Adventure...

Yesterday, Team Jacquot spent the afternoon at Pedernales Falls State Park, near Johnson City. Of course on our packing list were camera, tripod and remote control. So we did the best we could and got a few shots of all of us together. The sun kept poking in and out of the clouds so it really messed with my settings but all in all I'm pretty pleased with what we got. As you can see we took our dog, Mackie along and she seemed to enjoy herself but I think all the walking really kicked her butt. She will be 12 years old this August and she doesn't usually get much exercise around the house. When we got home she laid in the same spot until bedtime.

As for Zane, he was a real trooper, as well. This was his first hiking experience and he did great. He got to ride on Daddy's shoulders a couple of times, but otherwise he managed just fine on his own. He was looking beat red in the face at times when the sun was beating down. And he looked super tired when we were done, but he never complained about anything. You can see he is wearing a bag over his shoulder in the picture above. It is actually called a bandolier. It was issued to Abe in Kuwait when he received his ammunition. But Zane got to use it for collecting rocks on his adventure. Tracy gave me a great idea before we left, as a way to talk up the hiking so that Zane didn't get bored with it. She said he could pretend like he was Diego (Dora the Explorer's cousin, for those of you that don't know) on an adventure. Thanks, Tracy, at the very least it helped him understand what we were about to go do.

As for myself, I was moving pretty slow at times. Mostly on the hike(s) back up the hill(s). I would sometimes take a few steps then rest for a few seconds 'cause my thighs were on fire. Yet another reminder that I can't wait to get back in the gym after this baby pops out to get back in shape again. Fortunately for me, there were no contractions or any hint of labor, because we didn't have cell phone reception out there, and I'm not sure how close the nearest hospital would have been. But on the upside there was a team of EMS people setting up while we were there for some specialized training. Surely they could have handled labor and delivery, right?

On our way home we stopped in Lampasas for dinner. We grabbed pizza from Mr. Gatti's (a rare treat for us) and headed to a park to eat it. By then the sun was going down and the weather was absolutely wonderful. I saw this tree (see below) nearby and just knew I had to capture some pics of Zane. It was nice because there was a hill behind it covered in green grass and clover. It made for a nice backdrop in my opinion. And Zane enjoyed climbing in and out of the tree since it was only a foot or so off the ground. You can see lots more pics of our excursion in the photo collection, at right. I hope everyone had a great weekend!!