Enchanted Rock Family Adventure!

Well, peeps.

I spent yesterday prepping school supplies and digging out from under a mountain of laundry that piled up during our crazy days of kitchen chaos.

And then today...we hiked an actual mountain. 

;)

Or, more accurately, a 425-foot granite monolith and wilderness area that’s about a 90-minute drive from our casa.

We’ve been trying to make it to this State Park since last Fall, when we heard about it through one of the hubby’s co-workers. But reservations always seem to fill up well in advance, so we never snagged one last year, and decided to try again come Spring. But, we’ll...Covid world. So that didn’t happen, either.

Luckily, about a month ago, with the dream of fake Fall Texas approaching, I decided to try and finally secure a reservation, and was able to get an opening for today. Woohoo! Adventure planning at its finest. ;)

Of course, the weather didn’t help us out too terribly much, as it was still a 90-degree day.

But.

It was glorious to be outside, the wind near the summit was blessedly intense, and we made the round trip to the top and back down in about two hours.

And found a glorious snow-cone stand near the parking lot that was a fantastic reward. :)

A couple things to note before I set you free with pictures:

First—I adore, adore how hyped the kiddos get for any family adventure. They loaded up their adventure packs and brought the cutest gear along (hello, Yoshi) and it makes my heart happy to see it.

Second—even though Mama is scared of heights, my babies did a great job of holding my hand during the steepest bits and taking care of me on the hike. With the added bonus that I kept them from many, manny scraped knees (as it is, Little Man got two scraped hands).

Third—on the drive there, we had oodles of animal sightings. Cows, goats, sheep, horses, a llama, a deer, a raccoon, a porcupine (sadly, last those two had accidents by the road), and the most incredible bald eagle—yes, bald eagle—sighting that felt like slo-mo as it flew down low across the road, straight in our line of sight! Alas, the kiddos missed that one, but that’s exactly the moment I said no more iPads. Time to animal watch.

It’s such a happy thing to unplug sometimes. :)

In hindsight, I think God was working in our favor to give us the perfect family adventure today, at just the perfect time. 

When I booked the reservation more than a month ago, I had no clue the kiddos would be returning to in-person learning tomorrow, and this was just what we needed to keep the focus on family time, and not on that impending change.

Hoping for some showers, some veggie soup, and some early bedtimes to we can be bright eyed and bushy tailed come morning.

Hope you all have had a lovely October weekend!

More mañana.

Over and out.