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.

Long overdue Ladies night pics!

Can you believe this is from way back in March? I'd say we're overdue for some more crazy times ladies!

Twilight...at midnight

Staying up way past bedtime...

Waiting an hour in line and another in the theater...

Straining my neck from the 3rd row...

Listening to girls squeal and guys guffaw...

Getting home at 3am and heading off to work 5 hours later...

...and was it all worth it?

Uhmm...yeah!

I can't deny I went into this thinking I would hate it. I had visions of a super cheesy teenage love story drama unfolding before my eyes...yet again (yes I loved...and hated the books). And it's true...that's exactly what the movie was...but there was something more to it that really appealed to me. I had serious doubts when I heard they were making this movie. I thought it was done too quickly, which would mean cutting corners on quality etc. I also worried that the characters would not meet my expectations and that they would alter key aspects of the books. So I walked into the theater prepared for the worst, and I believe that is why I walked out of it with two thumbs up (or at least one and a half). In our group there were a lot of mixed reactions, a few people were disappointed that it wasn't truer to the book, others thought is was way too cheesy etc. etc. But we determined that our varied reactions all depended on our initial expectations...and who we were sitting next to! (A little advice...don't see this with your husband if he's a "tough guy" or with a friend who's never read the books and already knows she will hate the movie).

I really loved the way the movie was filmed, loved the lighting and the pace, and I was absolutely drawn in by the music and the scenery of the Pacific Northwest (it helps that I lived there for a year and a half, so it brought back fond memories). I quickly adjusted to the characters and found that the adaptation from book to movie was done better than I expected. Of course...it was still super cheesy! And yes I had some guffaws of my own, and a little bit of disappointment, but all in all I think I'll add this one to my A list.

So....what did you think?

Pumpkin patch kids

Snackie & Baby O chat about life and pumpkin patches, and the weather (yes it's still dang hot here in Texas!)

I had be pretty quick with the camera to catch these two in such sweet poses...pumpkin patches are just too much fun to be slowed down by taking pictures!

Snack & his buddies had a blast together bouncing and running and wrestling and laughing.

(we only had one kid fall off the 4 foot high hay bales...I'd say that's not too shabby!)

Mama had some fun too, it's always nice to get out and about with the kids (and the moms!). Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to work on my back flips this year...sorry to disappoint you all.