I'm not sure if you remember or not but on New Year's Day the kids and I hiked Chalk Ridge Falls in Belton and had a GREAT time! So when Hubby wanted to go for a hike a couple of weeks ago we knew just where to take him. Boy 1 opted out of this trip and hung with his 'boys' instead and even though we missed him terribly we still had a great time. The younger kids wanted to take Hubby on the same route we had gone before so we took off and started walking by the river.
The kids wanted to show Hubby the rock bridge we made on New Year's Day and check it out...it was still there!
As we continued down the path we ran across some folks swimming, we would have loved to have joined them, but we brought no swimsuits! Arghhh....
However that didn't stop us....we just stripped down to our undies and jumped in!
We played in the water for over an hour just swimming, playing around and catching frogs and FISH with our bare hands....OK, so GIRL is the only one that actually caught fish with her bare hands but we like to think of it as a group effort.  In the end we came home with 2 new frogs and a few new fish. 

Once we were done playing in the water the kids wanted to show Hubby the CAVE.  Once we arrived at the cave we found THOUSANDS, and THOUSANDS of these bad boys:
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That is right, DADDY LONG LEGS!!
It was SO FREAKY!  There were literally THOUSANDS of them....
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This picture was taken right after we realized what all those little black dots were....check out Boy 3's face, it is priceless! He is not a fan of spiders, unlike his sister.
All in all it was a great day!  We hiked, we laughed, we played we swam, and some of us freaked out when it came to the spiders.  What made it all better is that Hubby was here to enjoy this day with us.  :o)
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Hangin' with my handsome husband. I'm so happy to have him home!
 
The Fort Worth Nature Center is a bit off the beaten path and is a jewel of a find!  There are 3,621 acres of awesome wildernes with over 20 miles of hiking trails where buffalo and praire dogs run free!  (Just checking to see if you are paying attention, the buffalo are actually inside a fence.) 

               The cost is $5 for adults, $2 for kids AND they offer a military discount ~ $1 off everyone in the car.

                               As our hiking adventure begins everyone is super stoaked and ready to go!
I had to take a picture of this because as the children read this sign and tried to figure out which way to go they decided to go in the direction of the "POOP".  Seriously, check it out, the poop is the 2nd picture to the bottom.  I mean what else could it be?  (I'm serious, we NEVER figured it out - tell us if you know what it is!)
              This is when the "B" family started questioning why I made Boy 3 the leader of this hiking adventure! 
And then we came upon this bird lookout and all was forgiven.  Granted we didn't see any birds, but we did hear them!
                                       Ahhhh, nature.....
Does anyone know what this is?  It is the only one we found growing on the trees.  I think the 2nd picture is after it opens.  What do you think?
                                                           Yes, that's my girl looking for creatures....
As always, at the end of each hike we show what we found and then vote on the 'coolest' item.  From left to right starting with the big rock.
1. Heart shaped rock
2. Cool shell
3. Groovy green thing from tree
4. Hairy thing that we think might be POOP from an animal
5. Pretty pink rock
6. Spotted black bark
Vote on your favorite now.
                                                   A few of the coolest kids I have ever met! 
               I got so close to him I could have touched him.  The kids opted to stay in the car.  :o)
If you ever find yourself looking for something inexpensive and fun to do, pack a lunch and head out to the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge.  There is so much to do from bird watching, kayaking,  classes at the Hardwicke Interpretive Center (however get there a little early, we arrived at start time and the class was full - boo.), to hiking the multitude of trails!  Just make sure you pack a lunch and take plenty of water as there are no services of this type at the Nature Center!   
 
I don't know about you guys, but sometimes trying to get my kids out the door when it is not a school day is like pulling teeth.  My kids like their PJ's and they like to stay in them all day when they have a day off.  I can't really blame them because I like having a PJ day every once and a while as well, BUT today, New Year's Eve was NOT the day for that.  The weather here in Central Texas was going to be in the mid to high 70's!  Yes, you read that correctly -MID TO HIGH 70's - so there was NO WAY we could spend it sitting in the house playing with all our new Christmas gadgets, a day when the wild was calling our names. I would like to say thanks to my friend Carrey-Leigh for telling us about Chalk Ridge Falls which is located just past the Still House Hollow Dam. 

To keep the teen from complaining about hiking I promised him that if he gave me a hard time, was mean to his siblings EVEN ONCE, or made me think for even ONE SECOND that he was not having fun that I would take his ever-loving XBox and make it mine for an entire week.  My threat paid off because this hike ranked up there as one of my all-time favorite hikes. 
We started out walking along the river bank.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  We skipped a few rocks, played a little trash can rock ball and then we started building a dam....
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Completed project!!
We aren't ones to stick to a path.  I like paths, but we always tend to wander off and climb things....
Crossing this tree wasn't too bad, it was climbing up to the path above that made me cringe as Girl went straight up and started pulling her brothers up.  I was terrified someone was going to fall and we were going to be hitting the ER, luckily we all made it to higher ground, safe and sound!
Unfortunately I had my camera set on the wrong setting so all the pictures on this cute little suspension bridge (the one on the right) did NOT turn out. It was a super fun bridge for the older kids - as we were crossing they started jumping up and down and swaying back and forth.  Well Boy 3 did not like it at all and had a good freak out on all his siblings once he finally got off.  He totally attacked them.   Yelling, screaming and hitting them.  I must say they deserved every bit of it and it was very hard for me not to laugh and to make him stop.  Once he got it out of his system he was fine and posed for me on the next little bridge we happened upon.
If you guys have been following us for a while you know what happens at the end of a hike.  We all gather things on the hike and then at the end of the hike we vote on the coolest thing that was found. The two pictures below are of our 'cool' things.  C (on the left) found this dried fish skin, that's right, I said DRIED FISH SKIN.  On the right we have a rock that was just picked up off the ground.  No thought put into it.  Tree bark, a 'spanking' switch (she has been talking to her Granny - NO REALLY!), a bigger rock, and a collection of little shells.    Can you guess what won?  That's right, the dried fish skin.  The collection of little shells came in second. 
Oh, just one more thing, remember the name, Chalk Ridge Falls?  You would expect to see water fall right?  Well normally there is a water fall, but due to the extreme drought Texas had this summer it was all dried up.  If we go again before we move I will make sure I post pictures.  It looked like it would be beautiful.
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Boy 3 showing you what is left of his pear.
To get to Chalk Ridge Falls: Exit from I-35 and head west on FM 2484 for about one mile.  Turn right onto FM 1670 and head north for 3.5 miles.  Look for the park entrance on the right.  Proceed down the winding driveway to the parking area near the trailhead.
 
This past Saturday I had it all worked out. I told them we were going 'exploring'. They were getting dressed.  There were no complaints.  That is until Hubby yelled, "hurry up and get dressed, we're going hiking'.  I was walking down the hall when I heard this...I came to a screeching halt, darted my crazy eyes towards him and mouthed "E X P L O R I N G" in slow motion - he didn't catch on, so I whisper screamed (you know what I’m talking about) in the most freaked out but quiet voice I could muster, "exploring, we are going exploring...what is wrong with you? I briefed you on this, it's exploring, they aren't complaining DON"T SAY THE "H"  WORD!".  The big one heard this. He calmly told me he wasn't fooled, and that he just gave up on the idea of ever getting to go bowling. The little ones heard too, I shoved donuts in their mouths and tossed them in the car.  Yes, I let them eat in the car, anything to keep them from saying the dreadful “H” word.  I just kept repeating, EXPLORING, we are going EXPLORING.  I even sang a few songs about exploring.

This past weekend we visited Mother Neff State Park which is located about 45 minutes from Fort Hood.  Hubby wasn't too excited when he read the history of MFSP.... it was named after Mrs. Isabella Eleanor (Mother) Neff who donated 6 acres of land back in 1916. He was miffed because it could have been named after soldier from the war who did heroic things, but no....you should bring this up in conversation with him some day and see where it takes you.  ;o)
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He is not looking too excited yet....
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Cool rock stairs, this could be fun....
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Boy 1 was a bit disappointed in the cave...he really thought we had some great exploring ahead of us when we read about this cave.
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When we found this downed tree, we decided to make it a challenge.  Everyone EXCEPT myself and Boy 3 fell off the first time across.
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Next challenge was to climb this tree.  Girl was the only one to try.  ;o)
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He found a good resting place.
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Boy 3 earned $5 for being brave and sticking his arm in this hole.  No one else would do it - they were all SCARED!! 
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A sign along the way....
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Log wars....
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Now tell me they didn't have fun.....
 
It was another beautiful Sunday here in Central Texas... The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the kids were playing Wii, laughing, singing (OK, maybe not singing) and playing nice with each other.  THEN Hubby announced, "Get dressed".... then came the question "why?".  We answered as chipper as we could, "we are going hiking!" And then our happy day turned into "Hiking, why hiking.  We don't like hiking! I don't want to go!"....blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH!!  Whatever suck it up and get dressed.  And they did, complaining the entire way.  We tried to ignore - Hubby is way better at ignoring than I am.  (Ha- I bet you would have NEVER guessed that!) 

Why does family fun have to be so hard?  I've ask myself this question over and over.... Every time we go hiking or do something as a family, we have fun!  So why do they think we are torturing them when we mention doing something as a family?  I just don't understand it because like I said, we ALWAYS have fun when we have family outings; it is just getting to them out the door that is the difficult part.

By the time we left the house the monkeys were hungry (it probably had to do with all that complaining - it gave them an appetite).  So when I saw this place.....
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I knew it would help with their moods...
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I mean it may not be the best fuel for hiking, but whatever works at this point...
After loading the kids up on sugar we continued on our venture to Dana Peak for a little hike.  And when I say little, I mean little.  I'm thinking we didn't find the right spot, but Hubby thinks we did.  I just can't imagine that so many people thought what we climbed was a good hike.  I still think we were in the wrong place.  It only took us MAYBE 10 minutes to get to the top. 
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A view from the trail...
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Taking a little break.
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Almost there!
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Trying to get a family picture with the camera hanging from a tree limb was quite entertaining!
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Ahhh, just in time for Valentine's Day!
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Heading back down....
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This time I checked the boys, made sure they were wearing the correct shoes....I didn't think about checking Girl. Then I happened to noticed when she was walking that her socks must have slipped down into her shoes. NOPE, I was wrong, she didn't wear any. Man, *WHO* is her mother?! ;o)
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Turning over rocks looking for treasures! (Don't worry, we put them back.)
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He is such a good big brother.
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Having fun down by the lake.
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This is what we climbed....is it Dana Peak?
In the end we had a very good day hiking!  The kids ban together and decided that before each hike we should have donuts, and after each hike we should have Korean food.  I told them if the complaining stops, then I am all in!
 
Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Central Texas, with a high in the high 70’s!  Hubby and I couldn’t wait to hit one of the hiking trails out at BLORA, but when we told the kids were going hiking, you would have thought we had just cut one of their limbs off.  Seriously, you should have heard the moans and groans around this place!  Boy 1 even said to me "Why can't we do something that NORMAL families do, like go bowling".  Now, this makes me chuckle because I've heard stories of when my sister-in-law was a teenager and they HAD to go bowling as a family....for her that was the WORST THING EVER.   Anyway, even with all the moaning and crying, we took children out for a little FORCED family fun!

Initially I was annoyed because Hubby always likes to do things 'differently' and sometimes him doing things 'differently' doesn't end up great for the family.  Like the time we were in Colorado and he made us hike to some crazy area for a picnic and we thought a wild animal was going to have us for a picnic.  Anyhow he made us hike on the bike trail.  I thought for sure we were going to be plowed down by some crazy mountain biker.  But in the end it all turned out to be a great time (this time).

Here we are at teh begining of the hike...notice how FLAT and brown it is? 
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When Girl and I saw this 'paw' print we were a little freaked out - we had just read on the bulletin board that this area has cougars. We looked over our shoulder for the first half of this hike looking for a cougar.  Upon further investigation since the hike we have discovered this is NOT a cougar print.  Do you know what it is?
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A beautiful view of the lake. Notice all that green?  CEDAR!  AUGHHH!!  Have I mentioned how much I dislike cedar?
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 I didn't check my children as thoroughly as  I normally do, I mean they have all gone hiking numerous times before and they know how to dress themselves....Boy 2's shoes....maybe I should do a once over before we get in the car the next time.
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Hubby was trying to bring a branch down low enough for the kids to swing on.  I guess he is stronger than he thinks.  ;o)
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Is Boy 1 really SMILING?!?!  Sure it took his dad falling on his arse but hey, whatever works!
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Kids flying throug the air....Boy 2 loving it.....
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But Boy 3 freaked out a bit!  Is this really the same kid that flew through the jungle in Thailand on a zip line by himself?!?!
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Check out what we found hiding under a rock.....
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This picture made me kind of sad when I looked at it.  It made me realize I don't have that much time left with Boy 1.  He will be gone in 4 years.  F-O-U-R years. To some that might seem like a lifetime, but to me, 4 years doesn't seem long at all.
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Happy kids sinking in the mud!
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Another creature we found....
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If any of you followed our hiking journeys in Korea, you know we have a little game we play; everyone collects something small enough to fit in their pocket.  At the end of our hike we show our items and vote on which one was the coolest.

It is time for you to vote, in order, clockwise starting with the shells:
1. lots of cool tiny shells collected during the entire hike
2. a awesome fossil of a shell
3. a piece of a cedar tree (that wreaks havoc on my sinuses)
4. a super cool rock with orange in it
5. a groovy piece of a bee hive
(Boy 1 didn't play - he is too cool for this game)
Vote now under comments and tell us which one you think should win the awesomeness award.
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At the end of the day, even though they will never admit it, everyone had a good time!  I have to give it up to Hubby, we didn't get ran over by a biker, in fact we didn't even see one.  I did sprain my ankle, but it was my own fault - I tackled Boy 1 and we both went down.  He is fine, I am old and brittle.  The kids seemed to enjoy this hike better than they thought they would.  Boy 2 told me "Mom, this really wasn't a hike, this was more like a walk through the woods", and he was right compared to what he is used to hiking. 
 
Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Central Texas, with a high in the high 70’s!  Hubby and I couldn’t wait to hit one of the hiking trails out at BLORA, but when we told the kids were going hiking, you would have thought we had just cut one of their limbs off.  Seriously, you should have heard the moans and groans around this place!  Boy 1 even said to me "Why can't we do something that NORMAL families do, like go bowling".  Now, this makes me chuckle because I've heard stories of when my sister-in-law was a teenager and they HAD to go bowling as a family....for her that was the WORST THING EVER.   Anyway, even with all the moaning and crying, we took the children out for a little FORCED family fun!

Initially I was annoyed because Hubby always likes to do things 'differently' sometimes him doing things 'differently' doesn't end up great for the family.  Like the time we were in Colorado and he made us hike to some crazy area for a picnic and we thought a wild animal was going to have us for a picnic.  This time he made us hike on the bike trail.  I thought for sure we were going to be plowed down by some crazy mountain biker.  But in the end everything turned out great, this time.
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When Girl and I saw this 'paw' print we were a little freaked out - we had just read on the bulletin board that there are cougars in this area. We (Girl and I)looked over our shoulders for the first half of this hike looking for a cougar.  Upon further investigation (since we have been home) we have discovered this is NOT a cougar print.  Do you know what it is?
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 A beautiful view of the lake. Notice all that green?  CEDAR!  AUGHHH!!  Have I mentioned how much I dislike cedar?
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I didn't check my children as thoroughly as  I normally do, I mean they have all gone hiking numerous times before and they know how to dress themselves....Boy 2's shoes....maybe I should do a once over before we get in the car the next time.
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Check out what we found hiding under a rock...
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Hubby was trying to bring a branch down low enough for the kids to swing on.  I guess he is stronger than he thinks.  ;o)
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Is Boy 1 really SMILING?!?!  Sure it took his dad falling on his arse but hey, whatever works!
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Boy 2 having a great time flying through the air!
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Boy 3 freaked out a bit!  Is this really the same kid that flew through the jungle in Thailand on a zipline by himself?!?!
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Another little critter we found....
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This picture made me kind of sad when I looked at it.  It made me realize I don't have that much time left with Boy 1.  He will be gone in 4 years.  F-O-U-R years, to some that might seem like a lifetime, but to me, 4 years doesn't seem long at all.
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Happy kids sinking in the mud!
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If any of you followed our hiking journeys in Korea, you know we have a little game we play; everyone collects something small enough to fit in their pocket.  At the end of the hike we show our items and vote on which one was the coolest.

It is time for you to vote, in order, clockwise starting with the shells:
1. lots of cool tiny shells collected during the entire hike
2. a awesome fossil of a shell
3. a piece of a cedar tree (that wreaks havoc on my sinuses)
4. a super cool rock with orange in it
5. a groovy piece of a bee hive
(Boy 1 didn't play - he is too cool for this game)

Just click on comment and tell us which item you are voting on to win the coolness award!
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At the end of the day, even though they will never admit it, everyone had a good time!  I have to give it up to Hubby, we didn't get ran over by a biker, in fact we didn't even see one.  I did sprain my ankle, but it was my own fault - I tackled Boy 1 and we both went down.  He is fine, I am old and brittle.  The kids seemed to enjoy this hike better than they thought they would.  Boy 2 told me "Mom, this really wasn't a hike, this was more like a walk through the woods", and he was right compared to what he is used to hiking.