Rachel Held Evans

Loved seeing / hearing Rachel Held Evans speak about "Millennials and the Church."  Of course, I would love to hear her speak about anything.  She is so kind and loving and full of wisdom and grace.  We need more like her!!

Here's a picture of me with Rachel at a book signing after her talk:

We would totally be best friends if we lived in the same town.  ;-)

Scorpion

When mopping the other day I noticed a spot on the tile that was shaped somewhat like a scorpion.  Turns out, it WAS a scorpion!  Our first scorpion sighting here.  We caught it and observed it for a day.  We even tried to feed it.  Dawson looked up what they liked to eat and then promptly went outside turning over rocks and such to look for small insects.  We found a tiny roach and the boys hoped to see the the scorpion sting it, grasp it in it pincers, and devour it, but the scorpion didn't follow their script.  We did get to see quiet a show though as the scorpion pranced around with it's tail up and pincers raised as the roach scurried about.  And the next day we took the scorpion and roach to a secluded spot in the woods and released them.

Camping at Rusk

For our spring break camping trip, we took another RV trip, spending 2 nights at the Rusk Train Depot Campground, and 2 nights at Tyler State Park.  We had some unfortunate weather (rain, wind, freezing temperatures), but we still had a good time.  It's always great to spend time together as a family.  We enjoyed, and were very thankful for, our nice warm, dry RV, as we played games, read books, drew and colored, and had movie nights.  We also loved exploring the great outdoors at both spots. We rode a train, did lots of hiking, explored train tracks, creeks, and lakes, rode bikes, played at playgrounds, and just generally enjoyed the beautiful places we were.

In route to Rusk, we stopped at Mission Tejas State Park.  It's small but incredible!  The kids played at the playground, enjoyed a game of tag with some other kids there, we went on a short hike around the pond, and had a picnic before heading to Rusk.

Here are a few pictures from our brief visit to Mission Tejas:

And here are some pictures of our time at the Rusk campground:

Texas State Railroad

The highlight of our stay at the Rusk campground was the train ride!

Tyler State Park

For the second part of our spring break camping trip, we headed to Tyler State Park.  Again, we had some unfortunate weather (super cold and super windy on our first day there), but we were still able to explore much of the park.  It's on our list of favorites and we look forward to visiting again during a warmer period.

How we spent a good portion of our first day there - staying warm and playing inside the RV.

Bundled up and ready to go explore.

My cuties!

Brady loves trails!!!  He often likes to run the trails, which is what he was doing when I snapped this picture.

Swinging from branches - always good fun.

King of the world!

Dawson likes to take the time to explore all the cool looking areas off the trails.

Garner guys hiking along merrily.

There was a neat playground at Tyler SP and the boys had a good time playing there.

Hahaha.  I posted this picture because of that adorable expression.

Dawson's method of playing at playgrounds frequently involves climbing all over the top of the structure.

Mmm, refreshing water.  And oh so cute boy!

:-)

It was warmer on our 2nd day so we hiked all the way around the lake.  It was so beautiful.

Awe, Dawson!  I love this kid.

Returning from an exploration off the trail, down in this neat gully area.

The trail around the lake had little docks that jetted onto the lake where you could sit and enjoy the view.

Dawson kindly took this picture of Randy and me.

Watching the minnows.

No idea what this pose is supposed to be, but it sure is funny!

It's always neat to walk across a fallen tree.

And jump through vines!

At the beaver dam on the other side of the lake.

We didn't see any beavers, but we did see this cute little turtle - and a not-so-cute water snake.

Awe!

So sweet!

Brady hanging out at another of the docks along the trail.

Nice resting spot.

One, two, three, jump!

One of my favorites!  The boys are cute as ever and it's a nice view of the lake and swimming area.

Another silly Brady pose.