Garner State Park - Part II

We took a lot of photos during our overnight stay at Garner State Park, so it warrants a second post. The second day we took a short, steep hike up one of the other mountains to check out Crystal Cave and the view from the top. It was warm, but not as bad as it will be during the summer months. When we got back down, we checked out the Frio River and rented a paddle boat to cruise around for a while. The water was clear, but judging by the boys' chattering teeth, it was a little cold. Adam and Paul braved one of the rope swings while Nolan and I watched on from the safety of the boat. Adam's first attempt ended with more of a belly-flop face first in the water, but he recovered and gave it another more graceful attempt. Even Nolan decided he'd jump in from the boat, which he quickly regretted, going full panic mode as he clung to the side. But in the end it was all good and they had a fantastic time.

The view from the top...

Uh, I'm not brave enough to go down in there, but if you guys want to... go right ahead. And so they did.

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!