A Weekend of Firsts

We traveled to Mark's house this past weekend. He bought a house near Buchanan Dam. It is so beautiful! I am so proud of him and happy for him! I told him that most people don't have a first house as nice as his. I considered taking lots of pictures and posting them here, but I thought that wouldn't afford very much anonymity so I changed my mind. I think only family and friends look at my website but I guess it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

We spent the weekend with Mom, Dad, Mark, Matthew, Jackie, and Kayla. I was pretty nervous about the kids spending the night because the only other place they have rested their heads is Larry and Velma's house. My friend Kristy loaned us a toddler-sized air mattress for Sawyer and Chloe slept in the Pack n Play. Mark gave us his master bedroom so we had lots of space. Sawyer was my main worry and we never heard a peep out of him! I think it was because his uncles and grandfather kept him so busy! Chloe had trouble falling asleep Friday night, but Saturday was smooth sailing.

I was excited that it only took four hours to get there. We're used to a minimum of 5 1/2 hours to get to Van Vleck so this felt like a hop, skip, and a jump. We made it home Sunday in about three hours and forty minutes so that was even better. The kids did great in the car, just like they did for me a few weekends ago. That DVD player is a lifesaver! It takes Matthew and Jackie about 3 1/2 hours to get there which Mark said was one of the reasons he chose that location. It's a central spot for everyone.

Matthew's deer lease is really close to Mark's house so he and the guys went there for a while on Friday and then brought Sawyer on Saturday. Sawyer got to drive Uncle Matthew's truck, see some turtles, and deer, and get really dirty. I swear his white T-shirt looked tan by the end of the day.

Luckily Sawyer hasn't asked to drive the Tahoe (yet!).

Sawyer and Lorne helping fill Matthew's feeders at the lease.

I think Lorne said this was the pond where Mark kept trying to shoot the turtles, but ended up hitting the water instead. I'm guessing he was looking out for his nephew and didn't want him to be traumatized by the senseless extermination of harmless creatures! :)

Matthew brought his four-wheeler and Kayla's Power Wheels from the lease. The Power Wheels used to be Barbie but they painted it camo. It's pretty funny to see the tires because the camo is rubbing off and the pink is shining through.

Sawyer kept talking on the phone instead of driving which set Lorne up for numerous opportunities to remind me to "Hang Up and Drive!"

Even Chloe was taken for a spin. He had his arm around Kayla too but I couldn't grab my camera in time.

This pictures shows some of the granite that is in Mark's yard. Sawyer kept calling it the "mountain."

Even Chloe joined in on the four-wheeler fun. I think I aged ten years last weekend!

Sawyer caught his first fish so that was really exciting. Dad, Sawyer, and I headed to the fishing hole once it appeared that Sawyer was not going to take a nap. Dad put a cork, hook, and worm on his Cars fishing pole I bought at Target and cast it for him. It wasn't two seconds until that cork was submerged and he had a pretty decent-sized sun perch. Sawyer reeled it in himself. Once he saw the fish he said, "Let's catch a bigger one!" I took a video of it with my camera, but Lorne hasn't had time to upload it to YouTube just yet. He has been shopping for a composter for my Mother's Day present. I definitely want one, but I must admit nothing says, "You're a great Mom!" like a plastic tub of decomposing organic matter!

Dad and Sawyer no doubt solving all the world's problems.

Sawyer didn't stay this still for long!

Sawyer in action. He was much more interested in playing with all the sticks that had washed up on shore. I should have gotten a picture of that too.

Sawyer's first fish! I also caught a much smaller sun perch and Dad caught a barely-legal catfish. We decided to let them go back into the water to grow more. It's a good thing Mom was back at the house making hamburger patties to put on the grill!

Matthew and Jackie came a little later and Mark brought the four-wheeler. Mark took Sawyer and I on the four-wheeler through the neighborhood so that we could see the beautiful view from the top of the hill. It's just so different from up here where the land is all cleared and subdivided. This neighborhood is gated and the houses are built with minimal disturbance of the land as far as I could tell. I am always so impressed with my state when I travel to another region and marvel in its greatness. The tourist bureau is spot on when they call Texas "a whole other country."

Sawyer was an expert four-wheeler passenger by weekend's end.