Tonya In Texas: Recently Around Here...

There's been a lot going on. So much, that there has been no time really to update the blog. But I thought I'd do a quick pop in and give at least a hint of what we've been up to. For starters...we've been doing football. Well, rather, Ben has been doing football and I've been his wonderful, faithful mom showing up at NEARLY all of his games. I can't make every single one, but try to catch every one that I can possibly be at. Which are mostly the ones closest to home. Like here in 'Colleyville. Which is roughly half of them! But the point is...I was there last week! See?!

This is happy Ben, because the Wolves won! Again! Now they are District Champs!

And this is sweaty Ben, because it's still hot as Hades here in Texas and Fall does not seem to be cutting us too much slack in the cooler temperatures department. Now there's a surprise!

Sigh. This is goofy Ben. Because this particular face seems to be one of his favorites when he spots me with my camera!

When we are not on the football field, we have been trying to squeeze in a little quality family time. Last weekend we had a little getaway to Caddo Lake State Park. Someone told my hubby that it's a "photographer's dream" and being as how he loves me so much and knows how much I love my camera, he thought it would be a treat for us to go there. Caddo Lake is also the ONLY natural lake in the entire state of Texas. All the other ones are man made. (This geography lesson brought to you by Yours Truly, Texas!). So we rented ourselves a little cabin (since our own little Paradise on Wheels is still sitting back in California a bit broken) and loaded up the family and headed East. It was a lovely weekend. The cabin was precious.

This was the dining room, living room area....double fireplace! Score!!! Of course...since it was 85 degrees one could hardly really appreciate that little feature...but still. I imagine it's delightful in the winter!

View from the living area.

One of the two identical bedrooms. More fireplace!

Our little teeny kitchen with a mini fridge and two burner stove!

Sunset from our back porch!

We spent the whole day Saturday out on the lake. We rented canoes in the morning and paddled our way down the lake. And paddled. And paddled. And paddled. I was ready to beat Chris and my own little canoe mate by the time we arrived at our destination. Which happened to be a mostly dried up canal that might have been 2 feet deep at it's deepest point. Disappointment was all around. Not only was the fishing lousy, but then we had to paddle ALL THAT WAY back home again. Holy Moly were my shoulders screaming! It was not an understatement to say that I was deliriously tired by the time we pulled it back into our home dock. Whew! Definitely checked workout off the list for that day! So much for a relaxing weekend! Despite the long paddle...we had some fun out on the lake. See...

Caddo Lake. Does this look like Alligator Heaven, or what? Insert panic over being in small canoe on water here.

Are we there yet?

Ben + camera = This Face

See what I mean?

He really is a LOVELY child. You'd never know it by these pictures. But I promise you...he's a sweetheart!

And the Princess leads the charge paddling, keeping these other two in line!

While the weather was warm, the lake low, the fishing lousy and the lake not EXACTLY what I would call a photographer's dream, we still had a good time. AND we didn't see any alligators and that is a major plus in my book!!!

Once we got back to town, I had a day at the Arboretum with a friend of mine who I was teaching how to use her camera. It was beautiful out there. As usual. The big pumpkin display is in place and Octoberfest was in the air! The butterflies were PLENTIFUL and probably my favorite part of the day!

A few snaps of the day...