Lost Pines

We made a trip up to Bastrop to unwind after a hard school year! Who am I kidding? Summer really started back in March. We did home school and stayed the course, but it felt a little like summer right off our spring break. We met a group from our church and school at a resort just outside of Austin, TX. We joined this group last year and we all enjoyed it so much we decided to make it a tradition. It’s funny how as your kiddos get older they enjoy vacations with friends more than with their old parents… We used to be the entertainment, now they ditch us ASAP! There is a season for everything… It’s a very relaxing trip for old Mom and Dad too. We have made some wonderful friendships in this season of life. So we roll up to the resort and it looks like a ghost town. I thought for sure it was closed and we made the drive for nothing. Usually loaded down suburbans are lined up the circle drive with kids spilling out everywhere, bellhops have a hard time keeping up with the constant line of get awayers. There wasn’t a bellhop to be found. It was the resorts second day open and we were the first to check in for the day. We were impressed with the safety measures they had in place, which meant a little more work for us, but we didn’t care… We were out of the house and on vacation! The empty lobby felt erie with no kiddos in wet suits riding through on bicycles… it was empty save for us. We unpacked our belongings and made our way to our usual hangout spot. Soon our friends joined us and we had the resort to ourselves. We like to go during the week because its less crowded but we literally had the entire place to ourselves for the first couple days. As the weekend approached families started trickling in and when we checked out it looked just like old times. We laughed and laughed and laughed and then laughed some more. Its truly good for the soul. Some of the activities we like to do were closed due to social distancing precautions so the kids decided to try zip lining through the bluffs this year. I tagged along to document it from a safe distance and give the safety lecture(s). I am terrified of heights and mostly everything else that involves danger. It was hard to send my kiddos off a perfectly safe platform attached to a wire with a little clip, secured by a willy nilly teenager working at summer resort. But they did it. I cried when Libbie stepped up. It was overwhelming for me and she was terrified too. I encouraged her from below but inside I feared the worst. What if she gets hurt or doesn’t make it all the way across, or what if she falls! She’s trusting because I’m telling her its safe. She took off but because she’s so tiny she didn’t quite make it to the other platform. She was just hanging out there and I knew she had to be as terrified as her mamma! The willie nillies pulled her to safety and when I met her at the next line, she was all smiles…. turns out I’m the only skeeredy cat in the family. I’m so thankful for good, thrill seeking friends, that helped her with the hikes to get to the platforms. After the zip adventures we camped out at the lazy river for the rest of our visit, which is much more my speed. We ate great food and celebrated together and ate some more great food. I don’t know if your house looks like mine when your about to travel but it always looks like a bomb went off before we depart. Libbie and I made whoopie pies for one of our friends celebrating his 12th birthday. I made my grandmother’s famous Party Mix which is always a hit, and we made a large batch of chicken salad for the group picnic. All this cooking results in one messy kitchen. We’re home, and the house is now a disaster from all the wet suits, and dirty camp clothes. And the cycle never ends…