Lost Pines - Rockwall, Zip Line, & the Lazy River

Okay, while I took the little girls on their pony rides, the hubby and the big girls got to go rock wall climbing and do a zip line. And let me just tell you - I was SO jealous. Takes me back to my days at camp. That zip line was the ultimate high for me and I haven't done one since I was 14. We tried to put the little girls in kids camp but it was full. So I let our other half go have all the fun since they couldn't do the horses and we went to the pony rides.

So first up is Kaitlyn, excited and ready to go on the rockwall. (The big girls just did this for the first time this summer at a birthday party. Kaitlyn did fine. Went about halfway up. Mackenzie barely went up at all. She did not find it to be easy and after multiple forced attempts decided she'd had enough.)

Kaitlyn went a little ways but not very far this time.

But how about this for a 180 from the last time??  Go Mackenzie go!!

Yes, that is my tiny (okay not so tiny) 7-year-old nearly to the top!

She went twice all the way up and rang the bell! I am HUGELY proud of her for not only trying but persevering in something HARD.

Here she is afterward and on her way back up to the zipline. No still pictures, just video of that!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....(fitting, isn't it?), we decided to check out the resort's scheduled activities. The flier said "Bubble Finder." What doesn't sound perfect about that for a 3-yr-old? So we gather and wait. Next thing I know they get a plate. They get 3 cherries. I see the whipped cream. I am still foolishly thinking they are going to somehow find red cherry juice bubbles in this whipped cream. Never would they expect my precious children to do a face plant in that mess!

WRONG! Don't get me wrong - some of my kids like to get absolutely filthy, but it's more when they do it unknowingly. Ashley was having no part of this. I don't blame her.

Reagan, the determined soul that she is, contemplated it quite hard. First she gave it a good, close look. "Maybe I might do it."

"Perhaps if I go from THIS angle..."

"I am awesome. Got two cherries and didn't get dirty even one little bit. I think I'll leave that third one there though. It looks a little tricky." In Ashley's defense, hers were completely covered in whipped cream and she could have never pulled it off so easily.

After getting really hot and sweaty in 100 degree weather, we thought we should head back to the pool that afternoon.

Here go the two little fish...

Just chillin. (Yeah, right.)

"Look at me!"

Okay. Here is the scenario. The little girls eventually got tired of the lazy river, so we got out and we went to another area. Mike and the big girls stayed in. Hmmm...just take one look at him and tell me who got the easier job? Then again, and I know my fellow moms will agree, even if you had your two older ones, would you be able to relax like this? I think I said it before...men are from Mars, women are from Venus.

The little girls really liked this man-made beach.

Reagan tried to terrorize me by continuing to play in this tube. This picture is fine but usually she was inside it and I could not see her head at all, never knowing if she was drowning or not! It seemed the longer we were there the more dangerous everything got.

"Turn around and smile for just one second. I promise if you'll just do it I'll quit asking and let you go on."

The little side area off the lazy river. Was really nice but had too many openings for the little people if you know what I mean.

Wipeout!

Okay, here is the part of the trip where I started getting tired. Corralling Ashley for the millionth time was starting to wear on me. Look at me hauling her in. The sad thing is I feel like this so much of the time. I've really been trying to work on my posture (even as I type), but this is what happens to me as the day goes on sometimes. Even in a cool refreshing pool I was beat.

That's when we moved everyone over to the baby pool and splash pad. Ahhh....bliss!  And a miracle photo too! (This did not come easy but look how perfect it turned out!)

I just sat in a chair with a Dr.Pepper and watched everyone. So this is how the other half lives!

This has been Ashley's signature move all summer. I must have seen her do this 200 times by now. I need to post one of our videos - she is an absolute maniac in the pool! And how fun does that look? I think we need to get a backyard pool because I would love to try this (in private quarters, of course).

Reagan is suddenly into posing. Even on the splash pad.

Yes, mine are the kids who dragged all the chairs over all the splash pad sprinklers. But they ARE WATER chairs and no other kids were playing over there at the moment so what did I care?

Like father, like daughter! (In all fairness though, I have a GOOD husband. I really don't have to nag him about anything and he works so hard. Let's face it. He has his responsibilities and I have mine. I think it is hard for him sometimes to snap into Dad mode. It is different for us moms who think about being moms 24/7.)

That night we drove to Lockhart, TX to get some world-famous BBQ. (This is the town that's always on the Food Channel for their BBQ.) Everyone but Mackenzie acted horrendously. How dare we make them eat yummy rolls and delicious mac n cheese!! Someone call CPS on us quick!

And thus concludes the middle part of our trip. Stay tuned!