Everyone Goes There...

I took an extra day off for Easter weekend and we kicked around a few ideas on what to do with the time. We figured since it's still April and the humidity hasn't shown its ugly face yet that we'd try to get in another night of camping before it became unbearable. I've had a few places on my list of things to see in Texas for a while and one of them was Garner State Park. It sits about an hour west of San Antonio and is apparently the most overnighted park in Texas. Everyone goes there. When we pulled up to the gate to check in, we quickly realized that was true. I pulled a number at the check-in center and found out there were forty people ahead of me in line waiting to get a campsite. Even though I'd already reserved one online... we had to wait. And wait. And wait. But once we got inside, it was worth it. There aren't a lot places - at least in South Texas - where you can see actual rocky cliffs and "mountains," so it was a refreshing sight for those of us who grew up in the Rockies. We reached the summit of Old Baldy (a towering 1,849 feet above sea level), with even the youngest Sellers boy taking the challenge in stride. It was definitely not a paved hiking trail and was surprisingly treacherous at times, with loose rocks and steep sections attempting to send you rolling backward down the trail, but we all handled it. The cliff dropped the full 1,800 feet to the Frio River below, so it wasn't something we allowed the boys to get too close to. The hike itself was hot, even in the cooler weather, but the breeze at the top was an incredible relief. Looking out over the beauty of the Hill Country you could find the truth in that old country song... God did bless Texas...

Raising Old Glory on Old Baldy!

Victory on the mountain!

Paul even found a fossilized sea shell at the top... pretty awesome.

Spring = Cousins Visiting

The past couple of years, cousin Brooke from Montana has come to visit us down here in Texas in the spring. This year, Sophia came along for the ride too. The weather was fantastic for trips to the beach, baseball games, and the Windfest carnival. Of course, they also had to hit up the aquarium and eat some seafood down on the bay front in Corpus Christi. Hopefully they had as much fun as the boys did, and I'm sure we'll be seeing them again this coming summer in Montana!

Adam in 7th Heaven...

Seven years ago we were still in the merry land of Maryland just enjoying spring on the east coast, when this over-sized bundle of laughter arrived on our doorstep. He's grown by leaps and bounds since then, losing all his baby fat and stretching up tall. He loves baseball, video games, and trying to beat the speed record on his bike. Now he's already about to finish up first grade and he continuously surprises us with how quickly he picks things up. One of the best things about this blog is the ability to look back and watch all these kids change from photo to photo, post to post, and year to year. So here's the new edition of Adam Michael... now in year seven.

That's the face of pure cake-induced happiness! Happy Birthday to this kid!

Riding into the Sunset

The City of Corpus Christi built a pretty nice bike path along the Joe Fulton Corridor (the shipping channel) to allow for long distance bikers to get off the road that is frequented by heavy trucks. They did a really nice job, but apparently put it a little close to the water, because it's been shut down for a while now due to the parallel cliff being eroded by the Nueces Bay and threatening to swallow the path. It's a great place to take the kids and dogs since there really aren't many others that go there, except for a few fishermen. We couldn't take the path very far due to the potential collapse, but we went far enough to let the big dog get into the water for a minute and the boys to Evel Knievel down the hill on their bikes. The spring weather has been fantastic for evenings down by the water, so we're taking advantage of it.

Ride on...

Pitchers and Catchers Reporting

Spring training may be going on for the big leagues right now, but down here in Pony League the season has already begun! Adam and Nolan are back at it, with Adam taking on coach pitch for the second time and Nolan returning for Peewee T-Ball. Adam had his first game last night and went 1 for 2 with 2 RBIs (definitely not a bad start). He played left center for a couple of innings and then moved up to the hot corner on third base. Nolan will take the field with the Giants later this week and I'm sure it will be an enthralling T-ball contest for the 3 and 4 year-olds. As for us spectators, we're just enjoying the spring weather!