Day 3 - Degray State Park

Unlike our park choice in Texas, our site in Arkansas was a little less roomy, but the lake was AMAZING and Peaceful! We had a great time hanging out and catching up with friends! Branson finally was able to learn the Manchas names and settled on Rolo, Jenny and LaLa.

Branson, Brandon, Jenny, LaLa and I went horseback riding while Rolo went golfing Monday morning. Branson absolutely loved it! Brandon and Branson's horse was named Sam and he was pretty slow... Brandon kept making Branson laugh by saying "Sam is sooooo sllllooowwww!" Branson hasn't stopped saying it since we rode!

Day Two - Crater of Diamonds or Dirt!

On the drive to our final campground, we stopped by the Crater of Diamonds State Park in hopes of hitting it big! Although we didn't find any diamonds, we found some quartz which was cool. It was exceptionally HOT in the black dirt so we took a dip in the little water park which was very nice!

Family Vacay!

Our second annual family trip this year took us and the Manchas to Arkansas. We pulled their travel trailer and headed north, stopping at the Bob Sandlin State Park in Pittsburg, TX to break up the drive. The campsite was beautiful and spacious, but not much can be said about the lake/swimming area... though we did take away some memorable moments and one gruesome black eye courtesy of Branson!

Austin Zoo

Nonna, Papa and I finally made it out to the Austin Zoo on Friday. Branson had a great time feeding the goats, riding the train and seeing the Peacocks. Look closely and you'll see that Papa and Branson wore almost the exact same outfit! Camo hat, orange shirt, dark green shorts and white socks!!! Must run in the family!

Sprinkler Park

As all of you Texans know, it has been VERY HOT here lately. Branson and I took advantage of our local sprinkler park the other day. Surprisingly no one was there and he had the whole place to himself!

Fourth of July Fireworks

We managed to take a little trip while at the coast to see the fireworks. I wasn't sure how Branson would do, but my guess was he'd be scared... and of course, he was. He thought the fireworks were "tun-dar" (Thunder for those of you that aren't fluent in Branson-ese) and that the rain was going to "get me". He kept telling me "get in truck mommy." Every once in a while he would appreciate the beauty of the fireworks and say "pitty fir-work". Next year will be better, I'm sure!

Seadrift / Coast Trip

This weekend we went down to the coast for some R&R and boat time!

We had a great time with our friends Kristin and Matt. Branson was very comfortable with them and often asked "Where's Matt?"

They brought their dog, Shiner, who was quite a trooper. He let Branson climb all over him and was great on the boat too!

Branson also did some fishing while we were out there! He even caught a fish (well sort of)...