Another River, Another Story

Cousins are awesome. My immediate family is actually pretty small, with my mom having one brother and my dad being an only child. My first cousins consist of 3 guys whom I love dearly but then there is my extended family... including all kinds of second, second once removed, third cousins and so on. You get the idea. The great thing is, years ago, before I was 10, my maternal grandfather's side got busy with family reunion plans, plans that turned into traditions that have allowed me to have some of the most amazing friendships and times with these kinfolk. But it doesn't stop there, not only did I have the privilege of spending summers with my cousins learning about the country life, swimming in spring fed ponds and living on a diet of the biggest, juiciest hand picked peaches in the world, but now my kids are doing the same. And loving every minute of it.

So this summer, we made a trade. Some of my kids visited their cousins in West Texas and then, a week or so later, he came here to absorb a tad bit of the city life.

And to our joy, the halfway meeting point, to exchange these cousins, was at their river cabin, where we stayed and played for a few days.



But this was not just any 'ole cabin, this was a dream cabin including every possible luxury one could imagine. And hummingbirds galore! See the tiny thing on the tree branch?



I stood very still so he came a bit closer...



and even closer.



Their cabin was on the Llano river, a little low this time of year, but still such a beautiful blue green. That's Maren at the bottom of the pic.



Gib spend hours fishing. This was one of his favorites, a Guadalupe bass.



And here is Dalton walking on water... actually he's trying his best to sink the canoe!



Awww, sweet Kate the pillow dog.



Oh, and the fence lizards... we can't forget them. Males have this bright blue belly.



The kids spend hours catching and building a great habitat for them. Interesting how the cage they built was portable so we now have several beautiful blue bellied reptiles here in our habitat... lizard anyone?



Wildlife was everywhere. This was a white tail deer, but mostly we saw axis deer (covered with white spots). They came right up to the feeder by the screened in porch every morning.



Here, Caelan showed his skill with the bow and arrow. Nice.



And what would a cabin visit be without a campfire and smores?

Ronald and Nancy, thanks again for sharing your river haven and Jodi, Dalton and Caelan, thanks for the memories. We love you guys!