Day 4: Austin & DFW

Originally we were going to see the State Capitol and the Bob Bullock Museum, but I couldn't help thinking I just wanted to BE with Sheila and Timothy wanted to BE with Zoe and Ben. So back to the swimming pool we went!

You may be asking, why does Timothy have a life jacket on? Well, for one he doesn't swim yet. But the big reason is last year, at this very pool, we had a very scary incident occur, and I decided that until I'm extremely confident about his swimming or he's taking lessons, he's going to wear one when swimming! Ben is so cute...

The good news was that neither of my kids fought me on it. I couldn't believe it! Sam does not like people or things to be near her at all. Just try it-you'll see. But as soon as she saw this (which totally covers up her adorable bathing suit, by the way), she was clamoring to get in it screaming, "I want to go SWIMMING!"

The time came to say good-bye to Zoe and Ben, and Timothy didn't like it. Thankfully, he now recognizes having to say good-bye instead of screaming no through it (that always caused awkward moments!) I think this trip taught Timothy about how much fun it is to see friends and how sad it is to say good-bye. If there's anything I've learned, though, and hope to teach him, it's that the sadness of the good-bye can't make us miss out on the joys. We have to experience life, even when it hurts. It will serve him well because he's turning out to be this crazy people person (who did he get THAT from?)

We headed up towards Ft. Worth to meet Dan's aunt and uncle who are delightful and in the spirit of our "detour traveling" we decided to go the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glenrose, TX on the way. I grew up going to the Glen Rose Baptist Encampment so I had been to see the dino tracks years before. There are a couple of different spots to see tracks, but the easiest was this fairly wide river who's water level was pretty low. Here we are starting to cross:

This is looking down the length of the river. You can see where the river bends to the right.

Here is Timothy pointing out a couple of the dinosaur tracks.

On the way back both kids were feeling comfortable to climb "by myself". And as you can see it was pretty tame. The only times we really had to hold the kids tight were a few submerged rocks that were quite slick. About 2 feet before we made it back to the bank, Timothy slipped and got muddy/wet from his waist down. He wasn't hurt, but totally disgusted.

And the best thing was the water! Both here and at Josh and Sheila's pool! I think Sheila thought I was crazy because I asked, since we were going swimming around 6pm, if their community's pool was heated. "Um, no, it's 100 degrees here." And sure enough the pool water and river water were nice and cozy. What a different feeling than in San Diego! We consider a hot day 80 degrees, so our water (pool and especially ocean) stay FREEZING. I don't even know how the kids stand it sometimes. But in Texas, even I enjoyed it!

I loved all these "earthy" things we were doing. It was great to really enjoy God's creation. We ended up having a lovely dinner with Uncle James and Aunt Dana. Timothy was pumping himself up to see his grandparents, and in the midst of enjoying James' company called him "Grandpa". We all loved it!

End note: Do not ask me how, but I did not get pics of Sheila and me together or of Dan's aunt and uncle. I'm a bit heartbroken about it.