It's Tribe time!!

There are a few advantages to living a short drive away from one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. While I would never want to live in Houston, it's an alright place to visit from time to time. If you can get around the traffic, the crowds, the heat and humidity, and the occasional mass-casualty flood, there are some fun things to do. I've been keeping my eye out for a chance to go see an Astros game, but I'm not going to pay that much money to watch them play just anybody. So when the reigning American League Champion Cleveland Indians came to town a couple of weeks ago, we got our chance. We took the three hour drive up and caught a game at Minute Maid park. I never actually saw them serving orange juice anywhere, but it was a very nice park, especially since it has a roof and air conditioning. We may have been sitting in the nose bleeds, but we got there early enough to catch the Indians batting practice and Nolan even got an official major league baseball hit by one of the Indians!

I couldn't see who it was hitting at the time, but he lined one to left field where we were standing by the wall. When I held Nolan up to show the staff his Indians' shirt, they threw him the ball. Can't beat that.

The shirt says it all... Go Indians!! They beat the Astros 3 to 0... so all this support worked out!

The view from the top...

Twelve years and counting... what better way to celebrate our anniversary!

And before we went to the game we thought we'd pick up some water from what must be the greatest grocery store in Houston. We should have gotten a discount for being family though, maybe we'll ask next time.

That time of year again...

Spring is here. Easter came back the same way it does every year, and following our tradition of the past three years, we went back to the Fulton Mansion for an Easter egg hunt and a chance for the boys to become their best-dressed selves. This year they were surprisingly easy-going about getting their pictures taken, so it went well. We ended up with too many to choose from, but here are a few (a lot) of the good ones.

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.