Finally, our Frio Fix!

Both of the kids made their first trips to the Frio River when they were 3 months old. (Too bad Reagan didn't keep up with this tradition...but, that's a whole other topic!!!) They LOVE it! Usually we get to spend more time throughout the year than one week in the summer there, but this year we had different plans during Thanksgiving and Spring Break, so we didn't get our Frio Fix until this past week. Matt and I have decided that this year we will NOT let a whole year go by without getting to experience the Frio in small snippets throughout the year.

Much to Matt's surprise, we did not take the kitchen sink, just everything else we had in the house!

Get ready for TONS of pics of some of the kids' favorite things to do at the Frio! Because we just can't decide what is the MOST fun, I will just list them in no particular order:

***ROCKS***

Throwing rocks, skipping rocks, stacking rocks, collecting rocks, painting rocks. There are TONS (literally) of rocks around and both Carson and Christopher manage to occupy themselves with rocks while at the Frio. Both of the kids have become experts at skipping rocks. They can skip rocks all the way across the river! It's pretty impressive!

***THE RIVER***

Swimming in the river, jumping in the river, cleaning up the river (the kids are fascinated with collecting trash that has found it's way into the river)! The river was low again this year, so running upstream wasn't a problem! :)

***TUBING***

Usually there is more tubing down the river, but because the river was so low, Christopher dumped his tube and opted to body surf or run around instead. Carson often used hers to float down the rapids close to the house. Usually the kayaks come out too, but this year it really was too low to make that enjoyable.

***MINNOWS***

Those poor minnows! I encouraged them to swim as fast as they can, but sometimes they are not fast enough! Catching minnows is very entertaining, but Christopher's usually end up floating after he catches them. :( He just REALLY wants us to see them and usually he is down the river or across the river and brings them to us. We finally resolved this issue by giving Christopher something to put the minnows into until he could reach us, but this sometimes still wasn't enough to save the minnow's lives!

***FIRE***

Who can resist roasting marshmallows and making Smores? Collecting "tender" (Christopher's word) and grilling while at the river are faves too! Marshall, CEC, and CLC REALLY enjoyed the Smores!

***TREES***

Climbing trees, swinging on the rope swing and tire swing attached to the trees, watching the birds eat from the bird feeders in the trees, filling the deer feeders with corn and then watching the deer under the trees at night and in the morning. The trees around the house are beautiful! This year Matt and Dad even trimmed the trees while we were there! Using a chainsaw when not in close proximity to a hospital is very dangerous!

***THE PORCH AND THE PATIO***

Carson and Christopher love the swing on the porch and eating as many meals outside as possible. This year we had an extra treat because the patio was being extended and that meant construction workers, tools and more rock! After Christopher stared at the Bulldozer long enough, the man driving it invited Carson and Christopher to take a seat in the driver's seat! It was one of the highlights of Christopher's trip! In the evenings the kids also used the leftover sand and cement mix and the trash left by the workers (yes, I know it's not good for them!) to dig in and make "sand castles." :) Carson and Christopher also usually have a painting project while at the river. This year they were supposed to paint pots for Poppy for Father's Day. Carson completed hers. Christopher still hasn't made one for Poppy yet. Christopher sometimes has a tendency to want to move rather than sit down while he is outside... :) While at the river I like to say (privately) that he is on "River Crack." He'll paint his pot sometime this week. :)

***SHARPSHOOTING***

(I'm just kidding!)

Much to my dismay, Matt's antique Daisy BB gun made it's way into our car on this trip. This was definitely an added addition this year. While I still feel VERY uneasy encouraging this behavior, it occupied the kids for HOURS!!!!! The "construction site" (trash) made the perfect spot to target shoot. Christopher even made a target out of a paper plate! The interesting thing was how good Carson was at hitting whatever target she had in front of her! This frustrated Christopher tremendously because it took him longer to hit the mark every time. He definitely got it eventually, but watching him get frustrated because Carson could do it "better" was rather entertaining for Matt and me.