And Saturday afternoon we went...

Swimming...

(Like you didn't have a clue what we were going to do :o)

Dacey checking me out...

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Dawn the Mermaid, lol
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Two goofballs...we always take a photo of us and we thought this was hilarious...One of many and I am NOt showing you any of the others, ekk!
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Trey is such a ham..
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Michael and Dacey, best buddies!
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Dacey, Dawn and Trey
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Us! The Gang!
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Dacey deep sea diving
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Michael in my face!
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I'm not sure but I think he was trying to do a somersault?
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And I think this Grin says it was a good day!!
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Dawn took Dacey and Michael to see the movie Mr Poppers Penguins early this afternoon and Trey & I stayed home playing games, reading books and taking a well deserved nap!

Saturday Morning...

This morning we were up bright and early to head to the Texas Zoo...Dawn and I both agree the best time to hit the Zoo is first thing in the morning before it gets too hot and even though we were there early it was still Hot!! It was busy too, seems they were having their Gator day! They took the big gators out and were bringing in smaller gators and celebrating it all day long! It started to get pretty crowded just before we left...

Michael and Trey!

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Michael found an inch worm and Trey and I were investigating it...
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Dacey, Trey and Michael
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They had several smaller gators for the kids to touch and check out!
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Dacey and Michael posing for me
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This giant fish was made out of different items, lids, Cd's, etc...it was pretty cool.

Posing in front of it were Dacey, Michael, Trey and Dawn.
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The kids digging for fossils
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Dawn with her children, so glad they came for a visit!
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Stay tuned as the adventure continues!

Fred's Tarantula...

Fred came out of the well house a few weeks ago...well actually he came flying out of the well house and yelled there's a darn tarantula in there...

I didn't get a photo of it but I told him it's NOT a Tarantula but a Rabid Wolf Spider and completely harmless...he said a few choice words and told me it may not be a Tarantula but it's related...well he does have a point there, they're both arachnids.

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When we went down to swim today I pulled out one of the lawn chairs and unfolded it for Michael and this is what we found! Should I tell Fred there is more than one in there? (evil snicker :o)
About 15 minutes from us there is a road that I always see Tarantula's on and I have the bug keeper in the truck...one of these days I'm going to capture one and put it in the well house just for Fred, ekk, I do love him but sometimes I think he asks for it! And yes he's seen Tarantula's before down near Laredo so he honestly knows what one looks like!

Front Porch Visitor...

I was on the front porch and glanced over at Michael's Zinnias and lo and behold there was a unique visitor...too cool!!

White-striped Longtail butterfly!


He stayed long enough to fuel up and for me to get a few photos and then moved on his way...love seeing unusual butterflies!
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Speaking of visitors we are so excited!! My adopted sister and her children are coming to stay with us for 5 days, yeah!! Michael is literally bouncing off the walls and I can hardly wait for them to get here later today!! WooHoo!! We live 5 hours apart and only get to see each other a few times a year but we always make the best of the time we get to spend together!! She is the one and only friend that pretty much loves the same things I do...Country living and being out in nature!! Hurry UP Dawn we are waiting!!

Why Hello Mr. Walking Stick...

Sunday morning, when Fred and I were headed back to the Ranch house on the tractor after feeding the round bale, I noticed something on a tree. I hollered at Fred to stop and he did, yeah! I went over and started pulling branches down and nabbed it and Fred sat there trying to figure out what I was after...he looked a bit nervous, lol...When I pulled the walking stick off the branch he was a bit perturbed with me, lol...I made him stop for a walking stick! I told him Michael would think it was cool and to stop his whining...at least it wasn't a snake or yet even worse a spider!

I think they are so cool...and this walking stick was NOT happy with me at all! He was doing a lot of squiggling but I managed to get it back to the Ranch house without damaging it!

and I was right, Michael thought it was pretty cool! Well that was until the walking stick latched onto his arm with his legs, ekk...They have little barbs to hang on to things and they do feel kind of strange! When we got done taking photos and examining it we turned it loose on a tree...bye bye Mr. Walking stick!

Guess what we did today?

Swam, Swam and Swam some more...it was HOT, HOT, HOT!

I was trying to relax but it's really hard when you have a 7 year old in the pool with you...

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Then he booted me off the raft and took it over!
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He thinks he's funny!!
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He's funny all right, too funny!
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Look at me Far-away Grammy I can float on my back!!

I also taught him to do somersaults today and stand on his hands in the water! I think before the end of summer I'm going to have a fish on my hands, he's picking things up quickly!
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Toothless and Relaxation!

Michael finally lost his other front tooth...He wanted doughnuts the other day but was upset because he couldn't eat them...His tooth was just hanging there and trying to eat was painful, poor guy! I told him pull that tooth out and you can eat your doughnuts pain free...and after about 20 minutes of whining he finally pulled it out, lol...Oh he was so happy and really enjoyed his doughnut after that...

He was hamming it up in the pool last night!

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And me? I was trying to relax, not easy when you have a 7 yr old swimming all around and on you!!

The rest of our Sunday morning...

I spotted Fred over on the tractor with dad...

I wasn't sure what they were up too?

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Sheesh he finally smiles for the camera, of course he's on a tractor!
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Fix'in to feed the cows a round bale...
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I went along for the ride and the thistles were still there and so were the butterflies...
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It's such a pretty view, of course it's in the San Antonio River Valley so everything is still green too!

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Then Fred yelled at me and I looked over and the Bull was attacking the round bale and Fred was amazed at the strength of the bull and how he was moving the round bale...

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I told Fred he's making sure the round bale is safe for the cows, lol...

He may be a nice bull but I'm still not going to mess with him!
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Guess the bull chased the boogie men out of the round bale, it's now safe for the cows :o)
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I couldn't believe how fat the little calf was, yikes!! Franky (Fred's brother) took the calf with the injured jaw and is feeding her grain. Seems she is doing well and able to eat the grain.

It was a beautiful morning and so glad we were able to spend it with Mom and Dad.

One of the reasons I love my camera...

to catch memories like this...

Grandma and Michael reading the paper together Sunday Morning.

Early morning nature walk...

Sunday morning we were up bright and early and headed over to Mom and Dads ranch to eat breakfast with them before they headed back to Houston. I didn't plan on taking photos but Michael ran off on the Kabota with Daddy, Grandma was talking on the phone and Grandpa was harassing Grandma while she was on the phone so I headed outside. I grabbed the camera to get photos of Mom's pink roses, which were blooming again and I just continued walking, lol...I guess I can't help myself...

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One of the most photographed flowers, sunflower!
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Ant Lion lair, Michael and I love feeding them ants!
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Early morning in the woods, I love it!!

The birds were singing their hearts out and it was beautiful.
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Young and Old Oaks!
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More Oaks, it sure is nice down by the river...
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Trumpet flower bloom...The flowers are up in the canopy but when the blossoms have reached their end they fall to earth...and no I wasn't climbing up into the canopy of Oaks and other trees for photos, lol.
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Love this root system, last time I took photos of this there was water in the dry creek bed, not now!
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Turkey feather
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Spanish moss
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That was it for my nature walk...I didn't walk far but enjoyed it.

I have more photos of our morning soon to follow!
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