spring break phot-o-rama 2012

we're off on our spring break adventure to

palo dura canyon!!!!!

as usual we arrived super late but when we woke up for our first full day we where greeted with the canyon and a beautiful camp site...

our first full day was SUPER warm!!!!!



but there was a breeze and we decided to "scope out" the park by truck first

our first stop was....

built by the c.c.c. in the 30s

then we moseyed over to the TEXAS theater - where every summer the musical "Texas" is put on

quannah parker...

and shame on you if you don't know him



daddy acting like the guy who wrote "Texas"

j.man being his cute self!!!

because the musical doesn't begin until june - the boys had to give us their rendition - y'all may want to wait for the original

next stop - the "goodnight dug out"

as in charles goodnight - it's a home/hut built into a mud bank

you can walk on the roof - pretty cool

then we found this opening/cave and "hiked" over and up into it

this is myself and g.money on top of the cave waving down at daddy and j.man -

hi down there all you ants

it was a good first day!

our second day - daddy wakes up and says

"i hear turkeys!"

and lo and behold.....

the plan for the day was to do some hiking -

we chose to go see the "lighthouse" and "castle" formations

yep - you read that right - 6 miles - up/down/around a canyon

this is us before we left the parking lot

this is us a mile into the hike!!!!!

but we rallied - and off we went

the canyon is amazingly beautiful!!!



still hiking.....



getting closer.....

isn't he cute!?

well - that's one way to do it

yeah!!! the "lighthouse"

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO KEEP CLIMBING!?!?!?

but so worth it...

g.money and daddy climbing on top - yes - on top of the castle peak

WAY WAY WAY up there!!!!!

look! he made it!!!!!

now - look closely - so you see that tiny trail WAAAAAYYYY down there?

we have to take that

back to the car

and away we go

i can take this mountain!!!

happy trails...

now don't think that we were through - nope -

that night we went on the "sunset hike"

an informative hike about flora and fauna of the canyon ending with a spectacular sunset

our interpreter guide....

the sun going down over the canyon...

and right as the sun was setting we saw a family of these guys eating dinner....

then - the sun went down

and we went back to the camper to celebrate 2  hikes well done!!!

day 3

st. patrick's day!!!!

and the cavalry!

some bike riding....

playing...

and digging a time capsule....

on our last day

we took the boys up to the ranger station where they turned in their junior ranger books and received junior ranger badges

all that camping is hungry work - so we left palo dura and went into amarillo for lunch before heading home...

then we said good-bye to amarillo

and booked it home!!!

fun stuff found - reboot

little granny and f.a.j.

g.girl

me!!

mema - now 102!!

me and uncle j - so sweet

mema and grandmother smith

me - a big mess!

once again - me - a big mess!

papa

nana

papa - during his stint in the army

going green

g.girl is 14 !!!!

tonight we celebrated my sweet baby girl turning 14

with peanut butter flavored ice cream

she is such a sweet sweet girl



in honor of

birthday this week,

we dressed "wacky" for 

it's been a long long time and i've missed it!!!!

we went camping!!!

obviously - as it rained all day saturday and it doesn't rain unless we are camping

- again -

we apologize for the drought this summer

it was just too hot to go camping and we spoiled it for the whole state of texas!

anywho

the boys have been asking to go back to dino valley

this was the very first camping trip we made 4 years ago when we bought the camper

g.money was 7 - j.man was 5

bare with me and i'll get to the before and after pics:-)

as usual - we didn't arrive until dark

we managed to get the camper set up before the rain began -

the Lord had us in the perfect place and we were able to sit under our awning while the rain came down

so saturday monrnig looked like this

which is still good for us 

we listened to the rain on the camper and cuddled in

for the perfect nap

we played board games

and watched a movie together

then we made our dinner - which consisted of

butterflied porkchops stuffed with cheese, cilantro and jalapenos

stuffing.....

grilling....

ready to eat!!!!

sunday we headed out to check out the dino tracks

but with all the rain - and apparently - some flood in 09 -?-

this is what we saw...

but the day was perfect for camping

we were able to get some photos of tracks that were taken from the site and put near the ranger station

this is the 2012 pic...

this is the 2008 pic...

trails in 2012...

trails in 2008....

monkeying around 2012...



monkeying around 2008...

good stuff - right!!??