Lake Houston Wilderness Park

I've decided that since we cannot go to the mountains anytime real soon, we will thoroughly explore our immediate area, and then branch out to southwest Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Maybe when the kids are a bit older and perhaps we have a car that can make it up and down mountains, we'll make that special trip. Today we made it out to Lake Houston Wilderness Park in New Caney.

 We immediately came upon this creek and I knew I made a mistake by not bringing swimsuits or extra clothes. We are going to have to go back soon for a complete creek exploration. Maybe next week.

 The girls met some boys who taught them all about frog huntin'.

 Naia nearly gave me a heart attack walking over this bridge (she trips and falls a lot).

 We explored the trails a bit.

 Cut back down to the creek.

 And back up to the trails.

The Itch

Near Anchorage

Big Bend, Texas

Denali

Landing on glacier near Juneau

Montana

Montana

My Journal

Sand Point, Alaska

View from float plane, SW Alaska

My home away from home

Grand Teton

I'm feeling the itch. Big time. The itch to travel, to see beautiful places. It makes my heart hurt, seriously, to think about it. This need to go somewhere, and yet not having the means and being trapped in the biggest state ever! I know I should try to love being where I am. To love my home, to love cooking, knitting, sewing. And I do. But I can't help who I am. I've always been this way. I begged and begged my parents to let me go to college in Alaska. I begged so much they finally gave in. Before having children I traveled quite a bit. Not across any oceans, I never had that kind of money. I've been to some border towns in Mexico and a few places in Canada when I was playing hockey. Mostly, I just went on road trips. I went across Texas, all across the south, and up through the Rocky mountains. I usually went backpacking alone because there wasn't anyone that ever wanted to tag along. I was always on a serious budget, usually with money for gas and that's about it. I haven't been out of Texas since I had kids. Traveling with them is harder, obviously. I want to drive to the mountains, but I'm not sure our car is reliable. We cannot afford to fly anywhere or rent a car. My husband also needs to visit his family in Nigeria in the near future which we need to think about. I'm sure he will have to go alone. At some point in my life I want to backpack Europe. I don't care if I have to sleep in dumpsters. My kids won't mind either, I'm positive :-) I am going to be 29 soon and although it feels as if I'm getting old, I know I am not yet too old. I should still be healthy and strong enough for the next 10 years or so to really explore. To have no regrets. How to do this with little to no money is the question. And no! Getting a job will not help. I would then just be making money to pay for daycare and I would never be able to get enough time off to do much. Pure waste of time jobs are! What to do, what to do. I am aching inside with this need. This need to see.....

Joy Pockets

"No matter what is going on in our lives finding the little moments that bring us some joy reminds us what we are here for....to love life. - Monica at Bohemian Twilight. Here are some of my "joy pockets" from the last week.

 Pretty dresses,

Eaden's jokes,

Eskimo kisses,

Banjos, mandolins, and washboards,

dancing as if no one is watching,

a good book and a few quiet minutes to read it,

my kids playing in the same treehouse I played in,

the way Naia changes her clothes 10 times a day,

my son's growing personality and how he says thanks,

raw milk in my coffee, 

leftover soggy fried okra,

and a new supply of fresh okra!

Mercer Arboretum

We went on another nature walk! Talk about being on a roll. We went to Mercer Arboretum, which I love. I'm a little disappointed with the photos I took, but there's not much I can do about it now. I don't know anything about cameras or photography, but I feel like my pictures are fuzzy. Especially when a person is in them. Maybe it's me, maybe it's my camera. Any advice? I have an Olympus Stylus. It's not a disposable camera, but pretty close in my opinion. Anyway, back to the walk. We started at the arboretum checking out water fountains, flowers, and doodlebugs.

After the arboretum, we headed over to the playground for a bit.

Taven's laughing in that last picture, by the way. He's a swingin' fool! After the playground was the nature walk. Saving the best for last, right?

Wrong! It was a quick crash and burn. There was a lot of fighting over water.

Followed by some nice patient sharing however.

A lot of this

And finally this.

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. Thanks Soulemama.

My Fashionista!

I have the worst camera ever, but this picture is just too funny. First of all, Naia has her swimsuit inside out. She also has both legs inside of one short leg. And of course she has on her heels. The girls don't take them off. I also like that Eaden is jumping on the couch in the background.