Dinosaur Valley State Park

In an attempt to take advantage of this marvelous weather here in Texas...and to squeeze some good times in before the baby arrives, we took a little adventure last weekend down to Dinosaur Valley State Park - about two hours drive from us.  And it was fabulous (with the exception of CrazyO crying/whining the entire drive down)! There are fossilized dino footprints in the river rock, and great hiking trails. We hiked about 4miles - at least half of it going up - and were sooooo proud of little Snackie, he never complained once about being tired, and never begged to be carried! We guess now that he's four he really IS a big boy! A very pregnant me actually only complained...once...I think. About climbing some crazy steep steps...whooo these legs don't like carrying this extra weight (and there seems to be a lot more of it this time)!

We saw some neat views (being from the East we're always searching for Hill Country here in Texas), swung from some vines (like Diego), Forded some rivers, encountered tons of super crazy huge spiders (about half dollar size) who I believe catch and eat birds rather than insects!! ;)  And then encountered THE BIGGEST SPIDER we've ever seen (forget the dinosaurs guys, this was unbelievable). At least the size of Snackies hand, this thing was terrifyingly huge - and in no way cuddly looking like a Tarantula, and if it were on your person you could die instantly at the sight of it (or at least I could)!  Brycie made some "oh so funny" jokes about mama rolling down the mountain, "what goes bum-belly-bum-belly-bum-belly...splat?" Yes...that should be an indicator to all of you of just HOW DARN FAT I currently am.  And ate, on the way home, at a fabulous new discovery for us - Spring Creek Barbeque. We don't crave meat too often, but when Bryce wants meat, he wants good smoked meat, and he's still talking about this place! I liked the all you can eat sides and endless supply of hot fresh rolls...otherwise known as "extra-large thighs and tooshie!" Check out the slideshow to see all of us monkeys, to see the scary spider, and of course - to get an idea of how big my bum really is.