After a night of warm-snuggles interrupted by coughing fits and clogged nose holes, we awoke reluctantly to do... nothing in particular. Planned activities included: something, random picture taking, something else, something maybe with flowers, probably sleeping in and eating while fighting the urge to nap.
Ben found the ski mask (something he had requested to protect him from air-soft pellets) and quickly put it to use. He reported back that it was perfect for keeping his face warm while scootering around.
At some point Jake and That Other Amos Kid engaged each other in a duel to the death with found implements of destruction (sticks). Jake is unmatched in his encyclopedic knowledge of video game fighting moves that don't actually work in the real world.
There was the “Trip” maneuver from Dungeons & Dragons Online as well as several double-saber twirls from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. That Other Kid never had a chance.
Oh yeah, I mentioned the architecture of the camping area last update. At least I think I did. Anyway, I love the lighting on the bridges. If I was to be asked to build a death-match level RIGHT NOW I'd be using these lights on this stone, right here:
I realize that some of you have no idea what I'm talking about. Those that do, I want you to know that I love you deeply.
Here are some more shots of the layout and the bridges and whatnot. I really like the way they tend to sandwich the paved roads and trails on either side of the camper pads. In most cases you can take the trail and avoid the traffic on your way to the bath-house. Esther finds the bench on the one trail below funny. It's roughly a 60' trail, but there the bench just in case your old tired butt needs a rest.
Esther and I did take a nice walk while the kids did whatever it was they were doing (more on that later) and snapped off several pictures of the wildflowers that grow on the other side of the road from the swim beach. Do I know any of the names of these flowers? Hell no.
Okay, I lied. This is milkweed. Why is that cool? Because these are monarch caterpillars feasting the milkweed. There was only a single milkweed plant in the whole half-acre patch of wildflowers and it was feeding these two fat dudes. Esther noticed them because she is cool and made of awesome. Obligatory “OMNOMNOM” here. (That little sweat-bee on the flowers has nothing to do with the caterpillars. He's just riding the coat-tails of their coolness.)
On our way back to discovering what the kids were up to (almost there) we saw another first- broadleaf magnolia flowers. Why is that cool? Because BLMs were around when dinosaurs roamed the earth. They are ancient plants. Thunder-lizards sniffed these flowers, can you dig it? Sadly the blooms were too high up to sniff ourselves. Dinosaurs have all the fun.
Thanks for reading this post... what? What where the kids doing? Playing Texas Hold 'Em.
Playing like crooked, lying, thieving, cheating, card sharks trying to win back their souls from the devil.
All the other pictures (MORE FLOWERS!) can be found here.