February 23, 2024
I woke up several times in the night with the puppy. He is getting older and wanting to play in the night. He can also jump off the bed by himself now and he pees and poops all over. I am a very clean person and animals peeing and pooping in my banana hut isn’t going to work out. He was doing good when he couldn’t jump off the bed because he would whine when he needed to go and I would wake up and put him outside to go potty. Now he jumps off the bed and does his thing and I wake up smelling it. We will need to figure out new sleeping arrangements soon, like getting him used to sleeping in a crate.
I finally officially got up at 6:30 a.m. but I was still really tired. We were going boating today and it was time to get up to start getting ready to go. I jumped 100 rebounder jumps and went into the house. Christopher and the kids were up and about. I made tea and smoothies and packed them in the cooler along with the kids lunches that Christopher made. Yesterday, Christopher had put the boat in the back of my truck with the life jackets and other supplies so we wouldn’t have to do it in the morning. So once the food was packed and the kids ate breakfast we were all set to go.
It was a beautiful drive to the lake. Spring has sprung and the grass is a beautiful bright green, some of the trees are starting to bud and wild flowers are starting to bloom. Spring is my favorite time of year in Texas. The weather is heavenly, wild flowers are abundant and the rivers and lakes are full of water.
When we arrived at Granger Lake, we put in at Taylor Park. While Christopher was getting the boat set up, I walked to the dock with the kids. Finn stepped out on the dock and became scared because it moved with the water. I held his hand and told him that’s how docks feel when you stand on them. Once he realized he was safe then he relaxed and had fun jumping around with Angel. Christopher motored over to the dock and I helped Finn get on the boat. He became scared again because the boat felt wobbly. I sat next to him with my arm around him until he felt comfortable with the feeling. It was windy and the water on the lake was really choppy. We motored to the San Gabriel river and as soon as we got on the river the water was calm and the wind died down. The kids decided they were hungry and ate a bunch of granola bars and some apples. I drank my smoothie and enjoyed the scenery as we went up river. We saw a lot of people fishing and a whole bunch of turtles. There were a lot of different birds too but they were too fast for me to get any good pictures of them.
We continued upstream until we got close to highway 95. The river started to get too shallow for the boat motor and the banks were packed full of people fishing. Christopher turned us around we headed back downstream. We went downstream a while until Christopher finally pulled over so we could get out. I was glad because my legs were starting to cramp from sitting and the kids were getting restless. I had been wanting to stop for a while. There were a lot of trails I saw as we went past and I want to go back and explore them on my own sometime.
We all got out and stretched our legs. I had a message on my phone about pet sitting. I found a good spot to sit overlooking the river and returned the call. The call didn’t take long then I went exploring, taking pictures of flowers and plants to put on iNaturalist. Angel came up to me with a white flower from a plum tree. Christopher told me where it was and I went and found it. The flowers smelled wonderful and I could taste the plums just thinking about them.
We all met at the boat and ate some more. I drank my smoothie and I felt wonderful. My body feels so young and vibrant since I’ve been eating only fresh fruits and vegetables again. I am so grateful to have been shown the way to gain my health back. I love thriving. ❤️❤️❤️
We all got back in the boat and continued downstream. Right after we got going we came to a big hill with a cliff. We had saw it on the way upstream and the kids and I had wanted to stop and climb it on the way back. Christopher was reluctant to stop again but he gave in and pulled over. The kids and I scrambled out right away. Angel decided she was going to climb up it the way she wanted and I took an easier path with Finn. He trips and falls down a lot when he walks and climbing that steep hill, he really struggled to stay on his feet. I held his hand and kept him steady when he’d fall. He stuck with it even though he was getting frustrated and we finally made it to the top. Angel and Christopher were already there and the view was amazing. There was a cemetery up there and lots of prickly pear and yucca. It looked like it might be easier to go down on the opposite side of where we came up. So Finn and I headed down that way. It wasn’t easier. Finn could barely stay on his feet and we both slid down a small section. Finn was crying and scared but I knew we would be fine. I encouraged him to keep going. We struggled through some briars and had to climb part of the way back up at one point because there was no other way to go. We cheered when we finally made it to the bottom. Finn ran to Christopher and Angel excited to tell them about his experience.
We got back in the boat and continued downstream. When we got to the lake it was super choppy and windy still. The wind kept spraying water on us and it seemed to take a long time to get to the boat ramp. We were cold and wet when we arrived. I had the kids change into dry clothes and was really glad we had brought extra clothes with us. We got the boat loaded into the back of the pickup and headed out. We were going to get honey from Walker Honey store before going home. We go through 3 gallons of honey every month and a half. Angel doesn’t get processed sugar and eats a lot of honey, she puts it on everything. Christopher uses it a lot when he makes pies or desserts and has it in his tea. For some reason, I rarely use it. I used to use it when I made homemade hot chocolate in the mornings but I switched to just having hot lime water since coming back from Utah. Anyway, we go through a lot of honey.
I was happy and content on the drive to the honey store. My adventurous spirit was satisfied and I felt energized. At the honey store, Angel came in with me and Christopher stayed in the truck with Finn who had fallen asleep. The honey store had a new flavor of local honey, tallow honey. I got a gallon of that to try it out and the other 2 gallons were our usual local wildflower honey.
When we arrived home, Finn woke up and the kids ran off to play. I started a bath and helped unload the truck. When the bath was ready, I got in and relaxed my whole body. Then I heard the dogs barking like someone was here. I got out and saw the Finn’s parents were here to pick him up. We all stood around talking for an hour or so. It was nice to talk with them, we don’t get to see them that often and it’s great to catch up on what’s happening in their lives. When they left, we all got ready for bed. Angel had a couple of pieces of bread for dinner but we had all eaten so much while boating that we weren’t hungry. We gathered in the banana hut and I read out loud a chapter of the National Park Mystery Series book 2 and 2 chapters from Hank the Cowdog book 10. We said our good nights and I jumped 100 rebounder jumps. Angel slept on the trundle bed next to me. We fell asleep around 8:30 p.m. listening to a Bobbsey Twins audiobook.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria