Monday, April 9, 2012
Easter 2012
My parents came to town for Easter. We went to the Arboretum on Friday to take some photos of them and Rhett. They hadn't had a professional photo besides my wedding, since my brother and I were little. Below are some photos from their shoot as well as photos from Easter Sunday of Rhett hunting eggs. (Both outfits, the one from the Arboretum and the one from Easter Sunday) were my brother's when he was a little boy.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Hill Country
This past weekend, Mitchell, Rhett and I took a road trip through the Hill Country to visit Hunt, TX. Hunt is where Mitchell's lifelong buddy's family owns a cabin on a ranch, in which the Guadalupe River runs right through their property. His family was kind enough to let us retreat on their ranch. We hiked, sat in the river and watched Rhett throw rocks, picnicked and just enjoyed the scenery. I bought a baby backpack carrier to use to carry Rhett on the hikes (a $20 purchase on Craig's List that was so worth it).
Driving on the way, we stopped at the Colorado Bend State Park and enjoyed an picnic by river. We then traveled through the winding roads of the Hill Country just gazing at all the blue bonnets, indian paint brushes and other wildflowers that were in full bloom and had pretty much taken over the fields and hillsides. We made another stop at Enchanted Rock, and hiked about halfway up. I think it was a little tiring for Mitchell with Rhett on his back going up hill, via the giant stair master, so we didn't make it to the top. But it ended up being a good thing because the hiking boots I've had since about my sophomore year in college, all but disintegrated as we were going down. Both of the rubber soles came completely off...they are now in the trash, unfortunately. After that, more driving with beautiful scenery then we decided to stop in Fredericksberg and have dinner. We sat on the patio of Bejas and enjoyed some Sangria and Tex Mex. A little later, we arrived at the River Inn, where we stayed for two nights. I was a little skeptical at first glance because it looked like a not that nice of a motel, but as soon as we went around to the back and saw the view, I was relieved and delighted. This place has a stunning view of the Guadalupe and a cliff side. We had a really small studio room with one double bed, a couch, a full kitchen and full bath but it was just right for what we needed, being that we cooked breakfast and dinner for Saturday night there and we weren't in the room besides when we were eating or sleeping.
Saturday, after we woke (Rhett woke a lot earlier than usual and was super anxious to get outside) and cooked breakfast, we hiked on the Boortz' ranch for about 2 hours, to the top of a hill side with a beautiful view. It was getting warm so we decided to plop our two chairs in the river and enjoy some water out of the spring that feeds the river, then a couple of beers. We just watched Rhett throwing rocks into the river and after every big splash, yelling "ohh dada!" (not sure where he learned this phrase). It was amazing to see how Rhett responded to being in such a natural and remote place and we think he's going to be quite the outdoorsman. Later, for lunch, I had packed another picnic and we enjoyed another lunch by the running waters of the river. After that, it was time for someone's nap so we went back to our room and all took about a 3 hour nap. Ahhh... Once we all got up we went back to the ranch (this is literally a 30 second drive from where we were staying) and pretty much did the same thing we'd done that morning...a little hiking and a lot of chilling and watching our son. It got really hot late in the afternoon, so Mitchell and I decided to jump in at the swimming hole on the ranch, it felt awesome! We then gave Rhett a bath in the river. It had gotten late and very shady so it was very cold for him but we made it quick. There wasn't really a place to bathe him at our room anyway because there wasn't a bath tub. We went back to the room, fed Rhett then put that tired little man to bed (we put his pack n play in the bathroom so we could shut the door and still be able to cook in the kitchen without waking him). We made steaks and ate outside. Did I mention the River Inn was almost deserted? There was hardly anyone there so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. There was a patio outside our room with tables and chairs and a grill, so we got to use all that without anyone else around. So nice. After dinner we just drank some wine by the river and gazed at the stars.
Sunday, we drove back through the same windy roads. Took some photos with the wildflowers then stopped in Llano for lunch at Cooper's BBQ. The line wrapped around the door but it was so worth the wait. The brisket was the best I've ever had! Rhett even liked it. It was my first real Texas BBQ experience with the big smokers and hot coals. I haven't had anything remotely close in or around Dallas.
Sorry for the long blog, but I wanted to make sure I documented it for when we plan another trip next year. We are definitely doing it again. So fun, easy and economical!
Driving on the way, we stopped at the Colorado Bend State Park and enjoyed an picnic by river. We then traveled through the winding roads of the Hill Country just gazing at all the blue bonnets, indian paint brushes and other wildflowers that were in full bloom and had pretty much taken over the fields and hillsides. We made another stop at Enchanted Rock, and hiked about halfway up. I think it was a little tiring for Mitchell with Rhett on his back going up hill, via the giant stair master, so we didn't make it to the top. But it ended up being a good thing because the hiking boots I've had since about my sophomore year in college, all but disintegrated as we were going down. Both of the rubber soles came completely off...they are now in the trash, unfortunately. After that, more driving with beautiful scenery then we decided to stop in Fredericksberg and have dinner. We sat on the patio of Bejas and enjoyed some Sangria and Tex Mex. A little later, we arrived at the River Inn, where we stayed for two nights. I was a little skeptical at first glance because it looked like a not that nice of a motel, but as soon as we went around to the back and saw the view, I was relieved and delighted. This place has a stunning view of the Guadalupe and a cliff side. We had a really small studio room with one double bed, a couch, a full kitchen and full bath but it was just right for what we needed, being that we cooked breakfast and dinner for Saturday night there and we weren't in the room besides when we were eating or sleeping.
Saturday, after we woke (Rhett woke a lot earlier than usual and was super anxious to get outside) and cooked breakfast, we hiked on the Boortz' ranch for about 2 hours, to the top of a hill side with a beautiful view. It was getting warm so we decided to plop our two chairs in the river and enjoy some water out of the spring that feeds the river, then a couple of beers. We just watched Rhett throwing rocks into the river and after every big splash, yelling "ohh dada!" (not sure where he learned this phrase). It was amazing to see how Rhett responded to being in such a natural and remote place and we think he's going to be quite the outdoorsman. Later, for lunch, I had packed another picnic and we enjoyed another lunch by the running waters of the river. After that, it was time for someone's nap so we went back to our room and all took about a 3 hour nap. Ahhh... Once we all got up we went back to the ranch (this is literally a 30 second drive from where we were staying) and pretty much did the same thing we'd done that morning...a little hiking and a lot of chilling and watching our son. It got really hot late in the afternoon, so Mitchell and I decided to jump in at the swimming hole on the ranch, it felt awesome! We then gave Rhett a bath in the river. It had gotten late and very shady so it was very cold for him but we made it quick. There wasn't really a place to bathe him at our room anyway because there wasn't a bath tub. We went back to the room, fed Rhett then put that tired little man to bed (we put his pack n play in the bathroom so we could shut the door and still be able to cook in the kitchen without waking him). We made steaks and ate outside. Did I mention the River Inn was almost deserted? There was hardly anyone there so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. There was a patio outside our room with tables and chairs and a grill, so we got to use all that without anyone else around. So nice. After dinner we just drank some wine by the river and gazed at the stars.
Sunday, we drove back through the same windy roads. Took some photos with the wildflowers then stopped in Llano for lunch at Cooper's BBQ. The line wrapped around the door but it was so worth the wait. The brisket was the best I've ever had! Rhett even liked it. It was my first real Texas BBQ experience with the big smokers and hot coals. I haven't had anything remotely close in or around Dallas.
Sorry for the long blog, but I wanted to make sure I documented it for when we plan another trip next year. We are definitely doing it again. So fun, easy and economical!
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