Marble Falls because we all decided we wanted Cajun food again! We ate, then headed back to camp for s'mores...which to Emma made our camp out official! It was such a sweet day of relaxing and celebrating Larry!
 
Sunday
Zach and Meg once again cooked a wonderful breakfast, breakfast burritos!
We again enjoyed a day of being together as a family and watching our sweet grand kids and kids playing together. Warms our heart. The boys were so good about  helping Emma and Hudson into the water and tied their kayaks together and gave Emma a chance to paddle but had someone right beside her to help out if she needed it. The area we were in was pretty shallow water, so that also made us feel better!
 

 

We enjoyed so much the slower pace of just hanging out and playing!
One of the sweetest moments, Will and Emma got in a kayak and probably for an hour they made a little trail through the water of break crumbs in attempts to entice the Canadian Geese and it worked! We all wish we had a video of the moment those geese decided to fly in and eat their buffet. A group of about 6 flew within inches of their boat, landed and enjoyed the kids feeding them. I wish I had a picture of their eyes as those BIG geese fly in, I thought they were going to land on top of them! Priceless. They were so excited their plan worked!
We begin the sad task of packing up camp, enjoyed sandwiches again and then it was time to say goodbye and head home.
Our trailer once again provided us with such a perfect little home away from home and we love it more and more each time we use it!! It was so fun to watch the grandkids take turns coming into the trailer and check it out. They all love it and as Owen said a million times this weekend, "Honey, this is the MOST perfect trailer EVER for you and Bud. Its just the right size!" 
We couldn't agree more!


This time together as a family was perfect! We all feel extremely blessed to have Larry in our life. I can't express how much I love this man. I feel so blessed by God when he gave me him. We have had so many good times and look forward to many more. Our family means the world to us, so to have this time to be together, to honor him and do something this family loves to do...be out in God's beautiful world! We are very thankful for our Dad, "Bud" and for me, my precious husband.