Easter, Celebrations, Outside

It was a pretty quiet Easter for us, but the kids had a four-day weekend, so it was nice and slow.

It seemed appropriate to make this our first in-person appearance at church. We hadn't been in-person in a year, and it felt so good to be back! We sort of decided last minute to go, so we didn't have special outfits picked out, and we had to refresh ourselves on how to get dressed up, since that hasn't happened in a while either. Good to know that we could still squeeze into some of our church clothes.

After church, we had a traditional Easter lunch and several egg hunts, both indoors and out. Owen tried to be the trickiest hider this year by burying a couple of the eggs under piles of leaves. He almost didn't remember where he'd hidden them!

Extended family gathered at the ranch the following weekend to celebrate Grandad's 80th birthday and he and Granna's 56th wedding anniversary. The weather was amazing, and we enjoyed a family pot luck BBQ and some friendly, family Can Jam (frisbee game they got for Easter) competition with front porch spectators. I wish I'd gotten some pictures of that, but one of the birthday boy will have to do.

Once again, on a beautiful weekend day, we had to get outside. We tried out the kids' new kite at a local park, and I finally convinced them that they didn't have to run to get the kite up in the air.

At another park, we brought books, snacks, and a picnic blanket to soak up the awesomeness of being outside. Then we played some frisbee tag. Owen and I continued playing frisbee, and Hadley took her book over to the swings. I love that they love to read so much! 

Lastly, I have to document this amazing feat of medicine during this crazy pandemic. The volunteerism and dedication of those involved in distribution of the vaccines is truly heart-warming. May we all see the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel...

Brazos Bend

I try to get us outside and appreciating the weather as much as possible before it turns into a humid swamp for most of the year. Speaking of swamps, I've been meaning to make it to Brazos Bend SP since we moved here, so this year I made it happen. It's only about an hour from our house and you're nearly guaranteed to see some alligators in their natural habitat.

It was an overcast day, and we got sprinkled on just a little bit, but it was also much cooler than we anticipated. Perfect for walking around and taking in the scenery, like lots of Spanish moss, cypress trees, and boggy ecosystems.

We saw lots of nutria, turtles, ducks, and songbirds, but the main attraction was the alligators! This big guy was right off the path! We heard another group refer to him as "Jeff", which we thought was funny. It seemed Jeff couldn't care less about the crowds walking by or stopping to take his picture. Amazingly, the park ranger told us that they've never had an alligator-human incident at the park! Surprising, as I recalled the annual reports of human-bison and human-bear incidents we used to hear about from Yellowstone-Grand Teton.

We had fun on our walk trying to spot alligators. Some were fully submerged, some were blending in, some, like Jeff, didn't even try. See if you can spot the baby alligator in the second picture. We managed to get there just in time for a ranger talk about alligators, which was very informative. Did you know that a mom alligator lays 30-40 eggs at a time, and only 1-2 of those will make it to adulthood? Baby alligators get eaten by birds, turtles, and even other alligators.

This observation tower was pretty neat, although we could feel it swaying in the breeze at the top! From it, we could see wetlands stretching for miles, an alligator swimming across a pond in the distance, and a stork eating a large black snake nearby!

April in Texas is prime Bluebonnet time. They are hard to come by in the city, but we found a patch on the way home. So pretty!

Spring weather also means patio meals! I can't tell you how delicious a margarita with chips and salsa is when served to you outside in perfect weather! It's been so long since we had Mexican food AT the restaurant. Yum!

And in other news, Owen is getting ready for middle school! Can't believe it! Looks like he'll be learning to play the cello (yes, I know this is a bass, but I didn't get a pic of him with the cello) next year. :)