McKinney Falls State Park

What?  Camping again?  Crazy, I know.  Yesterday, I met Jason and his brothers at McKinney Falls State Park just outside of Austin. 

Swimming was a ton of fun, but now I have water deep in my ear that I can't get out.   You'll have to excuse me if I keep going, "Huh?" this week. 

I wish we had somewhere like this place in Houston. 

Upper Falls.



Jordan and Jared swimming.



Jason jumping in.



Joel visited for awhile.  The boys stayed at the primitive sites which were right along the creek.



Jason and I all matchy match.



Jordan being a creepster during Clue.



Butterflies and moths kept landing on me.  I guess it could have been worse.

Huntsville State Park

We went on another little camping trip this weekend.  This time, about an hour north of town to Huntsville State Park.  Our campsite was right on the lake.  

After setting up camp, Jason fixed our fishing poles with bobs and hooks and we tried fishing a bit.  Of course, we didn't catch anything.  If there's anything Jason and I are good at lately, it's not catching fish.

Then, we headed back to camp and played marbles for a bit.

By then, it was midafternoon and hella hot, so we tried to nap for a bit.

Not a bad view out of the tent, huh?  Not sure what Jason's doing in the next picture.  I think he might be imitating Radar's tired face. 

After napping, we cooked and ate dinner.  We had sausage, poblano chicken, camp potatoes, and risotto.  Yum, yum.

After listening to very loud crickets, frogs, and other night-time critters all night, we woke up.

And after discovering something made a meal of our marshmallows and tortillas during the night...

We cooked and ate some breakfast and drank some coffee.

Other little critters were pretty active around camp this morning, too.

We tried to fish some more, but then this happened...

The alligator won, and we left.

Good times at Huntsville State Park.

Anniversary Presents

As I mentioned in the last blog post, presents for our anniversary this year were very fun.  Since the traditional 5th anniversary present is wood, there was definitely a theme to what we gifted each other. 

Lauren's Presents for Jason

Jason's cross necklace had recently broken, so I found him a new one.  I also got him a bonsai tree (currently residing in our garden window, but will probably go to his classroom once school starts again). 

Finally, I made him a shadowbox using pictures from our recent camping trips.  I think it came out pretty cute, and now it's hanging in our dining room.

Jason's Presents for Lauren

So Jason usually wins when it comes to gift giving, and this year was no exception.  Since it was our 5th anniversary, he got me 5 wood themed presents. 

I got a cute painting, a birdhouse, and a game of Clue.

 He also had this custom tray made from a live oak tree.

And he found me a rocking chair at a local antique store.

See, I told you they were fun presents. 

5th Anniversary Celebrations

What do you do to celebrate your 5th marriage anniversary?  Go to a beer festival of course.  It only makes sense.  Well, maybe for us.

The second annual Houston Beer Fest went over much more smoothly than last year.  More entrances meant no lines to get in.  Longer hours meant less crowds at once.  It was still hot as Hades, but at least they had free water available.  I only wish the booths were manned by the brewers instead of just temp workers hired by the festival.  I think that's why we still like the Brewmasters International Beer Fest in Galveston better.  It's always neat to be able to learn about the different beers (what type of beer it is, how it was brewed, how long the brewery has been around, etc.)  You can't really get that when the booths aren't manned by the brewers. 

Dorks...

After the festival, we headed over to The Melting Pot with Sal and Nicole to enjoy some fondue.  None of us had been there before, and it was actually pretty good.  Plus, it was fun to cook your own food.

It was a four course meal - cheese appetizer with bread and veggies, salad, the main course (seen below), and chocolate with fruit and sweets.  Yum!

Pretty fun 5th anniversary celebrations, huh?  Up next on the blog, fun 5th anniversary presents...

Santigold Concert

Last night we watched Santigold perform at the House of Blues.  When we last watched her three years ago, it had been one of the best concerts we had ever attended (and we've been to a bunch).  This year didn't disappoint either. 

She sang a good mix of songs from her two albums - Santogold (released in 2008) and Master of My Make-Believe (released last month).  Her interaction with the crowd was amazing.  She even pulled a Girl Talk move and invited people from the audience to dance on stage during her song Creator.  Her two dancers (originally from Houston) were awesome. 

This was the first time I had taken my new camera to a concert.  It took me awhile to figure out decent settings for the venue, but I think I ended up getting some pretty good shots.  Enjoy...

 

For more pictures of the concert, click here.

Total Cuteness

This post has no purpose other than to share pictures of my nephew.  Because he is cute.  And fun.  And cute.


 

Look grandpa.  A bird.  A plane.

Vroom, vroom.

What's outside?

Playing ball with great-grandpa.

 

Being sweet with great-grandma.