" You can all go to hell; I will go to Texas"
David Crockett
East Texas has so much to offer in the way of outdoor activities; fishing, hiking, antiquing, hunting, bug and turtle collecting (I'm not sure that last one is an actual activity, but our boys seem to find them everywhere). Our home is a block away from a large lake with private docks to fish from. The boys begged to go fishing as soon as we arrived. We went fishing many times this last summer and look forward to the weather warming up so we can start again. We have made it a point to go on a walk to the lake at least once a week. I have loved watching the season change the trees. Winter is giving way to spring now and the bare branches of the trees are covered with buds and flowers. The dog wood trees will be blooming soon as well as the Texas blue bonnets. Already, the grass is green again, the days a bit warmer.
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| Frogs, lots and lots of frogs!! The boys have spent hours in the backyard making what they call "frog habitats". |
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| This is Mo and Lucy. Mo and Lucy decided that the shiny hook on the end of the fishing line looked tasty. Jackson did his best to remove the hooks while at the lake, but the little turtles just weren't helping. So Mo and Lucy were brought home for minor surgery. It took quite a while with a team of "experts" helping out. One boy holding a flashlight pointed into the tiny mouth of a turtle, one boy running to get necessary tools and one more to watch the other turtle. I was in charge of keeping the mouth of the patient open, let me tell you, not easy! Jackson was finally able to extract both hooks. We put Mo and Lucy in turtle post-op (a big box with some food and water) and left for our weekly Cub Scout meeting. They must have been very busy while we were away. When we returned neither turtle was in the box. I can only imagine how they made their escape. We found Mo under the kitchen table and Lucy in the library area of the dining room. The next day we brought them back to their home where I'm sure they had a good story to tell their turtle friends. |
Good bye Mo and Lucy
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| Pioneer Days in Nacogdoches. |
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We love our turtles!
And, big leaves. |
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| The dock where we do most of our fishing from. |
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| Jumping, hiking and running in the leaves of fall! |
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| Spring Roll |
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| At the Sugar Cane Festival. Ya, they have an entire weekend dedicated to the art of making cane syrup molasses, including all the fair food, rides and everything cane syrup related. |
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| Jimmy's first fish. |
